13 Airbnb Hacks & Tips for Hosts to Make More Money

If you’re an Airbnb host, chances are you’re always looking for ways to get more bookings, save time and money, and improve your guest’s experience.

Well, you’re in luck…

At Rankbreeze, we’ve helped thousands of Airbnb hosts just like you optimize their Airbnb and fill their calendars. In this guide, we share all the must-know Airbnb hacks to get the most out of your property.

Here are 13 Airbnb hacks for hosts (plus a few bonus tips):

Hack #1: Use Our Amenities Analyzer to Instantly Boost Impressions

Your amenities directly impact whether Airbnb shows your listing to users during their search. Properties with more amenities tend to show up first.

And I’m not even talking about luxuries like a pool or hot tub.

While those can significantly improve your listing, you’d be shocked at how many Airbnb listings don’t check the box for basic amenities like “extra towels” or “hand soap”—even if they have them.

Chances are, you’ve got amenities at your property that you didn’t “turn on” in Airbnb.

Want to find out? Sign up for a $1 trial of Rankbreeze and use our amenities analyzer to instantly see the most popular amenities in your city, customized specifically for your listing:

It’s that simple! You can easily turn on the amenities that you already have (like hand soap or board games) and add any you don’t have yet (like books or a pack’n’play).

Hack #2: Pick The Best Possible Cover Photos

Speaking of photos, your cover photos are the most important photos on your entire listing. A dreamy cover photo could be the only thing that stands between a guest clicking on your listing over another.

Great cover photos are:

• High resolution
• Showcase the BEST part about your home
• Have excellent lighting
• Make potential guests go “wow!”

Here are some examples of great cover photos:

While you can certainly DIY your Airbnb photos, it’s best to hire a professional photographer. Bonus points if they have a drone for aerial shots!

Hack #3: Use Our Dynamic Pricing Tool to Automatically Set Your Rates

Rankbreeze’s Dynamic Pricing Tool allows you to:

• Build a customized pricing strategy finely tuned for your property
• Stack flexible pricing rules on top of each other
• Optimize prices & minimum nights based on multiple triggers, such as occupancy rate & time
• Create custom templates for every season
• See competitor’s cleaning fees
• And more

Oh, and did we mention it’s also included with the $1 trial? Yeah, you get a lot for $1.*

*Note that you do need a property management system (PMS) such as Hospitable in order to use the pricing tool.

Hack #4: Make Your Listing Algorithm-Proof with A/B Testing

Airbnb’s search algorithm is complex and constantly shifting, but one thing that’s always been an important ranking factor is listing activity.

In other words—Airbnb wants to know that you, the host, are actively improving and updating your property to ensure the best possible guest experience.

But randomly making changes every week or two isn’t the best way to improve your search rankings.

Instead, it’s better to systematically tweak one thing at a time and run tests to see if your changes positively impact your rankings and conversions, or if they harm it and need to be reversed.

This is called A/B testing—that is, comparing version A of your listing (no changes) to version B (with changes) to see which version the Airbnb algorithm likes the best. It’s a data-backed way of knowing whether your changes are helping you or hurting you.

And guess what?

When you sign up for that $1 Rankbreeze trial, you ALSO get access to our A/B testing tool, which allows you to see exactly what impact your listing updates had on your rankings:

So what should you change on your listing? Here are some things to try:

• Change 1-2 photos
• Adjust pricing slightly
• Modify the description
• Tweak the title
• Move your photo order
• Add new amenities
• etc.

Try to only update ONE thing at a time during your A/B tests. That way you know which change had which impact (i.e. if you changed the cover photo AND the title, which change impacted your rankings?).

Hack #5: Optimize Your Listing Title for More Clicks

Your title is one of the few things you can use to entice guests to click on your listing during their search:

Instead of generic titles like “Cozy Downtown Apartment,” use titles that sell your home and its amenities, like:

• Luxe Stay w/ Hot Tub & Sunset Views
• Pet-Friendly w/ Private Yard + Firepit
• ATX Dream Vintage Glamping

If you’re struggling to come up with good titles, you can also use our Keyword Ideas tool to see what keywords are popular in titles in your city. The best part? It’s included with your $1 trial.

Hack #6: Write A Longer Listing Description

If your listing description is short (under 5,125 characters, according to our research), then you won’t rank as highly in search results. Airbnb’s algorithm seems to favor longer, more in-depth descriptions.

In the chart below, you can see the data from our study. The “Low Group” shows how adding to description length impacted rankings for listings with descriptions shorter than 5,125 characters, while the “High Group” had descriptions 5,125 characters or longer.

When we lengthened the listing descriptions in the “low group”, they showed a significant impression boost. When we lengthened the already long descriptions in the “High Group”, it had much less of an impact.

Not sure what to write in your description? Check out our complete guide to writing the perfect Airbnb description.

Hack #7: Use Lifestyle Photos for Maximum Appeal

It’s no secret that improving your photos is one of the best things you can do to optimize your listing.

