14 Oct The Secrets to Selecting Images for a Stand Out Website
We’ve just completed what has been quite a cathartic experience for Images for Business – the selection of images for our new website. The fundamentals of website build, ie; content management, sitemap, graphic design, functionality, user relevance and ease and SEO all seem to have been easy compared to the task of determining the right images. So we got to thinking are we necessarily alone here? We looked at the websites for those businesses we have been customers for in the past week and came to the conclusion that we were not.
Our shared problem was relevance. With over 40 years as professional photographers between us there is no shortage of quality images to select from – just which ones to choose. The problem with those websites we reviewed last week was the lack of quality images.
What we observed was; old images that contradicted a new context, images taken by amateurs or the photography hobbyist in the organisation, poor image resolution, poor or simply no lighting, the absence of any editing to crop or highlight and the unsatisfactory use of stock images.
Whilst we might acknowledge their recognition of the need for having images of their products unfortunately the execution fails them, their brand and consequently their intending customers.
One of the first things a potential customer does when looking at a service provider is to examine that provider’s website. It is within a few very quick moments that an impression of trust is formed and a decision made as to whether to buy or engage.
As partners and photographers in Images for Business, we follow a few simple guidelines when collaborating with a client about a photography shoot for a website. We’d recommend:
- Showing positive imagery. Happy, smiling principals and employees will appeal to and generate positive emotions in site visitors;
- Photos of people. They’re good, as people relate to seeing other people. However avoid the clichéd and meaningless images;
- Less is best. Fewer bolder images are better than lots of small ones. Each photograph should be significant.
In selecting images for our new website we were also keen to:
- Ensure the relevance of the images to the galleries and client case studies on the site;
- Keep contrasts high as contrast brings out colours which make images appear both vivid and stunning;
- Use and show images of appropriate resolution;
- Show the breadth of our work but to narrowly illustrate it;
- Make it easy for the images to be viewed and for the studio to be contacted.
Have we achieved what we set out to do? We encourage you to view our new site and welcome your feedback and enquiry at studio@imagesforbusiness.com.au
Images for Business has extensive experience in building image libraries for client websites. Talk to us about the importance in crafting just the right images for your website. Call 02 9516 0758.
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Images for Business are professional image makers that specialise in infrastructure and construction imaging. We exist to visually inspire people through perfectly crafted visual content. We cover still, motion, aerial and time-lapse photography for businesses. We offer quality, creativity and solutions, with an easy to deal with approach and results that add financial value to our clients.
