Doing It Yourselfie

Because we've been told it's what you do, it's tempting to believe we can build everything ourselves. After all, if you can take a selfie, why not do website content for yourself by shooting your own images and then writing your own words too? Well, because you neither have the time nor the distance. Doing it yourself will do you more harm than good because it prevents you from completing.

The Illusion of Control

Customers tell us they want to write their own content and then spend years procrastinating or beating themselves-up over their inability to write their own content for themselves. The mobile phone selfie gives us the comforting sense that we are in control. When taking a photo, we choose the moment and try to fit everything into one shot. Yet that notion of control is also the problem. When you are both the subject and the photographer, objectivity disappears and professionalism tends to follow-suit.

A cheeky, hastily-captured selfie might work on social media but a commercial website has a different job to do - projecting a measured, considered and professional image of you and your business. Your website's job is to build trust quickly and signal credibility. Awkward angles, inconsistent lighting and casual photographic composition will quietly undermine confidence, even if visitors can't explain why.

A professional photographer brings something crucial to the process of image capture: distance. When I take your photo, I see you as your audience will see you. This detachment allows me to make decisions about location, framing, posture and expression which communicate authority rather than familiarity.

The Same Dichotomy Exists in Copywriting

Writing your own website copy suffers from the same flaw as taking your own photograph. You are too close to the subject. You know too much, feel too much and assume too much. The result is often vague, defensive, or overly modest language that fails to connect. People have a habit of falling into the crevasse from which, misguidedly, they write about what they do, instead of what their Customers would wish to buy. [Hint: When was the last time you saw me blogging about writing PHP scripts which execute on a webserver…?]

Over time, the value you bring to business every day can slowly become invisible, as it's second nature for you to add it. Yet that presence of the value won't be obvious to your audience and, so, you need to spit-it-out because it's precisely this value they're searching for. Professional copywriters translate expertise into clear, meaningful benefits. Left to ourselves, we either over-complicate the message or strip it of its real value.

Authenticity Isn't Accidental

There's a common belief that doing-it-yourself makes things more authentic. In reality, authenticity is crafted. A professional photograph can feel more genuine than a selfie because it reveals just the right details, not all of them. The same is true of good website copy.

Website visitors form opinions in seconds. A selfie suggests informality, even when you're aiming for professionalism. Self-written copy often does the same, signaling uncertainty instead of confidence. Once that impression is made, it's hard to undo.

Working with photographers and writers forces you to articulate who you are and what you stand for. Through questions, feedback, and refinement, your brand becomes clearer - not diluted. This collaborative process often uncovers strengths you didn't know how to express.

Professionalism Is a Signal

The problem isn't technology or accessibility. DIY tools are powerful, but they work best in experienced hands. Just as a good camera doesn't make someone a photographer, a word processor doesn't make someone a copywriter.
A professionally shot image and professionally written copy both send a subtly powerful message: 'Our business takes itself seriously.' That signal builds trust before a single word is read in depth or a service is fully understood. To see a website that's sending out this self-same signal, visit the website of Allsop Building that we launched in December last year.

Step Out of the Frame

You can't objectively photograph yourself and you can't objectively describe yourself either. For commercial websites, that objectivity matters. Stepping out of the frame, both literally and figuratively, allows professionals to present you as you deserve to be seen: clearly, confidently, and credibly.

Links

View Our Website Photography Gallery Visit the website of Allsop Building, Harpenden Jeffrey Zeldman - 10 Commandments of Web Design