Professional photos and headshots used to be for models, actors, and senior executives; photos that represent a business. These days, not only do professional photos belong to these personalities - everyone in business needs one. Yes, need. We are visual beings and it is easier for us to associate things with photos. Same as when we were young; it was easier for us to remember a word when we saw a photo of it, something to associate it with.
The same concept applies when you have a social media site or a blog. A simple yet powerful headshot in there will get you a long way. Consumers like to associate a business or a brand with a face. Let’s look at some of the top reasons why having a photo on your site is important.
Promote your personal brand – when consumers go to your blog or social media site and they see your photo there, they’ll sense a closeness that will make it easier for them to approach you, or leave a comment or say something on your site. You are making it easy for them to associate your brand with you. This way you are promoting your personal brand at the same time you are making it easy for consumers to separate you from the rest.
Increase traffic – people are more likely to click on your LinkedIn page or other social media sites if they see a photo of you there. You can attract readers just by putting your photo on your profile. Once they are looking around and reading your profile, and you did a great job at putting links to your other sites there, then you increase your chances of driving traffic to your other sites.
Adds credibility – readers are more inclined to believe an article or any kind of web content if the photo of the person who contributed it is there. If your blog still doesn’t have a short bio and photo, it’s time you sit down and add a photo and say a little something about yourself and what you do. Give your readers a little background and reasons why they should trust you.
These are some of the reasons why having a photo on your blog or social media sites is important. Even social media companies know how important having a photo online is. They are taking advantage of this by creating apps that allow users to take a photo of anyone and then have that person’s contact info entered into Outlook or iPhone contacts. Face recognition is becoming more popular!
Make sure to upload good quality photos. Have a professional photographer take your photo. Have a creative shot done, depending on the brand or image that you want your readers to see. Here are some things that you can do with your photo to make it a part of your marketing strategy.
Have a series of professional photos taken – when people look for you online, you don’t want the same photo of you to come up more than once in a single page. This might be a turn off for your reader. Ask a professional photographer for packages and talk about how you can have different shots taken with different clothes on. This way you can upload different photos of yourself on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, and other social media accounts. When they search your name online, they’ll see all these photos of you instead of just one.
Your name as file name – use your name as your photo file name. This will make it easier for Google or any search engine to show your face when a person looks for your name online. You can also upload to Flickr if you already have an account. This makes your photos easier to come up in search engines and social media sites.
Photos are your chance of making a lasting impression that people can trust and count on you and your business.
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