The pictures, graphics, illustrations, photos, etc. of a website leave an important first impression on the visitor. These visual supports have the ability to convey messages and atmospheres. They are simple and quick to understand and stimulate latent interest. Thus, this area of design and content is crucial for the appeal and the time the customer spends on your website.

Starting point

Images, graphics or even photos quickly give the viewer an approximate idea of the content. Reading a text takes more time and concentration. However, if the visual aspects are right, the customer can understand the core statements without text and develops subconscious interest in the written content. The optical aspects can lead the customer imperceptibly to reading the contents.

I'm sure this has happened to you before? Once you come across pictures that you like and have a positive effect, you stay longer on the site and are interested. With bad images, your subconscious generates a feeling of disinterest and dishonesty and lack of seriousness.

In addition, there is a mass of media that should not be undercut or exceeded on a website. So it happens that the pages are totally overloaded and you hardly see the message behind the pictures. Or just the other way around - hardly any pictures, so reading the content is extremely boring, varied and strenuous.

All these points are important. Because only if the customer likes the optical basic structure and the balanced alternation, he remains on the web page and informs himself in depth. The design and the graphic contents are therefore decisive and influence the establishment of contact with a potential customer. With this blog post we help you to choose the images so that this influence has a positive effect on your company.

Characteristics of a good image

There are many pictures. Be it on the Internet, on your electronic devices or as a slide in your cabinet. But a picture is not always a good picture. No image appeals to everyone. But it can appeal to the majority of a certain group. Choose images that appeal to your target group and meet the desired message and objectives.

Besides the optical, quality is also one of the most important aspects. The sharper and richer the image, the clearer the effect on the reader. Set value on a high resolution, real and rich colours and a perfect exposure of the motives. Thus you get the basic effect of a positive impression of the customer on the regarded pictures.

Photos of the employees are also highly recommended, as they immediately have a personal and individual effect on the customer. The employees should smile, dress the way you feel comfortable and look as likeable as possible. Team photos can quickly appear stiff and unwanted, which often leads to dislike by the customer. If employee portraits, then natural and voluntary photos.

Media interaction

Now I dare to increase my previous statement "not all pictures are good pictures" even further. Not all good pictures are suitable pictures, because every picture conveys an atmosphere to the viewer. And multiple atmospheres on a website cause uncertainty and confusion. This means that you should check the whole selection for coherence and color equality, because people feel comfortable in a familiar environment. In this case, the motto is: "Less is more". Less color, differences and versatility and more similarity, consistency and repetition.

Images by professionals

To get good and suitable pictures, photographers offer to create them for you. I suspect this is nothing new to you. But I mention this point because photos of professionals are often the best. Because they are specific, personal and uniquely tailored to your purpose and your company. Furthermore, the images are your property after the "purchase" and may not be used on the websites of others.

Hiring a photographer for this part can be associated with high costs. This is usually the reason to decide against this option. And I understand this decision too, but we now know that the right images can have a positive influence on your potential customers. Isn't it? If you agree with me, then consider once more whether you are sure to do without a photographer.

Image library

The involvement of experts is out of the question? – Then there is the possibility of image libraries. But even these are often subject to a fee, because the files to be purchased there can only be purchased against license fees. However, we have listed some free image databases in a separate article.

The images of such databases are made available to all Internet users for a fee. This has the effect that you are not an author, that these media can appear on all other websites on the Internet and can have an inappropriate effect on top of that. Because the files available there were developed neither for your web page nor with the same objectives.

Our photographer – me

As a last option - who would have thought it - you can take the photographing into your own hands. It is important to keep the fact of the photo in mind. Think about what you want to advertise with this image and stage it accordingly.

In this process it is a good characteristic to be demanding. Yeah, that's what makes it a good character trait. It is essential to critically examine the photographs and to judge them objectively. Is it appropriate for the purpose? Does it appeal to my target group? What does the image radiate?

Last but not least, comparing your own pictures with others from magazines, advertising flyers, brochures, etc. and deciding objectively whether they will stand the test of time.

Taking the subject in front of the lens is therefore only suitable if you are familiar with photography and the camera. If these skills are not yours, your images may not spray the planned climate. Because such photographs rarely fulfill the perfect exposure, color saturation and resolution.

