Airbnb photo order: the cover photo, room sequence and captions

Put your strongest wide shot of the main space first, then order the remaining Airbnb photos the way a guest walks through the property: entrance, living space, kitchen, bedrooms, bathrooms, outdoor space and the view or area. Use captions to explain what the photo does not show.

What Airbnb itself recommends

Airbnb's resource page for hosts on upgrading listing photos makes a few points worth following closely:

• Shoot horizontally. Search results crop images into squares and listing pages show wide images, so horizontal photos work better than vertical ones.
• Use natural light. Open blinds and curtains, turn off the flash, and shoot indoor photos when rooms get the most daylight.
• Mix wide, mid-range and close-up shots so guests see the big picture and the details.
• Clear away random objects and shoot from a neutral position so the view is realistic.
• Use captions to explain what a photo does not show.

Airbnb's photo tour also sorts images by room automatically, and you can move, add or remove photos.

Choosing the cover photo

The cover photo does most of the work in search, and it is shown as a square. Pick a wide shot where the most important part of the image sits near the middle so the square crop does not cut it off. For most homes that is the living room. For a property booked for its location, the view or the outside of the building can be the better choice.

Avoid a bedroom as the cover unless the bedroom is the selling point, and avoid close-ups. A guest scrolling search needs to understand the place at a glance.

A room sequence that makes sense

1. Cover: the main living space or the view
2. The rest of the living space from another angle
3. Kitchen and dining area
4. Main bedroom, then the other bedrooms in order
5. Bathrooms
6. Outdoor space
7. Entrance, parking and anything guests ask about on arrival
8. The area: the street, the beach, the nearby high street

The order matters because guests build a mental map from it. Jumping from a bathroom to the garden to a bedroom makes the home harder to picture.

Captions that prevent questions

Good captions carry facts: "Second bedroom, two singles that zip into a king", "Steep stairs to the loft room", "Sofa bed in the living room sleeps two". Airbnb's own example is a caption saying a drop-leaf table seats ten when fully extended.

Photos to retake first

• Dark rooms shot at night or with the flash
• Vertical photos that crop badly in search
• Bathrooms with personal items on show
• Any room that has changed since the photo was taken

Turning the photo set into a video

Once the photos are in walking order, they already form a tour. ReelSieve uses that idea: it reads the photos from your listing link, scores them, puts the rooms in walking order and builds a walkthrough video with your rating and a real guest review. Our guide to making an Airbnb video from listing photos covers the other ways to do it.

Investors who buy to run short lets often hunt for the next property at the same time. Housieve scores London sale listings across four portals each night; our guide to scored property alerts explains how. Co-hosts who use photos and video to win owners may also want our LinkedIn headline examples.

Frequently asked questions

Should Airbnb photos be portrait or horizontal?

Horizontal. Airbnb says listing pages display wide images and search crops photos into squares.

How many photos should an Airbnb listing have?

Enough to show every room and outdoor area from more than one angle, plus the details guests care about. Airbnb recommends several angles per room.

Can I reorder photos after publishing?

Yes. Airbnb's photo tour lets you move, remove and add photos at any time.

Next step

When your photos are in order, make a free walkthrough video from the listing at reelsieve.braivex.com.