If you're trying to build financial freedom with Airbnb and you feel like your listing should be performing better than it is, Episode 115 of the Host Coach Airbnb Investing Podcast is for you!
We're breaking down six simple, proven ways to boost your Airbnb listing — from small algorithm tweaks that can move you up in search, to using AI to optimize your listing based on real guest feedback, to small changes you can make today that will increase your conversions and bookings.
The best part is none of this is expensive or time-consuming — these are practical adjustments that help you maximize cash flow, book further out, and stop leaving money on the table!
Topics discussed in this episode:
- Why you need to ditch extra guest fees
- Exactly how to use chat GPT to improve your Airbnb listing
- The #1 Airbnb setting to turn ON + the #1 setting to turn OFF
- The setting change that can dramatically increase your bookings
- Easy ways to elevate your guests' stays and 5-star reviews
Host Coach Airbnb Podcast Episode 115 Show Notes:
1. Remove Extra Guest Fees to Rank Higher on Airbnb
Number one, eliminate extra guest fees. Guess what? Airbnb hates extra guest fees. I started to hear about this a couple of months ago, and honestly, I was really skeptical. I like having my extra guest fees and I didn't really see how having an extra guest fee over three or four guests was really going to negatively impact my listing. But, I heard it a few times and so I decided to run a test and I started with one of my two bedrooms and I dropped the extra guest fees. It worked immediately. The listing jumped 10 to 15 positions in search! So I monitored and measured these changes in Rank Breeze, and when it worked on one of our Airbnbs, I expanded. - I tried a couple other two bedrooms up to my three bedrooms. And they jumped in search rank. Why does that matter? Because better search position means booking further out and less discounting required.
This is a low impact kind of test. Try it. If it's not working for you, you can go back to your extra guest fees.
2. Use AI to Optimize Your Airbnb Listing & Define Your Airbnb Guest Avatar
Number two, use Chat GPT to analyze and optimize your listing based on your guest reviews. Click this link to access our exact prompt and immediately reap the benefits for your Airbnb. Then follow these three steps. Open Chat GPT or whatever your favorite AI model is. Paste in our prompt. Then, go to your Airbnb listing and copy and paste your most recent 50 or a hundred reviews. If you have less, that's fine as well, and just press go.
We did this and the results were amazing. One example is this incredible granularity of who our guest avatar was at each specific property. We all know we're supposed to know our guest avatar - meaning the guests that our Airbnbs are created specifically for. I think it's really easy to have a general avatar, but it's really hard to have a very specific avatar, particularly in our location. And this Chat GPT prompt uncovered the fact that our specific brand for this specific cabin is a peaceful, pet friendly mountain retreat with elevated amenities for hikers families and couples who value privacy, comfort, and thoughtful hosting.
Knowing this helps me tweak our listing description, add more amenities that are valued by that specific avatar, and change our messaging to align more with their needs. This is important because if you give people what they want, if you are speaking to them, they're so much more likely to be like, "yes, this is exactly the place I want to stay." And when they do stay, they're going to absolutely love it.
Another great result was that Chat GPT sifted through all of our reviews and found out that a major friction point for this particular listing is the road to the cabin. It encouraged us to align guest expectations for the road and reframe it, sharing that the rugged road leads to more privacy and adventure. That's just just beautiful! I love wordsmithing and the fact that the robot came up with that... we are so adding that exact language both to our listing and our guest messaging.
3. Turn ON Instant Booking & Turn OFF Good Track Record for Your Airbnb Listing
Number three, turn on instant booking and turn off good track record. Even if you think there set that way... go back and check. I've seen so many times where Airbnb does an update and those settings get thrown off. So Instant Booking means you can book in your PJ's. Airbnb is competing with the hotels, so this is so important to Airbnb. They don't want to create friction in the booking process. They want the guest to be able to just click and book instantly as it says.
Good track record is kind of interesting. It means that the guest must have one Airbnb trip and a good review. Having the Good track record setting on means that your listing won't be shown to any first-time Airbnb users or even users that are not first time users, but just don't have a review. And I would say half of our guests are often first-time Airbnb guests. We're all trying to have maximum revenue and maximum booking so we can gain financial freedom and live a life that we love, and if we're eliminating half the people looking in our market, that doesn't align with the end goal. So listen to Culin. Turn on instant booking and turn off guest good track record, even though that seems really counterintuitive.
4. Allow Pets to Increase Airbnb Demand
The fourth way to boost your Airbnb listing is to change your listing settings to become pet friendly. I know there are very mixed opinions on this, but 50% of guests on the Airbnb platform are searching for stays that include their furry friends... but only 28% of United States Airbnb listings are pet friendly. Think about that. There's a mismatch in demand and what's available in the market. So by accepting pets, you stand out from your competition and are highly sought after by guests traveling with their pets.
