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When It Comes to SEO, Airbnb Has Some Catching Up to Do
- ctdavies 11y agoHey Airbnb, don't further optimize: you'll lose your hipster cred.
- wesleytodd 11y ago"Hey Airbnb, stop growing: only appeal to a small amount of potential users" said no startup ever.
- ctdavies 11y agoThe belief in perpetual growth is a cultural malady. But you're right, no startup ever said that!
- choppaface 11y agoThe experience that Airbnb offers is distinct from most vacation rental services-- Airbnb hosts and travelers expect to have some amount of friendly interaction with each other. Rando SE users looking for hotel rooms don't have that expectation. If Airbnb took on SEO, they'd probably a long tail of customers who don't end up getting what they want through Airbnb's service. Furthermore, SEO won't help cultivate their social network, and word of mouth is getting them quality conversions right now. While I agree with the article that SEO is a complimentary marketing effort they're sagging on, perhaps they're doing so intentionally. If Airbnb had a more traditional hotel-like product then SEO promotion would probably help that product.
- ErikAugust 11y agoSEO is a distro channel. One of many. It, of course, helps, but it's not necessary. Remember these guys seeded their growth on Craigslist ads. And now have plenty of cap to advertise across a number of channels. And good products ultimately spread word-of-mouth and repeat usage, so I don't think SEO is something they have to be too worried about.