Images are tools are there to compliment your copy and help sell your product or service.  

Why else would you have them?  Be wary of using an image simply to beautify your web page.

Select an image by asking yourself what message it conveys or supports.  If you have to think long and hard for an answer you may not be selecting the correct image.  Even ‘mood’ images should withstand this test.

Product Images

Make sure these reflect what your audience needs or wants to see.  They also need to interact well with supporting text descriptions and information.  The combined 'story' of the image and its surrounding text must match what you visitor expected to see. 

Don't forget about scale.  If you picture a vase, you need to illustrate its dimensions by placing another recognisable item beside it, or clearly explain its dimensions in the caption.  You may know how large it is but your potetntial customer also needs to know.

Refer back to your audience profiles in your original website planning to confirm your visitors’ needs. 

Example

An Auckland florist knew that customers are often concerned that the floral presentation they saw and ordered from the website gallery were in fact the same quality as those being sent.   The florist now photographs the actual floral arrangement being dispatched by courier and emails it to the buyer.  An example image of this amazing service is featured on the website.

Images That Sell a Service

Presenting images for service-based organisations is more challenging than it might appear.  A tendency is to illustrate a feature rather than a benefit; or a portion of the process rather than a result.

You need to ensure that images are congruent or complimentary with your website section objectives and present some resolution of your visitors concerns or needs.   Doing so provides context and meaning, and hopefully, a step toward their making contact with you or accepting your offer.

Example

A solicitor friend has a section of his website devoted to ‘Estate Planning’. But the accompanying image is that of a graveyard — hardly what his clients wish to see!

My friend should have realised the visitor was already on that page — so they were already considering estate planning.  Clearly they were not looking for headstones!  Estate planning is surely more about ensuring the future wellbeing of family and loved ones.

Perhaps an image of a happy, (financially) secure family may have evoked a more favourable situation.

In service-based organisations, the selection and presentation of images is no less important than product-based ones.  Arguably, they are more so.

Hints for using images

1. Select images that resolve or address some of your visitors’ needs, problems or worries.

2. If your visitor needs two separate views, provide two views.

3. Ensure they compliment, not detract from the page or section’s objective.

4. Choose captions that qualify the relevance of the image

5. Favour images that feature people because most outcomes involve people. Websites that don’t picture people often lack 'connection' with their visitors.