Inside Houzz: How to Make the Most of Your Photos

The 2 million-plus stunning photos featured on Houzz manage to inspire, instruct and encourage all at once. The power of these photos for both professionals and homeowners is undeniable — but do you know how to take full advantage of it?

We spoke with five designers who've learned to harness the potential of photos on Houzz. Take a peek at their strategies — including choosing the right photo size, picking keywords and answering questions — to learn about what makes a photo popular and see how you can make the most out of your own photos on Houzz.

Related: How to Find a Designer or Architect Using Photos on Houzz

Quality. A photo's quality has a huge impact on its visibility. "Everyone on the Houzz site makes or designs a visual product, so having really nice photos that show off a variety of work is key," says Caitlin Walker of Mercury Mosaics. "You can create a beautiful design and have bad photos that don't do it justice. Reward your hard work with good photos!"

Houzz always recommends uploading high-resolution photos taken by a professional photographer. Bigger is better: High-resolution photos with a minimum width of 1,000 pixels look best and will likely get many more views. And a professional photographer can make each image light, bright and fresh. (Don't forget to credit the photographer in your photos.)


"It's really taught me how critical it is to take proper and professional photos of projects," says designer Jason Urrutia. "It's an investment but well worth the cost. It's another step of branding — it says that you mean business, you care about your project and that your design is to be taken seriously."


Variety. Upload a diverse portfolio of work, from your most amazing projects to the simpler but still stylish spaces. Include a variety of shots, from full room shots to details. Even open drawers and take photos of the insides! You'd be surprised how popular those photos are. Don't underestimate the selling power of your simpler designs — sometimes those are the most inspiring for homeowners.

Style. Every year Houzz puts together a series of ideabooks that highlight the most popular photos of that year, according to how often they've been added to users' ideabooks. And every year we spot certain consistencies in the most popular images: They're chock-full of take-home ideas. Tracy Kundell found this to be true for the bathroom photo shown here — one of the most popular on the site, added to more than 255,000 ideabooks. "Almost everyone has a home with a bathtub that can be converted, such as this space," she says. "More and more people prefer larger showers to shower-tub combinations. This layout is a very common builder layout, too."

Work with your photographer to highlight your best work in beautiful photos that will show clients what you've got. Make sure your identity as a designer is coming through and that each photo doesn't just look great, but shows potential clients how you can make their style shine through, too.


How Do Great Photos Pay Off?

The more popular a photo becomes on Houzz, the easier it is to find. Houzzers may see it in another Houzzer's favorite photos, in a featured ideabook or on the Houzz homepage. How is this beneficial to pros? It's more eyeballs on your work — homeowner eyeballs, to be exact. A great photo on Houzz can directly result in client referrals.

Architect John Mattingly found this to be true for the incredibly popular bedroom shown here, added to more than 200,000 ideabooks. Many designers and homeowners have contacted him about some of the room's components or the entire project. He's also sold a few furniture items that he custom designed for this particular home.

When Urrutia's popular bedroom photo (the second photo above) was added to 180,000 ideabooks (and counting), interest in his business increased. "I've heard tons of comments from clients about this photo and this room in particular," he says.

After finding a new client through Houzz, Kundell sends a document to potential clients that includes the suggestion to create an ideabook on Houzz before their first consultation. Houzz has also become her main source of client referrals. "When I first started on Houzz, I already had client comments/referrals on my website, but now I use Houzz to get those referrals," she says.

See an interior design match made on Houzz


Tips for Professionals, From Professionals

Keep up your profile. Keep your Houzz profile updated with your most recent photos. Designer Mary Fiorella attributes her success on Houzz to the emphasis she's put on her photos — including the image shown here, added to 276,000 ideabooks. "I keep up my Houzz portfolio and profile better than my actual business website," she says. "You'll see more of my recently completed projects here on Houzz before anywhere else." As a result, about half of her clients come from seeing her work — including this photo — on Houzz.

Upload your best work. While you want a variety of work on Houzz, don't upload anything that you're not proud of. Choose gorgeous projects with the photography that highlights your style and design approach best. Make sure you own the photo or have secured the right to upload it to your profile on Houzz.

Add keywords, captions and answer questions whenever possible. "I always upload my latest photos and make sure to answer questions that Houzzers have," Urrutia says. But adding room information for each photo, tagging and categorizing your spaces, makes your work easier to find when homeowners are searching or browsing through the massive photo library on Houzz. Answering photo questions right off the bat often cuts down on repeat questions and shows potential clients that you're responsive, polite and easy to work with.


Pros:
Learn more about uploading photos to Houzz

Homeowners:
Find a professional for your project

Read about another design match made on Houzz

See how to contact an architect, designer or remodeler and get your project going

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