An Airbnb login is just the beginning of getting the most out of the Airbnb system. Whether you’re letting a spare room, an empty property, or building a chain of rentals as an Airbnb host, you need to optimize your listing properly. In this article, you’ll learn how to do just that.

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Understanding Online Travel Agents

When you set up your Airbnb login, you register with an online travel agency. An online travel agent (OTA) is similar to a traditional brick-and-mortar travel agent. An OTA lets customers plan and book their accommodation online instead of walking into an office to book a holiday. It’s usual nowadays for OTAs to offer a range of travel-related services besides accommodation, such as flights, rail and bus tickets, tours, and airport taxi services.

A big part of hotel management is deciding on the appropriate OTAs to market your hotel property. The OTA aspect of Airbnb’s platform is crucial for an Airbnb host. It allows you to connect with consumers you might not otherwise be able to reach. From the point of view of your potential guests, platforms like Airbnb offer great convenience. They can easily look up availability, check reviews, and book the most suitable properties.

What Is Airbnb?

As you’ve already seen, Airbnb is an online travel agency set up with a specific purpose: allowing private individuals to register accommodation for short-term stays and letting members of the public book stays through the website. Founded in 2008, the company initially focused on allowing homeowners to earn income from unoccupied rooms. Since its inception, Airbnb has grown into a large international presence, with people building their whole careers around being Airbnb hosts.

Airbnb listings cover 100,000 cities across more than 220 countries worldwide. Recent figures from Airbnb put the total number of listings well over six million. As you can see, Airbnb can be a powerful tool to get your property on a traveler’s radar — but you’ll need to make that Airbnb login work for you if you want your property to get noticed.

Use Your Airbnb Login to Start Hosting Properties

As an Airbnb host, you can list all properties for short-term stays and use Airbnb as part of your hotel marketing strategy. You might have a spare room in your home that you don’t use or a whole house left empty while living elsewhere. Caravan owners can rent these out for short stays. Some people buy a property to develop it to rent through Airbnb. The main advantage of being an Airbnb host is that you can earn additional income from your property by renting it to travelers.

The downside is that not all guests conduct themselves appropriately, and a few might even damage your property. From a guest’s perspective, access to congenial and inexpensive accommodation is the advantage. The downside is that the property might not be as pleasant as the listing suggests, or they might have trouble with their Airbnb host. Airbnb offers some protection, but you should consider the possibility of damage.

What Is Superhost on Airbnb Login?

Your Airbnb login gives you access to Airbnb’s Superhost rating. This special rating is given to Airbnb hosts who go above and beyond in providing a truly exceptional experience for their guests. A Superhost is easily identifiable by the badge beside their listings and profile. You can only gain Superhost status if a sufficient number of guests choose to leave a positive review. It can be difficult for an Airbnb host with few guests to secure and hold a Suberhost badge.

To get one, you must be very good at making guests feel welcome and providing what they need for a truly outstanding stay. The key to getting Superhost status is understanding your guests’ needs and going the extra mile to meet them. To get that coveted badge, you must generate positive reviews, be responsive to queries and criticism, and avoid canceling guests’ stays.

What Is Airbnb Plus?

The Airbnb Plus rating is only given to properties of the very highest quality. Airbnb hosts must also excel in the role to achieve this rating. Firstly, an Airbnb Plus host must receive consistently high guest ratings and excellent reviews. The property must be verified via an in-person quality inspection to be given an Airbnb Plus listing. This inspection will look at the features and amenities of the property, the overall design, and the level of comfort.

If the property qualifies, the listing will receive the coveted PLUS badge. While it’s not easy to achieve an Airbnb Plus rating, it can help turn your Airbnb login into a serious and consistent source of income. Airbnb Plus listings can command higher rates and receive more visibility than standard properties. Not every host will be able to attain Airbnb Plus status, but it’s something to aim for.

Video: Introducing Airbnb Plus Airbnb

What Are the Main Extranet Strategies to Optimize Your Airbnb Listing?

The Airbnb extranet is the site section where you’ll manage your listings. Airbnb hosts can use their Airbnb login to access this area and create listings or edit information. Here are some of the tactics you can use to optimize your listings via the extranet.

Your Airbnb Title

Your listing title is your guests’ first glimpse of your property. It needs to be intriguing, creative, and accurate. “Two-bed flat” or “comfortable spare room” won’t fire the reader’s imagination. Instead, think about the things that make your property special. Do you have wonderful views? Is it a great location close to parking and public transport? Nearby attractions and amenities? Does the space you’re listing have some quirky or unusual characteristics that will grab a traveler’s attention? Try to incorporate this into your title. Consider why a guest might want to choose your property over another and emphasize those elements.

Full Property Description

Creating a brilliant Airbnb description is a powerful way to get your property seen and encourage guests to book. An Airbnb description needs to be concise — guests don’t want to read pages of text — but should include everything you and your property have to offer. Highlight the key features of your rental while at the same time including information about what makes it different and unique. As with your title, you need to consider the needs of your guests and think about ways that your property fulfills them.

Availability Calendar

Maintaining an up-to-date availability calendar is crucial to maintaining a good Airbnb reputation. Guests who find they’ve been double-booked or had their bookings canceled because of an error on your part are unlikely to be favorably impressed. Always ensure that your calendar only shows your property as available when it is unoccupied and ready for guests. It’s a good idea to automate this process using a channel manager. That way, your availability calendar will be adjusted whenever a guest books. This is especially useful if you’re managing multiple rooms or properties.

