An intro to web accessibility: building a digital world for everyone
Discover accessible web design, its impact on users and its business benefits. From WCAG 2.2 to key accessibility features, here’s an intro to inclusive sites.
Read More »Blog
Craig Greenup 13/05/19, 07:50
In the grand scheme of things, professional photography can seem like a low priority for businesses. Most businesses think of them as something that is nice to have, but not completely vital to everyday operations. The faff of organising professional shoots can seem like just another expense and this can be off putting, particularly in the early days.
The simple fact is that whether you are just starting out or are an established brand you will almost certainly benefit from professional photography. It could be argued that professional photography is one of the most important visual assets you can invest in, and there are so many versatile ways these assets can be used.
Here are three top reasons to bump professional photography up your to-do list!
Using stock photos on your site may be a tempting and affordable alternative to having a professional photoshoot, but it comes with issues. Your customers want to get to know you as a company or brand, and using stock images – while they can look great – can feel misleading. There is always the risk that customers will recognise the stock image from elsewhere which breaks the illusion of familiarity with your brand.
By choosing to use professional photos of your team, premises and products you will help to build your brand identity and trust, and inspire loyalty. People tend to choose the brands that they feel best represent their personal values, and by giving them a glimpse of your real selves they are able to instantly humanise your company.
In the past you could get away with having a bare-bones website and it would still do the trick. These days, consumers are more informed and empowered than ever, and this also means they have gotten choosier about how and where they spend their hard earned money. This has led to the quality of website content becoming more important, and that goes for visual assets and images as well as written copy.
Including professional photos of your staff, offices or stores and your products instantly makes your website more engaging and relevant and the images can also be used in campaigns across multiple channels. For example, armed with a portfolio of professional images for your website you can then go on to use these assets for social media campaigns and they can also be used in blog posts on your website, or to identify your team, brand or products in content outreach campaigns.
Having a great website populated with high quality content and images can make your site a lot more engaging for visitors and can boost your web traffic, helping it to rank more highly in search engines like Google. With images on site, your company will also show up in image results as well as the standard search engine results page. All of this is desirable from a commercial perspective, and most companies which have invested in their images and written content will see an increase in their conversion rates.
As an agency we certainly practice what we preach and are proud to have our lovely smiles displayed online alongside our quality assurance team, Amber and Faye! If you’ve decided to take advantage of professional photos and need help perfectly position them on your site then we can help. Give us a call or drop us a message online and we’ll get the ball rolling on your next web development and design project.
The Secret Recipe For A Successful Ecommerce Startup
How To Use Content To Boost Your Online Presence