I definitely would click on a listing with an engaging pic of the pet/s even if the place or dates were wrong! I am a sucker for large dogs, lurchers and all the ‘square’ terriers… Airedales and Irish etc! I do like to see a couple of pics of the house… I am not fussy whether it is shiny clean or tidy - everybody lives differently… But I do like to see a bath (I have not got one at home) and if there is a log-burner or open fire - all is good! I like to see a pic of the garden too - as a professional gardener it tells me a lot about the owners!
Rather than pics of grandchildren and family I would rather see a pic of the pets out on a walk or at play…
Also - please dog owners especially - put in the description how well trained the pets are - I don’t mind pets with issues - but I like to know before I agree to the sit! Does the dog have recall? Is it good on a lead? Does the donkey kick? !!
I think this is one of the MOST IMPORTANT SUBJECTS and thank you for posing it!!!
For us, first it’s one picture of the pet(s). But equally important is the bedroom where we’ll be staying AND the bathroom.
Additionally the inside of the house with the kitchen and laundry area. If the kitchen is a mess and looks dirty, we move right along and keep looking. Also, describe if there’s a heating or air-conditioning source as that directly relates to our comfort.
If there a pool & yard show pictures as well. The more pictures the better of the house and garden. I don’t understand why owners feel it’s not important to show all of these important things if they want a discerning sitter.
Thank you for your response. Yes, pets and sitter areas are important to show but I wanted to comment on your mention of pools and bring it back to another comment I’ve seen about HO’s being concerned about sitters applying for the amenities rather than the pets. I’ve noticed ads with beach or pool pics for the main photo have an extraordinarily high number of applicants. If I were a HO, this would concern me.
That is all - carry on 
I’m a big fan of pet pics…love getting lost in those sweet eyes. Always reminds me of past interactions with the sweet babies, who’ve stolen my heart over the years.
Something that might be helpful is to allow users to scroll through pics on the home page/search results rather than having to open a listing. Like you can with airbnb. I think that would be a nice UX improvement and help with the ‘first impression’ question since looking at the others is easy. Since it’s clear from this post that different people are attracted to different things, so there’s no pleasing everyone.
I don’t think anyone answered the question directly and completely about whether you can change the default (ie. Main photo that you see on a listing). Yes, you can change them and designate which one you want as your cover photo. After uploading photos, go back into your listing and edit it. Go to ‘Your Home and Location’ and push edit again. Then scroll down to the photos. Underneath the box for ‘Add caption here’, it has Cover photo button. The one photo where you highlight this button will be you default COVER PHOTO that shows on your listing! This is the only area you csn set your default cover photo. So if you want your cover photo to be your pet(s), you’ll need to add that photo into this section, and not ‘Your Pets’ section. Hope this helps!!
BTW… don’t know why they have that Caption box because even when you fill it in, no caption is ever displayed anywhere!?!
You can’t see the captions on the website but you can on the Iphone app.
Captions are also shown on the Android app.
Exactly the same for me. It depends on who I am at the moment. My needs, wants and desires are always fluctuating. I like variety.
I’m not fussy about what pets I look after so open to all but if I’m very drawn to outdoor pools in a location with a hot climate as I love warmer climates and love to swim! Also drawn to sits in the heart of a city. My hubby and I also love to cook so a good looking kitchen will really draw us to apply!
I like it all. When I’m a petsitter, I like to see photos of the house/apt, the pets and the rooms in the house. I wouldn’t choose a sit without sufficient photos of the house or the pets. I also encourage HO to check out my HO site, which is titled “Great Location, Great Dog and Clean, Comfy Home”. I figure if they see how I live, they’ll get an idea whether or not their place and pets are a match for how I live.
Personally I hate these profiles with ten photos of the same pet sleeping/sitting/running/inside/outside/in the snow etc and no photos of where I’m going to live for days!
One good photo of each pet tells me everything I need to know ( before getting into particulars with the HO of course), but I also do need to know if I’ll like my environment: bedroom, sitting room, garden at least please!
For me its moggies, seeing a cat or 3 sprawled on the sofa loving life is always a winner
If we are talking about what grabs you from the listing profile photo (which is just one photo), I can’t say what draws me exactly, but I can say what discourages me and that would be a poor quality photo. Something far away, blurry, tiny or a random photo of part of the kitchen counter.
While I am drawn to certain dog breeds (Aussie Shepherds, retrievers, labs all melt my heart) and most any cute kitty, I’m going to click on anything that fits my dates and location.
A lovely photo of a house is appealing as the profile as well, better yet with the pet sitting in front of it. But I’ll open any sit that matches my filters.
I also agree with those who say there should be good, clear photos of the living quarters as well as the pets. Human comfort should be as important as fur baby comfort. Some of us can’t function well in clutter or places with little natural light or whatever, and you want someone happy to be there, happy to care for your fur family so it’s a win-win.
I absolutely have to see the house. I want to see every room that I will use and particularly my bedroom (I was given the baby’s room once!), kitchen and sitting room. I don’t want endless pics of the pets and I don’t need to see the HO! I don’t apply for sits where there is only an external pic of the house no matter how lovely it looks.
Definitely. I cannot resist a Westie or Scotty or anything with dangly long legs.
Something that I can resist is a picture of an untidy room. Please tidy up before taking pictures. It shows a can’t be bothered attitude.
I like to have at least the basics - homeowners, all pets and then the home and where I will be staying (i.e. the bedroom and bath accommodations). Those at a minimum help me to decide.
I’ve seen some interesting photos of closet doors, the “loo” only and wonder why those photos are posted
This is very interesting and I now changed my profile photo from showing the two of us to a picture of the house. As this one used to be the cover picture for the listing, I changed this to a picture of one of our cats instead. The next ones are all pictures from inside the house including bedroom, kitchen, living rooms and roof patio (for summer) and the very last one now shows us.
I would appreciate any comments and suggestions if this would appeal to you or what I can do better. The link to the listing is to be found in my forum-profile. Thank you all!
Great job!! You’ve covered every area of the house, the pics of the cats are very appealing, and your write up is comprehensive.
I’d apply!!
Thank you so much for your feedback 