The Key Features of Strong Website Photos (And How Professional Photography Can Help)
We live in a world of increasing digital connectivity. Every day, we spend hours online, browsing on our favorite websites or finding out information that captures our interest. Strong website photos for your business can help you stand out.
But how do we actually determine which websites are relevant to us? Research suggests that visuals have a lot to do with us. Numerous studies have shown that when getting a choice, we gravitate toward online content with compelling visuals, probably because it's much easier to consume and remember concepts that are not exclusively based on words.
That, in turn, is a crucial insight for your business website. If you want to both attract and delight your audience, you need to pay close attention to the visuals you use to communicate your brand message and value proposition.
Given the above research, that much seems obvious. But what actually makes good website images? How can you ensure that your hero image and supporting graphics not only draw in your audience, but also invite them to stay and learn more about your brand? And how can professional business photography help you achieve that goal? These are the questions we aim to answer.
Understanding the Key Features of Strong Website Photos
Above all, images featured on your website should be compelling. Given that our online attention span is now at 8 seconds, you don't have time to explain the benefits of your products or services in detail. A compelling visual, particularly one that displays prominently to visitors when they first glance on your site, gets your audience intrigued enough to learn more about you.
In addition, businesses should take special care that their website imagery is unique. No visitor will appreciate stock photography that's simply a smiling face without a direct connection to your business or its core value proposition. You may be able to find stock images easily online, but that means your competitors can, as well— and you don't want to use an image your audience has seen before.
Another important feature any web image should display is its quality. Our short attention spans don't leave much time for in-depth analysis of a business's credibility. Instead, we rely on snap judgment to determine whether a brand is professional and credible enough to hand over our money. If your images are blurry, out of focus, or off-color, your audience will subconsciously devalue your brand as a result.
Finally, any successful website image should ultimately seek to evoke emotions. Studies have found that all decision-making is ultimately emotional, even for seemingly rational transactions and purchases. If your image can make an emotional connection with your audience when they first visit, your chances of turning them into loyal customers improve drastically.
How Professional Photography Can Help Your Business Stand Out
At this point, you may wonder just how you can get website images that can boast these four pillars. The answer: investing in professional photography for your business. As alluded to above, generic stock images simply cannot be compelling, unique, or emotional in a way that specifically relates to your audience.
That's why we advocate treating photography not as a commodity, but an asset. Rather than a simple tool to add some color to your website, it should be an integral part of your marketing efforts that effectively communicates your brand's personality and its value proposition to your audience without words. If that image can also be unique to your business and evoke positive emotions in your audience, you can significantly improve the success of your website. Strong website photos for your business can push you to the next level.
Of course, that process can only be possible if you work with photographers who know the value of quality and relevant images to your business. To learn about how we can help your website stand out, contact us.