Real Team Photos Get More Attention Than Long Bios
On the FreshBooks team page, real photos of staff received about 10% more viewing time than the written bios, even though the bios took up 316% more space on the page (Nielsen Norman Group, 2010).
What the research observed
Nielsen Norman Group’s eye-tracking study of photos on websites found that users ignore large generic and “feel-good” stock images but look closely at images that carry information relevant to their task. Pictures of real products and real people fall into that second group (Nielsen Norman Group, 2010).
The FreshBooks example shows how strong the effect can be. A small set of real headshots earned more attention than several times as much text. Visitors on an About or Team page want to know who they would be dealing with. A real photo answers that faster than a paragraph does.
What it means for a business website
For a small or mid-sized business, the team is often a large part of what a customer is buying. People hiring a contractor, an accountant, or a consultant want to see the person who will show up or answer the phone.
Two common approaches miss this. One uses stock photos of smiling models in place of the real staff, which visitors tend to skip. The other uses real photos but surrounds them with long biographies that few people read in full.
The research points to a simpler page: real photos given clear space, with short bios that state each person’s role, relevant experience, and what they handle for customers. Longer background can sit behind a link for those who want it.
What to do
- Replace any stock imagery of people on your About or Team page with real photos of your staff.
- Use consistent, well-lit headshots or photos of people at work.
- Cut each bio to two or three sentences covering role and relevant experience.
- Use real photos of your work and products elsewhere on the site, too.
Sources
- Nielsen. Photos as Web Content. Nielsen Norman Group, 2010.