Good photography can make or break a website.
Too often we see clients cutting corners by using old, outdated imagery or worse still, rely purely on stock photography. Don’t get us wrong, good quality stock photography, when used well is great for “filler” style images. But nothing replaces the real thing.
Unique, well shot “real” images of you, your team and your business are the key to adding that “WOW” factor to your website.
When making a significant investment in a sparkling new website it makes sense to get it done right the first time.
Below are our top tips on what you need to know when selecting the right images and photography:
HEADSHOTS:
At a minimum, invest in some decent headshots for your team.
Your staff are the lifeblood of your business. They deserve to look a million dollars!
A headshot can actually tell a story about an individual. When done well, you can look into a person’s eyes and get a feel for who they are and what they are all about. Creating connection in a leveraged way.
As long as the face is well lit, headshots can be taken on white, grey or dark background. A good user interface designer should be able to work with most scenarios to make the image look schmick on screen and flow with the rest of the design.
The most important thing is consistency including lighting, composition and focus. With lots of team members placed side by side, they should all look similar. Click here as a sample.
Our recommendation is Jason Malouin, owner of The Portrait Store.
COMPANY IMAGES:
This is where there is a tremendous opportunity to differentiate your business website from your competitors.
“Team style” action shots work really well here. Real staff members, doing their real job, interacting with real clients.
An example would be a recent project delivery for Gallant Plumbing. They invested in a photoshoot which grabbed shots of:
Around 15 quality photos, all shot in a visually consistent fashion was enough to scatter throughout the site and make it look one of a kind (note – not one stock photo in sight!).
So you’re probably thinking ‘What will this cost?’
It varies depending on the photographer but an investment of $1,500 – $3,000 should get you a customised shoot with some quality imagery.
STOCK PHOTOS:
Stock photos also have their place and are great for “beefing out” your website.
An example may be lifestyle shots. People doing activities (e.g. surfing / welding) or a specific geographic location (e.g. aerial shot of Melbourne) where arranging a photo shoot may just be way to difficult (and expensive).
Stock photos can be purchased relatively inexpensively from sites such as Istockphoto or Shutterstock.
Please, please, please try to steer clear of the same corny “handshake”, “drawing on whiteboard” and “lady answering phone” shots. Look me in the eye and tell me you have seen these 50 times before?
Alternatively there are plenty of good free stock photo resources. They have different image license terms but serve as a good resource providing unique and creative images. Try visiting:
THE ROUND UP:
By investing in a photo shoot for your new website and business in general, you will:
- Have a much more polished, unique and professional website attracting more clients
- Create an awesome asset for the business (images can be used in other marketing such as brochures / social media and advertising)
- Create brownie points with your team as you are investing in them! After all, who doesn’t love a good photoshoot?
