What if the quality of your images on your website and social media were a direct reflection of the quality of your business, the quality of your product or the perceived quality of how you perform your service? Yikes. Would your business pass the quality control test? It’ s food for thought, huh?
Hello fellow entrepreneur and business friend! How ya’ doing today? I hope well. I hope your business is rockin’ and rollin’ (in the dollars) and bringing you so much joy! Let me ask you a question if I may. How secure do you feel about the images/pictures you’re using to build your business and your brand? Do you absolutely love the pictures on your website and that you use across every part of your business? Think about your website, your social media, your business cards, your product pictures, your email funnel if you use one…is every picture intentional? Is every image crystal clear, cropped effectively and on brand? Or, are you a little squeamish at the thought, suspecting that you may have a little website or Insta shame happening?
Believe me, I get it. As business owners, we’re busy. As human beings we’re busy! There is #somuchtodo. And the last thought on my mind is judging you or adding to your angst about your business. Quite the opposite, I’m here to help! This is less stress design after all, and I’m all about helping my business friends look amazing online.
Poor picture quality happens for a number of reasons:
- Because of the camera used. (Did you know there’s two cameras in your phone?)
- Because you’re rushed, and you have to get it done! So you settle for what you have, because done is better than perfect. (t is sometimes. Are you sure this is the time?)
- Because the cost of doing business keeps accelerating and you think this is one area you can save some money by doing it yourself. (What if the DIY route is costing you $$?)
- Because you have a knowledge gap somewhere, such as the best tips and tricks to use the camera for a product shoot or About page photo, or how to edit the image, or the image size requirement for where you are posting the picture.
CONSIDER THE RISK AND COST TO YOUR BUSINESS OF POOR IMAGE QUALITY
Still not convinced that your blurry About page photo of yourself or your dark product pictures are losing you business or hurting your sales? What if you considered the hidden risk and cost of those less than stellar photos? This is one of those times when what you don’t know can hurt you, or at least hurt your bottom business line.
Importantly, people don’t usually buy without seeing something first. And they want a good look! They want to see it , hold it, try it out and hear about it from others who bought it (Hmm, sounds like a blog post I should write about putting testimonials/reviews on your website and social media posts, don’t ya’ think? I’ll get on that!) Online, we can’t actually do all that, but we buy with our eyes mostly anyway, so let’s please the eye!!!
- Post multiple views of each product.
- Show the product being used by a person (people love the human face).
- Each picture should have great focus and lighting.
- The picture should be relevant to the item for sale.
- For overall cohesiveness, have the pictures in a gallery, grid or grouping all the same orientation (portrait or landscape, portrait is vertical and landscape is horizontal).
- In a gallery, grid or grouping, have all the pictures the same size, unless you’re purposefully going for an asymmetrical look.
These tips are true even if you’re offering a service. For having pictures portraying your service is just as important as having images portraying the product. For instance, I offer website design services and branding. My portfolio slide show is how I portray the pictures of my services…plus my website itself has professionally branded photos and branding continuity. (Hmmm, just had an idea for a blog post on how I branded my own business. I’ll get on that too! I want to share all the info I can to help your business look amazing online too!)