Think deeply about the images you want displayed on your website, as they’ll have a direct impact on how successful your site is at converting visitors into customers.
Finding the right images doesn’t have to be stressful, complicated or expensive. This post will cover what you need to know in order to get the most out of your website photography.
Images Should Be Relevant & Add Value
Avoid photos that only serve as window dressing. Every photo on your website should serve a purpose that gets visitors one step closer to contacting you or making a purchase.
People naturally avoid unnecessary information. Consider the reason why someone comes to your website in the first place. They are looking for a solution to a specific problem, and the website that shows them that solution first wins their business.
Every image must add value or it will be ignored. If you keep images contextual and relevant to the text around it, your messages will be clear and conversion rates will increase.
Trigger The Right Emotions
Most people won’t invest the time to read your web copy unless the images on your website have convinced them it’s worth the effort. Trigger the right emotions through visuals, and they’ll dive deeper into your content.
How do you trigger the right emotions? Tell a visual story of what life looks like after purchasing one of your products or services. Are they healthier, happier, or stress-free? Do they get to spend more time outside with the kids?
Understand the end-goal of your customer so you can paint a picture that lines up with their needs and desires.
People’s Emotions Are Influenced By Others
Emotions are a powerful driving force for action. By using photos with human faces, you’ll boost your website’s conversion rate significantly.
As social creatures, we often mimic the emotions of those we interact with. If someone smiles at us, we tend to smile back. The same reaction occurs on your website.
A human face naturally draws attention and fosters an emotional connection. You can utilize this phenomenon to draw attention to important focal points in your messaging and entice action.
For example, a plumber wants to communicate that they fix leaky faucets. Let’s review three images choices that get this point across and consider which is the most effective:
#1 – This is a leaky faucet. Is that message clear in this photo, and does it motivate you to hire the plumber or learn more about their services?
#2 – This faucet has been fixed by the plumber. The photo invites you to imagine kitchen serenity where your faucet woes are gone. Better?
#3 – Once the faucet was fixed, this mother enjoys quality time with her son washing dishes. She learns about his day at school while teaching him a valuable life skill.
Which of the images above caught your attention the most? While the second image is clearly more compelling than the first, only the third image tells a story customers can get emotionally invested in. As mentioned above, emotions are a powerful driving force for action.
Utilize Free High-Quality Stock Photos
Stock photography can be a simple and cost-effective way to populate your website with dynamic content.
There are plenty of free and paid stock sites out there. Often you’ll find the best images on paid stock sites, however if you’re going the paid route we recommend first checking out Adobe Stock.
By signing up for a 7-day free trial with Adobe, you get 10 premium stock images of your choice to download. Just be sure to cancel the subscription before your free trial period ends if you’re only after the 10 free images.
If you want to search free stock sites, here are some excellent options that offer high-quality, royalty-free images. *Note that some free images require artist attribution, so be sure to review the licensing terms.
Our list of free, high-quality stock photo sites worth your attention:
- Unsplash – Unsplash is the largest free stock photo site on the web with the widest variety of images. They have powerful search features and well-curated photo collections. It’s a great place to start.
- Pexels – The photos on Pexels are diverse and authentic. You won’t find any traditional “stock photo” vibes. For best results, click on the artist’s profile and look for photosets with the same models.
- Pixabay – The image quality at Pixabay is a mixed bag, but the wide variety of topics covered makes it worth including on this list. Image search filters are very helpful to narrow down the results.
- StockSnap – The photos at StockSnap are refreshing in that most seem like candid “snaps” rather than manufactured scenarios. The selection isn’t large, but check out their predefined categories.
- Adobe Stock (Free Assets) – Adobe offers some free high-quality stock photos to registered users. The selection is limited, but you can find photosets with the same models to help you tell a visual story.
- Burst (by Shopify) – The selection at Burst is very small, however it’s worth exploring their collections. Most of the photos are originals provided by Shopify, so you won’t find them on other stock sites.
Once you’ve found the images you want, download them to your computer and send us the collection. We’ll work with you to place them strategically on your Turnkey website.
Send Us Images In Their Highest Quality
When uploading an image for your website ensure that you’re sending us the original, high-quality version. It’s best if you don’t downscale, crop, or modify the image in any way.
Our web design service includes improving the visual quality of your photos where possible and optimizing them for the web. This also includes your logo and any other pre-made graphics.
Whether the source of your images are from stock photo sites, a local photographer or pictures you’ve snapped on your phone, please send them to us in their original quality at the highest resolution. This allows us to maximize their effectiveness.
Let Turnkey Handle It
If you’d rather let the experts at Turnkey Website Solutions handle your website photography, we offer a stock photography add-on service exclusive to clients.
The images we choose are high-quality and follow the principles laid out above. Photos added to your site are approved by you, so you can trust every image will reflect your brand and message.
