You’ve heard the old cliché – a picture is worth a thousand words. The Internet is a visual medium – and in everyday life, on buses, buildings and through TV, we’re visually attacked. Why? Because images are effective!
Web site managers often consider their text needs when planning their Web site. They’ll perform research on keywords, revisit all their marketing materials, and even hire outside copywriters to provide a fresh outlook on their firm. But while the text presented on your Web site is important, how many of us consider these needs in images?
Images – photographs, logos, designs, wallpaper, and other graphic forms of communication are more effective in communicating general content and professionalism than text when used appropriately. So how do you choose, and how can you evaluate the pictures on your Web site?
From the perspective of the average Internet user, the Internet is a research tool. It’s a place to learn more independently. But they have to sift through the information, and so have become very adept at scanning. When people scan for information, their eyes are naturally drawn to color and shapes – because text is predictable, even dull in its appearance, it is difficult to hold a viewers attention with just text. (If you wear glasses you can test this theory by removing them and seeing where your eyes wander). When glancing at a photograph or drawing, our minds process the information faster than if we had read it. What we gather from those images is the source of many marketing tales of success and woe. So how does one choose? As always, this depends on your industry and target market, but here are a few tips to help you select the best images possible:
Products vs. Services
Does your business provide a service, product, or both? Services usually depict groups of people working together or one person engaging the viewer directly. This conveys a sense of teamwork and defines a “we’re here for you” relationship. Avoid the “tools we use” trap – while it was once popular for companies to depict the tools they use, (a hammer for construction, for example) this approach is outdated and obvious. It’s better to show people happily at work or receiving your services cheerfully.
Companies that provide products usually want to depict every product they offer, but resist this temptation! While this strategy makes sense for the commercial retail industry in an E-Commerce setting, this approach is really visually dull, and does not effectively communicate the results available with the product. A more effective solution is to depict the result of the product – better hair, happy people – try to visually answer the question, how does this make life better?
Communicating Results
Just like a good salesperson would, a well-selected image conveys a feature/benefit statement worthy of considering a purchase. Consider a cup of coffee – yum! But as one item in the center of the frame with a plain white background… kind of a boring picture, even if well done. Now consider two attractive people sitting at a table, talking over a cup of coffee. The latter suggests a relationship that visually describes the result of drinking coffee, something our subconscious responds to whether we want to or not. Your Web site visitors will see that image and understand the social benefit of having coffee with a friend before they’d bother to read about it.
Composition
Effective composition is a very important factor in selecting the right pictures for your Web site. Within the image, objects should be aligned at a diagonal or off center to be more visually interesting. Remember the cup of coffee? Even by itself, it’s much more interesting on a warm background and off center than perfectly lit like before.
Color
Colors utilized within the image need to complement your Web site colors. An image with bold primary colors looks odd on a Web site in pastels. Choose your colors carefully, and relate your images to your other marketing materials. Colors also convey mood, so be aware – what adjectives do people use to describe the mood of your selected images?
Placement
Depending on your industry and the section of your Web site, the photos you select to feature on your Web site will vary. For example, it’s appropriate for a chamber to include snapshots of members socializing at a networking event on the events section of their Web site. However, the home page should include professional pictures of the surrounding area businesses and business people working together, to indicate the services and target market of that chamber.
Take time to pay attention to the details, matching your pictures to your text and company image. Consider refreshing images at least quarterly, as people respond to images first, they’ll notice a different picture on your home page before they’ll notice new text. This can be handled through an easy to use Web application or manually changed from time to time. NuRelm offers custom and stock photography as well as Web site photo editing services. Contact NuRelm 724.430.0490 for details.
