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Adding visuals to your website doesn’t have to feel like a big task. Our Squarespace pros are here to help you understand what it means to capture the "right" photos for your website, and why they matter.
Watch the video above or read the transcript below for expert advice on what visuals make sense for your site and how to get photos for a product or service.
Transcript
Narrator: Your site's visuals determine your viewers' first impression. So as you begin to capture, select, edit, and display your imagery, just remember one thing: quality over quantity. Let's start with the basics.
Consider how or where else you might want to use these visuals. If you want to use them on your social channels, as well as your site, make sure to optimize your framing for both vertical and horizontal presentation so that your image doesn't get cut off on different devices or platforms. Next, you have to consider the purpose of these visuals.
Lukas Thoms: When planning what photos to have for your product, it's really important to show a breadth of different things. One, you want your primary product photo, but you also want photos of your product in the environment it's going to be used: lifestyle shots that help people understand, “How does the product fit into my life?”
And then, you also want detail shots that help your customers understand what makes this product special. For a portfolio site, you want to be able to tell the breadth of the work that you do and the types of stories that you're able to tell. So make sure that you're showing the different projects that you work on and make sure that you're not cropping things either so that people viewing your portfolio can see your work in its full beauty.
So when you're selling a service, ultimately you're selling value. So you want to make sure that the photos for those products are demonstrating the value that that service is bringing. If you're a yoga teacher, you want to show someone not just with you, but also maybe the yoga studio.
Read more tips for choosing photos for your website
Narrator: But when it comes to product photography, you'll have to either hire a professional or do it yourself.
Deun Ivory: Let's say you want to shoot your own product and you're like, "I don't even know where to start." First of all, you need to make sure you have a nice background, nice backdrop situation. It needs to look great. But sometimes when you're shooting product, you can't rely on natural lighting. Sometimes studio lighting is the best, 'cause it's consistent from hour one to hour 17.
And then in addition to that, I would say, what other elements do you want to bring into the photograph to give it that personable touch and that "wow" factor?
One of the most important parts of photographing or being a visual storyteller is knowing what story you're going to tell. And so I always start with a visual treatment or a mood board to kind of help me center my thoughts, and to provide a reference point.
What are the color palettes? With the set design, what objects do I want to use? You know, do we want natural light or is this, do you want artificial studio lighting? So it's so many ways that you can go, but I would want to make sure that I'm telling the most authentic story in a way that allows the product to look the best.
Get our guide to shooting your own product photography
Narrator: Let's review, shall we? You don't just need to have good pictures. You need to have the right pictures. So make sure you're using imagery that communicates your identity, can be used across platforms, and highlights valuable details in your product, service, or brand.
This post was updated on November 13, 2023.