Getting the most from your online images

‘A picture paints a thousand words.’  Something I don’t think anyone would argue with, but how does it play out in the digital world?

If you’re relying on pictures to help you tell your story on a website, then you should be asking yourself a number of questions.

In the charitable field where we work, images used on the homepage are crucial in setting the right tone for the organisation and expressing the importance of the work being done.  They can also help users to visualise and identify with the people they might be helping. Attention spans are short, the internet is incredibly noisy and there are endless websites vying for people’s attention and money.

What’s the story I want the pictures to tell? Do the pictures I’ve selected help to tell that story?

So how do you make sure your site stands out from the crowd? Together with excellent, succinct copy written in plain English, you need to make sure your images speak hard, directly to your audience, and tell the story you need to be heard.

Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research website

This is one of our recently launched sites which features a large image on the homepage of a man running a marathon to raise funds for Leukaemia and Lymphoma research.

How does this image make you feel?  Uncomfortable? Emotional? Ready to take on a challenge?

For me, this image captures the energy, effort and perhaps pain endured in order to raise money to help move the charity closer to a cure. It’s an inspirational image, a call to action to get involved and a tribute to the loyal supporters of the charity. That’s an awful lot to convey in one shot, but we think it does just that.

Here are some basic pointers to help make sure your images are working for you:

Find a formula that works and stick with it

This doesn’t mean having the same content in your images time and again, ‘Oh look it’s yet another elderly person being helped out by a kind soul’. It’s more about understanding the key thing you want to express and making sure whichever image you choose does that job for you.

If this means you have one person in your organisation who takes the lead on selecting appropriate images, then so be it. This person can become the brand’s image guardian and can ensure any images used on the website meet all of the requirements for message, tone, colour and composition.

Don’t be afraid to leave your main website images alone for some time

You’ve found the perfect image or images for your site but there’s a voice inside your head telling you it ought to be changed every week to keep the site up to date and fresh.  That’s what everyone does right?

The truth is, a compelling image greeting a repeat visitor will help develop brand loyalty by building a sense of familiarity. Changing images frequently without enough thought could create a situation where the images jar with the website, and this won’t do you any favours in terms of engaging your users.

Choose a pattern to your image updates and try to stick to it.

If you can, make room in your budget to commission new images

Using stock imagery can work well for some organisations.  The main problem with stock images are that very often they scream  “I’m from istock” and once they’ve screamed that to you, it’s hard to take them seriously as a representation of the organisation’s website.

If you’re a charity who run events or training schemes and get out there on the frontline with your work then use the opportunity to get some professional images commissioned.

Don’t assume an excellent photographer is enough though. You’ll need to think carefully about the kind of images you want to get out of the shoot. Will the right kind of people be there? Have you managed the shoot to allow for a decent amount of artistic direction? Does your photographer understand the brief properly?  In order to get the best value for money out of your shoot, make sure it’s been managed tightly and you can answer yes to all of the above questions.

Bearing the above in mind should help you to work towards a more focused and effective use of images on your website.  I think finding a perfect image is hugely satisfying, so happy hunting!