The importance of captivating listing photos cannot be overstated. They are the first glimpse potential buyers or renters have into a property, and exceptional photos can lead to more inquiries, increased inspections, and ultimately, successful sales.
While modern smartphones boast impressive cameras, and following some fundamental principles of staging, composition, and lighting can yield good results, many real estate professionals opt for the expertise of a professional photographer.
We’ve noticed five common recurring mistakes when it comes to uploading listing photos. Today, we’ll explore these and offer simple solutions to make your listings truly stand out.
- Mastering the Basics: Whether photos are snapped by the agent using a smartphone or a digital camera, it’s crucial to understand the fundamentals of property photography. Proper room staging, composition, and thoughtful lighting all play a pivotal role in creating visually appealing photos.
- Photo Size Matters: Listing photos often come in two dimensions: pixel count and file size (in megabytes). Smartphones and professional cameras can produce photos as large as 9000 pixels wide, with file sizes exceeding 20Mb. Because websites are viewed on such a wide range of different devices from mobile phones to 4k monitors we recommend uploading photos that are at least 2560 pixels wide.
The Aro CRM automatically optimizes and resizes as you upload them so you don’t need to worry about large photos slowing down your website. - Aspect Ratio: Consider the layout of your website and major real estate portals; they typically showcase landscape-oriented photos (wider than they are tall). Using portrait-style photos (taller than they are wide) can result in these photos being zoomed in, displaying only a portion of the photo, and potentially missing out on essential details.
- Culling Redundant Photos: A common mistake is uploading every photo taken during a property shoot. However, it’s more effective to curate a selection that highlights the property’s most compelling features and evokes emotion. Quality should always take precedence over quantity.
- Boosting SEO: Listing photos can do wonders for your website’s Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Taking the time to optimize them by using fast-loading photos and renaming files while adding ALT tags with descriptions, the listing address, and sales or lease information can improve your website’s search engine ranking, potentially leading to more organic traffic to your agency website.
In Aro you can add your alt tags/descriptions by simply typing into the “Description” and “Alt text” fields for each photo when you upload them.
Next time you’re selecting and uploading photos for your listing, keep these suggestions in mind. By avoiding these common mistakes and following these straightforward tips, you can elevate your listings, attract more engagement, and boost your chances of making successful sales or leases.