Are you worried about not getting enough bookings? Are you confused about which platforms you should be listed on? Do you think your Airbnb should be generating more cash flow than it is?

If these concerns sound familiar, Episode 22 of the Host Coach Airbnb Investing Podcast is perfect for you! Today we’re discussing the nitty gritty details of how hosting platforms work, the algorithms that drive them, and how you can position your listing at the top.

Read on to learn exactly what to do to garner the most views, most bookings, and best of all - the most money with your short-term rental!

Topics discussed in this episode:

• Why booking platforms are essentially search engines
• What the Airbnb algorithm “looks for” when deciding listing rank
• Whether you should sole-source or cast a wide net listing on various platforms
• The pros and cons of creating a website for your listing
• Our strategy for using the Airbnb algorithm to generate the most bookings & revenue

Host Coach Airbnb Podcast Episode 22 Show Notes:

Here's a question we get a lot. Which of the numerous travel sites should I list my property: Airbnb, VRBO, Bookings, or TripAdvisor? My answer might surprise you. Since you can list on all of these sites for no upfront charge, wouldn't you want to list on them all? The answer is: usually not. Let's talk about why.

How the Airbnb Algorithm Works

Airbnb and the other OTAs, online travel agents, aka short term rental booking platforms, are at their heart, a search engine like Google, they have to decide which order to show the listings based on what's working for their business model. Airbnb cares about two primary things. One is guest satisfaction - that's your reviews. Two is generating a service revenue. Airbnb only generates their service revenue when a listing that they show books. When a guest books, they get paid from the guest and they get paid from the host.

That business model drives the decisions the platforms make about what order in which to show the listings. If you are listed on several sites, your calendar and your available dates are going to be split between those sites. So back to Airbnb. If someone is searching on Airbnb and your calendar is booked on another site, Airbnb is not going to show your listing. That's a lost view and the less views you have, the less you're shown in search placement. If the calendar is booked elsewhere, it's not a place where Airbnb can make revenue on your listing, and therefore you'll decline in rank placement.

It's not that complicated when you think about it. Airbnb makes money when your listing is booked on their platform. Their algorithm doesn't credit you with a booking that isn't from their site. So, of course they're not going to show your listing at the very top if you're booked only once or twice for the month through Airbnb and then once or twice multiple other platforms. The Airbnb algorithm can't see that you're booked, and it doesn't care that you're booked because they're not making money from it.

The Multiple Listing Site Fallacy

The fallacy is that you're going to get more views by being on more platforms, but it's like running an ad in the newspaper. If you have an ad in three newspapers, but you're on page 10, that's not going to get a lot of views versus a front page ad on one newspaper (Airbnb,) You're actually going to get more views and more bookings being on one platform.

Reviews are a huge reason to sole source on one platform. They matter, as we just said to the algorithm, but they also matter to your potential guests. If you remember Tracy from podcast episode 19, her property management had her beach condo listed on over 20 platforms, and when they said they were doing that, she was like, "Wow, that's amazing! I'm going to be all over the place. Everyone's gonna see my condo and book it." But then she wasn't getting that many bookings. And so she started to search for her condo on each of these platforms and had a lot of trouble even finding her listing. If she did, there was maybe one review.

So she looked at her Airbnb listing and there were four reviews in the last year. That made her feel really bad and she was like, "If I was a guest, I would be really suspicious that this place has only been booked a few times this year. And there's only four reviews on this place versus other condos that have hundreds of reviews." Tracy's situation was just like Culin described. She had less views, lower rank, and lower bookings. This created a downward spiral for her listing.

The Value of Sole-Sourcing

Fortunately, Tracy took over managing her own property and sole sourced the listing on Airbnb. And the result was she almost doubled the cashflow coming out of her condo year over year! What did she do? She stopped being listed on 20 different places and focused solely on Airbnb.

Think about it. How many pages do you scroll through when you're doing a search on Google? One? Maybe two if it's obscure or really important to what you're doing. It's the same on Airbnb. Airbnb shows 18 listings on the first page and the vast majority of people searching on Airbnb never click past the first page.

So, if you're not on that page, potential guests are never going to see your listing and they're never going to book it. I don't say this to be scary. I say this to just be truthful. This is fact. This is how it works. And it's not just first time hosts trying to decide which platforms to be on. This problem arises often for experienced hosts falling into the trap that more platforms will improve their bookings.

If hosts are experiencing low bookings, it's easy to think, "Well, I maybe just need to be on a couple more platforms. If it's not performing, let's add more platforms or let's add a direct booking website." A better approach is to determine where you're showing and ranking on the current platform that you're on.

How to Track Your Airbnb's Search Rank

We use a software called RankBreeze for tracking listing rank on Airbnb. It can be done manually through incognito search if you're on a different platform, but start with knowing where you're showing in that rank placement, and then start to think about making improvements or modifications to climb in rank. You can change your pricing, you can adjust some policies like cancellation policies or pet policies.

