Great photography brings you more sales
Up to date photography on your website can make your businesses seem much more professional and approachable than stock photography, or no photography at all, but did you know that it can even land you more sales? Most people know at least a little about Search Engine Optimisation, making sure your website appeals to the algorithms that control where you appear on search engine results, but it’s not just about your written content. Let’s look at a few ways that great photography can also make it easier for customers to land on your web page.
Original images perform better
Most website builders have you covered when it comes to stock images, but there are only so many stock images to go around, and so choosing from a handful of pre-sets means you’ll be just like thousands of other sites around the world. That’s not good from Google’s point of view, and their bots will trawl an online bank of photos to see if your pictures have been used before. Google rewards originality above all else, so if you use unique images you’ve had taken to represent your business, it will automatically put you ahead of other sites that make do with stock images.
High-quality images are best
While originality is important, size also matters to Google, and small or low-quality images naturally perform less well than the same image if it’s bigger and higher resolution. Images should be 1200 pixels wide to be considered ‘large’ by Google, and to look good at that size then they have to be high resolution, so they can’t be copied and pasted from elsewhere on the web. To guarantee that your images will be large and high quality enough to impress the bots, getting a professional photographer to take them is your best bet.
Context is king
Google’s bots used to be less intelligent and easier to fool, but thanks to advanced AI and machine learning they’re getting much smarter. Not only can they tell how well written and original your site is, but they can also even tell how well it flows and how much sense it makes, right down to the images you use. By using your own, professional images you can specify exactly how you want each image to look so it matches the content of your page. That way, rather than getting by with a stock image that sort of fits with what you’re writing about, you’ll have images that are actually of you and your business doing what you’re advertising. That’s exactly what the bots want to see, and it will do wonders for your search rankings.
Don’t forget the details
Search engines like Google are really just massive information hubs, and the more information you can give them, the more they trust you and the higher up the rankings you’ll go. Meanwhile, disorganized or mysterious sites go right to the bottom of the pile. This goes all the way down to the smallest slivers of metadata, your photo captions, alternate text and many other things. For example, giving your photo a caption helps Google know what the picture is of, so it can easily match it with what your company does, and it can give you the thumbs up. Similarly, naming the file after what’s in the photo gives Google more info about it, further helping the bots recognise your site as a high-quality one.
Get professional help
If you’re concerned that your website isn’t showing your business to its best advantage, or that you might be missing a trick on image SEO, then give Charles Waller Photography a call. We specialise in bespoke business photography that looks fantastic online, showing off all the best things about your business in action, while also ticking all those elusive SEO boxes. We’re helping businesses to break free from dull stock photos every single day, and you could be the next one to say goodbye to the generic, and hello to originality
The importance of property photography
Selling a house is probably one of the biggest business deals most people will do in their lives, especially now that prices are running at near-record highs, so it’s important that you get as much money as possible for your home when it goes on the market. It will give you more spending power when it comes to buying your next home, as well as a little extra cash to make any improvements you want to. It’s also incredibly easy for buyers to pick and choose online these days, and there’s no more looking in estate agent windows or cruising around for sale signs – you can see everything on the market for hundreds of miles with a quick search online.
So what does that mean for your property sale? It means you really need to stand out to be in with a chance of catching the buyer’s eye. Homes with more than one high-quality photograph on the listing sell an average of 30 days faster than those without, which as you’ll know, is an absolute age when it comes to moving house and lets you move much faster in the market. That’s especially important when your house has been empty for a while, or it’s undergone renovations because one or two photos taken on an estate agent’s phone will almost certainly not be enough to do the space justice.
For homes like this, it may not be possible to get the same homely ambience as a house that has been lived in for many years, with personal possessions all around and the family’s furniture still in place, which can be a disadvantage when selling to people looking for a warm and lived-in feeling. As with many decisions, it can be a snap, personal judgement that decides whether a person likes a house, and you want yours to grab their attention as favourably as possible. That’s why I’d always recommend choosing a professional photographer and home dresser combination, because they will both be highly experienced in showing off a home to its best advantage, choosing the right dressing and the right style of photograph for each element of the building.
The same factors also apply to anyone selling furniture, whether it’s a beloved and valuable piece you’ve had for years, or you’re a furniture designer or builder who regularly sells statement pieces. In all of these situations, one of the major factors influencing a persons’ decision to buy is the feeling that the furniture creates in their mind, which can be influenced by the dressing and the quality of the photography. The difference between a photo of a lovely welsh dresser taken under the stark fluorescent light of a workshop up against a breeze bock wall, and one taken in a home setting filled with china, with correct lighting, and a camera set up to be level and in focus.