If you don't want to jump all the way into being pet friendly, you can consider limiting guests to just one pet. You can charge a pet fee to offset if there's an additional bit of cleaning for your housekeepers to do. And you can also try accepting only hyperallergenic, non-shedding dogs. It's worth trying and you can always change your setting back if it doesn't work for you.
All of our 14 Airbnbs except for two, are pet friendly, and that's because of flooring situations. So you do need to make sure that you have LVP or wood - not carpet if you're going to be a pet-friendly Airbnb. It's a big jump, but it's really important.
5. Optimize Airbnb Photos for Higher Conversions
Take your photos out of Airbnb's photo tour setting. Your photos sell your space so they are mission critical to the success of your Airbnb. The automatic photo tour Airbnb has, it creates this disjointed and visually unappealing experience for people on the Airbnb platform. It's hard to see what you're booking. It's room by room. Personally, it really doesn't work for me and it really doesn't seem to work for our guests as well. This lowers your conversion rate. We're all looking for maximum revenue, so we need maximum conversions from views to book stays.
The quick fix to get out of Airbnb's photo tour is to move all of your listing photos into the additional photo section and then arrange them with your very best images at the beginning. This takes you about 5 or 10 minutes and makes such a big impact in your listing. Be sure to highlight what makes your listing unique and appealing with those first couple photos. If you could only use five photos for a pomotional brochure - make sure that those are the pictures that people see first in your listing.
I was looking at a listing the other day with a client and his first photos were great, and I wanted to see that fire pit. And when I clicked through, now I'm getting five pictures of the master bedroom and I'm having to scroll to find this wonderful amenity because he was in photo tour. And so the amenities kind of get buried as opposed to you highlighting them.
6. Highlight Top Airbnb Amenities First
Ask yourself, "what can I do to elevate my guests" stay?" and then do it! Understand that five-star reviews don't happen during the stay. It's what's done before the guests arrive that set the tone for the say and review. So if you don't already have one, craft a concierge message to help guests plan their trip. Give list of top things to do - favorite restaurants, local experiences.
Anytime you book a trip the next thing you have to do is figure out where you want to go and what you want to do. I tell people, think about if your best friend was coming to visit your town and you weren't going to be there to show them around, what are all your favorite tips? Where's that great ice cream shop? We always talk about our apple cider donuts that our guests love so much. All those sugggestions kick off the five star review. Guests love that local knowledge and not having to do endless research and figure out what they're goning to be doing when they're staying at your Airbnb and it ends up in your reviews. I can't tell you how many times people say, "the place was beautiful. There was a view and we loved knowing about this restaurant or this hike, or always the apple cider donut." So it's a really easy, free way to make sure you get that five star Airbnb review.
Another thing to do is consider adding amenities that specifically appeal to your guest avatar. Going back to what we discussed earlier, think about what your avatar really wants and enjoys. We have cabins in the mountains, so hot tubs and saunas are perfect for guests unwinding after long hikes. If you're in a beach location, consider adding a really nice cooler on wheels, a sun tent, saltwater fishing poles, and other things that will make your guests feel pampered. The options are absolutely endless!
Spotless Cleaning Drives 5-Star Airbnb Reviews
Spotless cleaning is paramount to gaining five star reviews. Consider scheduling a deep clean to make sure that the ceiling fans aren't showing dust. There's no spiderwebs under the beds or in the corners, and the walls and baseboards are scuff free. Guests will overlook small indiscretions if the property is spotless.
Conversely, if it's not spotless, they tend to start nitpicking other aspects of the stay. This happened at our Airbnb in Turks and Caicos for a number of reasons. We hadn't been there in more than a year, and I was feeling anxious. So we booked a trip specifically to just do what needed to be done, and we spent the first night there, magic erasing all of the walls and the baseboards. When you walk into a place and it's scuff free and all things are organized, if something small happens, like Culin said, it's not the end of the world. But, if you walk in and there's somebody's suitcase track along the side of the wall and some chips in the floorboards, you get the feeling that this Airbnb maybe isn't up to your standard and it sends the message to the guests that the owner doesn't really care that much about the property or them.
Fix Maintenance Issues to Protect Rankings
Along those lines, keep on top of maintenance. We go through our guest feedback twice a week and schedule our handyman to take care of anything that's broken. Delaying fixing issues reported by guests is a quick ticket to lower reviews, which drops your listing ranking and drops your booking volume. I think Keith has on his list, we have a vanity that needs to replaced, a sink that's leaking somewhere else, and a drain in a bathtub that needs to be cleared out. Don't make your guest have to tell you about the same thing twice. Right? Fix it the first time.
Subscribe to the Host Coach channel to watch other episodes because we're here every Tuesday with the mission to help you fast track the success of your Airbnb so you can live a life that you love. And remember, our joy is in your success.
Should you need an Airbnb coach to help you find the right market, property, and help you set yourself up for success - feel free to book a free 30 minute coaching call with us. We LOVE helping new investors avoid pitfalls and find financial freedom through Airbnb investing!
