5 Must-Know Tips For Using Images in Web Design
Using images help create a visual identity for your site, create interest, and build a rapport with your audience.
Web design continues to evolve to meet the needs of end-users, designers, and content creators. It has never been more important to create sites that are both aesthetically pleasing and practical.
If used appropriately with a good balance of text, these visuals can improve your blog design, give your website a strong sense of style, and help evoke emotion.
In this article, we will share some strategies for using images in web design to help engage your audience.
1. Create a Balance when Using Images and Texts
Your site should have a good balance of both text and images. While it may not be necessary in all cases, 2:1 is an adequate ratio. It means your web page should have 2x more content in the form of text as compared to images.
When users first land on your website, they may spend more time looking at the images. It will help them establish a visual identity with your site and build trust.
For instance, Marie Forleo – an American entrepreneur, has a perfect balance of text with her visuals.
Her website is simple but playful. It’s not just a bunch of images and texts with no meaning. There is a clear purpose behind each image and text.
2. Use Images that Convey Emotion
You know what they say – a picture is worth 1000 words. So why wouldn’t you want to use images to convey a message?
Your web design is incomplete without pictures that evoke emotions.
The goal is to have pictures that thoroughly represent what you are trying to convey. For instance, if you are a wellness brand that sells massage chairs, you might want to show people relaxing in your chairs.
Their calm, relaxed, and happy expressions will build a sense of trust and create a positive image for your brand.
For instance, check the home page of Human Touch:
The expression of the lady relaxing in the chair entices the audience to click further and learn more.
3. Use Images Strategically
It’s important to use visuals sparingly and strategically. When you are placing visuals on your website, think about what they will be communicating to users and ask yourself, “Does this belong here?”
Take the example of Marie Forleo. Even though she has quite a few images on her homepage, they are strategically placed
When your images are well placed, you’ll be able to create a higher engagement with your audience. These tips will help:
- Try analyzing other authority websites in your space
- See where they place their images and how they use them
- Try to implement some of the ideas in your work
4. Use High-Quality and Unique Images
This one might seem obvious, but it’s the biggest mistake most people make. If you are reaching out to your users with an enticing offer, the last thing you want to do is bombard them with low-quality images.
Users love when the images on a website are crisp, clear, and relevant to the subject matter. It inspires them to further browse your website.
But the thing is, high-quality images require time, effort, and money. Brands like Nike, Outfitters, and Human Touch spend a good chunk of cash on photographing pictures
But not every business can afford to hire a professional photographer, designer, and editor.
If you are on a budget, you can purchase quality images from stock photo websites. In fact, 42% of marketers claim most of the photos on the internet are stock images.
Many users randomly pick free stock photos and use them on their websites. Since these are free resources, they can cost you in the long run.
For instance, check this image from Unsplash:
The picture is of high quality, but do you see how many times it has been viewed and downloaded? Now, if you use this picture on your blog, do you think it will stand out?
It’s best to spend a few bucks and get high-quality pictures that show users you care!
5. Optimize Images for SEO
If you want to take only one tip out of this entire article, ensure that your images are SEO-friendly.
SEO-friendly images load faster, are mobile-friendly, and are easy for search engine crawlers to index. You must optimize your high-quality images for SEO. How so?
Here are a couple of things for you to think about:
1) Compress Your Images:
According to the HTTP Archive, 21% of the weight of your website is from images. Compressing photos will help you reduce the file size of your image without compromising its quality.
That’s why it is highly important to compress your images before uploading them.
If you’re using WordPress, you can use plugins like WP Smush to compress your images. It will automatically compress them without losing quality.
2) Customize Image File Name:
The file name is exactly what it sounds like. When creating your file name, make sure there are no spaces, and it can be read in a single line. Also, use descriptive words – don’t just name your image “2.jpg”. Give it a title, such as “the-newest-episode-of-breaking-bad-2.jpg.”
If you have a website where you post images of your products, try using keywords in the file name. For example:
“Nike-air-max-90.jpg”
This might seem like a small detail, but it actually helps search engines understand what the image is about.
3) Write SEO-Friendly Alt Text
SEO-friendly alt text helps your images rank higher on Google. It is the alternate text you see when images are not loaded. The text provides a description of the photos and helps users quickly understand what they are about.
For example, Nike Air Max 90 White/Lightning / Men’s Running Shoes. The alt text in this example gives us the name of the shoe, its color, and the type of shoe.
Conclusion:
To conclude, pictures play a huge role in web design. They help users navigate through your website and inspire them to take action.
Do some research on your part and understand what your audience wants. Then, make an informed choice of which images to use for your website.
Lastly, don’t forget to optimize your images for SEO! It takes a little bit of extra work, but it helps improve your site’s ranking on different image-based search engines.
