You have a unique product or an exclusive service to offer. But how will you convince others to invest their hard-earned money?
We all know that people want to see before they purchase. And in the digital world, this becomes more crucial as prospects cannot physically interact with their chosen products.
The only way to replicate the experience and display the unique flair of your brand is through imagery. The right pictures can grab the audience’s attention, make your product irresistible, and give them a reason to convert into customers.
However, not every image can become your brand’s voice. The below tips will help you choose images that work the best:
1. Prioritize Quality over Quantity
Instead of bombarding the site with many images, use a few of them and focus on quality. Blurry images question your credibility and portray a poor brand image.
Use only high-resolution pictures that focus on the core product.
To ensure maximum quality, avoid photos shot from smartphones. Instead, consider hiring a professional for photography. Though a trained photographer will ask for a decent amount, the investment will not go in vain.
High-quality and unique images can always create an exciting appeal on your site. They will also enable you to showcase your product and services from the best angle.
2. Consider Copyrights
The online world is full of images. Use a search engine, and you will get plenty of images within seconds. Unfortunately, every image you will find through a Google search is not copyright free. And using someone else’s work without proper permission is a legal crime.
If you use such images, the owner can seek litigation against you anytime, causing your brand to lose its reputation in the digital world.
To avoid the issue, you can search for stock photos. They are the perfect solution for businesses that are unable to afford custom and professional photography. Once you purchase the stock photos, you can legally use these images as per the license guidelines.
Many websites provide affordable stock images that cater to almost every business’s needs. Go through them to find relevant pictures for your brand’s services. Some stock photo websites also give you the freedom to edit the pictures.
However, do go through their terms and conditions as well to ensure compliance.
3. Evoke Action and Emotion
Are you aware of the contagious nature of emotions?
Well, it’s true! We definitely catch people’s moods as easily as germs. And that goes for both – the positive and the negative.
Emotions have a similar effect in virtual marketing as well. Display smiling faces, and your prospects will feel happy.
For example, an image of a family enjoying a resort vacation is enough to reveal that the resort is an ideal place for family holidays. Or a picture of a couple having candle light dinner in a dreamy setup highlights the place for romance and love.
On the other hand, negative emotions can help stir feelings of empathy and compassion in the audience. Many brands, specifically non-profit organizations, use such emotion to create public awareness of sensitive issues.
Images like these provoke a potential buyer to take action. Consider your brand’s nature, objective, and unique selling proposition to decide which images can hit a consumer’s emotion. Use the triggers for your benefit to influence your prospects’ buying decisions.
4. Use Real People’s Images
Adding a human face to your website is an ideal approach to showcase your brand. Faces are memorable, and the audience finds it easier to connect when they can associate an individual with your product, service, and business.
For example, if you have a watch business, avoid adding static images of the product only. Instead, use pictures of models wearing your accessory. This will give your consumers an idea of how the products pair with different outfits and styles.
You can also include images of your work culture and people involved in it to make the prospects trust you easily. These images provide a real face to your business, and people don’t consider you only as a corporate entity. Instead, they recognize your work environment and how much value you provide to your workforce.
5. Match Pictures with your Brand’s Scheme
A perfect harmony of colors and fonts help create a professional feel of the business.
Whether it’s a hero image, a product image, or a design image, all of them should display your brand’s identity.
A hero image is a big picture on your home page. It is the one that the visitor will notice first. Product images, on the other hand, highlight your core product along with its features. And design images are not meant to reveal your product, but they are still present to catch a user’s attention.
No matter which type of image it is, uploading pictures in a consistent color scheme is essential. Likewise, include text and font in a similar style for all pictures.
6. Remember your Target Audience
Choosing photos as per the taste of your target consumers leaves a lasting impact. Use lively images full of colors if you are targeting teenagers. People from this age group won’t like dull and light color shades. However, the latter is suitable for a more mature audience.
Also, remember the cultural values of your target group. Some cultures assume white as a sign of luck and wealth, while others use this color in events of death and dismay.
Other elements like the attire, race, color, and creed of the people in your pictures should also match the consumers you are targeting.
7. Never Forget to Optimize Images
Images play a crucial role in search engine optimization. Every digital marketing expert now pays prime attention to image SEO. Sit with your design team and optimize images for better SEO outcomes.
Well-optimized images can increase your site’s loading time, increase engagement, boost SEO results, and enhance user experience. Here are the key things that you need to focus on when doing image SEO:
- Using the right file size.
- Adding alt text to provide a better understanding to search engine crawlers.
- Add proper file names instead of leaving them with default titles.
- Compressing images with the right image compression tool to avoid quality differences.
- Submitting an image sitemap to Google with the correct image URLs and short descriptions.
Learn about the four basic types of image files: PNG, JPEG, WebP, and GIF. The right format will optimally display your pictures and provide visitors with a seamless experience.
Final Words
Despite the rise of design minimalism, images are still a core element of successful websites. A smart selection of images can reap fruitful benefits for your business too.
Keep the above tips in mind and select images to help your site stand out. But always remember the SEO perspective. Attractive images and a high search engine ranking can take your business to the next level.
If you are still wondering how to choose the best images, experts at Techna Digital Marketing can help you. Contact our website design team today!
