Photography tips for your business listing

Any smartphone made in the last four years has a camera capable of producing listing photos indistinguishable from professional photography, provided you follow a few basic rules. You do not need a DSLR, a ring light, or professional editing software.

Clean your lens. This sounds trivial but a smudged lens is the most common cause of blurry, hazy listing photos. Wipe with a soft cloth before every shoot.

Natural daylight is your best friend. Shoot near windows or outdoors on an overcast day (direct sunlight creates harsh shadows). Avoid overhead fluorescent lighting — it produces a greenish cast that makes rooms and products look unflattering.

For before/after shots, ensure consistent lighting between the two images. Taking them at the same time of day in the same conditions makes the improvement far more dramatic and credible.

Keep backgrounds clean and uncluttered. Before shooting a finished job, spend two minutes tidying the space — removing tools, rubbish bags, and personal items. Buyers are assessing your work quality, not a messy background.

Use landscape orientation (hold the phone sideways) for all listing photos. Portrait photos display poorly in listing grids and are often cropped awkwardly on desktop.

Enable your phone's grid lines and use the "rule of thirds": place the main subject at one of the grid intersections rather than dead-centre. This creates a more professional, natural composition.

Priority order: (1) a clear, well-lit logo or business name sign; (2) two to three finished-work photos showing the quality of your output; (3) a team or headshot photo — this is the single highest-trust image a consumer sees; (4) van, premises or workshop photo showing scale and professionalism.

Export at the highest resolution your phone supports. Yolist automatically optimises images on upload, but starting from a higher resolution gives better results after compression.