When It Comes to SEO, Airbnb Has Some Catching Up to Do

SEO 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.

The 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.

Hey Airbnb, don't further optimize: you'll lose your hipster cred.