Imagery is an integral part of web design, and great pictures on your site can make a huge difference. Having pictures that authentically represent you, your business and your brand, and that display just as well on a desktop as a mobile is a surefire way to make your site stand out from competitors, and persuade visitors you are just what they are looking for.
However, as a web designer, I’ve had plenty of clients turn up with hundreds of image files, but almost no usable pictures. Even after a professional photoshoot, where every shot would look great framed on the mantelpiece, it can be hard to piece together enough content to fill a website. The issue is that web design requires a different type of composition than standard portrait photography, and unless you understand this (and make sure any photographers you hire get it too), you’ll end up wasting time and money on shots that aren’t actually that useful.
For this article, we’ll mostly look at imagery for service businesses. Although product photography is incredibly important, and tricky to get right, the content itself is clear; pictures of the product from various angles and in various situations. However, if you are running a service business, capturing what you offer your clients can be much harder. If that’s you, keep reading for some ideas of how to create authentic and exciting images that really sell your services.
Landscape Images
Before we go on to the content, remember to shoot landscape wherever possible. On mobile devices, portrait orientation images take up too much vertical room and need to be scrolled past, so it’s preferable to go with a landscape or square picture. We also want nice widescreen banners that look great on desktop. It’s also much easier to crop a landscape image to work as portrait than vice versa. If in doubt, take a portrait and landscape version of an image.
Here’s two quick mock ups to demonstrate how landscape usually works better:
1: Your Products and Services
Obviously, it should go without saying that you need images of what you are trying to sell. Whether that’s products or services, visitors are much more likely to buy what you are offering if they can see what to expect.
2: Time For Action
The simplest way to demonstrate the service you offer is to invite a photographer to follow you round for the day! For most service businesses this will give you what you need. Although you don’t have to be the star of every picture, aim to include your face wherever possible. People buy from people, and having the same person appear in multiple photos makes things feel more trustworthy.
Take pictures of you putting out stock, dealing with day to day tasks or working behind the scenes, it doesn’t have to be glamorous, just authentic. Keep in mind some boundaries though, a plumber will be more photogenic loading tools into their van than dealing with a nasty blockage…
However, it can be much harder to do this if you offer something that could be considered “private”. Lawyers, health practitioners and therapists are just some of examples of situations where clients might be unwilling to be photographed mid-session. It can also be hard to get action photos if you work at a desk, and if you work from home, you might also be unwilling to be photographed perched at the kitchen table or in the spare room. However, there are ways you can illustrate your service without making things awkward, so let’s look at some ideas in more depth.
Tools of The Trade: If you have specialist equipment or a dedicated location where you work, this can be a great for demonstrating what you do without actually having to do it on camera. A doctor looking at scans in their consulting room, or a counsellor looking friendly in their comfy office would work well.
Dress Up and Go On Location: If your work is mainly desk-based, then pick your favourite outfit and head to a cute cafe, cool co-working space or any other interesting location for the day. Choose your clothing and backdrop with your “brand” in mind – aim to show your personality and therefore what clients might expect when working with you. Wearing a suit in front of a bookcase full of leather-bound books might be a great look for a lawyer, but a designer might go for a more casual outfit while sitting in an art gallery cafe.
Hint At Work: The example above of the back of the laptop is a classic way to show what you at work without getting in to too much detail. Another good prop is a notebook and pen, which works really well for creative businesses; you can gaze into the distance for inspiration, or write notes as if a good idea has just hit you. You can also do similar with a whiteboard as shown above. If you spend a lot of time talking to clients, it might even work to show yourself mid-phone call.
Forget Work Altogether: A fun idea is to ignore what you actually do all day, and instead just take some great photos of you. Again, the idea is to evoke a feeling about what it will be like to hire you. Perhaps a photo of you relaxing with a coffee is a great way to show clients they will feel calm and at ease with you? Or maybe a picture of you walking across a windswept beach will create a sense that your coaching sessions will guide them through the challenges they face? If your business is all about you and your unique skills, then you can really go to town.
3: Meet Your Clients
One of the things you want to communicate through your website is how clients will feel when they buy your products or work with you. Is the experience going to be fun, or relaxing, or will they be relieved when you solve their stressful problem? Taking photos of you working with clients is an easy way to illustrate this, but again, can be hard if clients want to protect their privacy.
Using a friend or relative as a stand in can be helpful, especially if you angle the photo so they are not easily recognised. This allows the focus of the image to be on you, but also allows the viewer to imagine themselves in the meeting with you.
4: Capture the Details
If you plan to write a few pages for your website, then you’ll need a good selection of images to help break up the text. Even if you don’t have that much planned, it can be helpful to use different images for each topic you cover or package you offer to visually separate them on the page.
Therefore, you should aim to take some general photos that you can use in this kind of situation. Having a stash of these to hand is also useful for blogging, social media and newsletters, so get them in the bag early.
Some ideas for these type of images include shots of your workspace or the surrounding area, interesting objects or tools you use, close ups of you working alone or with clients or colleagues, an item branded with your logo, a display of materials or products you use. A good photographer will be able to find loads of interesting details, so take a break from posing and let them get on with it!
5: A Landscape Portrait With a Boring Background
Just because you are taking landscape images, it doesn’t mean you have to fill the whole frame. A portrait of you (or your product) with a non-distracting background is perfect for online layouts, as it gives a space to overlay text without covering up the important parts of the image.
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It doesn’t have to be a flat background, just one that the viewer can understand without seeing every detail, and it’s even better if it relates to your business in some way.
Outdoor Yoga Every Monday
For example, if you run a hairdressers, you could be standing at the front with the salon chairs behind you, or someone who does workshops might be shown mid-presentation.
“The most inspiring speaker we’ve ever booked.”
6: Meet The Team
If you have other people involved with your business, it’s good to get pictures of them too. Let your clients know who else they’ll meet when working with you. Maybe you have a large team of employees, so a formal team photo works best, or there’s just a few of you so you can be more casual.
If you generally work alone, that doesn’t mean you can’t have a “team” photo on your About page. Adding a photo of your pet that gatecrashes zoom calls, or a candid picture of you with family and friends can help potential clients connect with the real you. Maybe they have the same breed of dog, their child is a similar age to yours, or they enjoy the same hobbies as you. Anything that makes you memorable can be the difference between them contacting you or not.
7: Cut Outs
It’s always handy to have a few images on a plainer background, as this makes it easy to create a cut out image. Try to minimise fine details like flyaway hairs or fussy accessories to get a crisp outline.
This can work really well when combined with block colours and text, and can really elevate your design for very little effort. You can even use cut off edges and overlaps to make it look like you are interacting with elements on you site.
Let’s get to work!
8: Abstract Backgrounds
Finally, one image type that people always forget is backgrounds. If you have a great photo of something, it’s a shame to use it as a background where it might not be that visible. Take a few pictures that are almost abstract, so it doesn’t matter if they get completely covered up by text, or washed out by an overlay; try some close ups or repeating patterns.
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Is It Worth Paying For A Professional Photographer?
It’s very likely that your phone has an excellent quality camera, so from a technical viewpoint you don’t need to hire a photographer. However, the real difference is in the details. One skill that is hard to develop if it doesn’t come naturally is an eye for composition; this can take years to really hone. Also, a set of photos taken by a professional will have consistent colours and lighting throughout, while amateur photos tend to be more variable when viewed as a set, which can look strange if the images on a page veer from one style to another.
If the point of upgrading your website is to boost your online presence and create more leads or sales for your business, then it’s probably well worth the investment to get a fully ‘on-brand’ set of images that you can use for the next few years.
