Many hosts and property managers think page views are just about how many times their listing shows up in search results. But it's much more than that. Understanding your page views can unlock powerful insights into your listing's performance, giving you the chance to optimize and boost your bookings. In this blog, we'll clear up the confusion and show you how to interpret this vital metric to take your Airbnb listing to the next level.
The Airbnb performance dashboard explained
You can track your hosting progress by logging into Airbnb’s professional hosting tools. These tools allow you to review:
- Your listings’ historical, future, and real-time performance across business metrics
- Comparisons between your own listings and similar ones in your area
With the ability to search, filter, and compare your hosting performance over the past 12 months, you can easily gain insights into upcoming bookings, and select which listings to include by using the search and filter bar in each section. Go to Insights and you’ll find performance metrics for these key areas:
- Conversion
- Page views
- Occupancy & Rates
- Quality
- Hosting Progress
In this blog, we will dive deeper into the page views metric, how to find them, understand them, and act on the insights you gain from them.Understanding data for Airbnb page viewsAirbnb page views is one of the most important metrics to track when evaluating your listing’s performance. It shows the number of unique visitors who have clicked on your listing page, when searching for trip dates within your selected dates, during the 90 days leading up to those days. If you’ve ever been confused about what this metric means, you’re not alone. Let’s take a deep dive into how you should interpret page view data.
Let’s answer Rich and Courtney's question in this blog.
Airbnb performance data by time and region
You can select a time frame for the data shown in each section, allowing you to view performance up to 1 year back in time and up to 6 months in the future. Ever wondered how Airbnb is able to predict the future? The answer is: it is not. This future data is based on how many people have seen your listing while looking for stays in the future.
Comparing performance data
What are the best settings to look at your listings’ page views? The Airbnb performance dashboard allows you to compare your listings’ performance to time periods or to a competitive set of listings. The best way to analyze your listing’s page views is by comparing against similar listings, not just your own past performance. How similar listings are determined
Factors that determine which listings Airbnb considers similar include:
- Location
- Size
- Features
- Amenities
- Ratings
- Reviews
- Guest browsing behavior
The performance dashboard also allows you to compare your listing(s) to other listings with specific characteristics. You can pick different categories and add specific requirements to your competitors. These include:
- Rooms and beds
- Bedrooms
- Beds
- Baths
- Regions
- Amenities
Average page views: what it means
The average page views metric shows how many unique visitors clicked on your listing page while searching for trip dates within your selected timeframe. This is measured during the 90 days leading up to the selected dates.
Think of Airbnb’s average page views like a calendar-based tracking system. The views aren’t recorded when someone clicks on your listing, they are logged for the dates the guest was searching for.
Let’s say today is February 1st, and a guest clicks on your listing while searching for a stay in April. That page view won’t count for February. Instead, it will be added to April’s data on your performance graph.
So, when you check your metrics in April, you’ll see that someone viewed your listing back in February while searching for an April stay.
Average first-page search impressions: what it means
First-page search impressions show how many distinct people have seen your listing on the first page of search results during the last 90 days. But it doesn’t matter if they clicked on your listing or not. Just appearing in their search results counts as an impression.
Let’s break it down with an example. Imagine Mark is searching for a vacation rental in Paris for a weekend in March. He searches on a Monday, and your listing shows up on the first page of results. Even if he doesn’t click on your listing, that still counts as one search impression. The key thing to remember here is that the impression gets recorded for the date Mark was searching for the stay, not the date he saw your listing.
The connection between booking lead time and page views
One important factor to keep in mind when analyzing your page views is booking lead time; the average time between when a guest starts searching and when they actually book their stay.
For example, if your typical guests book 45 days in advance, then most of your listing’s views today are from people planning stays over a month from now. This means that any changes you make to improve your listing, whether it’s updating your description, adding better photos, or adjusting pricing, won’t immediately impact tomorrow’s visibility. Instead, your improvements will start affecting searches for the most in-demand dates within your specific booking window.
How to find your booking window on Airbnb
- Navigate to your performance dashboard.
- Go to insights via ‘Menu’
- Click on performance and navigate to ‘Conversions’
- There you will be able to see your average booking lead time
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Why booking lead time matters for listing optimization
If your listing has low future page views, it may indicate that guests searching for upcoming high-demand periods aren’t finding your property.If you make improvements to your listing by using AutoRank for example, keep in mind that you’re optimizing for future searchers, not only for last-minute travelers.Like most metrics, the booking window, or booking lead time, follows a normal distribution, as shown in the Gauss curve below. This means that around 95% of bookings cluster around the average Airbnb displays. However, the two long tails at both ends of the graph are just as important. A small but significant group of guests book last-minute, offering a chance to fill empty rooms, while others plan their stays far in advance.This curve is a generalisation and looks different for every market. To understand your distribution you have to look at your historic data, to find any patterns in last-minute bookings or long-term bookings. Optimizing for both ends of the spectrum can help maximize occupancy and revenue.
By tracking how your page views evolve over time, you can measure whether your updates are helping attract more visibility for the dates your guests typically search for.
How an Airbnb listing tripled page views
A short-term rental property wanted to increase page views and improve its ranking in Airbnb search results. The owner wanted a way to drive consistent visibility and stay ahead of the competition.The Solution: The owner implemented AutoRank, which continuously optimized the listing by adjusting descriptions and improving ranking by optimizing the listing based on changes in guest search behavior.
The booking lead time for this listing was 45 days. Looking at the graph you can see the impact for the first 45 days was gradually increasing on listing views, but at that 45 day mark, the listing’s visibility reached a noticeable peak.
At the three-month mark, page views had stabilized at a level 300% higher than before. The listing maintained this elevated visibility.
