Is a Picture of You On Your Website Really That Important?
We have built thousands of web pages for home inspectors all across the U.S. and Canada, and Our team at Full View Home Inspector Marketing is here to help you make a success of your home inspection business, which includes creating the best website you can have.
We want to answer the question, should you have a picture of yourself on your website? We will discuss this below. But please remember, if you ever have any other questions, you are welcome to call us at the number at the top of this screen, or email us.
Yes – You Should Have Your Picture There… Usually
Studies show that having a picture of a face or faces, whether it is yours or a random face, increases the conversion rate of new clients. You will find that on most large corporations’ websites, there are pictures of faces. The average estimate is about a 50% conversion hike, which is huge. But there are estimates that conversions increase up to 102% to even higher, almost 200%, when you have a human face for someone to look at. Not to get too psychological, but there are reasons this happens. Very often, when we associate a brand with a smiling, happy face, there is a conversion. It is relatable, and it draws us in. So the short answer is, yes, having a picture on your website is good for your business.
Of course, there are some caveats to this. In the attached video, you will see some examples. First of all, be self-aware. This part is hard for some of us. We really have to know ourselves – and to be honest, the way we look/come off. Do my pictures look like a serial killer? Do I look super young or super old? Do I look healthy enough to fit into a crawlspace? I own three successful inspection companies, but you will not see my picture on there – because I have always looked young. When I started my first company, people would ask me if my father was coming when I would show up on site. So that is not a good look to increase conversions.
What About Stock Images of Faces or Houses?
Stock images are not as good as the real thing, but even a picture of any face is better than not having one at all, according to most studies. Can you find a picture of a happy family in front of a house? A person smiling toward the camera? just about anything is better than nothing in this case.
Another idea is using a picture of just a house. This may not be as good as a picture of some smiling faces, but it is still appropriate. We call this “convention”, or basically what people expect to see when they go to a home inspection website. If you go to a bakery’s website, you expect to see pictures of bread. If it is a mechanic shop’s website, you will see pictures of cars or engines. It’s what we expect. So, if our home inspection website has a picture of a house, that’s what our users would expect – and in fact, not having a picture of a house somewhere on there can actually hurt conversions.
How This Looks In Real-Life
We have built thousands of web pages for home inspectors all across the U.S. and Canada, and we have seen that the pictures help. Let’s Give you some real-life examples.
Dadah Home Inspections
In this website (click here), you will see an example of a website we made that uses the picture of a great inspector, and we have interspersed his picture throughout the site. Even if potential clients don’t read everything on his website, seeing his picture will help them associate him with his brand.
And he is seen happily doing his work. This website sells. He looks confident and relatable right off the bat. This is someone we want to hire right away without much thought.
100 Mile Home Inspections
In this website (click here), you will see a similar theme, but a different feel. The “Hero” section is the section right below the menu. In this example and the last, both inspectors have their pictures there and it gives an immediate response from the user. We only get 3 seconds to get a website visitor to stay on the site, so this is an effective way to do that.
Notice this inspector has a different pose though. Both poses are effective, this one just conveys a different message. One of being busy and focused.
Blue Lobster Home Inspections
In this website (click here), you will see that there is no picture of a home inspector in the Hero section, but there is if you scroll down on the page – but this is still a high-selling website. His brand and everything really stand out.
Having his picture further down on the page is still an effective conversion tool, as the website makes you want to stay on it and scroll down to see more.
Dobbins Home Inspection
In this website (click here), this inspector chose not to have his picture on his website. To be honest, most inspectors choose not to have a picture of themselves. We get it, it’s not for everyone.
But when that is the case, it is important to use pictures of houses. Again, going back to the bakery website illustration, I want to see bread and cakes when I go there. People want to see at least a picture of a house.
Boston Woods Home Inspections
In this website (click here), we have a style that is a bit rare, but can still be effective. Its what we call a “Brand Website” – just a term we made up here. It’s a site that focuses on the brand of the company, and has minimal to no pictures of houses or inspectors.
You really have to have a logo and brand that lends itself to this type of design, like the logo in this example. These types of websites still convert well, but you will notice that at least one picture of a house is in there.
Four Options For Your Website
In reality there are four options to think about with your website:
- First, you can have a picture of yourself throughout your site. As a reminder, remember to be self-aware. Make sure the photos of yourself are dignified and represent you and your work well.
- Second, you can have a stock photo of another inspector or a happy family on your site.
- Third, you can have photos of houses throughout your website to really make it obvious to others what kind of work you do.
- And fourth, go completely on brand. That is probably the rarest option, but it is doable if you have a strong brand and logo.
In conclusion, should you have a picture of yourself on your website? Yes. That is the best option with the highest conversion rate, as long as your photos don’t make you look crazy or unqualified to do the work. If you cannot or do not want to use photos of yourself, there are some other methods as we explained. Please feel free to reach out to our team to discuss your best options for a beautiful and productive website. Give us a call at 518-878-4845 or email us at [email protected]. You can also see other examples of websites we have made on our Website Sample Page.
