7 Tips for Choosing Images for Your Website

Are you looking to elevate the design of your website and create a more engaging experience for your visitors?

Well, images can be your saviour!

Incorporating well-chosen images into your online content will draw attention, boost engagement and strengthen your brand’s representation. Attractive visuals add personality to a web page, define your brand identity, tell stories about your business, and drive conversions.

Selecting the perfect image for any page can be challenging. It takes time and careful research (not to mention funds) to find visuals that accurately represent who you are as a company.

So how do you go about selecting the perfect media for each page – without compromising on the significance of your design strategy.

In this guide, let’s go through our top tips for choosing images that most effectively bring life to any website. Whether it’s stock photography, illustrations, graphics, or any other form of creative media – these suggestions will help ensure success every time.

How to Select the Best Images for Your Website?

The average human brain can process an image in 13 milliseconds – pretty cool, right? But that’s also time to capture someone’s attention through visuals. Sure, a picture is worth a thousand words, but only when it serves the intended purpose. If you don’t want to play safe with your website’s visual appeal, here are five tips for choosing accurate and powerful images:

1. Understand The Power of Selective Imagery

When selecting imagery for your website, think about the message you want to convey. For example, do you want to give off an air of professionalism? Wisdom? Luxury? Whatever message you are trying to communicate, there is probably an image out there that will help get that point across.

But remember: not every image needs to be used from your database. Sometimes one or two power images are all it takes for visitors to understand your brand and mission statement.

Moreover, visuals are only part of the puzzle. The words used on your website must also work together with any imagery you choose to create a cohesive message and story. In fact, words often have just as much power as images – if not more – so make sure that whatever text you use works hand-in-hand with any visuals you select.

2. Use High-Quality Images

This tip is a no-brainer but often overlooked as we see many businesses dumping all sorts of visual data on their pages. You want your images to look sharp and professional, so it’s important to avoid using blurry or pixelated photos.

To ensure that your image looks good, make sure that it is at least 300 pixels in size and has a resolution of 72 dpi (dots per inch). The higher the resolution, the better the image quality will be.

Additionally, ensure that any text in the image is legible; blurry text will only detract from its message. If you need to purchase good-quality images, explore photography sites such as Stock Photos, Unsplash, or Shutterstock for some inspiration.

3. Stick with Relevant Images

It’s also important to choose relevant images for your website. Your photos should match the content of your page and help tell the story of what you’re trying to communicate.

For example, if you’re writing an article about software engineering, a picture of a computer programmer working on their laptop would be more appropriate than an image of someone lounging at the beach.

Keep in mind that the image should also fit with your brand’s overall aesthetic. Avoid using jarring visuals that don’t match the look and feel of your website.

4. Choose Eye-Catching Colours

When selecting colors for your website images, it’s important to choose eye-catching colors but not overpowering ones. Bold colors can draw attention to some aspects of the page, while muted colors can create a calming effect.

Also, remember that different cultures have different interpretations of color, so consider who your target audience is when selecting your website images. Ideally, the palette you opt for in images should align with your branding preferences, as it will create a symmetrical pattern on web pages.

5. Pick Emotive and Eye-Catching Photos

Nothing captures attention quite like an emotionally charged photo. Think of iconic images like Migrant Mother by Dorothea Lange and its impactful representation. This applies to websites too. Use photos that evoke emotions such as happiness, joy, nostalgia, etc., but choose wisely to suit what you want people to feel when they visit your site.

You should also select photos with an interesting composition, such as vivid colours or exciting patterns, which will draw viewers’ eyes quickly. For example, suppose you’re promoting a travel destination. In that case, an image of someone enjoying their vacation can create a positive feeling in viewers and encourage them to book their next trip with you.

6. Make Sure Images Are Legal

When selecting photos for your website, ensure they are free from copyright restrictions before using them. Otherwise, it could cost you more money than you bargained for if someone decides to take legal action against you for unauthorized use of their property.

To play it safe, opt for royalty-free photos from reputable sources instead of taking random ones from Google Images (which may be copyrighted). Also, consider purchasing rights from photographers if possible; you won’t have to worry about any legal issues later down the line.

Using copyrighted material without permission can result in hefty fines and legal action taken against you or your company – so always make sure you have permission before using any copyrighted material.

7. Ensure Your Photos Are Accessible

And lastly, the photos used on your site should be accessible not just visually but also audibly. From this, we mean providing alternative text descriptions (or “alt text”) so users who rely on screen readers can still understand what the photo conveys even without seeing it.

This accessibility aspect is crucial because when visitors don’t have a stable internet connection, this underlying information comes in handy. Comprehensible content can give surfers access to information they may otherwise miss out on due to disabilities or other impairments. Alt text doesn’t have to be lengthy – just a few words describing what is depicted in the photo should suffice.

Moreover, extra-large image file sizes will negatively impact your website’s appeal. It’s good to compress image sizes, so they quickly load and don’t increase your website’s bounce rate.

In A Word!

Our brains can interpret visual data 60,000 times faster than text and other media. Hence, focusing on the quality and messaging of your website visuals is mandatory. Luckily, selecting images that sit well with your brand voice isn’t complicated.

Images can help a website communicate its mission and establish an aesthetically pleasing atmosphere. Careful selection of website images can elicit a desired emotional response from the user. By following the above tips, you can find images that leave an excellent first impression on your visitors.

Whether they’re placed on the homepage or used in blog posts, website images are vital in getting your visitors intrigued.