High-Resolution Images

Guests like seeing plenty of clear, high-resolution images when deciding whether to book a property. Images that are scanty, unclear, or poorly selected will do nothing to encourage bookings. Consider hiring a professional photographer for this if you can. Get plenty of good pictures of your rental property inside and out. Ensure you include images of any great features you’re using as selling points. Take pictures of each room from various angles so guests can see exactly what they’re booking. Consider including images of nearby amenities that guests might appreciate.

Managing Your Reviews

While a positive review of your property can brighten your day, a bad one can unsettle you. It’s important to respond courteously and respectfully to all your reviews, good and bad. Guests who leave a positive review appreciate getting a friendly response. Dissatisfied guests will often form a more positive opinion if you reach out and try to resolve the issue. Responding to reviews shows that you’re an engaged and active host and that future guests can come to you if you have concerns.

Introducing Different Cancellation Policies and Rates

It’s important to price your rentals in keeping with the local market. You don’t want to miss out on revenue by setting your prices too low, but you don’t want to deter guests from booking with inflated room rates. Do your research and find out what an appropriate rate should be for your location and property type. Be aware of fluctuations in demand due to the season; while charging higher rates during peak times is reasonable, you should be prepared to drop your prices during the off-season. Set reasonable cancellation periods that allow flexibility without leaving rooms unoccupied if a guest cancels.

Use Your Airbnb Login to Increase Your Bookings

This section will discover tactics to make your listings more visible and convert views into bookings.

Be Extremely Fast in Responding to Messages

You must offer quality customer service to get a 5/5 rating on Airbnb. That means being on the ball with messages. Responding promptly is crucial. If at all possible, you should try to respond within an hour. At the absolute outside, you must respond within 24 hours. This applies to all questions, comments, and other messages. Keep a friendly, informal tone to put your guests at ease. Feel free to offer any special deals or extras you think are reasonable.

Set Your Property to Instant Booking

You can apply various settings to your listings using your Airbnb login. One of these is the Instant Booking feature. This lets guests book with one click when they find the right property. The fewer steps a guest takes to complete the booking, the more likely they will do so instead of navigating away or closing the booking window. Setting your listings to Instant Booking can increase the number of bookings you receive.

Support Your Guests During Their Stay

Even if guests aren’t staying at your home, you should be available to them during their stay. This means providing contact information and being ready to answer any questions or fulfill any reasonable requests they may have. When your guests review your property at the end of the stay, one of the factors they’ll rate you on is the quality and consistency of your communication.

Allow Long-Term Rentals

These days, people are traveling more often. Leisure travel is more popular, and more people are working remotely. This means that there’s a higher demand for longer-term rentals. Airbnb has introduced a service called Spirit Stays to meet this growing need. Spirit Stays provides options for guests who want to stay longer, particularly in areas with fewer places. You can take advantage of the trend towards longer stays by allowing guests to book for extended periods. While the nightly rate may be lower, maintaining occupancy can offset this.

For Multiple Properties Consider Using Third-Party Managers

If you’ve read this far, you may feel a little daunted — especially if you’re handling two or more properties. Consider bringing in a third-party manager rather than struggling to handle everything yourself. Many professionals and companies can use their expertise to deal with your Airbnb properties for you. Using a third-party manager ensures that your guests are properly cared for and that any problems are dealt with speedily. Third-party managers require fees, but the time and stress saved may be well worth it.

Consider Airbnb Management Software

If you’re struggling with the workload of being an Airbnb host, something else that may help you is Airbnb management software. This software helps you by letting you automate various repetitive tasks. Management software can send out standard emails with directions, instructions for check-in, and house rules. It can also send reminders for cleaning and other tasks. While you might not need it if you’re letting out a spare room in your house, hotel technology like Airbnb management software can be extremely useful for hosts with multiple locations or who aren’t on-site to supervise in person.

Airbnb in the Context of Other Online Travel Agents

Airbnb is just one of many online travel agents and hotel booking services on the internet today. The hotel industry needs to know how to leverage these platforms to enhance revenue. It’s not enough to have an Airbnb login.

You need to be able to use multiple platforms effectively. There is a range of tactics you can use to get the most out of online travel agents. In “12 Online Travel Agents (OTAs) to Increase Your Hotel Bookings”, you’ll learn more about these platforms.

The Booking.com Online Travel Agent Giant

If you’re an Airbnb host, you might also want to list your property on Booking.com. This is one of the biggest online travel agencies around today. Learning to use the Booking extranet properly is key to generating the kind of revenue you want to see from your property.

You need to learn about creating an outstanding listing, managing bookings, and the features that can get you the bookings you want. In “Booking Extranet: 10 Strategies to Increase Your Revenue on Booking.com”, you’ll learn how the Booking extranet works and how to use it effectively.

Being an Airbnb host can be very rewarding. Using your Airbnb login effectively can turn spare rooms and unused properties into a source of revenue, even a business. You need a quality listing and good communication with your guests to get the most out of your Airbnb login.

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This article is written by:

Martijn Barten

Hi, I am Martijn Barten, founder of Revfine.com. With 20 years of experience in the hospitality industry, I specialize in optimizing revenue by combining revenue management with marketing strategies. I have successfully developed, implemented, and managed revenue management and marketing strategies for individual properties and multi-property portfolios.