Professional photography service means your listing is placed higher?

[Andrew-and-Sally0]

I've heard that if you use Airbnb's professionl photography service then your listing gets a higher priority, does anyone know if this is true? We're fairly new to this and have just had our 10th  review, and all have been 5*  so we're looking forward to getting superhost status so that our listing shows (we're in a popular location so our listing doesn't show until you zoom in on our street 😞   But I understand that its a quarterly assessment, and its January now, so I'm guessing that we won't get superhost status until after March 😞 😞 

So I wondered if we invested in the professional photography services, maybe our listing would show when zoomed out.

Any help or 

[Lynette57]

Hi @Andrew-and-Sally0 , I have never used a professional photographer, but from all the feedback I have read it is not usually a good move, Although they MAY take a few good shots , you will lose tha ability to choose your photo's for your site, Air B&B will choose the ones they want , and that is not usually the best choice. Before making the move to go down that path I would wait until you get actual feedback from people who have done this,

Good luck with your choice. You seem to be doing rather well without change,

Cheers

Lynette

[Susan151]

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@Lynette57 wrote:

Hi @Andrew-and-Sally0 , I have never used a professional photographer, but from all the feedback I have read it is not usually a good move, Although they MAY take a few good shots , you will lose tha ability to choose your photo's for your site, Air B&B will choose the ones they want ,

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This isn't true. This is only the case if you are part of the AirBNB Plus program. However, that said, if you were going to have some professional photographs taken, choose your own photographer based on your budget and aesthetics. This way you can use the photos on any site including your own.

[Andrew-and-Sally0]

Thanks Lynette and Susan. Good advice 

[Lisa723]

@Andrew-and-Sally0 I don't think it's true that using Airbnb's photo service will change your listing placement. It is however true that professional-grade photos will probably indirectly affect your listing placement as they will make your place more attractive to bookers. @Lynette57 that's true for Airbnb Plus but not for professional photo service in general. Airbnb will select the candidate shots but you are free not to use them, to use others, or to move them around, etc.

[Andrew-and-Sally0]

Thanks Lisa

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Andrew-and-Sally0

The best is if you hire your own professional photographer. Then you own them and can use them wherever you want. 

I've never heard that hiring Airbnb professional photographer would have any impact on your search results but the truth is - better photos = more views = more bookings = better search ranking so it is definitely worth to spend some money on it.

Superhost status will NOT affect your search ranking.

[Andrew-and-Sally0]

Thanks Branka and Silvia. I didn't realise that Superhost status would not affect my search ranking 😞

So is it just the amount of bookings you've had? It all seems quite  random. Some people with only 7 booking and no superhost appear and we don't. Is it a magic art?

[Gordon0]

@Andrew-and-Sally0 Like @Lynette57 says, you're not doing too bad already. My only feedback  about your photos would be they're better to be clutter-free, for instance, photo no. 2 has load of wires/stuff going on. I appreciate we all have gadgets, but just like estate agent pics, we need to remove 'real life' clutter and pretend we live in show homes. 

Likewise, remove any over-pixilated photos (you have a number which I assume have been swiped from the internet). 

Otherwise, keep doing what you're doing...oh, and Superhost status doesn't transport you to the end of the rainbow or help you find the holy grail.

[Andrew-and-Sally0]

Thanks for the advice and feedback Gordon. I've been thinking about changing that photo, so this'll be my motivation 😉 

Shame about superhost status not taking me to the end of the rainbow, any top tips for getting our property more visible?

[Barry-and-Lera0]

@Andrew-and-Sally0: Hire a real, real estate photographer if you are looking to update pictures and keep the credit for traveling. Using an Airbnb photo sub-contractor will not bump you in search rankings.

[Andrew-and-Sally0]

Thanks Barry & Lera

[Krystal16]

@Andrew-and-Sally0

Feel free to check out my listings, I have two listings.

https://www.airbnb.ca/rooms/16899834?preview_for_ml=true&guests=1&adults=1

https://www.airbnb.ca/rooms/17951694?preview_for_ml=true&guests=1&adults=1

I am lucky to have a nephew who is a professional photographer, however he is rarely home since he travels the world assisting the main photographer for Fairmount Hotels 🙂  yes I am very lucky.  Anyhow, if you look at the photos I have taken (don't worry you will be able to tell) vs. the photos he took there is a significant difference.  It may not be worth while to get a photographer through airbnb if that is true that you don't get to pick your photos (however I think that might only be for Airbnb Plus but dont quote me on that) but it might be worth while to get a photographer for professional photos.  

Having more professional photos catches peoples eye and draws them to your listing, the more clicks you get on your listing the farther you go up in the search filters and the more likely your unit is to get booked.  My personal opinion but others may have a different view.

[Andrew-and-Sally0]

Thanks Krystal, your photos look great. 

[Krystal16]

@Andrew-and-Sally0

And as others have mentioned you want a photographer that takes photos for real estate / property listings they know the right lighting etc and what is required to sell a home, renting your airbnb property is the same concept.  A regular photographer who does headshots or family portraits wont be able to bring you the same result as a photographer who does mainly property photos.