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Is Bad Photography Hurting Your Business?

In terms of the web, content is still king and a large majority of that content is visual. So when it comes to images, I am surprised to hear more often than not - “just use what’s on our current website.” or “I’ll snap some photos with my phone.” In terms of redesigning your website and online presence, reusing what has already proven to be unsuccessful would leave us at a disadvantage. As for snapping some images with your phone, that can work with proper lighting, composition and professional editing, but those cases are very rare. There is a reason you see those tasty burgers in magazines or online and seem to get hungry instantly. Snapping a photo of that burger on a cell phone for your instagram page just doesn’t look as good though, does it?

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It has been said that visual information is processed by the human brain 60,000 times faster than text based information. Here are a few reasons why your business could benefit from professional photography:

It Represents Your Brand

First impressions are everything and if someone just found you based on a google search, you want to stand out from the rest of the crowd. A good set of photos on your homepage can help tell a visual story about who you are and what you do. If a customer lands on your page and sees unprofessional, low-quality images, that is how they will view your brand and company credibility.

Hi-resolution professional images are versatile image files that can be scaled down to smaller sizes for the web or maintained for larger print projects. Trying to increase the size of web sized images will create a blurry unflattering resolution.

Customers Can Relate to You Better

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Having actual photos of your company and its people will instantly make your company more relatable. Your customers want to get to know you and see familiar faces and locations. They can relate to the salesperson they just met with last week a lot better than a stock photo that exists on 100 other websites. Stock photos can be great if used properly, but in a lot of cases, a customized personal image works better. An image of your products or services lets the user into your world and gives your company a more transparent, easy to approach look and feel.

Images Help Your SEO and User Experience

Images are a huge part of your web content experience. It has been shown that people are more likely to stay on a page, read your content and remember it, if it contains images. In your website HTML, adding alternative text tags used on your images can help you rank higher in search engines. When that image appears on the Search Engine Results Page (SERP), a professionally composed image is far more likely to be clicked on than an unprofessional looking image. Well placed and cropped images keep your users on the page and help to lower the bounce rate. Quality, optimized images keep your users scrolling and navigating your website.

Take Your Social Media Up a Notch

Did you know each social media platform has its own recommended set of guidelines for posting images? Also, they automatically downgrade the quality of your photos the minute you upload them. Uploading the incorrect photo size with a chunk of text in it for your next Facebook ad is a quick way for it to be flagged and go unseen. A professional will know the proper sizes to upload for each platform and how to get those viewed by the largest audience at the best quality.

Using the same quality photos you used on your website will create a consistent look and feel for your brand. A high quality photo is much more likely shared by others than one of a lower quality. This is also another way customers research companies and try to get to know them. In the age of social media, where companies pay photographers and influencers to flood the internet with their products, you need quality images. Show your actual products, team members and photos of your business; you’ll be surprised by the results.

Ultimately, you are your brand. A quality image reflects a quality brand and a quality product. We have been striving to follow these very same tips here at Foremost Media. If you have any questions or would like to upgrade your imagery feel free to contact us and start a conversation.