Images
Images have tremendous power to spice up a webpage. They can influence visitors to perform an action, buy a product, or donate to a cause. In a world increasingly centered around visuals and rapidly detaching from text, images have very possibly become the most important component of web content. This page offers some brief suggestions for image selection and formatting to make your webpage really call to your users.
Think of the action you want website visitors to perform – donate, subscribe, share, register, purchase, bookmark, etc. – and try to envision a picture that motivates to this very act.
Use large, eye-catching images on your homepage, as long as they first and foremost tell your visitors what you are all about. Your homepage image is typically the first thing visitors see when they come to your website. What does it say about you or about your business?
For text-heavy pages, use images to break up text. Visitors will appreciate the visual pauses.
Keep your website’s content fresh and lively by adding new images to your website every once in awhile.
Cropping, enhancing, mirroring, brightening and many other options allow you to optimize your images and match them to the exact look and feel of your website.
Provide textual equivalents because not all images are depicted clearly by users
A webpage should contain no more than 50-75kb of graphics to avoid a longer loading time
Try to avoid stock images. They are a generic solution to a specific problem. Most people can spot the difference between a stock business executive and a real one, and who wants to be thought of as generic?
A well-placed editorial illustration or infographic is a great tool for helping your audience visualize data, concepts or opinions that could not be served by a photo or a lengthy written explanation.
Make sure the resolution of your final image is 72 pixels per inch (ppi) which is the resolution of the web. Digital cameras and smart phones capture images at a fairly high resolution and you'll need to reduce them in size and resolution.
The Rule of Thirds is a helpful guideline in creating more interesting and dynamic compositions in your images. Divide the image area into thirds both horizontally and vertically, which will create a grid of nine regions. When cropping (or composing) an image, placing the main subject over or near the ⅓ or ⅔ grid lines will create an asymmetrical composition that is more visually pleasing than placing the subject dead center.
Multiple images can work in your favor if you take time to consider how to use them. A series of step-by-step images can explain a complicated process or a small grid of photos showing variety in a product line. A tight collage of images in varying sizes is more visually interesting than simply stacking them one on top of another.