Picture Perfect: How to Use Images More Effectively in Your Web Build

When designing a new website it is important to think closely about all of the factors that are going to affect it. The importance of using good images on a website has been well-known for a long time, and it can have a valuable impact not only on issues like SEO and PPC but also simply making the site more visually appealing to visitors. There are many things to consider when you are trying to choose the right images for a web build. This fact leads many businesses to simply overlook the issue. But doing so is missing a key opportunity. In this article, we will take a look at how you can use images more effectively in your web build.

Opt for Quality When You Use Images

It is sometimes the case that images are something of an afterthought during a web build. It may be the case that the majority of the work gets done with placeholder images to ensure everything can run as quickly as possible. When it comes round to putting the real images on, it is often the case that companies will simply use the images they have available. The problem here is that often these images aren’t really up to scratch, but the issue is glossed over because of the size of the rest of the project. Yet, image quality plays a huge role in a user’s perception of a website. It is definitely advisable to really take that time to consider images and how to best represent your business.

Be Aware of Core Web Vitals

It is important that any business carrying out a web build should think closely about how the new build is going to affect their SEO. Of course, there are a huge number of factors that need to be considered with regard to SEO but one thing to consider is Google’s relatively recent update known as Core Web Vitals.

Core Web Vitals is a test of three key metrics:

• Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) which examines speed of loading,
• First Input Delay (FID) which tracks interactivity, and
• Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) examines visual stability.

The key one to look at here is the LCP, which tracks how long it takes for the largest item on the page to load. In many cases, this item is going to be an image. It is important, then, to ensure that the image file size is optimized.

Use Stock Photos Sparingly

Many new webs build to make the mistake of filling the site with stock images. Stock images might look professional, but they are also very easy to spot and can make a website come across as cold and corporate. In some cases, it is impossible to get away from stock images. In these cases, it is important to take real care and attention to the ones that you are selecting, to ensure that they are as effective as possible.

“Generic stock imagery of businesspeople sitting in a meeting room, for example, turns off visitors to your site and doesn’t say anything about who you are,” explains Sarah Seward of TREW Marketing “use very specific, long-tail keywords when searching stock imagery sites to find the best images for your needs. And work with a graphic designer who can recommend the right stock images for the dimensions of your site’s layout.”

Be Unique – Use Images from Your Own Photo Collection

It is definitely worth taking your own photos and using them as part of the web build. Whether these come in the form of staff at work, product photography, or images of your building or office, creating your own photography content is an important step in ensuring your site looks as impressive, realistic, and visually appealing as possible.

Some businesses assume that doing their own photography would simply be too expensive to manage. However, it doesn’t need to be prohibitively costly to buy the relevant equipment. In fact, many photography sites offer options such as second-hand cameras, or even the opportunity to trade in a good-quality used camera to reduce the cost of the purchase.

Get Personal When You Use Images

Too often businesses will opt for images that they think look more professional rather than photos that include the real team. But using photos that incorporate your staff is actually extremely useful no matter what your company does. Firstly, it is a great idea to put photos up on your team page to show the real people in the company. This can be valuable especially when it comes to interacting with clients and partner businesses, as it builds immediate trust. Showing off the team in the office also reveals immediately that you are a real business.

Don’t Have Web Pages That Are Too Busy

While images can be extremely useful and look great as a way to break up the text and be visually stimulating, you do need to resist the temptation to overuse them. When pages have too many images they can look excessively busy. It is important to find a balance.