Think about your favorite websites. What do they look like? We’d venture to guess that at least one reason you love the sites that you do is that there are great images. Maybe a few, maybe a lot, but whether we’re conscious of it or not, images play a big role in a website’s design. More importantly, professional images are essential. While a snapshot from your phone is OK for a social media post, personal, professional images are indispensable on your website. But why does your website need personal, professional photos and not simply stock images?
Visually Appealing
We’ll state the obvious first—professional and personal images make a website more visually appealing. In addition, they can help paint a picture for the reader. This is important for many businesses so that a potential client doesn’t get the wrong idea about a product. A description is good, but as the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words.
Validation
Almost as important are images of your business and people, not stock images. While a stock image may seem unique, the good ones get used by multiple businesses—and customers notice. Visually showing visitors who you are, and what your product is, makes not only your website but also your business look like one they can trust.
SEO Boost
Web crawlers love images—especially professional and personal images. Why? Because the “behind the scenes” information that they provide allows them to more accurately rank the website. Ensuring that all of your images include a file name that is descriptive of the image, complete alt text, and a caption means that your site’s SEO will be organically boosted just by including this information. And having personal images means web crawlers aren’t seeing the same images over and over.
In addition to an SEO boost, good image information is also important for accessibility.
Preparing for a Photo Shoot
Knowing a great photographer who we can count on is so important in our business! Below are some tips from one of our trusted photographer friends, Karianne Munstedt. You may recognize Karianne Munstedt’s work in some of the images on the Hammersmith Support website. Karianne specializes in portrait photography and her philosophy for images is that everyone should embrace their full self—no matter what shape, size, color, or state they are in. Karianne creates photography experiences for women that help them truly SEE THEMSELVES…beyond their external appearances and instead who they truly are in their souls.
What are the most important aspects of shooting for website images?
“There are a host of important aspects that go into shooting for website images (location of images, branding colors, wardrobe, poses, etc.), but for me, the single MOST IMPORTANT aspect is making the client feel comfortable with me/in front of the camera so the truest, most authentic ‘them’ shows through in their portraits. When someone’s true personality is captured, that’s a huge piece of what draws potential clients…that’s where they can create an emotional connection with a potential client just from their photos. We are inundated with thousands of ads each day, and people are craving realness, honesty, and trustworthiness from the businesses they buy from. Creating an environment where a client can freely express their realness, honesty, and trustworthiness, and then capturing those expressions and emotions in their photos, is the most important piece for me.”
Any tips or tricks in preparing for a shoot?
“For me, the best way to prepare for a shoot is to get to know the client…to build the relationship! My goal is to bring out their authentic personality in their portraits, so it’s about meeting with them to get to know them and to learn about their business and the stories they want to tell through their portraits. I will review their website and social media pages so I can get as complete a picture of them as I can.”
Get In Touch
Visit www.kariannemunstedt.com to learn more about Karianne’s work
And, as always, Hammersmith Support is here to help you too. Schedule a complimentary 30-minute meeting and let’s talk through your questions and see how we can get your business looking and performing the way it should.