What makes a quality business website? Is it the graphical elements that create the overall tone and feel? Does it have more to do with the written content that provides substance for a site? Is it simply the ability to be found and drive traffic? Or is it all about the photography that exemplifies what the business is and what it does? In truth, all of these content elements are equally important puzzle pieces that fit together to create an engaging visitor experience. However, in today’s chaotic online landscape, visual ascetics and the ability to capture attention are critical.

To put it bluntly, the online world is fickle. If your business’s website doesn’t visually command attention and give visitors a reason to stay, they will leave before your written content has a chance to make an impression. As technology advances, professional quality photography is becoming more and more crucial for all types of websites. Photography is your chance to portray what your business does, who you serve and most importantly, your identity as a company.

Here are five important tips to keep in mind when considering photography options for your website:

  1. No Quality in Stock- It’s tempting to take the easy way out. After all, stock photography is abundant, decent in quality and relatively inexpensive compared to hiring a photographer. And it’s usually pretty easy to find a stock photo that portrays what you’re looking for. So what’s the problem? Impersonality. Stock photos are cold, generic, overused and pretty easy to recognize in today’s online environment. Although it may be a hassle, using real photographs of your employees, products, services or location will go a long way in establishing credibility, especially if your competitors are just using stock photos.
  1. Size Matters – As logos steadily move towards smaller, simpler designs, photography is moving toward a larger, more vibrant direction. The use of professional, high-resolution photos is becoming more imperative every day as this trend continues. This is especially evident in regards to website design. The use of photos that fit your entire screen edge-to-edge is becoming the expected norm with current up to date sites. To put it simply, the quality of the photos you use (and the cameras that take them, for that matter) is more crucial now than it ever has been.
  1. Leave it to the Pros – Nowadays everyone with a camera phone that knows how to take a selfie thinks they’re a photographer. But as site photos get bigger, so does the importance of professional photography knowledge. This includes lens quality, resolution, lighting, aperture, shutter speed and a bunch of other terms that sound foreign to those that don’t do it for a living. Hiring a professional photographer may seem costly up front, but the visual benefits you reap when all is said and done are well worth it.
  1. Guide your Visitors – As stated earlier, today’s online world is incredibly fickle. If you don’t capture the attention of your website’s visitors quickly, they aren’t going to stay long. Similarly, if you don’t make it easy for them to find what they’re looking for, they won’t bother digging. Photography is a great way to guide your visitors through your website. First of all you need to know what your audience is looking for. From there you can design your navigation settings to make it as simple as possible. Furthermore, you can use eye-catching photography to guide their eyes and bring them deeper into the site. The key is to know what your users want to find and use quality photos to drive them where they need to be.
  1. Embody your Brand – Photography for a business’s website should tell a story and capture the essence of the brand. The photos that you use should portray what your business does, and what core values you represent. By taking a quick look at your website, a visitor should get a good feel for who you are. The overall ascetics and visual elements should make the visitor feel the way you want them to. Having a visually refined website that evokes positive feelings from users will go a long way in generating leads and business.

Need help with photography or any other content for your website? Give us a call at (701) 478-1111! Absolute Marketing Group’s Creative and Web team are experts and would be happy assist you.