First Impressions Count

We all know first impressions count right? But did you know you only have about 50 milliseconds (0.05 seconds) to grab your users attention thus determining whether they stay on your site or leave. The Hero image (prominent image or video at the top of your website) therefore plays a crucial role in the decision of whether or not to explore your site further. In a visually content rich online world, a poorly chosen and low quality image just won’t cut it.

Understanding the Purpose of an Image

The Hero image sets a precedent, it projects the image of your brand and sets the tone for what is expected throughout the rest of the site and should trigger a positive response. The right image will help to build trust and encourage visitors to be invested in what you are offering. If you’re selling a product and the main image is low resolution and pixelated or taken in poor light then I’m afraid you’re not instilling confidence in your products, so why should potential customers?

You need to show you care just as much about your presentation as you do the quality. Without the first, the latter becomes worthless. We could build you a beautiful site but if the images don’t follow suit or backup what you’re saying in the written content, you’ve already lost the attention of the user.

We all have preconceived ideas of what a website should look like before we visit it, we have in our minds already decided what kind of images we associate with certain products and services. Deviate too far from this and you can confuse the user and the experience is no longer positive and potentially driving them away.

Get it right though with an an eye-catching high-resolution image that conveys your message or showcases your product at its best and you’re onto a winner.

This high-quality theme should then be used throughout the site to show consistency, this feeds back to the user, again building on that trust that you can deliver what you are selling. Some stock images are fine to use as long as they are not too cheesey or overly false looking. We often mix in some stock images from our libraries however we carefully curate them to enhance your brand, not to work against it.

Oh I Have Loads of Photos I've Taken on my Phone...

We hear this all the time, now don’t get us wrong, camera phones are great and there are some really cool Apps out there to create visually eye-catching images to use on your socials, we use them and love them too. But unless you know what you’re doing when taking the original photos these are unlikely to be able to transfer to a website where we might want to fill the screen with a dynamic background image of you or your product.

Sure, smaller product shots for thumbnails or a store might be workable but remember consistency is key and customers want to see multiple images at different angles before they make that purchase. It’s no good having one image taken with an Instagram filter and then other images of that same product that don’t follow suit, or images taken on different days with different lighting. This feels disjointed and that the product photography was just an afterthought, ‘oh that’ll do’ kind of attitude. This will have a detrimental effect on how your products are perceived.

Good Quality Images Sell

If you’re selling a product then it is worth investing in either some camera equipment if you have the space at home to create that consistent setup and lighting or finding a professional to take product shots for you. The results really can make a difference between sales and no sales. If you’re selling a service that you are the face of, it really is worth investing in a professional photo shoot.

It can be easy to dismiss professional photography due to the upfront cost, but it can be more cost effective in the long run. Having a library of professional photos to use in your website, social media and other marketing materials will only reflect in a positive way from showing credibility to brand recognition.

If you are looking for a new website and are worried about photography or what images to use then get in touch, we would love to help.

Kerry Warnes (Kez) is our Studio Design Manager with bags of experience in all things 'high resolution' and 'vector' based graphics. She turns average websites into stunning ones and is always on hand to answer your questions about getting the best out of your imagery.

For more design tips in the coming weeks be sure to stay tuned and follow our socials @speekuk

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