I’ve worked with designers such as Regal Interiors and Dressing Rooms Home Staging, and that combination of their trained eye for colour and fabric coordination, combined with my skill at creating the ideal photograph composition for each shot, can make a striking difference to the appearance of the home or piece of furniture being shot. Not only does it make the product that much more appealing, the results can be easily measured in the length of time that the house or piece stays on the market, getting you moved into your new home in record time or getting your sales off to a flying start.
So if you have a property or statement piece of furniture that could do with professional help to show off its best side, get in touch with me to find out how I can help!
One Hour Wedding Photography
I have recently launched a One Hour Wedding Photography service for couples getting married in the Keighley, Skipton, and Ilkley areas.
So how does this work ?
Well, it’s quite simple. After an initial consultation and booking, I will attend your venue 15 minutes before the ceremony to take shots of guests arriving along with the Groom and Best Man, and the arrival of the Bride.
The service will be covered and also the signing of the registrar. This will allow enough time for a mix of formal and informal shots to be taken after the service. All this from start to finish in 1 hour.
So who will this service appeal to ?
Firstly with wedding ceremonies being pared back due to covid, the cost is a huge consideration for those on a budget. Small weddings at a registry office, a hotel where civil ceremonies can be held, and the traditional church service.
What you get.
You will receive at least 100 high resolution digital images, edited, and made available to download and use as you wish. The cost is a flat fee of £350.00
If you are interested in the one hour wedding package get in touch here – https://www.charleswallerphotography.co.uk/contact
Why are headshots so important?
It seems pretty counterintuitive to think that all the boring analogue stuff is important in a digital world.
You would imagine that in a world of emails, LinkedIn messages, WhatsApp groups and Slack meetings we have moved past a lot of the face to face stuff that used to be the bread and butter of the average worker’s life, whether you were selling insurance or delivering babies.
But while we might have cut out 90% of the face to face business we used to do, all that means is that the 10% that remains is extra important. It’s an old cliché that people buy people, not products, but what does all this have to do with professional headshots on your website? Let’s take a look.
Get your personality across
We might be teleconferencing with people half way across the world, or working on the same spreadsheet as someone fifty miles away, but for all that sophistication we’re still basically the same humans that we ever were. We like smiling, happy faces. We trust honest people doing honest work, and without a reference to recommend you, all your customers have to go on is how you look.
There is more evidence for this than you can count: 93% of Facebook’s most engaged with posts are images, your business is 60% more likely to make a sale when the website has images on it. But it’s not just about the sale. Your face on a professional headshot promotes approachability, which promotes networking and business. People who know your face are more likely to seek you out at events, remember you from a host of faceless contacts and trust you when you eventually do meet.
Play the emotional game
In 2016, Finnish analytics start-up Happy-Or-Not changed the world of customer feedback. Multi-level surveys, focus groups, statistical groupings and all manner of other complicated tools relegated in an instant by one thing: A box with a smiley face and a sad face on it. These boxes are everywhere now, but their invention was because of an important truth. Humans are complicated emotional machines, and what we think are original thoughts reasoning our decision over whether to buy something or go somewhere is actually our brain justifying the emotional decision that you already made within milliseconds.
Customers who see happy, confident, professional looking staff headshots with approachable faces are more likely to have happy brains arguing in favour of your business, not sad ones trying to find a reason to choose your competition.
Set the tone for your business
So if we’re competing against your customer’s brains, trying to get them to like your business without knowing why, then what has that got to do with your product? It’s hard to get emotional about some things, and if you sell plumbing supplies or electric fans then you might not see how this applies to you. But you should think again. Remember how people buy people, not products? Well with your business, customers aren’t buying fans or pipes, they’re buying your professionalism, your honesty, your commitment to hard work, your fair prices, your considerate staff, your technical knowledge and a million other things going on in their minds that they don’t even know about. All of those ideas would take a small book to get across in words, but with professional headshots of your staff you can make your customers see and feel those things without having to write a single word.
Your smart, compassionate, hard working looking employees say more with their faces than you ever could in a brochure, in a way that your customer’s minds are hard wired to understand. So why would you not use that powerful tool to your advantage?
Thinking you now need a new headshot? Get in touch with me today to find out how I can help.
Business Portraiture
How to create the right image
Your business portrait is perhaps the first thing a potential new customer is going to see when doing a google search for your company. So what can we do to make the right impression first time and keep that persons attention?
