Make Your Point with Pictures

It's been said that a picture is worth a thousand words. This is as true on a web page as on a printed one. Pictures can be a powerful way to convey a brand, provide product information, or demonstrate your business in action.

Unfortunately, many websites go overboard, showing pretty pictures where they should be providing content. While projecting your corporate image is important, providing visitors with what they are looking for, information, comes first. Pictures are the wine that enhances the meal, not the meal itself.

The following Dos and Don'ts will help you add pictures to your site for maximum effectiveness.

Do

• Keep picture dimensions small. Crop photos to make them smaller and to focus attention on the subject. If the picture must be large to show details, put a thumbnail (a small copy of the picture) on the main page and allow visitors to click on the image to see the larger size.
• Reduce the resolution. There is a reason why digital cameras have a low-resolution setting. It's because of the need for speed on the internet. High-resolution photos will look the same as low ones in a browser, they will just take longer to get there, wasting visitor time and patience.
• Add captions below images to clarify and extend what you are saying. This is an excellent spot to place a persuasive message. For example, the picture on the right might have a caption like: "George and Mary bought the perfect house for their growing family with help from their XYZ agent. You can too."
• Make sure all your graphics come with text for those who cannot see the images. If someone is visually impaired or using a text-based browser, words can describe what they are missing.

Don't

• Use pictures to replace all text on a page. Not only do you lose the opportunity to educate your visitors, you will sabotage your search engine ranking with an image-based page.
• Add gratuitous graphics. Think about the purpose of an image. Are you trying to highlight the quality of your products, persuade prospects to call, or showcase your service results? If so, great. But, if the reason is "we need to put something here because it looks empty," spend some time brainstorming how the space could be used to support your website goals.
• Clutter the page. Some web designers spend hours drawing meaningless icons to describe "Our Products" or "Our Services." Or, they make dancing mascots, moving text, or dizzying page backgrounds. Don't allow anything that distracts from your message. An annoyed or bewildered visitor is unlikely to turn into a customer.

A thoughtful selection of pictures on a website can enhance its marketing and sales appeal. Thoughtlessness drives visitors away. Keeping business purposes in mind when choosing graphics for your website can help you convert visitors into customers.