These days, it’s not enough to simply have a website; it’s about making your website stand out from the crowd. If the look and feel of your site doesn’t resonate with your visitors, you’ll quickly lose them to your competitors, so you need to grab their attention from the moment they arrive.
One of the best ways to capture your audience’s attention is through your visual images. As an article in The Next Web points out, modern technology has created a world of short attention spans, so an effective image on your website can grab the viewer’s attention much faster than several sentences.
Be careful with stock images
Traditionally, websites have relied heavily on stock photography to illustrate their pages, but in 2017, this is becoming less appropriate. People want to see interesting and relevant photographs and imagery, so relying on bland stock images can actually have a negative impact on your site.
That’s not to say that stock images don’t have their place in web design, but they need to be chosen with great care. Most of us lack the graphic design skills required to sort the graphic wheat from the chaff, so don’t be afraid to call on expert advice, such as the Reading web design team at http://www.starwebinnovations.co.uk/.
Don’t strike a pose!
Photographs of people featured on your website need to follow a couple of rules in order to have the required level of impact. We all tend to respond better to shots of a single person as it allows us to identify with them. However, an image of a person posed self-consciously looking into the camera can have the opposite effect, so choose images with more spontaneity, capturing a moment that will resonate with your customer base and leave them wanting to know more.
Create a mood for your brand
When selecting images for your website, don’t just choose photographs that appeal to you on a personal level. Think carefully about your brand and the mood that you want your products or services to evoke in the viewer. It’s important to capture that feeling in all of your imagery so that visitors to your site can instantly understand what your brand represents and identify with it. Your images should reinforce that feeling at every opportunity.