Having a good web design is crucial for the success of your website. One of the first factors that make an impression on your web visitors would be the presentation—your graphic design, website design, and branding are all put into scrutiny here. If the right impression isn’t met, then your website is already losing on its potential audience.
Good web design isn’t just about mere aesthetic beauty. It’s more about how the factors of your website merge as a whole—images in your content included. Visuals make a huge impact on your overall message, which is why choosing appropriate images are a must when fixing your website’s overall design.
Images and Graphics: How do you choose them?
Choosing the best images for your website is a critical part of content management. Good images can entice readers to view your content; while in converse, ill-fitting images can be off-putting or send the wrong message to your web visitors.
To help you pick out what you need for your website’s content, here are several tips to remember when choosing your images.
Maintain relevancy
Before anything else, make sure that your chosen image is related to your content; else, it will just be a confusing visual for your viewers. It’s alright to have an image that’s incredibly artistic and creative, for as long as it remains relevant and relatable.
Grab Attention—But Don’t Hog It
The point of your image and graphics is to grab the attention of your viewers, but it shouldn’t be the entire point of their visiting your website. Visuals seek to enhance your content, not supplant it.
Utilize images that are eye-catching but won’t hog attention. This doesn’t only go for the specific aesthetic it sends off, but also the size and color swaths affect this.
Identify its appeal
Having an image to support your content is one thing, but make sure that it also appeals to your viewers to enhance their experience. Visuals should be value-adding for your content, so utilizing its appeal can add another layer to your viewer’s experience of your website.
Where Can You Get Them?
Images and graphics aren’t simply grabbed from Google and displayed on your website—this is the quickest way to a lawsuit or a cease-and-desist letter for copyright infringement. Cropping or editing it is out of the question either, as this would still be ill-use of someone’s property.
Finding an image for your use isn’t that difficult, you just need to know where to look. There are three basic sources where you can obtain useable images: self-made, professionally-taken, and stock images.
Self-made images
Self-made images are either created by a graphic designer for the sole use of your company or photographed by someone from within your business. It is highly cost-efficient and can be edited and used in any way for your benefit—after all, it’s yours. The best thing about it is that it can utilize and focus on your products and services, making it incredibly value-adding for your business to use.
Professional Photography
Professional photography runs along with the same logic as self-made images—it’s direct and can capitalize on your products and services. Although a bit more costly, the utilization of a professional skilled in commercial photography ensures high-quality work, giving you the confidence of associating it with your website.
Stock Photos
Stock photos involve the use of photo archives or image banks that have been compiled for commercial purposes. Depending on the licensing, you may have to pay a certain fee to use these kinds of images. There are three types of stock photos—free, royalty-free, and rights-managed photos.
These photos are quick and easy-to-use—providing a multitude of images applicable to almost any situation. The trouble, of course, is that stock images can be used by almost anybody—so uniqueness isn’t the key point of these.
Conclusion
Looking for a professional web designer in Kansas City? Get in touch with us today at Fox Web Creation to set an appointment with one of our specialists to assist you.
