Images help create a beautiful and enjoyable website, but they are essential when advertising a property. No renter wants to spend money without seeing a space first, especially if it's a vacation rental.
Providing quality images to your visitors is key to the success of your rental properties.
But, many owners may not have the money to invest in a photographer or videographer. This list is intended to provide some methods for reducing your budget, while still creating quality images for your site.
1. Equipment:
When we think of photography we often think of expensive cameras, lenses, and lights. These are all great and can help create amazing images. But, they also cost a substantial amount of money, are require a significant amount of training to use effectively.
Unless you have a high-quality camera, we recommend simply using your phone. Most iPhones (generation 6 plus and beyond) provide images that surpass the recommended resolution for several common websites. And, with built-in editing and filters, you can adjust your image with little training or additional software.
2. Image Dimensions and Resizing:
In a previous post, we mentioned the importance of knowing the recommended resolution for the website you're uploading to. Finding this information is easy, it's as quick as a Google search. You can go above this resolution amount, but keep in mind, a larger image will require more load time.
This isn't a problem for a single image, but when your entire listing page is filled with high-resolution images, your webpage can slow down. We recommend reducing your image dimensions to prevent loading issues. Here are some different methods for reducing your image size.
Photoshop. If you own a copy of Photoshop, reducing image size can be performed by accessing Image, then Image Size, then reducing the Pixel Dimensions to the appropriate number.
Mac. Open your image, select tools, and resize the image to your desired dimensions.
PC. On Windows 10, the process is a little more complex. Open Paint 3D, and open the image you want to edit. Select Canvas. On the right, you will find Resize Canvas. Select the dimensions you want and save the image.
3. Using Stock Images:
Not all images on your website need to be personally created. You can go the stock image route, but with a few caveats.
Stock images are widely used. And, after a while, they will reduce the "personal" quality of your website. Your best bet is to decide a stock image, and edit it. This way, your image will appear more personal.
You could add your logo to the image, or adjust it to fit the color scheme of your website. You could even find images of a similar style or visual theme. This will maintain cohesion across your webpage. These images should be related to one another, but they don't have to relate to your subject.
To find stock images, you have a few options:
Shutterstock. With a large database of both stock images and videos, this option is comprehensive. Images here have a cost, though it isn't much.
Unsplash. For a free route, Unsplash provides high-quality images, but with less selection.
Wix. Wix provides stock images for free from their own database, they also integrate Shutterstock into their image selector, allowing you to find both from one location.
4. How to Take the Right Photo:
Going the personal route is preferable but time-consuming. These tips will help you create quality images with the basic equipment listed above. If you don't have some of these items, then don't worry, checking a few boxes on this list will provide a quality image to make you and your guests happy.
Use an iPhone 11 (or higher). This generation of iPhone comes with a wide-angle camera. Before taking your photo, make sure you are in the wide-angle setting. This will allow your camera to pick up more light and broaden the image to make your rental feel brighter and larger -- two features guests enjoy.
Turn on all the lights and open all the windows. Again, light is a factor here. We want the rooms to feel bright and welcoming, even if a space is small. Having natural and artificial light in the shot will provide this effect.
Take photos from one of the corners of the room. This will help the rest of your images link together, giving your visitors a sense of layout and allows rooms to feel larger.
Take photos of important features and amenities. Want to highlight the home theater in your rental? Make sure you include a picture of it!
Take photos at "Golden Hour". The "Golden Hour" is when sunlight isn't harsh, usually just before sunset and just after sunrise. This will allow images of the outside to appear more natural.
5. Naming Your Image Files:
The name of your image file slips by most people. But naming a file appropriately can help you in several ways.
First, it assists your organization. Looking for an image of your property for a blog post? You can go right to the appropriate file.
Second, it helps with your website's SEO. An image with an appropriate title will show up in certain searches, allowing you to be easily found on the web.
To name your images, we recommend finding a good keyword for your property, and including the name of the room, or some other simple identifier. This way your image can be both organized, and show up in a search.
6. How to Use Your Images:
Many of these images will be used on your listing for your property. But, they could also be used for promotions. Social Media and advertising are a few options.
For Social Media, Instagram works best for images, just make sure you follow the above rules!
For your listing, try to upload your photos in an order that makes sense for walking through your space. If it's a large home, have the photo of the door be followed by the photo of the entryway, the entryway followed by the living room, etc. Make sure your images create a story as your visitors click through them, this way they feel they are taking a tour without having to visit the space.
Lastly, use your images in your blog posts. This could help promote your rental and improve SEO (Search Engine Optimization), just make sure your image files are named appropriately, like in step 5.
Using these tips you can create passable images for your rental property, without spending too much money. Have fun in this process, and do what works for you. Good luck!
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