The Perfect Profile Photo

Secrets to a Perfect Profile Picture

Wat werkt er [niet] bij een goede profielfoto?

04.12.2015

Is there a secret to having the type of profile picture that gets you more views, more trust, and all-around more business? On the one hand, there’s really no beating a set of pearly whites and an outfit that makes you look competent.

However, this study from Photofeeler analyzed over 800 photos rated on their database on scales of competence, likeability, and influence and found some interesting details about what works and doesn’t work in profile photos.

For example:

No sunglasses! While some might don shades in order to look cool in a profile pic, glasses or any other eyewear that obscures your eyes can hurt you in the likeability category.
As for smiling, not smiling seems to hurt in all categories, whereas smiling with teeth showing earns in all (laughing, on the other hand, boosts likeability but seems to have no effect on influence or competence)
Setting? Meh! It really doesn’t seem to make a difference. It's all in the lighting, really.
And, in general, naturalistic photos seem to work best. Photos manipulated to look dark, high saturation, or black and white seem to reduce ratings in all categories.

See the infographic, below, for the data:

Data collected by Photofeeler to create the perfect profile picture