But have you thought about adding lifestyle photos that capture the essence of what it’s like to stay at your property? Photos like these:

Lifestyle photos can help guests imagine themselves at your property, and increase conversions. Stage photos based on your ideal guests:

• Remote workers? Show a laptop-friendly workspace with a cup of coffee.
• Families? Display board games and a cozy living room setup.
• Couples? Feature a romantic candlelit dinner scene.

Just 3-5 photos like this go a long way to helping your listing stand out.

Hack #8: Add A Floorplan To Your Listing

Have you ever seen those nice floorplan photos in an Airbnb listing? Like this:

These types of photos are a great way to showcase the layout of your space. Guests appreciate them, and they add a nice extra touch to your listing.

You can make one for free with Planner 5d.

Keep in mind that if you buy a custom one, you’ll have to buy another one any time you rearrange your furniture or layout. If you build one in Planner 5d, you can easily change it yourself.

Hack #9: Trick the Algorithm with a ‘Soft Relaunch’

Airbnb openly states that “the algorithm is designed to make sure new listings show up well in search results.”

So, if your listing isn’t performing well and you don’t have a ton of reviews, one thing you can do to get a boost is relaunch your listing. Airbnb will consider it a “new listing” and give it a search boost.

There are two ways to do this:

1. Unlist it for at least 48 hours before re-opening it.
2. Permanantely remove it and re-create the listing from scratch.

Consider unlisting it first to see how it performs. If you’re still struggling for bookings, delete it entirely and create a new one from scratch.

Hack #10: Get More Reviews with a Post-Stay ‘Memory Email’

Here’s a sneaky hack to get more Airbnb reviews—after your guests check-out, send them a “memory email” reminding them of a special moment at your place and asking for a review.

For example, you can send something like:

“Hey [Guest’s Name], hope you had an amazing time! That sunset from the balcony was unreal, right? If you have a sec, we’d love to hear about your stay in a review.”

Personal touches like this increase your chance of getting reviews, helping your listing rank higher in search and get more bookings.

Hack #11: Create a TikTok or Instagram Reel That Goes Viral

While easier said than done, social media videos can be a great Airbnb marketing strategy.

Some ideas for videos include:

• “A Day in Our Airbnb” POV-style video
• Show off a hidden feature (rooftop views, unique bathtub, hidden room, etc.)
• Behind-the-scenes setup of hosting.

For example, the Shenandoah Yurt had one video get over 1 million views by using drone footage of their unique property mixed with professional interior shots and good music:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Shenandoah Yurt 🛖 💛 🏔️ One-of-a-Kind Mountain Escape (@shenandoahyurt)

This strategy works best with highly unique or unusual properties and those with features that most homes don’t have, but even regular homes can go viral with enough creativity.

Hack #12: Hack Guest Reviews to Boost Airbnb SEO

Besides looking for 5-star reviews, Airbnb’s search algorithm also scans guest reviews for relevant keywords to help categorize the listing.

This means that you can hack the algorithm by subtly encouraging guests to mention key features in their reviews by planting ideas in your post-stay message.

For example, if you want to rank higher for searches with “fast WiFi” or “remote work,” mention it in your post-stay message:

“Glad you enjoyed the fast WiFi! If you leave a review, other remote workers would love to hear about it.”

You can also mention it in your guidebook and even in a poster on your wall.

Hack #13: Rank Higher by Boosting Your Save-to-View Ratio

Did you know that your save-to-view ratio is a ranking factor? In other words, the more guests who save your listing to their wishlist, the higher your listing may rank.

But how do you get more guests to save your listing? Here are a few hacks:

1. Ask past guests to save your listing.
2. Offer a small incentive: “Save our listing and get 10% off your next stay!”
3. Mention it in your listing description.

You can also pay for Airbnb wishlist saves, though it is unclear if this is actually worth doing or not.

Bonus Airbnb Hacks

Itching for more tips? Here are a few quick-fire hacks:

• Get a sofa bed. Having an extra bed means you can sleep more guests—which means you can show up in more searches and get more bookings without adding a bedroom.
• Surprise your guests with unexpected late check-in and check-out times. Send a message 24 hours before check-in like “Hey, [guest name]! I shuffled a few things around, so you can now check in an hour earlier if you like. Feel free to arrive anytime after 2 pm.” This is a nice surprise for guests and is sure to make them happy!
• Publicly respond to your reviews. This is a nifty little hack that most hosts forget about—you can write responses to your reviews that show up for everyone that views the listing. This shows guests your active, and gives you a chance to show your personality.
• Use re-fillable shampoo and soaps. If you aren’t already doing this, it’s an easy way to save money (and reduce plastic use)!

Rankbreeze: The Ultimate Airbnb Hack For Just $1

Rankbreeze is an Airbnb optimization software with loads of useful tools and features for Airbnb hosts. You can do more than half of the Airbnb hacks on this list when you sign up for a $1 trial of Rankbreeze.