Photos and descriptions do two jobs at once. They determine whether Google approves your listing, and they determine whether a traveller comparing four similar properties picks yours. The same work serves both, which makes this the highest-leverage content task in the whole channel.
It is also the task most often handed to a phone camera at the end of a turnover.
Photography standards
Technical minimums
- High resolution. Images get displayed at various sizes across Search, Maps and Travel. Small files look bad everywhere.
- Landscape orientation. Listing layouts are horizontal. Portrait images get cropped badly or rejected.
- Sharp focus. Soft images read as amateur regardless of the property.
- Natural light. Shoot during the day with curtains open and lights on to balance shadows.
- Straight lines. Level the camera. Converging verticals make rooms look distorted.
Coverage
Every space a guest will use: each bedroom, each bathroom, kitchen, living areas, outdoor space, parking, and the view if it is a selling point. A missing bathroom photo reads as a bathroom worth hiding.
Order
Lead with the single strongest image — the one that answers why someone would choose this property. Then move through the space in the order a guest would experience it: arrival, main living area, kitchen, bedrooms, bathrooms, outdoor.
Your first image does most of the work. It is what appears in a listing panel next to competitors.
What to avoid
- Heavy filters. Saturated skies and crushed shadows signal that reality is being improved.
- Extreme wide angle. Making a small room look enormous produces disappointed guests and bad reviews. The booking is not worth it.
- Clutter. Personal items, bins, cables, cleaning supplies.
- People. Guests are imagining themselves in the space.
- Stale photos. Furniture you replaced two years ago is a mismatch a guest will notice on arrival.
- Text overlays and logos. They look like advertising and can cause problems at review.
Is professional photography worth it?
For a property earning meaningful annual revenue, yes — comfortably. It is a one-time cost that improves conversion on every channel simultaneously, and it is the difference most visible to a traveller scanning results. Reshoot after any significant refurbishment, and consider seasonal shots if your property looks materially different in summer and winter.
Description standards
Write for the comparison, not the search engine
Your reader is deciding between your property and three similar ones. They want to know what it is actually like and whether it suits their trip. Keyword-stuffed copy fails at exactly that moment.
What to cover
- Opening: What this property is and who it suits, in two sentences
- Layout: How the space works — open plan, split level, which floor
- Sleeping arrangements: Specific. Bed sizes and configuration per room, because families plan around it
- Kitchen and living: What is actually there for a self-catering stay
- Outdoor space: Size, aspect, furniture, privacy
- Location: Distances to what people come for, in walking or driving minutes
- Practicalities: Parking, wifi, accessibility, stairs, pets, air conditioning
- Who it suits: Couples, families, groups, remote workers — and honestly, who it does not
Be specific
“Close to the beach” tells a traveller nothing. “An eight-minute walk to the north end of the beach, with the shops on the way” tells them everything. Specificity is what makes a description trustworthy, and trust is what converts.
Make each property genuinely different
Near-identical copy across your portfolio with only the bedroom count changed is a common cause of stalled approvals, and it reads as carelessness to a guest. If two properties are genuinely similar, write about what distinguishes them — the view, the street, the layout, the light.
This is the same duplicate-content discipline that applies to location pages, for the same reason.
Be honest about limitations
Third-floor walk-up with no lift. Road noise at the front. Small second bedroom. Stating these costs you a few bookings from people it would not have suited, and saves you the reviews those guests would have written. Net, it is strongly positive.
Amenity data is not optional
Travellers filter results by amenities. An unticked field removes you from every filtered search where that amenity is selected — even though your property has it.
Go through every applicable field in your system and complete it. This is unglamorous admin and it is probably the highest-return hour available on this channel.
Then make sure the description and photos support what the amenity data claims. A listed hot tub with no hot tub photo raises a question you do not want raised.
A pre-submission checklist
- Twenty or more high-resolution landscape photos per property
- Every room and outdoor space covered
- Strongest image first, logical order after
- No filters, distortion, clutter, people or overlays
- Photos current, matching the property as it is today
- Description unique to this property
- Sleeping arrangements specified per room
- Distances given in minutes, not adjectives
- Limitations stated honestly
- Every applicable amenity field completed
- Description, photos and amenity data all consistent
Frequently asked questions
How many photos is enough?
Twenty or more for a whole property, covering every space. Fewer than ten looks like something is being left out.
Can I reuse my Airbnb photos?
If you own or licensed them, yes. Check your agreement — photography commissioned through a platform is not always yours to use elsewhere.
How long should a description be?
Long enough to answer what a traveller needs and no longer. Roughly 300 to 500 words covers most properties without padding.
Should I mention nearby businesses by name?
Yes, where genuinely useful — it demonstrates local knowledge and helps travellers orient. Just keep it current, since businesses close.
Want your listings reviewed?
Content problems are the most common reason submissions stall, and they are difficult to judge on your own properties. Ask for a free content review and we will tell you what would fail and what is costing you bookings.
