Even if you don't understand SEO, you need to understand VISUAL

Even if you don't understand SEO, you need to understand Visual

Yes, visual, as in "seeing or pertaining to site."  

We all scratch our heads and try to comprehend the latest Google Panda or Koala Bear or whatever it's called now and figure out how to get to the highly sought-after "Page 1."  We do this through trying to understand that ever changing world of SEO.  

However, sit back for a moment and grasp what is so often overlooked (pun intended) - we are all visual creatures and that computer screen in front of you right now is a visual means of communication.  It's visual not just for you but also for the potential client that just found your website.  Do you want to hold their attention?  Do you want them to remember you and mention you to a friend?  Then you need to appeal to them visually.  

Of course, I am a fan of good photography, but there is a "trick" I'm going to let you in on.  It's really no trick at all but it's understanding the human eye and then using that knowledge creatively.  The "color" white on a computer screen is very bright and makes the human eye "squint."  Darker colors, such as "black" on a computer screen are still "backlight" by the computer screen but don't make the human eye work so hard.  As a result, other colors, such as red, blue, green, etc look deeper and richer on a black background than they do on a white background.  So, photos on a dark background simply look better. Look at this photo of a Little League game 

I've had to make the photos small to try and get a large enough border to demonstrate the effect even though with the white Active Rain background, I'm probably fighting a losing battle.  It's the exact same photo on two different backgrounds.  If you can look closely, you will notice that the colors in the left photo appear richer than those on the right.  Look at this photo.  

Doesn't the sky on the left look deeper and richer then that on the right?  The only difference is the background color.  

Don't believe me?  Take a look at these fine art photography websites -  fineartphoto.com, 1x.com, francisfineart.com.  Why does each of these fine art photography websites use a black background?  They use it because it makes the photos look better than a white background would.  Nearly all high quality photography websites use a dark, or at least medium tone background color - with an exception in the case of some wedding websites (for reasons related to the bride in white dress and NOT for visual reasons).

Yet, most realtor websites, most MLS sites and most of the "Big 4" sites use white, or very light backgrounds around photos?  Why?  I can only guess that it's because they don't understnad... you guessed it, they don't understand "visual."  (Remember, this only works on computer screens, not necesarily on printed items.)

But, now you do.  Armed with this knowledge maybe you re-consider how you present photos on your own website?  Try it and see if you start to get compliments or better yet, more traffic and even more business.  

We get tons of business from how impressed folks are with our photography on the internet.  The color of our listing page?  See for yourself. Benicia Rental Homes.