We all know the saying ‘a picture speaks a thousand words’, and that’s never more true when talking about your work.
Most people don’t really read websites; they scan them to find the bit they’re interested in, so while you may take great care over writing a detailed description, the chances are that most people won’t take the time to read it.
So what does a visitor to your website really want to see? Are they interested in the theory behind what you do? The intricate details of how you go about doing it? In some cases, yes, but that usually comes further down the line. In the first instance all they really want is to see what you can do.
If you provide a service with an end product, like design, architecture, landscaping, cake making, hair dressing (the list goes on) there’s really no better way to demonstrate what you do than with a portfolio or gallery of before and after pictures.
So, how can you do this for your business? Here are our top tips to help get you started.
Choose one key image
In the first instance use one key image that really demonstrates your work, then, if appropriate, give the user the option to see more by linking to a set of photos or gallery.
Be selective
Don’t put up every single piece of work you’ve ever done. Instead, use examples of the type of work you want to do in the future and that demonstrate your skills best.
Give some background information
Give a summary of the work that you did including the brief and the end result. Don’t write an essay, but pick out the key points to illustrate the project.
Keep it fresh
Make sure you update the content regularly with recent projects; it’ll give returning visitors something new to see and show that you’re active.
Get the images right
If you’re using before and after photos, try to take them in the same location, from the same position and angle to really emphasise the change that has taken place. If it’s a garden or property that you’ve worked on the people viewing the images probably won’t have been there, so it’s important that they can relate one picture to another.
If you’re using photographs of products it’s always worthwhile getting a photographer to take the pictures and add the professional touch.
Optimise images for the web
Don’t use large image files – if they take too long to load your visitors might not stick around long enough to see them. Instead, resize the image, use a low resolution and save for the web. If you really want to provide a high resolution image give users the option to view them on a separate page or to download them.
We find Smush.it very useful for getting image file sizes down – it’s a free service from Yahoo and is also available in the form of a WordPress plugin.
UPDATE – March 2016 – Unfortunately Smushit is no longer supported – try EWWW Image Optimizer instead.
Cheat!
If you don’t have a portfolio or gallery on your website, cheat! There are lots of out of the box solutions and website plugins that you can use to do the hard work for you.
Don’t have pictures?
Perhaps the service you offer doesn’t lend itself to a portfolio or gallery. Accountants, solicitors, business coaches (another long list) may find testimonials a more useful tool – if that’s the case then check out last month’s article on top testimonial tips…
But you don’t have to leave it there; if photos won’t do the job create an infographic or even a good old fashioned graph. The principle is the same, you can convey an extraordinary amount of information and really illustrate your results with very little effort.