Where to start
Firstly think about where the photograph is going to be taken, it could be at your business premises, in a studio, on location, or like the above photograph it could be at a venue. Wherever it is taken it should be against an uncluttered background which might otherwise be distracting.
Secondly, think about how you look. If you work predominantly in an office environment then it is good to look smart and wear a tie, this might be controversial if you have a more relaxed office environment, but remember you are trying to promote yourself and your business in a professional manner.
Thirdly, try a few expressions, your photographer should be able to direct you and make you feel at ease. Personally I think a good smile works best.
Fourth, think about where your photograph is likely to sit on the page. This photograph shows exactly the best position if the photo box is placed in the top left hand corner of the site. Ideal for places such as LinkedIn. This promotes a positive appearance as the subject is looking in towards the page. Also don’t forget the we generally read from left to right, so it is good to start with your photograph in the best position on the page.
Finally, and this is down to the skill of the photographer. Make sure that your face is evenly lit. This is not the time to be using dramatic lighting that cast shadows across the face. This is especially so for ladies, the light should be soft and even producing a flattering and appealing result.
To see more examples of Business Portraiture have a look at some more examples here Or you can visit my website here
The Covid Year
2020 and 2021 has been a tough time for photographers across the world.
Those photographers who rely on weddings and portraits have had the worst of it, fortunately for me this isn’t my main line of work. Many businesses have prospered and that, in turn, has kept me busy. People wanting new product photography for their websites and printed literature have still needed the services of a professional photographer. Operating in these times have thrown up a number of obstacles, mostly regarding “social distancing” It has been difficult to visit clients premises, but that being said I have picked up a number of new clients. So what have I been photographing ? There’s been quite a variety of interesting subjects. Have a look at the list of subjects I’ve shot below.
Properties (Houses that have had a makeover)
So as you can see its been a diverse set of projects.
Now that we are hopefully over the worst of Covid, things should start to become busier. The work that dropped off the radar such as Graduation Photography and Weddings should start again later in the year and the wedding bookings have started to come in. Things are getting better for the photography industry. Lets keep positive and look forward to a bright future.
So with all that in mind, is there any way I can help you ? Do you need new imagery for your website or printed literature. Simply drop me a line to chwaller@gmail.com or give me a call on 07525 400648 to discuss your needs. Until next time keep safe and stay busy.
Product Photography
As a Commercial Photographer in Keighley I am often asked to produce high quality Product Photography for both Web and Print. This can be done on your premises with a minimum of fuss and without disturbing your workforce.
Having products that need to be photographed for printed literature or for the web can be done on your premises very easily. It doesn’t take a lot of space to set up a small studio where lighting can be controlled to make the best of your images.
The picture above was set up on a small work bench in a busy manufacturing environment. Three studio lights provide all the light that is needed to illuminate the subject to create a crisp clean image. The final result is cleaned up in Photoshop before being presented to the client.
You can see more examples of product photography in my gallery https://www.charleswallerphotography.co.uk/p/84426sck/commercial
Commercial Product Photography
Photographing highly polished products
Products that have a highly reflective surface can be a nightmare to photograph. Everything gets reflected, including the photographer. The result is not professional and won’t attract potential customers.
To get around this problem a light tent, specifically manufactured to stop unwanted reflections and give a clean image which will sit well on any website or company brochure. Good even lighting with a variety of flash heads and modifiers are selected and positioned for the best results. To add security of the image quality the shots are taken with a tethered link to a Mac computer. Here the detail can be seen immediately the camera has been fired.
This is just one reason why it is a worthwhile investment to use a professional photographer who has the experience and the kit to undertake these difficult to light product shots.
Large format photography
Wainman’s Pinnacle at Cowling just as the sun went down
When i got an inquiry to photograph a local beauty spot for a Restaurant I had no idea of the technical issues i would have to get over to deliver and exceed the customers expectations.
The brief was pretty simple. Take a photograph of Wainmans Pinnacle and arrange to have it enlarged to 72inch x 48inch. That’s a big picture !!!
After a couple of visits to the location to ensure a good sky a picture was chosen. A little work in photoshop to adjust contrast and sharpening its ready to save to 700mb and output to canvas. A couple of test pieces to ensure that the pixels don’t look to be the size of house bricks and the grain doesn’t look like its been taken in a sandstorm. The good news is that it looks simply superb. Despite the image being on canvas it is being double framed. The first frame being in cream to give the effect of having a border, then a further frame around that in black to finish the job off. Delivering was equally as complex. I had just bought an MPV. With the seats removed the picture fit in with just 1inch to spare on both the length and width.