NEW STR coming to market algorithm optimization

[Meghan Dreher]

We have a new STR coming to market. What can we do in the first month or two to help optimize our ranking with the algorithm in booking platforms? It is coming to market in our off season, should we wait closer to our peak season to release it so that we have the best chance for the most bookings in a short time frame? Any advice is appreciated.

Any advice for older listings that dont do well in displaying in the top of local property searches.  We have a small cabin that has lots of reviews that ranks high, but we have some larger homes that are more expensive and dont book as consistently as our small cabin.  Is there something we can do to boost where they show up in searches?

[John Underwood]

New listing typically get artificially pushed to the top for a short period of time. I'd go ahead and list it.

There are many past posts on how to improve your search list placement such as making frequent changes to listing and updating pictures. You should read through some of these numerous posts on this topic.

[Greg Todrank]

Get 5 reviews as quickly as possible.

[Bruce Woodruff]

I would also just put it up as soon as you can.. that's the best way to get started, it doesn't really matter what season it is. Keep your prices just a hair lower than your competitors for the first month or two until you get some good reviews, then raise them to market rate. Don't rely on algorithmic platforms to set your rates, go directly to VRBO and Airbnb and look at your nearby competitors. See what amenities they have, how much they are booked, and what they charge.. then set your rates by these metrics not by what some algorithm is guessing at.

[Michael Baum]

I second @John Underwood and @Bruce Woodruffs comments.

Get it up, make it a little cheaper and see how it goes.

[Bryant Xavier]

Meghan,

Congrats on almost crossing the finish line! I'm sure you guys are tired and ready to be finished. I know after setting up a few rentals myself, it is not easy work. Seems like the list of "to do's" keeps going and going, ha! 

Advice: Like others mentioned, I would launch as soon as possible despite business of the year. New listings always do well to start out. It makes sense for Airbnb/VRBO's algorithm to shoot new listings to the top of the search ranks to "reward" new hosts for coming on the platform. For the first few reservations, I would put a lot of focus on bringing in good 5-star reviews. These are huge when playing on the algorithm. Maybe leaving a goodie basket and a handwritten note or something of the sort for your first few guests. 

Another tip: I think if your schedule and time allows it, go and stay at the property for a night or two. This will give you a clear idea of what the house might be missing, and or need and gives you time to make those changes/additions before your first group.

Another tip: I think it is natural for bigger properties to have more vacancies during the week/slow season. We see it in our market here in College Station, Tx. also... the bigger properties do really well during our peak season but tend to be pretty stagnant during the week and sometimes even the weekend during our slower season. What we do to make up for it is create a private bedroom listing to hit a different target audience to fill in some of those vacancies. When rented, we lock all interior bedroom doors aside from the bedroom we are renting by the room and sync the calendar with the main house's calendar. Doing this (renting both entire house and single bedroom rental) allows us to be able to tap into 2 separate target audiences and accomodate those singer travelers, couples coming to the area that would normally scroll past our listing due to size/cost. 

Hope this helps and send me a PM if you want any other tips/tricks on the private bedroom listing. Happy to help!

Bryant X. 

[Andrew Steffens]

Do the Airbnb discounting, price a little under market, make sure your cleaning fees are at or below average, looser cancellation policies will all help.

[James R.]

One of the easiest things that you can do to "talk" to the algorithm is search your property and heart it.  Tell everyone you know, (make it easy and text them the link to your property) to heart it.  This tells the algorithm that people are interested in booking your property, even if they don't book it.  Also, tell them to scroll through ALL of the photos to the end and leave the page open for 15 minutes.  The algorithm measures interest by these activities and pushes your listing higher to the top.

Also, go into the Airbnb page Insights, Performance, Views to track your page views.  When you see an uptick in views, you are very close to getting your first booking.  If you don't get a booking (views go up and down everyday) lower your nightly price a bit more.  For example, people look to book about one month out, so for January you might not get any bookings.  Focus your nightly pricing on February and continue to work your pricing one month out.  Also, under Insights you can see your conversion rate.   

[Mark Driskell]

Both Airbnb and VRBO provide a 90 day visibility boost. If possible, use this to it's fullest! 

If you have other channels to list on, I recommend starting there and then launching on Airbnb/VRBO until you are within the booking window for your market. If these are your only channels, go ahead and list it but as others said: price it just below the market, offer new listing discounts, and get at least 3 5-star reviews as quickly as possible. Ask family/friends to help boost the listing (likes, saves, photo scrolls) or even book it at a friend/family rate! 

For the listings that are struggling, try using the calendar promo feature on Airbnb to help boost visibility. Reviews and top amenities will help your listing rise to the top!

[Jeremy Holden]

rankbreeze, rankbreee, rankbreeze!

[Andrew Street]

Hi Meghan! Even in the off-season - you can optimize visibility by setting competitive pricing, using high-quality photos, and enabling Instant Book with flexible policies.

For older listings, try adjusting prices with dynamic tools, highlighting upgrades, and regularly updating your title, photos, or descriptions to stay fresh in search results.

These tweaks can make a big difference! Happy to connect if you need more ideas. 😊