One piece of advice I give bloggers is to show their photograph.
Lately I have been asked if it is really essential, are there cases where it might not be a good idea?
Here are the cases for and against:
In Favor of Photographs
- One of the reasons people will visit your site will be to find out about you
- It creates a greater opportunity for a connection between you and your reader
- Use consistent imagery across social media to help build your brand and recognition
- Smiling faces are welcoming and approachable
- Can (probably not in my case) show you off as a professional without having to say so
Against photographs
- Lots of us don’t like having our picture taken, photographs make some people uncomfortable
- Blogging anonymously
- “It’s about the content, not me”
- “People will judge me/make fun because of how I look”
- Haven’t got a suitable image
- Yours is a multi-author blog or a great deal of the content is from guests
I would say having your photograph visible is still a good thing, and the one time I would recommend against it very strongly is if you are getting the wrong sort of attention because of your photograph, which I hear does happen occasionally.
What do you think about photographs on blogs? For, or against?
