Top tips for choosing website photos
As humans, we are visual beings who process images 60,000 times faster than text. They attract our attention, draw us in and provoke emotions. Great visuals on your website, and other marketing materials, are more than just eye candy; they provide a more immersive visitor experience, strengthen your brand and help you grow your business.
In this month's newsletter, we're going to focus on choosing the perfect images for your website.
Ensure high quality images
You may have informative and beautifully written content on your website, but if there are grainy and fuzzy images that look like they've been thrown together on the fly, visitors will click off and go elsewhere. You spend hours poring over the written word, so devote as much energy to your image selection. High-quality images not only look great, but they also give your website a professional and trustworthy feel.
Typically, we ask our clients for images they own, or we can purchase pictures for you from Shuttershock. There are millions to choose from, and this ensures you have the required rights to use them.
Remember that people love looking at people
People buy from people, and people connect with people. Professional photos of your team members give visitors an excellent introduction to the business, showing them who is who. Photography helps people feel connected and makes potential clients feel more comfortable knowing they are working with a REAL person. Too often, About Us pages don't even have key employee names or biographies listed, let alone profile photos or shots of them at work. This creates a distancing effect. When people visit your website, they want to get to know you. Images with people allow them to form some sort of emotional connection with your brand.
Give a peek behind the curtain
Behind-the-scenes images give your audience a peek at what you’re really like. This allows them to get a deeper understanding of your business by showing them your team in action. In so doing, you humanise your business, which lets you connect with your clients more deeply. The types of behind-the-scenes shots you might want to show are team-building exercises, product deliveries, awards ceremonies, lunch meetings and candid snaps of the team working on a new project. These are also great images to share on social media for the same reasons.
Use relevant images
Images can add interest and break up pages of text, however it is generally a good idea to use photos that contain relevant information and that have a clear purpose. For example, if you own a gymnasium, a shot of the front of your building may look attractive, but adding images of what’s going on inside will enhance things even more.
Optimise your images for search engines
Optimising photos can help improve your website's search engine rankings. Just rename each image using one of your descriptive keywords and use the alt text. If the picture doesn't load for some reason, the alt text tells the viewer what it is. This also helps describe the image to people with visual impairments. When Google and other search engine bots inspect a web page, images with properly formatted alt texts (also known as alt tags and alt descriptions) contribute to how the page is indexed and ranked.
Recap…no matter the nature of your business or who you're selling to, high-quality images are an essential part of your overall website design. They attract attention, bring your products and services to life and can boost your search engine rankings.
PS: Refresh your images regularly, because it is a quick and cost-effective way of revamping your website to give it a fresh feel.