You can make improvements in the property, add amenities and watch your ranking improve. It's so important to know where you are on the platform that you're listed on and master that platform before considering just adding more platforms to potentially improve your performance.

Having that base level of this is where I am. You can then really see the impact of the changes you're making. You're not just throwing out a bunch of stuff and seeing what sticks to the wall. You're like, "This is where I'm ranking. I'm going to get HDR photos taken and wait and see what happens. I'm going to change my cancellation policy. I'm going to add a hanging basket chair because everyone loves those." And you track how those changes impact your listing in one place.

We're very fact-based Airbnb investors. When you can see improvements and continue to make improvements. You're dangerous. You can be successful. But if you're just guessing and you have all of these different sites and all of these different variables, it's scientifically impossible to figure out what's working.

You may have heard the list on every platform available advice from other experts or groups or YouTube channels. I feel like the only people that are ever telling us to be on multiple sites are companies that are selling a solution to the problem of being on many sites. You have to manage your calendar across and there's great softwares that do this, but I feel like this advice is often simply coming from people that are trying to sell you a solution to the problems that being on multiple sites produce.

Should You Build a Website for Your Airbnb

I also mentioned direct booking websites. I don't have a problem with building a website. We have one for our properties. If you want to build a website for your property, go ahead! We highlight all of our properties, but we link directly to our Airbnb listings. So that does potentially get us more views and does help the algorithm.

What we don't do is we don't take direct bookings on the website. It's not worth trying to save a couple percent in Airbnb fees. It will hurt you in search rank. And you shoulder all your own liabilities in terms of collections. Airbnb provides a ton of protections against guest damages through their Air Cover policy.

Also, just building a website. Isn't in itself going to get you traffic. You have to think through a strategy. How are we going to get traffic to that website? It's not if you build it, they will come. They never come! You usually need a content strategy. We write a lot of blog posts about our area and things to do in our area to. Create some content. Maybe you have a strong social media presence and you can use your social media presence to promote your website. So website in and of itself, isn't a bad thing. Hoping for saving 3% on your booking fee on Airbnb by taking direct bookings on a website really just isn't a solution.

The other reason that we created a website for our listings is because we have 10 properties in the portfolio. So, when someone's like, "Hey, I'd really like to check out one of your cabins." I can either cut paste the 10 different links from Airbnb, or I can just send them to the one site, where then they can see the places, and then they can book the place that best suits them through Airbnb. So it sort of simplifies a bigger portfolio of suggestions.

Why Sole Source on Airbnb

Another question we hear a lot is: why do you choose to sole source on Airbnb instead of a different platform?

There are multiple platforms and based on where you are in the world, if you're outside of the United States, there are stronger platforms. A lot of beach markets are very VRBO heavy. So I'm not saying just list on Airbnb, I'm saying sole source your listing on ONE platform. And you can pick that platform. I choose Airbnb because you've got to strap your cart to the horse that you think is going to win the race. And in my opinion, Airbnb is certainly winning the race in the United States.

Yeah. Airbnb currently grosses more than the top five hotel chains. They made 10 billion in revenue off of the little fees that they charge hosts. Airbnb gerated 66 billion dollars for hosts. That's not a small dollar amount.

Culin has an economics background. So when Culin makes a pick on what he thinks going to be successful in the business world, after almost 20 years of marriage, I've learned that Culin is almost always right. His choices are fact-based. So we choose Airbnb. We've told you why. Select what works for you.

Sole sourcing makes sense for 99% of hosts, but there are always exceptions. So, you need to "do you" and what is best for your specific listing and situation. For example, we have a client that we helped out in Montana. Her listing is part of her gorgeous ranch near this exclusive high dollar ski resort. And it's one of 13 listings in the entire area. People know and really want to be near this resort because not everyone can pay the $2,000 a night that they're charging to stay.

In this intsance people are searching that resort name and that resort area. So in her circumstance, she can absolutely list on multiple platforms and that won't negatively impact her bookings. Because, there are so few options available and the area is so highly desirable and well-known that anyone on any platform searching for that specific area is going to see her listing.

The competition is low. She's going to be on page one, right? So on the flip side, if you're in an area that has a couple hundred Airbnbs or a couple thousand Airbnbs, Then being on multiple platforms, as we said, is probably not your best choice. Hopefully you now understand why sole sourcing, which seems a little bit against mainstream suggestions, is actually the best way to benefit your Airbnb business.

Remember, our joy is in your success. Should you need personal online Airbnb coaching - that is what we do! Sign up for a free 30 minute Airbnb coaching call to explore your needs and how we can help you succeed as an Airbnb investor.