A picture is worth a thousand words. This well-known statement is particularly true when it comes to taking photos of the place you want to rent out on Airbnb or other rental listing websites.
Even if your vacation rental is in a fantastic location and is a good value for its price, your potential guests will judge your home based on the Airbnb pictures. Travelers tend to choose Airbnb listings that have inviting, captivating photos. The ideal Airbnb pics present the rental space to feel like home.
Typically, Airbnb listings with beautiful photos get more views and appear higher in search results. That’s why it’s essential to take great photos to attract more guests and boost your occupancy rate.
The good news is that you don’t need to be a professional photographer to take perfect photos of your short-term rental property. In this guide, we’ll provide you with tips on how to take pictures for a house listing to make a powerful first impression on your potential guests.
You may also want to learn more about Airbnb decorating ideas that can help you attract more guests.
Airbnb Pics: How Many Photos Can You Put per Listing?
Airbnb allows travelers to see up to 100 photos for a listing, but that doesn’t mean you should upload so many. You should prioritize quality over quantity. It’s better to have ten high-quality pictures that make your Airbnb stand out than 50 blurred images of your rental.
Still, too few Airbnb pictures might not be enough to give travelers a good idea of what your rental offers. So ideally, you should upload between 20-30 high-quality photos in total for your listing. You may take several pictures for each room in your rental space and upload the best ones.
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Airbnb Images: What Are the Requirements?
There are no strict regulations for Airbnb images, but there are size and style guides. Airbnb recommends that hosts use the landscape format. Vertical photos won’t showcase your space as well, so you should take pictures in a width-to-length aspect ratio of 3:2.
It’s also important to upload pictures with the right resolution. You should use photos that are at least 1024px x 683px, and when in doubt, a bigger photo is better.
How to Take Pictures for a House Listing to Tell an Amazing Story
Photos are the first thing prospective guests look at when browsing through listings. They can make or break a traveler’s decision to book your space.
Your photos should create a tour of your Airbnb to help guests understand and imagine themselves in your space before they book. If they are done right, you’ll get loads of bookings. Here are some tips on taking great photos of your listing that will help guests book with confidence.
Set the Scene.
A clean and tidy home is always inviting, so clean up your rental space to make it spotless. You may use our cleaning checklist to make sure you won’t miss anything. You should also declutter the entire property for a spacious and inviting look. Carefully check each room to make sure it’s photo-ready.
Use Natural Light
Remember that daylight works best because it brings out natural depth, color, and contrast in a setting. So shoot during the day, open the blinds, and turn on the lights to brighten your space and convey a welcoming feel. This way, your photos will look more professional.
Shoot Into a Corner
This technique will help you give a sense of true perspective and show as many details as possible, while shooting flat onto a wall can make a space seem smaller than in real life. Try different angles to capture the atmosphere of the listing.
Watch the Composition
In general, the best height to take photos is a chest height level. Actually, the goal is to fill the photo with enough balance of floor and ceiling and the contents of the room. You should also ensure there isn’t any dead space.
Show off Unique Amenities
Is there anything that sets your place apart from other rentals in your area? Maybe you have an awesome kitchen, a sweet backyard patio with a barbeque, or a fireplace in your living room? Highlight these unique details because guests like to stay in spaces with character.
Pay attention to little details, such as a guitar that your guests can use or a beautiful candelabra on the mantelpiece. Show off things that fill your home with life. Stack some of your favorite books to give guests a sense of your personality. Arrange some flowers and add plants to make a room feel more inviting.
It’s helpful to capture noteworthy features and amenities in the context of your greater space. For example, take a wide-frame photo of folded towels on a bench by a claw-foot bathtub rather than a close-up of the bathtub’s handles.
Take Photos Outside
Don’t forget to include the exterior in your Airbnb photography so that guests can recognize your rental property when they arrive. And take pictures of your neighborhood to convey its essence and feel. People love to see where you live, so make sure to get a few photos of local attractions and your favorite places.
Airbnb Photography: How to Organize Photo Section for Your Listing
Organize and categorize your photos before you upload them. If you upload your pictures in no particular order, travelers won’t be able to get an idea of your rental’s layout. It’s better to group your photos by room and area and then decide which ones are the best.
The first six images in your listing are the most important—your cover photo that will be shown in search results and a grid of five photos displayed at the top of your listing page. So it’s essential to put your best images first. It’s also critical to pair the title of your listing to your cover photo as best you can.
Choose one photo from every room and area to upload first. Be sure to include photos from the following rooms: the main bedroom, a kitchen, a living area, a dining area, and a bathroom. You can also showcase an amazing view or spectacular feature within your space.
These most attractive photos will give viewers an idea of what they can expect to see in your rental before browsing the other pictures and entice them to look at more.
After that, you can upload the rest of your photos in categories. Most Airbnb listings start with the kitchen images and then move onto the living room, bedrooms, bathrooms, outdoor areas, and neighborhood. Add 20 to 30 photos to create a comprehensive overview of your space.
And don’t forget to add captions to all photos that you upload. Make sure that captions highlight the focal point of each picture and promote your rental’s unique amenities to guests.
Final Thought
Uploading high-quality photos of your rental property is crucial for getting bookings on Airbnb. Keep in mind that it’s important to photograph every space that your potential guests can access.
We hope that our tips will help you take perfect Airbnb pictures to make a powerful first impression and give potential guests a great idea of what your space is really like. Just make sure you feature enough photos of your rental property to help set guests’ expectations and showcase the personality of your space.
