Contact Rate vs. Images Per Listing Analysis

Date: 2026-01-14 Period: 2024-01-01 to present Data Sources: sadb_listings, sadb_phone_get_logs, sadb_stats_listings_stats

Summary

Contact rate (phone reveals per 1,000 views) has a negative correlation with image count. Listings with no images convert at 41 contacts/1K views, dropping to 28 contacts/1K views for listings with 21+ images — a 31% decrease.

However, listings with more images receive significantly more views and total contacts in absolute terms.

Overall Results

Image Count	Listings	Total Views	Total Contacts	Contacts/1K Views
0 (None)	78K	31.7M	1.30M	41.12
1	107K	78.1M	2.67M	34.12
2-3	66K	48.5M	1.53M	31.58
4-6	81K	79.7M	2.60M	32.64
7-10	135K	125M	4.00M	31.99
11-15	68K	65.7M	2.02M	30.78
16-20	36K	32.6M	0.97M	29.84
21+	33K	29.3M	0.83M	28.31

By Category

Category	0 imgs	1-3 imgs	4-7 imgs	8-12 imgs	13+ imgs
Apartment for Rent	44.7	36.9	36.3	35.7	34.8
Land for Sale	35.6	38.5	27.9	26.6	19.8
Villa for Sale	31.2	22.7	21.5	21.0	21.6
Villa for Rent	41.8	34.8	33.3	34.3	33.4
Apartment for Sale	31.1	26.9	24.9	25.9	27.2

Notable: Land for Sale shows optimal conversion at 1-3 images (38.5/1K), then drops sharply.

By City

City	0 imgs	1-3 imgs	4-7 imgs	8-12 imgs	13+ imgs
الرياض (Riyadh)	43.3	37.0	35.0	34.0	31.5
جدة (Jeddah)	41.5	31.2	29.9	28.9	27.0
الدمام (Dammam)	41.1	28.8	28.8	31.2	26.9
مكة (Makkah)	43.0	29.2	28.9	30.0	26.4
المدينة (Madinah)	37.4	24.6	25.8	25.8	25.1

Pattern is consistent across all major cities.

Key Insights

1. The “Curiosity Gap” Effect

Listings with 0 images have the highest conversion because users must call to learn more. Images satisfy curiosity and reduce the urgency to contact.

2. Trade-off: Rate vs. Volume

0 images: 41 contacts/1K views, but only 1.30M total contacts
1 image: 34 contacts/1K views, but 2.67M total contacts (2x more)
7-10 images: 32 contacts/1K views, but 4.00M total contacts (3x more)

More images attract more views, leading to more absolute contacts despite lower conversion rates.

3. Category-Specific Patterns

Land listings: 1-3 images optimal (land doesn’t need many photos)
Residential rentals: Stable conversion at 4-8 images
Villas for sale: Diminishing returns after 1-3 images

4. Optimal Image Count

The “sweet spot” for most categories is 4-8 images:

Enough visual content to attract views
Maintains ~32 contacts/1K views conversion
Best balance of visibility and conversion

Recommendations

For sellers prioritizing contact volume: Use 7-10 images to maximize total contacts
For sellers prioritizing efficiency: Use 4-6 images for optimal conversion rate
For land listings: 1-3 images is sufficient; more images reduce conversion
Product consideration: Consider prompting users with 0 images to add at least 1-3 photos to increase visibility

SQL Queries

Main Analysis Query

WITH
  listing_images AS (
    SELECT
      id AS listing_id,
      category,
      district_id,
      multiIf (
        imgs = '',
        0,
        length (imgs) - length (replaceAll (imgs, ',', '')) + 1
      ) AS img_count,
      CASE
        WHEN imgs = '' THEN '0 (No images)'
        WHEN length (imgs) - length (replaceAll (imgs, ',', '')) + 1 = 1 THEN '1'
        WHEN length (imgs) - length (replaceAll (imgs, ',', '')) + 1 BETWEEN 2 AND 3  THEN '2-3'
        WHEN length (imgs) - length (replaceAll (imgs, ',', '')) + 1 BETWEEN 4 AND 6  THEN '4-6'
        WHEN length (imgs) - length (replaceAll (imgs, ',', '')) + 1 BETWEEN 7 AND 10  THEN '7-10'
        WHEN length (imgs) - length (replaceAll (imgs, ',', '')) + 1 BETWEEN 11 AND 15  THEN '11-15'
        WHEN length (imgs) - length (replaceAll (imgs, ',', '')) + 1 BETWEEN 16 AND 20  THEN '16-20'
        ELSE '21+'
      END AS img_bucket
    FROM
      sadb_listings FINAL
    WHERE
      status = 1
      AND _peerdb_is_deleted = 0
      AND toDate (create_time) >= '2024-01-01'
  ),
  listing_stats AS (
    SELECT
      id AS listing_id,
      SUM(views) AS total_views
    FROM
      sadb_stats_listings_stats FINAL
    WHERE
      toDate (day_time) >= '2024-01-01'
    GROUP BY
      id
  ),
  listing_contacts AS (
    SELECT
      resource_id AS listing_id,
      COUNT(*) AS phone_reveals
    FROM
      sadb_phone_get_logs FINAL
    WHERE
      resource = 'listing'
      AND toDate (createdAt) >= '2024-01-01'
      AND _peerdb_is_deleted = 0
    GROUP BY
      resource_id
  )
SELECT
  li.img_bucket,
  COUNT(DISTINCT li.listing_id) AS listings,
  SUM(ls.total_views) AS total_views,
  SUM(lc.phone_reveals) AS total_contacts,
  ROUND(
    SUM(lc.phone_reveals) * 1000.0 / NULLIF(SUM(ls.total_views), 0),
    2
  ) AS contacts_per_1k_views
FROM
  listing_images li
  LEFT JOIN listing_stats ls ON li.listing_id = ls.listing_id
  LEFT JOIN listing_contacts lc ON li.listing_id = lc.listing_id
GROUP BY
  li.img_bucket
ORDER BY
  img_bucket