subject: How To Choose The Right Images For Your Website [print this page] How To Choose The Right Images For Your Website
Besides having an effective website that works, having relevant images is vital to demonstrating to your customers what your company does or sells. You can also promote the company image you want to via images, as well as through the content. Having images upon your website can be extremely useful for promotional purposes as well as decorative.
An image will demonstrate in the first few seconds, what your company is about, thus it creates for you customers their first overall impression, which may influence whether they stay upon your website or not. This first impression is vital to drawing traffic and custom to your website, so the first images they see must be interesting, relevant and create a good impression.
When a reader comes onto your website, what do they want to see? An attention grabbing image that demonstrates exactly what company you are and your ethos, thus it has to also be instantly recognizable and clear. An image has to be well known and culturally associated, as well as in focus, as you don't want your readers not being able to make heads or tails of the image. An unusual or unclear image may just cause confusion, rather than the desired effect.
If you do decide to use a product as an image, make sure it is placed in the relevant area, near or next to the appropriate content. Try to get a clear picture of the product, specifically if it's quite technical, as customers like to know exactly what they are buying. If you are taking pictures of the product yourself, shoot from different angles as just straight on can often look uninspiring. Placing the object in the centre of your photo, will also draw attention to the product itself, or alternatively use the 1/3 rule in photography which often gives the most aesthetically pleasing pictures.
Remember an image is not just about the content, but the style and colours too. An image has to be harmony with the website's colours and your company's image. This does not mean it cannot contrast if appropriate, but keeping the tones and colour scheme close to the shades you've already used in your website will probably promote a clearer image to your customers. For instance, a wedding dress website may use bright but light images, with very little shadow to give the light and airy feeling that customers associate with weddings.
Having the right size image is also vital, as you don't want an image that is too small or so big that the image is stretched or the pixels show. It has to be the right size for the amount of space you have too. Playing around with images size will help you gage what looks the most aesthetically pleasing.
Keep your images unique, it will separate you from your competitors. Giving your entire page a unique look will make you memorable to your customers and a memorable website is vital to keeping interest. You can simply create unique images yourself by taking photos or creating your own image, hiring a professional, or buying rights to the images out there.
Think closely about the images you want to use, their size, their placing and their colour scheme and you should be able to create a website that creates the first impression you intended.
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