RLC Design Services doesn’t just build you a new website. We work start to finish to ensure that your new or updated website is compelling enough to keep visitors on your pages. Part of making your site compelling is actual professional photography of your business location. When we say professional photography, we mean professional.
Rich was the co-owner of an art gallery in Prescott Arizona from 2008 through 2012. He specialized in unique southwestern landscape photography and commercial photo work as well. When we visit you at your business location a large part of our web work is ensuring that you have high quality images on your site that help capture your audience’s interest.
Do the images on your site matter?
It’s been said you have 15 seconds for a first time visitor on your website to make the decision to stay or leave. That’s a short window. If the site is easy to use, visually compelling, and has the content your visitor is looking for, they’re going to stay longer and give you a read. If you have images that are not compelling, or even detrimental to how folks view your site, they’re gone.
Let’s take a look at 2 series of images. It’s your call, but we believe you’ll see the difference.
Series number one below are a set of images on a website that we’ve offered our services on. The first three photos are out of focus, the lighting is drab, and the images aren’t sized properly for the web. The photo with the Saguaro in it is in focus and sized properly, but is not compelling. The last two images are average snap shots. For me, nothing in the series says, “Stay here.”
The next series was shot on location by RLC Design for several RV Resort communities. The moment we heard the word “resort” we knew that the images have to be compelling! I’ve presented these images in a slide show, just for your viewing pleasure. In the case of the images taken for McGavin Holdings, we were very selective about time of day, shooting at sunset to get that warm evening light, and selective about how we presented the park models. If you look at the last two images above the park models look pretty dull. Pay attention to the park model images in the slideshow, they’re anything but dull. Finally, everything is in focus and properly sized for the web. Be honest, where would you want to stay just based on the images?
Images on your site matter
If you are still uncertain about whether or not images matter on your website, all you have to do is look to Amazon. Several years ago they created an uproar in the photo community after filing for a patent on photographing products on a white background. A patent! At some point I bet anyone reading this article has made a purchase from Amazon. And the images on their site of the products you are looking for were so important to them (as a selling mechanism) that they went forward with their patent.
Your products, your location, and your business need to be presented in a positive light. The first series of images is not only dull, it’s a turn off to me as a consumer. It would not be a park on my list of places to visit. The lighting and time of day the images were shot make the place seem washed out and run down. Now with the images we did for McGavin we picked the appropriate time of day, scouted our shoot locations prior to snapping away, and kept in mind that our images could make or break the business.
Custom images included
RLC Design’s higher end website packages include custom images as part of the package. As I noted early, we are a full start to finish web design group, and we don’t leave anything out. Ask yourself a simple question. Are iPhone photos going to cut it when you’re trying to get someone interested in your business?
If you’re serious about attracting new business via the Internet, contact us today.