People want to do business with people they know. Preferably people they’ve met, shook hands with, and talked to in person. Someone they’ve connected with.
But in the digital business world, meeting and getting to know people is different.
Your website is where your potential customers will meet you and your business. From your home page people will instantly get an idea of what your company is about – what you do and for whom.
But often there’s a problem. There are no pictures of anyone who works at the company. There’s no one home.
Stock images of happy people won’t cut it.
Most mining supply websites have good photos of their facilities, or beautiful landscapes, or great shots of their machinery. All good.
Sometimes there are stock images of happy people in meetings, but something doesn’t seem right. Readers can tell they are stock images. They just have that stock-image look about them. Stock images give the impression the company isn’t being honest. We know these people don’t work there.
What’s missing is photos of the people who work there. The real people who work at your company.
How to Introduce your team.
Having a page for introducing your team is a must. People want to do business with people they know. Team photos (not group photos) are a great way for people to meet you digitally.
So, add a page to your website to introduce the team – the people who run the operations, the people prospects would be contacting.
The page could be titled The Team or Meet Our Team. With smaller companies most, if not, all of the team should be included up to about 15 people or so.
If your company is a large corporation then the C-suite people and VPs, would be pictured.
Think about what the people coming to your website need to know about the company and the people who work there. Who do they want to meet?
Tips for team photos on your website
I’ve looked at few websites for ideas on staff photos and here’s what I found.
- Don’t dress everyone in the company polo/T-shirt and pose them in front of the same background (wall). Somehow, these pictures look like mug shots.
- Aim for different poses and have them dress in the clothing they would normally wear at work.
- The photos need to be professional. No photos from vacations or weddings.
- Let each person’s individuality come through in the photo.
- Don’t vary the photos so much that one is in colour and another in black and white.
- All the photos should be the same size.
- Smile!
- Keep your branding in mind and how you want people visiting the site to view your company and its management.
- Use high-resolution images.
- Name the files to maximize SEO
- Consider hiring a professional photographer.
You must get consent from the people you want to photograph and get their permission to include their photo on the company website. Create a consent form, perhaps with the assistance of a lawyer.
Don’t forget to add captions to the photos on your website
The caption for each photo should have the person’s name and position within the company. Some companies include email addresses and social media icons, making it easy for prospects to connect with your team.
Many companies have a button after the name and position to take the reader to a page with the person’s bio, giving more information about the team member – education, work experience, and time with the company.
If you are aiming for a more casual branding, the info could include hobbies or interests.
Two more things.
- Keep the photos and information up to date. I once went to see an author read from her work. I thought I was in the wrong place, because she was much older than the photograph on her website.
- Google likes photos you take yourself rather than stock photos. Original photographs will increase your rankings with Google, which is a good thing.
Great employee photos will help prospective clients get to know the people who run your company.
One more reason for potential clients to choose your company over the competition