What does your website’s ‘About’ page imagery really say about you?

The ‘About’ or team page of a website has always been important, but is of rising importance as websites increasingly become the ‘shop window’ for businesses. It goes without saying that e-commerce and online stores rely entirely on their websites for sales, but even for other businesses, the website will generally sit at the centre of marketing activity and be key to establishing credibility and authority.

Most businesses will invest significant sums on logos, branding and website imagery, whether stock or bespoke photography.

But the page of the website often neglected is the ‘About’ page, or team pages leading from the ‘About’ page.

Why?

Surely in the social media and networking-dominated business climate in which we operate, people increasingly do ‘business with people’. With face to face sales meetings falling second place to online and social marketing strategies and interaction, if we want to see the whites of a potential supplier’s eyes, the first port of call will often be the About page of a website.

Surely, every organisation has a vested interest in ensuring their people come across on their website as professional, personable, approachable and friendly, smart and presentable.

Surely every business would prefer their imagery to represent the company brand, whether that’s through the setting of their team (for example at desks, an external work setting, or even social setting) or the style of the photography (whether formal, informal, creative or quirky).

And surely every company would want a consistent look to their team photographs, conveying a well-established team, on board with the organisation’s ethos and values.

But in many cases….

• ‘About’ page contains a picture of the Director only, even when this person plays a minimal role in day to day business relationships with customers
• Team photographs are completely inconsistent, random and poor quality, obviously supplied by the team themselves varying from selfies in bars, badly cropped holiday shots, huge range of attire, and completely irrelevant off brand settings and styles

The result?  A wasted opportunity and a poor image of the business.

A company who approached this in the right way…. Psychology Direct

As a commercial photographer I was asked to photograph the team at Psychology Direct for their upcoming new website.   Psychology Direct are a business whose values are very much focused on people and quality. They have a strong, happy, highly engaged and valued team, whatever their role (including Buzz the dog). They pride themselves on client service and the strength of their professional relationships, and whilst most of their relationship-building occurs on the telephone, they wanted their team to look the approachable, friendly, go-the-extra-mile bunch they truly are.

The decision was taken to not only take individual high quality professional profile shots of all team members (including Buzz the dog), but also some lovely whole-team shots.

Conveying and reinforcing the company brand through high quality commercial photography

The individual profile shots were designed to be just that, individual. We wanted a natural, informal feel to the photographic style and I couldn’t have worked with a friendlier, more open, relaxed group of people (and pets), making it so much easier to achieve this natural look. We added variety and conveyed the fun personalities of team members through using a range of poses rather than only face-to-camera shots. Incorporating shots of Buzz the Dog enabled the injection of humour and light-heartedness, again, reflecting the company brand.

For the group team shot, we wanted to reinforce the close-knit nature of the team whilst also promoting the company. Having the whole team in one shot, with equal presence was a challenge. But taking a wide shot, with team members stood proudly around Psychology Direct banners, enabled us to achieve a high quality, professional, unique image which achieved all the objectives.

Present your team in the best light

Using my portable studio, shots were set against a white background, so the team member was the main focus of the shot, with no distractions. Shots taken against a white background can run the risk of being stark, and this is where commercial photography experience and skills come in. Getting the lighting right is crucial - the right levels of light, delivered at the right angle – in this case 45 degrees from the subject on either side of me about 1 ½ metres from the background.  I use a light meter to measure the exposure I require, 200 ISO and grey card my camera for best results. I use a full-frame Nikon750 and a portrait lens 50-70mm for the most flattering angle. Shooting in a raw format enables me to deliver maximum digital quality when it comes to post production and retouching.

Fantastic results, from every angle

The resulting shots, achieved over one morning, are a great asset to the company. Elevating their About/Team page to a professional level, potential clients and Associates will now gain a positive impression of the team at Psychology Direct they’ll be dealing with.

‘As part of our rebrand and website redevelopment and the addition of a 'Meet the team' page we needed a great set of team photos that reflected our personality whilst being professional.

From the initial enquiry to receiving the actual photos, Amanda was warm, accommodating, receptive, creative and all the timescales were met.

As a result, we now have photos that the team love and most importantly reflects us, our values and our culture. It was worth every penny and would recommend Amanda to anyone and everyone!’’. Aaron Banham, Director, Psychology Direct.

Looking for your website ‘About’ page to say something positive about you? Then ensure the photographs of your team say ‘professional’ as well as reflect the values and brand of the business.

To discuss your project or for a quote, contact me on [email protected] or 07767 776839.