I totally agree with you, Gordon (sorry, I can't tag you). A familiar face or a picture is essentially an extra guarantee.
An image conveys emotions that are stronger than what words can do. No blurry photo shoots. Yes photos with members of your family in order to convey a protected, welcoming atmosphere that should distinguish you from a hotel.
The right image determines that a prospective “client” may or may not choose you. Probably not all the description of your ad will be read, but at least the guest will surely look at the first (high resolution) picture.
And when he has to decide which house to rent, he will certainly not think of the one with the supermarket 300 feet away, but the one with the inlaid doors or the fancy tiles or the roofgarden with a telescope.
But the title remains your business card, and it will be the title to be “captured” in search engines. It must contain all useful information including the location and the type of accommodation. You can also insert the name of the university or its acronym in the title to be “captured” in search engines or save letters with abbreviations (Lrg / Sml / Cls to etc.).
The success in this field lies – and I say this partly in response to @Quincy - in the opening sentence of the ad. It should be fair, accurate and of high quality. It should draw the guest's attention, inspire confidence and invite him to book.
It’s difficult to write a good title. It should be simple. No distractions. Clarity, synthesis and completeness. It is important to find the right keywords.
The tourists that come to see Piccadilly Circus and the Tower of London and are looking for a spacious room in the central area, will enter “Spacious room in Central London” into search engines.
A number of results is being proposed, many of the links have a high ranking, following a indexation or because it has been decided to pay for that position (pay per click).
The tourist will focus on the first research results. He will probably go through the entire first page or maybe he will look for something on page two or three, but he’ll hardly go further.
On AIRBNB several factors affect the determination of search results: the quality of the ad (photos and reviews), the hosting experience, the ease of booking (quick response), the guests' preferences.
Whereas in the past you focused your attention on the product, today the focus shifted from the product to the end user: the guest is placed in the heart of hosting.
To misquote John Fitzgerald Kennedy: “Ask not what the guest can do for you; ask what you can do for the guest”.
At this point it’s easy to understand that to succeed in this business it’s necessary that the satisfaction of customers is beyond their expectations.
The question then becomes, “In what way?”. Simply by offering more than they expect.