Nail studios: own photographs beat stock every time
The picture is the portfolio. Google asks for profile photographs that are in focus, well lit and without significant alteration or excessive filters, and a catalogue image fails the last part while answering nobody's question about your work. Your own pictures are both cheaper and more convincing.
Why a catalogue image loses
It shows work you did not do. Every visitor understands that on some level, and the ones who do not understand it at the time will understand it when they compare the result with the picture.
It also fails the published guidance. Google asks for photographs in focus, well lit and without significant alterations or excessive filters, and the reason given is that the pictures should represent the actual customer experience.
And it removes your only advantage. Everybody can license the same catalogue. Nobody else has a photograph of the work you did last Tuesday, which is precisely what somebody choosing between two studios is looking for.
The comparison is unforgiving in this trade because the product is visual. A profile of catalogue images next to a profile of real work reads as the difference between a claim and a demonstration.
What the specification asks for
Format JPG or PNG, file size between 10 KB and 5 MB, resolution 720 by 720 pixels recommended with 250 by 250 as the minimum. A modern phone clears all of that without any thought.
The qualitative half is where the work is: in focus, well lit, no significant alteration. In practice that means daylight, no flash, a plain background and no filter afterwards. 3 conditions, all free.
Then quantity. 10 to 20 pictures of real work, refreshed as the work changes, is a portfolio. 100 pictures of everything ever done is an archive, and the reader stops at the first 5 either way.
| Property | Own picture | Catalogue image |
|---|---|---|
| Shows your work | Yes | No |
| Meets the no alteration guidance | If unfiltered | Usually not |
| Cost | Thirty seconds | A licence |
| Competitor can use the same | No | Yes |
| Matches what the customer gets | Yes | Unknown |
How to build the habit
One photograph at the end of an appointment, with permission, using daylight. That is 30 seconds and it produces more portfolio than any planned session.
Ask before photographing anything recognisable, because portraits may only be published with the consent of the person shown. For hands and work that identifies nobody the question is simpler, but ask anyway, because the customer who was asked is also the customer who writes the review.
Questions and answers
Can I use catalogue pictures at all?
What resolution do I need?
Do I need permission to photograph a customer's hands?
How many pictures are enough?
Sources
- Google Business Profile Help, Add photos Formats, sizes, resolutions and the quality guidance
- Section 22 Kunsturhebergesetz (KunstUrhG) The consent rule for published portraits
