“A picture can tell a thousand words.” Or so the saying goes. It may be an old saying but it is very relevant when it comes to modern website design. When you design your website many people focus on the layout, the copy and then the imagery as an after-thought, but you can tell people far more with an image than you can with words.
When a potential customer first clicks onto your website they do not read the carefully scripted writing, but instead their eyes are drawn straight to the images. The images should be able to tell the website visitor what it is you do, what you represent and where you are positioned in the market. It is these factors that will encourage people to find out more about you.
Image-led websites and image-led marketing is becoming increasingly popular for brands that wish to differentiate themselves from the competition and for brands that want to communicate their brand story.
Here are a few things to consider when you are deciding on what images to use on your website:
Does the image convey what you do?
Images do not have to show everything that you do, but it should be obvious what industry you are in and the website visitor should be able to make a good guess at what it is you offer.
Does the image convey what you stand for?
Does the image show that you provide top quality service, does the image show that you a green company, does the image show that you like to do things a little differently?
Does the image demonstrate your brand positioning?
A bold, brash image will convey to the website visitor that you are a budget option, whereas a more subtle, artistic image will convey that you are a luxury product. A high quality, carefully thought out image will show that your products are top quality.
Does the image match up with your brand voice?
Is your image fun or serious? How does this reflect on the nature of your brand?
Have your competitors used similar imagery?
Stock imagery is perfect for finding something cheaply and quickly that looks professional, but if you are going to use stock imagery make sure your competitors don\’t have very similar, or even the same, images.