Does my Squarespace website need professional photography?
If you are in the process of building a Squarespace website or employing the expertise of Squarespace Designers to do so - like yours truly - you may be wondering whether you need professional photography? We’ll cut to the case: YES!
You might be thinking, well hang on a minute, phones have such great camera capabilities these days. Isn’t it easier than ever to do it yourself and take good photos?
We agree that personal photography has come a long way but it is just not comparable to the equipment, expertise and creative flair possessed by professional photographers. At Made By Dave, we passionately feel that photography is an area of your business which shouldn’t be compromised on. So here are 5,4,3,2,1 reasons to give you a snapshot of why we think it is beneficial to hire a professional photographer.
First Impressions
Your website is often the first interaction that potential customers have with your brand. As the old saying goes, you never get a second chance to make a first impression. According to this study, you only have 50 ms to make an impression at all! On visual appeal alone, prospective customers will have assessed and formed an opinion on your website within the time it takes to say ‘CHEESE’. There can be no doubt then, how significant an impact high-quality, professional photography can have on the way people perceive your brand.
Excellent photography can showcase the high calibre of your products or services. Close ups can demonstrate the care in craftsmanship and highlight the attention to detail. By not being afraid to hold your product up to the microscope, it is an act of transparency, you have nothing to hide. For B2Bs, professional images convey the message that you invest in the best and care about what you look like. As a result, potential customers will more readily believe that you can do the same for them. Top quality visuals are indicative of professionalism, credibility and reliability. They instil trust. Trust that a product will stand the test of time. Trust that their business will be in safe hands. It is an essential ingredient in the success of any brand.
Also, to state the obvious, if a competitor is using a professional photographer and you are not, then you are immediately on the back foot.
A Picture Paints a Thousand Words
Us humans, we are visual beings. We process visual data 60,000 times faster than text. The old adage, ‘a picture is worth a thousand words’ certainly rings true and even more so in today’s social age, with so many of us engaging on platforms such as Instagram or TikTok. We are subject to a constant drip feed of images, all competing for our attention. As a result, our standards when it comes to visuals have been driven a lot higher. Content has to be powerful and eye-catching to stop us in our tracks when mindlessly scrolling. Moreover, what with deep fakes and photoshop fails, we are also more astute and discerning about what we see. Therefore, it is so important to have good quality, authentic photography that commands the attention of prospective customers and delivers an impactful story.
Professional photographers can add so much value. They can help you tell your brand's story more effectively and communicate your brand's values, products and services in a visually compelling way. By drawing on composition and lighting during a shoot, or utilising colour grading and seamless editing tricks post shoot, professionals provide more than just images. They can capture essence, ambience, a feeling. This fun blog entry perfectly demonstrates our point. It compares the results of a professional versus amateur’s take on various scenarios. The difference is undeniable.
Why is capturing a feeling so important? Within marketing and advertising there is a specific branch called Emotional Marketing, whereby a particular emotion is tapped into in order to elicit a response from the consumer. It works because we are emotional beings. Facts and figures are good and essential to know but despite being in possession of this head knowledge, there can still exist a slight disconnect. It is the emotional connection that is always the clincher. Hubspot articulates it well ‘If it were between two advertisements — one that simply talked about products, and one that made you laugh or cry — which would “impress” you?’ I think most people would agree on the latter. The ability to tap into an emotion and make your audience feel a certain way, so much so that it prompts action is an invaluable skill to have. At the end of the day, you are persuading your customer to buy your product or use your service.
Hence why photography can be so key. With physical products it can appeal to the senses. A close up, soft contrast of a textile can make you just want to snuggle up and hunker down when you are feeling the winter chill. Bright, transparent and pure colours can make you believe that a soft drink is just the tonic to quench your thirst. Beyond physical products, photography can capture the affairs of the heart. Just remember any images from charity campaigns that have moved you to make a donation or have appealed to your sense of wanderlust resulting in the booking of your next adventure.
Improve Website Performance
Let’s get technical! The images used in website design can seriously impact the website’s performance. Large, unoptimized images can send your website into slooow-mooo… and no - not the cute, sloth kind! It can really make for a poor user experience (UX) and lower your search engine rankings. On the opposite end of the spectrum, if your photos don’t have a good enough resolution, you can end up with pixelated blurry images and weird crops. A big no! Using the right sized images and formats for website design and social platforms is therefore essential. Navigating all these image specifications and guidelines - which are constantly subject to updates - can be a minefield. Also landing on an image that works and looks good on multiple devices can be a complicated case to crack. For a professional photographer, it is second nature - they don’t think twice about it. They can optimise your images for web use with ease, ensuring that you are kitted out with the correct size and format for your website. Your digital home will look swish, be at performance best and you’ll be climbing those search engine rankings in no time!
Stand Out from the Crowd
What about stock photography? Stock photos are professional yet more affordable. To quote Jim Trott from the Vicar of Dibley, ‘Yes, yes but no.’
Stock photos in their very nature are generic. In order to get more bang for their buck, stock photos will capture a very universal, non-specific situation, which can be interpreted in a number of ways, in order to be used more widely. As discussed in a previous point, images can be powerful communicators. By using photos that are intentionally vague, you are missing out on an opportunity to deliver a message with pinpoint focus to directly engage with your intended audience. Moreover, stock images become overused and therefore unoriginal. If you use them, you become one of many lost in a sea of websites that all look the same. The market is dense and there are so many websites and brands competing for attention online. It is imperative to define your USP, differentiate yourself from the competition and stand out from the crowd. This is where professional photography can really serve a purpose and come into its own.
Professional photographers can help you create a unique visual identity that sets you apart from the competition. They can define and showcase your brand's unique personality, style and values. Are you traditional or cutting edge? Are you calm, relaxed, stable or upbeat, vibrant and energised? Are you earthy and organic or sleek and clinical?
Photography can really set the tone and help you establish your niche.
Time
A really simple one but still worth mentioning - time. If you don’t know your way round a camera, you could be there for days trying to capture the winning shot. Beyond the shoot, you could spend hours watching tutorials on how to use Photoshop in order to edit your images or waste time faffing around with resizes that still look blurry when you upload them. We recommend really weighing up your time. What else could you achieve or what value could you add to your business in the time it takes you to get one shot? How does that stack up against the cost of hiring a professional photographer? Are you utilising your strengths and delegating out on your weaknesses? As we said, visuals are critical in making or breaking a customer's first impression and all in 50m/s. What price would you put on that?
Conclusion
Investing in a professional photographer is a smart move. At Made By Dave, we have a list of photographers local to us who we have worked with and can highly recommend.