Multiply your online conversions with great photography

It’s one of the most critical components of your online presence. Yet it is also likely to be the least publicised and definitely the least understood. And due to massive leaps in the technology that enables it, its also the most abused.

Photography has gone from the realm of highly trained artists and technicians, to a workaday commodity that is literally at the fingertips of the population.

Where you once needed a small fortune spent on courses, equipment and development to create a reasonably acceptable result, now anyone with a half decent mobile phone is snapping away and uploading to their Facebook page before you can say ‘cheese’.

But with convenience comes complacency as well as a massive dose of under-appreciation of a once glamorous industry.

But then again it’s always been that way.

Cheap and nasty photography

Because it’s so cheap and easy to take a snap that takes pride of place on the family mantlepiece, much of the populace is under the impression that a good photo requires nothing more than an interesting subject and a reasonable camera.

The truth is that while technology has lowered the barriers to entering professional photography, the planet’s best equipment won’t make up for poor composition, lighting and artistry.

The same images that stare out at you from the covers of 1,000 magazines have taken painstaking preparation, patience and not a small degree of post-production to achieve the pictorials that you and I take for granted.

That’s all well and good, but what’s all this photographic appreciation doing in a blog about eBusiness?

The truth is, plenty.

A massive ROI

Good photography on your website can make a massive difference to your conversion rates – particularly if you are selling products (as distinct from services).

What website owners often fail to grasp is that the quality of their web pages will directly influence the visitor’s decision to purchase.

It does this in three key ways.

First, if a visitor cannot view your products so that they can see every detail of it, they may go to the site of a competitor where they can.

What this means is that the product must be lit and composed correctly and be large enough (perhaps via clicking on a ‘thumbnail) to view sufficient detail.

Second, there is an expectation of quality when it comes to the presentation of products. Customers are overwhelmed with quality images hell-bent on selling them something many times a day. And thousands of dollars are spent on making these images appeal to the eye.

Mass media leads to high expectations

If your images are not of a quality the same customer is used to getting in glossy catalogues and television commercials, they will simply perceive your product to be inferior.

Third, the quality of the shot is a critical indicator of the professionalism of your business.

What is often forgotten is that the website may be the only encounter with your business that the visitor may get. They won’t have the chance to walk into your beautiful showroom and meet your friendly staff. They will base their entire opinion of your capabilities on the presentation and content of your website.

So a sloppily prepared photograph will lead them to believe you have a sloppy business and certainly one that shouldn’t have access to their funds or credit card details.

Therefore, it’s imperative to ensure that photography on your website is as professional as possible.

And it needn’t mean you have to mortgage your house to get it that way.

Tips to get the price down

First, if you are simply retailing the products of a third party, chances are that your supplier will be able to provide you with great product shots. If not, they should at least be convinced to either fully or partially subsidise the creation of such.

After all, it’s as much in their interests to portray their products professionally as it is yours.

Second, if you do need to get professional shots taken, try to get as many done in one sitting as you can.

Like most media creation, there are significant economies of scale in photography.

Once a location or setup is prepared and lit, there is little effort in taking a number of shots of similar items compared to the alternative of the setup labour and cost of doing a handful of images at a time.

If this is still outside your budget, you might be able to find a good photographer who will accept kind instead of cash.

Or if photography is going to happen often, it may well be worth investing in a short course and some second-hand equipment to get the type of shots that will convince your website visitors to buy.

If you’re selling services, the shots often don’t need to be as specific as they do for products. This means that you can use high quality stock photography to portray your service in action. This will cost a small fraction of having custom shots taken and often can be superior to what you had in mind anyway.

Either way, get your website images as professional as possible and watch your sales or enquiry conversions multiply.

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Craig Reardon is a leading eBusiness educator and founder and director of independent web services firm The E Team which provide the gamut of ‘pre-built’ website solutions, technologies and services to SMEs in Melbourne and beyond.