Should You Invest in Professional Photos?
Pearl bracelet, necklace and earrings.
The answer to this question seems to be intuitively clear; however, the more I think about it, the more nuanced my answer becomes. Let me explain.
Imagine two businesses: One sells low-priced, fashion jewelry, and the other high-priced, exclusive, handcrafted pieces. If you visited their websites, what would you expect to see? The first store would probably have a thrifty yet efficient layout, possibly giving you the feeling that their items are competitively priced. The second store, however, would match their elegant jewelry with high-end professional pictures and engaging testimonials in a unique web-layout emphasizing their exclusivity and quality.
As you can see from these two examples, their websites follow their distinct brands.
A good website is like a three-legged stool. You need to balance layout, pictures, and texts in such a way that the stool does not lean too heavily to one side.
A good website is like a three-legged stool. You need to balance layout, pictures, and texts in such a way that the stool does not lean too heavily to one side.
Let us go back to my second example of the high-end jewelry store to illustrate my point. Imagine, the owner of this store was spending a lot of money on the web-layout but then chose to use smartphone pictures to showcase their elegant bracelets, necklaces, and earrings. Do you see the mismatch? The best advice I would give them would be to select a less unique web-layout and spend the saved money on professional pictures.
It is all about balance. Adding professional pictures to your website can complement your brand well. However, you need to understand first how your customers perceive your brand and whether there are more pressing issues to address first.
