So what is considered average/low/exceptional? If it is totally irrelevant as it is related to population/popularity/seasonal why is it included in the statistics guests see when they look at a listing?
I don’t know or care how many views I get per day/week/month. I’m not trying to fill my dance card 365. Why does Air include it with what guests see? Marketing ploy. In some ways it makes a property seem more desireable/popular.
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If you are a guest and considering a particular property, seeing that LOTS of people are looking at a property creates a sense of urgency to book it before someone else does. As @KenH said - marketing.
So are things like “This is a rare find. Susie’s place is usually booked” and “this property is 75% booked already for January” (VRBO just started that one) .
I’m sure they have a bunch of people figuring out ways to “turn lookers into bookers”
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I have no idea because it doesn’t matter. What counts to me is how many people book. There are plenty of ways that a host with plenty of time on their hands could falsify the numbers but that’s impractical and pointless. I’m pretty sure that most people seeing the number of views realise that it doesn’t mean anything.
Certainly for hosts, it would be great to have proper stats with geographical data, time spent on the page, exit link activity and so on but I can’t see it happening. And if it did then fees would go up to pay for the technology no doubt…
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I don’t pay attention to it. The views may be accurate but “this is a rare find this place is usually booked” is BS. Same with Airlines. Search for a fare and get a notice that there is one seat left at that price. Now put in a search for two seats and suddenly there are three seats left at that price.
Edit to add: if my bookings did drop off I would be looking around included at that number to try to figure out what was happening.
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I’m more interested in the conversion rate (percentage of views that convert into bookings) because this affects your search ranking.
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@Xena As my conversion rate is always wrong on their site, I am not sure that is a terribly useful tool. In marketing terms you also need to take into account that some/most of those who view your site are not potential customers, so the conversion rate they show, is unfortunately pretty meaningless.
Maybe it’s BS, maybe it isn’t. Our place always shows that because it’s true. But I’m not sure how Air knows that. Most of our bookings come from other sites and I don’t synch the calendars, I just block the dates. Air is assuming my blocks are bookings (though most of them are)
I’m sure it’s true about some places. I’ve also seen it on listings with wide open calendar going forward. For my listing it would be true looking backward but going forward I only have 4 reservations for 7 days in Dec and Jan so the idea that you need to hurry and book seems silly.
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The conversion rate on your progress tab might be useless to you, but as far as I know Airbnb uses their conversion rate calculations as one of the variables when ranking listings. They want to highlight the listings that make the sale, so to speak.
I understand the concept - it’s one we often use in marketing. However when I run my own figures their conversion figures are usually wrong - mine should be higher in terms of my conversion rate then they show.
Interesting to hear they use it when ranking host’s listing must go back and check on the Help Centre. Thanks for letting us know.
To understand how guests have responded to your listing in previous searches, we look at numerous signals, but two important factors are:
- Clicks in search results: When a listing is shown in search results, we consider it a good sign if a guest clicks on that listing to learn more. To ensure that this is fair for our whole host community, we make sure to only count clicks from different guests.
- Requests from a listing page: We look at how often guests request to book when they look at your listing. We find that successful listings do a good job of helping guests decide to book.
Understanding listings
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Ah thanks @KKC so requests to book rather than conversions ie confirmed bookings . Appreciate the link.
I suppose. Booking rate is what they display under progress. What they call it in their help article which purposely leaves out lots of key information may be the same or something else. My booking rate seems quite low and yet the end of the month I’ve been busy.
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When did this start and stop? Where is it located? I have never seen this stat on a listing when looking as a guest.
Oh visible on website on a computer. I rarely ever go in that way. Thanx!
See, I hate the app, that stupid little box to type in and it’s so easy to hit send before you are finished. One of my housekeepers laughed at me the other day (she is half my age), she said: look at you walking around with your laptop! You need a tablet. I said: I bought one last year before I went on holidays because I thought it would be easier when I was travelling but I never use it and prefer my laptop. She said: sell it then!
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