When you finally decide to create your own images, read a few tips and tricks on photography.

Image editing

Do you have a knack for image editing? – If not, do yourself a favor and let it go. If processing is absolutely necessary, leave this work to a trained professional. Because a lot can be done wrong when editing an image. In this area, too, the motto "less is more" is important. If a picture is edited too much, it loses its authenticity and credibility. And we agree, that's not our goal.

Format and size

As is well known, there are different variants for the format of the illustrations. Like everything in daily life, file extensions have their advantages and disadvantages and are therefore particularly suitable for certain purposes.

The JPG file format offers high color resolution and is the optimal solution for displaying photos, images and drawings. This is the optimal file type, especially for photos of your employees, your products and your workstation.

The PNG file format offers not only colors, but also transparent areas can be converted and displayed. This property cannot count the JPG format among its own. Graphics, icons or logos are preferably implemented in this format.

The GIF format is used almost exclusively for animated graphics. You will probably never have to use this type of file.

File format is not everything, the image size is also an important part of a good and suitable image. It not only determines the quality of the display, it also determines the loading time. Negative or positive - that's up to you now. Finding the golden mean, where the image resolution and the image size are optimally balanced, will probably not succeed from the beginning. Because each screen has an individual screen size and can display one image sharper or more pixelated than another. However, to give you a guideline, I betray mine. We use a resolution of 72 dpi (dots per inch) for almost all images on the web. Note: For other channels, such as pressure, a higher resolution is required.

Legal foundations

Also in handling photos, pictures, graphics etc. there are basic rights which must not be ignored. The infringement of copyrights and the copyright can lead to expensive consequences. The stealing of images from other websites and photographers is strictly forbidden. It is obligatory to gain the consent of the author and to mention this "in the picture". In the next paragraph, we explain how to deposit owners or creators quickly and easily.

There's something else, though. Because not only the owner of the picture has rights, because also the persons visible on the pictures. A photograph of a person may also only be published and used for public purposes against permission. Also the offence against this law lets reach deep into the wallet.

Relation with SEO

What do you do when you are looking for images for documentation, presentation, etc.? – I suspect that you enter certain search terms in Google and then look for suitable media in the "Pictures" tab. All images that Google Image Search displays to you are all available on any web pages, including the images you publish on your website. There are some insidious SEO (search engine optimization) rules so that your images are displayed as high up as possible.

Right at the beginning, the file name. Changing the filename of each image manually is tedious and time consuming. I understand the aversion to this paragraph. But this is the first step to SEO optimization – and this is of greater value than you may now believe. Nevertheless, I suggest you take the time on a quiet day. This not only affects the image search, but also the overall results of all search engines on the World Wide Web.

Of significant value is also the alt and title tag. Have you ever heard of it? These tags can often be defined in a Content Management System (CMS). Read how you can do this with Pimcore. If you do not have this option, these tags can also be embedded in the developer's code. Thanks to these keywords, the presentation signals that it deals with this topic and is also proposed in search engines as a result.

Don't be afraid to use pictures, logos etc. several times. This not only provides recognition, it also helps Google, Bing etc. to index and load the website faster.

File name

Let's devote another minute or two to the tedious file name just before the end. The name should not only be meaningful, it should also follow certain basic rules. The most important are the omission of blanks, capital letters, umlauts and special characters. These are like sweet drinks for teeth, nightmares for filenames. Use neutral hyphens (-) or underscores (_) instead. This is no joke, unauthorized symbols can lead to misinterpretations of files, with the result that certain files are displayed incorrectly or not at all.

Good example
25-1-2018-modifications.docx

Bad example
January 25, 2018 Amendments & Records.docx

Conclusion

Finally at the end – if you have made it this far, I congratulate you for your perseverance and your patience. Of course, I would also like to express my sincere thanks. I hope you will take the content of this blog post to heart and try to implement some of the "tips" contained in it. I wish you every success and pleasure along the way.

If you have any questions or ambiguities, please do not hesitate to contact us by phone.

How did you get the pictures of your website so far? Will you do something about it? I appreciate your comments.