The vast majority of patients looking for a plastic or cosmetic surgery procedure look at multiple websites before choosing a surgeon. And most of them consider your before and after photo gallery as the biggest factor in deciding whether they take the next step and call your office. Patients need to feel they can trust their doctor, and photos provide visual proof that a surgeon’s work is trustworthy and aligns with their goals. So how do you build an eye-catching photo gallery that accurately depicts your skills?
Today’s online consumers will gauge the quality of your surgeon and practice based on their experience with your website. In a world with abundant online resources, you must stand out from your competitors. Since online users prioritize photo galleries when looking for a surgeon, you need to promote your photo gallery and make it easily accessible. It’s one of your highest-priority “destinations” within your website. Every landing page should have a clear, direct link. The more time viewers spend looking for your photos, the more likely they will leave your page or judge you negatively.
Once a potential patient finds your gallery, you not only want to encourage them to stay there, but you also need to continue helping them discover what they are really looking for: themselves! We recommend sorting your photos by the type of procedure in separate menus, so visitors can easily find the right gallery. Then, order your photos, not based on the most dramatic outcomes, but prioritized by the cases that represent the majority of your patients. Help them find cases that look most like them, such as body types, shapes, skin color, ethnicity, etc.
Also, keep in mind, people decide to have cosmetic surgery emotionally, not logically. This is the one section that stirs emotion and desire the most. So be sure to have your strongest calls to action in your gallery.
Having a functional, fast, and easy-to-navigate website makes your practice look more professional and will help you convert more visitors.
Lighting, camera angles, background, and the type of camera lens you are using can all greatly alter how your photos come out. These small details can make a big difference in the image your gallery projects and how potential patients interpret your work.
All elements of your images should be consistent so viewers can easily make comparisons. If the background, lighting, camera angle, lens quality, or patient’s body position changes between your before and after photos, they may suspect you are trying to alter the procedure’s actual appearance. Consistency builds trust–especially where aesthetic procedure photos are concerned.
We recommend developing a set series of angles to take your photos from so that prospective patients can easily make comparisons. For example, your front-facing images should all be from the same distance away from your patient. Take your photos with your camera at the same height in proportion to the patient at the same angle. Profile or side photos should all be from the same angle, with your patient facing the same way. These settings should be consistent between different patients and before and after shots.
If a viewer is looking for a facelift, they may be suspicious about the actual impact of your procedure if the “before” photo has the patient’s head angled down and the “after” picture has them looking up. Suppose you have a “before” photo of a breast augmentation taken from a slightly raised angle with the “after” photo taken from below. A potential patient might assume the results were suboptimal, when the issue was really just with the angle.
Viewers should have a variety of angles to choose from for each patient profile to get a complete picture of what it might look like on them. Having many examples allows viewers to find people who had the procedure they hope to get who look like them. This allows potential patients to imagine how they might look and lets them know you can do, and have done, the procedure on people who look like them.
Effective lighting ensures good-quality photos and minimizes the effect of shadows. If “before” and “after” images have different lighting, visitors to your site will have difficulty telling what your procedure accomplished. Similarly, different types of cameras will have different lenses, which can alter photos’ appearances. Lenses particularly impact color, which is particularly relevant because viewers like to see procedures on patients with similar skin tones.
Camera lenses can also alter photo quality. Viewers frequently zoom in on photos to see if the procedure looks natural and look for how prominent the scarring from the surgery might be. If an “after” photo is blurrier than the “before,” it signals that you may be trying to hide something. An altered camera lens or lighting may make your pictures appear edited, even when they are not.
Another factor that may disqualify your photos in the eyes of a prospective patient is makeup. If the “after” photo has visible makeup, they may assume you are trying to exaggerate a procedure’s impact. If you or your patients choose to include cosmetics, make sure it is minimal, natural-looking, and the same in the “before” photo as the “after” one.
People rely on photos more than ever before in today’s digital landscape. Words are no longer enough to convince prospective patients that your practice is the best. An effective way to turn visitors into appointments is by displaying your work through a high-quality photo gallery. However, your practice may be flagged for false advertising if your photos look too different between clients’ “before” and “after.” The best way to avoid this is through consistent posing, camera angles, lens type, lighting, and makeup.
Putting together a well-organized gallery can be difficult and time-consuming. If you have questions about putting together and updating your gallery, our medical marketing experts at MedShark Digital could help. Reach out today to learn more.