Your profile photo will be one of the first things a client notices when they come across your profile in the search results, so this is an opportunity to make a great first impression, as well as a chance to share some of your personality.
Many prospective clients will use your photo as the way they make their first decision about whether they'd like to click on your profile to find out more about you and your approach, or if they will scroll past to view other profiles instead.
While there are no absolute rights and wrongs, uploading a high-quality, well-lit photo where you present yourself professionally will always work best and help to make your profile stand out in the search results, increasing the likelihood of receiving new clients.
When choosing a profile photo, we'd recommend the tips below :
ensure your face is clearly visible and well-lit with no shadows or reflections.
take your photo in good lighting. Using bright natural light is usually a great option.
avoid cluttered or untidy backgrounds, and any photos taken in inappropriate environments such as on nights out. Plain light-coloured backgrounds usually work best, or using your therapy room or an outdoor setting as a backdrop also works well.
make sure you're the only person in the picture, preferably facing the camera.
use a high-resolution photo that is at least 1MB and less than 5MB in size.
pick a photo that a prospective client is likely to find friendly, professional, welcoming, engaging and approachable.
lastly, you need to be in the photo - say cheese! 📸
If you are unsure about your profile photo, you may want to check in with trusted friends or colleagues to see what they think. You might also want to spend some time browsing through the search results to see which photos stand out the most to you, thinking about which types and styles of photos you would be most drawn to if you were a client seeking a therapist.
Why could a photo be rejected?
We will sometimes reject photos uploaded, or ask therapists to change a photo prior to a profile being approved. While we understand it can be frustrating, this is because we want to make sure all of our therapists give themselves the best possible chance of receiving clients via the Platform, and we know that certain types or styles of photos usually lead to more new client bookings being received, while others attract far fewer clients.
The most common reasons photos are rejected include low quality, poor lighting, cluttered or inappropriate backgrounds, and other people in the photo. If you choose a photo that does not appear particularly professional, we will likely also suggest you choose a different option. Images of logos, diagrams or therapy rooms will also not be accepted, as you need to be in the picture.
What size photo can be uploaded?
We crop all photos to focus on your head and shoulders to maintain consistency between profiles so you may not see the photo exactly as you uploaded.
If you are unhappy with the automatic crop, you can edit the photo to adjust the dimensions to 1120px wide x 900px high with your face centred as this should be left untouched by our cropping process. You can resize images using desktop apps or online services such as http://www.picresize.com/
Receiving an error uploading a photo
If you receive an error when trying to upload a photo, the reason for the error should be noted in the pop-up, however, this will often be due to the file size or file type.
We would recommend saving the image as a .jpeg between 1MB - 5MB in size and trying to upload the image again. It is not possible to upload images over 8MB.
If there does not appear to be an issue with the file size or type, please still try uploading the image again, as there may have been a connection issue that interrupted the upload.
We review all new photos uploaded as soon as possible, but this can take a few days if the Platform is particularly busy.