You need to look beyond the published asking nightly rates of similar properties on Airbnb — just because a few listings ask for $250 per night doesn’t mean guests are paying that much nor does it mean that these listings are able to fill their availabilities at this rate. And what the performance is like during one part of the calendar may look

For a current list of recommended third-party pricing providers, go to www.learnbnb.com/airbnbfordummies.

you create a strong listing from the start and a lot of your views turn into bookings, here’s what will happen: Airbnb will give you more views long term, and those views will turn into more and more bookings and consequently more and more dollars. You get even more reviews from all your bookings. With these reviews, assuming you’ve done an

Consider if you have a pullout couch in the living room but lack bedding for that pullout couch. In this case, guests can’t use the pullout couch so including it in the listing doesn’t make sense. Cover your bases and make sure any additions or amenities are properly set up and ready for use by your guests.

Airbnb’s search algorithm is ultimately what determines how many people actually see your listing. When you first launch your listing, Airbnb will send lots of traffic to it to give it a shot. If your listing isn’t optimized and you don’t turn that traffic into bookings, you’ll notice that the amount of traffic your listing receives will slow down

It conditions guests to see the positives. Almost no guests will leave negative comments in a guest book during their stay so your guest book essentially will be filled with the positive messages left from your previous guests. Even for guests who ultimately don’t sign the guest book, many will read it, more likely to see their stay in a similar

This limits search results to listings that can accommodate the requested number of guests and children, if requested. For example, if a guest inputs for two children and an infant, then only listings that both accommodate children and infants will show up in the search results.

If you’re listing a whole house: Figuring out what space is accessible to guests is simple: Keep all areas in your house available to guests. Ideally, you don’t block off any space other than maybe a closet if you want to lock something away.

Coffee maker: Most people consider a basic coffee maker as a must-have. Along with this, include some fresh coffee available that will last at least the first morning of your guests’ stay.