How does the listing placement work

[Robin]

I had not gotten a new reservation on our home for a couple of weeks, this is unusual for us. We were full all of September and October and I was just hoping that with kids returning to school things just slowed down.

A few days ago I went in and did some maintenance on photos, and winter pricing and all of a sudden I have been getting inquiries as well as 2 November reservation, this was the very next day after I updated the listing. Does updating price or photos move a listing higher up in the search? Or can people search by price and perhaps my price change broadened our reach? Just curious, seems like this happened in the summer as well when I did some listing maintenance.

[JJD]

@Robin

Does updating price or photos move a listing higher up in the search?

Updating your listing does move you up in the search. Not everything that seems like an “update” counts however. You can check to see if what you’ve done is counted as an update on your “Listings” page, under “Last Modified”. I make an effort update daily, but as you can see, I’ve fallen behind ,)

These things for sure cause an “update”: guests checking out, a review being posted, changing text in your listing description, changing a setting in booking or pricing tabs, a new photo, title change, discount change, making new dates available. Only changing a price does not register as an update under “Last Modified” but some photo changes will register as an update.

But, yes, your maintenance caused your rise in search results. I keep track of this and it definitely does.

Also, if you’ve been full for October for awhile, you didn’t have any dates really available in the near future. About a month before you have a lot of availability, your listing will also go up in the search rank as well, so maybe a combo for you.

[yecatsr]

There are tons of posts and theories on this if you do a forum search, but here’s one to get you started:

Increasing booking rate

One thing many of us advocate is to be sure to log onto your account daily. Raise the price a dollar, lower a dollar. Change the order of the pictures, adjust the booking settings on the calendar, etc. Airbnb rewards active hosts with a better postion in the search ranks. If you set up your listing and then just leave it and expect the bookings to roll in, that isn’t the best strategy.

[Ritz3]

When I first joined this forum I read somewhere that updating your calendar or photos jumps the listing higher on the search. I do move around my photos weekly and check my calendar often and my listing is always on the first page. Maybe it’s just a coincidence but I swear it works.

[JJD]

I do also think that updating prices and photos gives a boost in search results but it just doesn’t register on here as a modification for some reason. Perhaps an update is not equal to a modification. I might be on the wrong track; however, I know for sure that having a modification show up on my listings page pops my listing up quite a bit more than anything else.

Here are the things I did before it registered a modification: changed a price down, changed a price to a price tip, changed order of photos, edited a photo for brightness and saved and replaced, added a monthly discount, changed a multi-day discount and added to the guide book. When I went in to my listing description and changed an exclamation point to a period, then it registered as a modification. Also, I had guests check out today and when I get the “How Did So and So Do” review cuing, it will register as a modification.

I’m just experimenting! Does anyone else have any experience with this?

[Robin]

Thanks All, I was getting concerned about my November and December occupancies, but after yesterday with a couple of bookings I am where I need to be with expenses, and if any of the inquiries book it will be looking good. I generally only update once per quarter, I will make a point of going in weekly and tweak a few things