Basics for improving ranking

Growth on any platform can take a little time, but there are simple ways to increase your ranking and boost your visibility. Mainly, the key to securing more bookings is to make sure you understand and adjust to the needs of your guests.

To help you attract more potential guests and increase your property’s visibility on our platform, we've laid out our rankings basics.

What’s in this article

Understanding your audience

Every traveller is unique and their needs change over time. That’s why our ranking algorithm is optimised to meet evolving demands throughout the search journey. This helps your property attract the right kind of guests.

A search journey can be split into five different stages:

1. Explore – a potential guest is thinking about taking a trip. They start searching for and exploring destinations, property types, particular facilities (e.g. swimming pools), prices and dates.
2. Compare – they’ve decided what their needs are. They start comparing different available accommodation, weighing up which one best fulfills their needs.
3. Book – having chosen the accommodation that best matches their preferences, they make a reservation.
4. Experience – their experience of a property begins the moment they’ve made a booking and continues right through to the end of their stay.
5. Evaluate – the guest evaluates their overall experience both during their stay and after they check out. That’s why guest reviews are a good indicator of how guests rate the quality of and service at your property.

You can get an even deeper understanding of your guests with the help of our Booker insights tool. Find this in the Analytics section in the extranet to see:

• Which countries guests book from
• Which devices they use (mobile or desktop)
• Their reason for travelling (business or leisure)

You can use this information to identify opportunities to earn additional revenue, by setting up business or country-specific rates for example.

Optimising your property’s performance

It’s important for your property to be visible in the different stages of a potential guest’s search journey. This will maximise your conversion rate (the percentage of people who book after viewing your page). 

Conversion is the main indicator of how well your property performs on our platform. That’s why our ranking algorithm is optimised for conversion. Here are a few suggestions for engaging potential guests and increasing your conversion rate.

Be available

We always recommend loading rooms or units for at least one year ahead. You’d be surprised by the number of early birds out there who plan trips far in advance.

If you haven’t decided what your rates will be, just copy this year’s rates over to next year in the extranet. That way, you can buy yourself some thinking time without missing out on those potential advance bookings.

Be attractive

In order to market your property effectively, you need to grab the attention of bookers. You can do this by making sure your property page has attractive, high-resolution photos, a complete description of your property and an accurate list of facilities.

This not only helps people find the property that best matches their needs, it helps you set the right expectations if they book your place. In the Property section in the extranet, the Property page score tells you how you’re doing with your content and offers tips on how to improve it.

Be competitive

Value for money is important to travellers, so your prices play a vital role in their decision-making while they’re searching and comparing properties.

Choosing a price strategy that best suits your business is important, but we also advise you to offer different rate plans that appeal to all kinds of potential guests. Think of the options travellers might be looking for – some people can’t be without breakfast, while others would rather start the day with just coffee.

It’s also important to set a competitive price within your market, as guests often compare accommodation options before making a booking. That way, your rates will always reflect changing traveller demand.

In the Analytics section in the extranet, the Performance Dashboard indicates how competitive your rates are compared to your prices on other channels.

Remember, competitiveness isn’t just about price. To be seen by more potential bookers, try to offer some flexibility in your policies. For example, think about how you might be able to allow some wiggle room in your cancellation policies and restrictions.

Ranking basics – our top tip

Adding availability is the number one way to be seen by potential guests. Load your available rooms or units 12 months in advance and offer flexibility with restrictions. That way, you’ll increase the likelihood of being seen by more bookers searching on our platform.

Managing your brand

Remember that you are your own brand manager. Writing a personal welcome message and answering questions can really add to an overall experience. Guest message templates can save you time and help make communication easier.

In the long term, managing expectations through your content and having good communication will help you to get even better guest reviews. Good reviews influence others to book, as many travellers filter searches based on review scores.

Add a human touch by responding to everyone who takes the time to review your property, whether their review is positive or critical. Check out our tips for responding to reviews.

Want more tips?

You can capture the attention of even more potential guests with the help of our ranking tools.