Your property listing is all set up. Your property title is enticing, you already spent several hours creating the perfect description and you have also confirmed that your pricing is right. But you aren't gaining the number of inquiries you were hoping for. So, what's wrong?

The "main image" of a property is the photo that buyers will see for each property in the listings results. That image offers a quick glimpse into each of your properties that are listed on REALTOR.UG and other real estate portals like Lamudi.co.ug or RealEstateDatabase.net.

It's a quick peek that is intended to convince a buyer that your property is worth their time to consider. If they don’t like it, they’ll move on to the next one.

A great main image is based on how much work you put into taking as many photos as you can for any property, so that you can choose the one that fits not only your needs, but especially those of the buyer.

So how do you give the buyer a reason to click on your property listing's main image?

Less is more

Less is best when it comes to your main image. Inspire a buyer to want to learn more. By reducing the photo to as few elements as possible, a buyer will be able to better register the main image in their big/small brain.

One odd trick to know if your main image is overloaded: make the photo blurry by squinting your eyes at it. If your photo is simple enough, the main elements will still stand out. If you have packed your main Image with too many elements, it will all blur together.

Match the photo to what the buyer wants

Are your potential buyers looking to escape from their real lives to a wide-open space where they can see nothing but nature for miles?

You then need a main image that immediately tells the buyers that this is the perfect place to be, in this case you need a main image that brings out the green nature of the surrounding views plus all other details that fit your buyers needs

Get up close and personal

If you have a unique feature, a detail that is very distinctive about your property listing, don’t be afraid to zoom in on it.

Focus on the beautiful, lush garden if that’s what sets the property apart from all the rest of your listings. The buyer can then imagine relaxing on the lawn chairs or curling up in the swinging chair.

A high quality main image will attract more clicks

One of the issues I notice when I look at some main images of houses for sale on REALTOR.UG is poor picture quality. Top-of-the-line equipment is not necessary to take good pictures of a house. It’s worth the investment to buy a decent device.

I would recommend no less than a 5-megapixel camera to get some clear and acceptable pictures from which you can select a main image. As you know, devices with these types of cameras are very inexpensive today.

Too much crammed into one photo

Avoid having so many details within the main image that even though the photo may be beautiful, buyers could easily miss key details that could convince them to click.

There is no reason to cram as much information as possible into the main image since it’s the first window into your property listing. Show a glimpse and create a desire to see more.

The brighter the better

Nothing is better than natural sunlight. Try to schedule picture-taking day on a sunny day if possible, and be sure to open curtains to allow as much natural light in as possible.

A dark, cloudy day will produce a very dull and gloomy main image that may not get the clicks you want.

Highlighting uninteresting standard features

Unless your kitchen is spectacular, don’t use it as the main image of your property listing. Interior photos can only be used if the exterior photos are not good looking, or if you want to emphasize that the property is fully furnished.

Keep in mind that people want to see the home that is being advertised, NOT what is in it. The house should be free of clutter and reasonably clean. Allow the person who’s seeing the pictures to imagine his things in the home instead of seeing too much of someone else’s.

Move the car

Depending on the angle of your main image, if the vehicle is blocking the view of your best shot, then politely ask the owner to give you five minutes of car-free zone. If a car-free zone is still impossible, choose another lead photo or another angle.

If the property still has a tenant, ask the house girl to avoid posing in all your photos. I have seen many property listing images where the house girl seems to be in each photo of the property, tell her (and the kids of the house) to give you a break.

Center the property

The best main image is the one where a property (or the subject matter) is right in the center of the entire photo as you will see in the photo attached to this article.

The image should also have a big space between the actual property and the image boundaries. Such an image is the one that is taken while as far away from the property as possible. This leaves room for possible editing (or trimming) based on how it will be displayed on the various platforms/media.

A main image that has a big space between the property the image boundaries will work very well on those social media pages which cut or trim images at the top and bottom

Click here to see some very good examples of a main image.

Kind Regards

Author: Julius Czar
Company: Zillion Technologies Ltd
Mobile: +256705162000
Email: Julius@RealEstateDatabase.net
Website: www.RealEstateDatabase.net 
Photo by: Leonard Agaba (Real Estate Expart)
Photo from: Pearl Marina