You'd be forgiven for thinking that not much goes into a rental ad; after all the demand for places to live is never likely to fall so putting up a basic ad with basic info is all you need right? Wrong! There is a big difference between a rental ad and a good rental ad, and that could also be the difference between your success and your failure.

You need to be incredibly detailed, accurate and aim not to miss out any important information. In this article, you will see five must-haves for a rental ad which you have to include if you want to be successful.

1 Quality photos

Having quality photos should always be on the top of the list when it comes to crafting a decent rental ad. You'd be surprised by the amount of rental ads that have a great and detailed description and only one blurry photo. Your aim is to sell, and the biggest incentive that people tend to latch onto is visual aids. So, make sure that you take clear and sharp photos of the living space and the more, the better. Doing so will not only make you look professional, but it will also give prospective tenants a better idea of what the space looks like and if it's worth their time.

2 Location

Another surprising thing that you will find when scrolling through rental ads is the amount of people that either write a broad location or forget it altogether. Individuals who are looking for places to rent tend not to have a lot of time on their hands, and because there are so many rental ads, they will whittle down their choices to a select few by ignoring the ones without any detailed info. The more specific you get, the more people will be interested so be sure to add the full location of your property.

3 Pet/smoking policy

Most people that rent apartments have a very black or white policy when it comes to pets and smoking; it;s either a big yes or a resounding no. However what tends to create that blurred misunderstanding is forgetting to mention your policy in your ad. You might think that it's clear that no smoking or no pets are allowed but unless you state it clearly your prospective tenants won't know.

4 All necessary info

If you want to post a successful rental ad you need to include the following:

. Basic specs of the apartment, including the number of rooms and approximate square feet.

. Monthly rent.

. Date the apartment is available.

. The length of the lease.

. The amount of the security deposit

. Amenities.

. If utilities are included.

. Parking availability.

These are all of the things that people look for in a rental property, and if you don't include them in your ad, you run the risk of not looking professional, so make sure all of the above are included.

5 Your contact information

Including your contact number may seem like another obvious point, but again, you'd be surprised by the amount of people who forget to include their contact details or write down the wrong ones. Make sure that you include the contact numbers and emails that you will be able to respond to in a good amount of time; people might phone you late at night or early in the morning so giving people your home number will probably not be ideal. Aim to have all of your info at the bottom of the ad in bold with any further instructions that you deem necessary.

Above are all of the steps that you need to follow to make a good rental ad, so take note of the five steps in this article and put them into effect when you decide to rent a property.

Mary Frenson is a Marketing Assistant at Checkdirector.co.uk, a new source of information on UK companies. Mary is always happy to share her marketing ideas and thoughts on business issues. In her free time she enjoys handicrafts.