This demonstrates that listing optimization efforts don’t show immediate results but have a delayed and compounding impact over time. Hosts should expect a lag between when optimizations are made and when they translate into higher bookings, reinforcing the importance of ongoing adjustments and long-term strategy. Read the full case study here.
In short, listing optimization is an investment in future demand, not an instant fix for tomorrow’s bookings. Understanding your booking lead time will help you set realistic expectations and track improvements more effectively.
Why your listing views are important for your Airbnb performance
Every Airbnb booking starts with visibility. If guests don’t see your listing, they won’t click, let alone book. That’s why first-page impressions (how often your listing appears on page one of search results) and page views (how many guests click on it) are crucial.
Special cases to consider when analyzing Airbnb page views
Now that we’ve covered the basics, let’s dive into some special cases where page views may fluctuate. Recognizing these scenarios can help you adjust your strategy accordingly.
New listings
Airbnb actually pushes new listings in the search results if you apply the ‘new listing promotion’, but only for the first month of it being listed. It is important to leverage that month to get as many guests as possible and make sure they have a great experience at your property so they can leave good reviews.
Price sensitivity
If your pricing is too high or too low, it can impact your page views. Too high, and guests may skip your listing; too low, and you may attract low-quality inquiries. Adjust your pricing based on performance data to balance competitive pricing with profitability.
Blocked dates and booked dates
Listings with many blocked dates won’t show up in searches for those dates, leading to no page views for those specific time periods, impacting your average listing views. A blocked date might be due to the owner blocking those dates for personal use of the accommodation, or it might be due to bookings made on other platforms. If you notice drops in page views during blocked or booked dates, this is expected.
If you see high visibility during dates that are not booked yet, but sudden drops during booked dates, there is nothing to worry about, and your page views should go up quickly for dates after the booked ones.
Other factors impacting your Airbnb page views
1. Changes in search algorithm or guest behavior
Airbnb’s search algorithm isn’t static, it changes over time to improve the guest experience and better match travelers with the right listings. These updates can directly impact where and how often your listing appears in search results.
Additionally, guest behavior is constantly evolving. People might be shifting from booking traditional stays to seeking out unique experiences or last-minute reservations.
If you stay on top of these algorithm shifts and trends, you can adjust your listing’s optimization to keep it competitive and ensure you're not left behind.
2. Listing optimization issues
As mentioned before, Airbnb pushes new listings in the search results the first month after going live. You can actually leverage this effect for longer if you make regular data-driven changes and updates to your listings. Changing the title, description, summary and photos of the stay will keep it fresh and visible.
If your listing’s description is vague or doesn’t clearly highlight the key selling points of your space, it could fail to capture guests’ attention. Learn more about writing the perfect listing descriptions in our previous blog.
To boost page views, invest time in high-quality, well-lit photos and make sure your descriptions are detailed, accurate, and speak to what guests are really looking for.
Find out how AutoRank can help you do that effortlessly.
3. Local events or holidays
Local events, festivals, or holidays can have a significant impact on the number of page views your listing gets. When a popular event is coming to town, travelers will often search for nearby accommodations, so properties close to the event can see a spike in page views.
To stand out during those events, update your availability and pricing to reflect the peak dates and use keywords related to the event in your listing title or description to make sure you're visible to people searching for accommodations near it.
How to use the insights from Airbnb page views in practice
Now that we explained the concept of page views on Airbnb, it is time to learn how to use this information to your advantage.
Monitoring long-term data
For a general overview it is best to use the longest available time frame and compare against similar listings in your area. This ensures you’re making strategic, data-driven decisions.
Here is why:
- Avoiding misleading data from seasonal changes
If you only compare your listing’s page views over time without context, you might think your performance is declining when it’s actually just a seasonal trend. For example, if your beachside property gets far fewer views in winter compared to summer, that doesn’t mean your listing is performing worse, it’s just the natural flow of demand.By comparing against similar listings in your area instead, you get a clearer picture of whether your performance is strong or if competitors are outperforming you.
- Maximizing data for more reliable trends
Using the longest available time period (1.5 years: 1 year in the past + 6 months into the future) gives you a full view of historical trends while also allowing you to anticipate upcoming demand.
- Past Data (1 year back): Helps you identify trends, seasonality, and performance fluctuations based on real guest behavior.
- Future Data (6 months ahead): Lets you see booking trends, understand upcoming demand, and make proactive adjustments to your pricing and availability.
The longer the time period, the more stable the data becomes, reducing the impact of short-term fluctuations and helping you make informed decisions.
Monitoring short-term data
Focusing on specific upcoming dates is also crucial, especially during peak seasons or local events. If you see lower page views for these periods, it may indicate that your listing isn't appearing high in search results.
Regularly monitoring short-term data allows for timely interventions, ensuring your property remains competitive.
By systematically analyzing both long-term and short-term page view data and implementing targeted revenue management strategies, you can optimize your Airbnb listing's performance, leading to increased bookings and higher revenue.
Fine-tuning your revenue management strategy
Page view data can be a game-changer when it comes to pricing your listing effectively.
If you're getting plenty of views but not many bookings, chances are something is putting potential guests off. In that case making your description more compelling can make all the difference and you can turn this dip in views around.
On the other hand, if both your views and bookings are low, it might be time for a bigger reset. This could mean improving your listing’s SEO to appear in more searches, in combination with adjusting your pricing to be more competitive, or even running limited-time promotions to attract guests.
Conclusion: leveraging visibility for more bookings
Your Airbnb listing’s success starts with visibility, but visibility alone isn’t enough. By applying these insights and continuously refining your strategy, you can turn page views into actual bookings and maximize your revenue potential.