If a picture speaks a thousand words, it makes sense that images are one of the most critical elements of your WordPress site. Images help an audience to connect with your message, and develop a greater understanding of what you are trying to say. For those using WordPress as an e-commerce platform, pictures are even more important. Product images and informative infographics can become part of the customer journey, which makes it much easier to guide website visitors to a purchase. Whether you use WordPress as a blogging site or to sell a product, here are four of the best tips for making sure that you are getting the most from your visual content.
Quality is Essential
You should never resort to using low-quality images. Grabbing a basic image from Google, downloading it, uploading it, compressing it, and finally positioning it will all lower resolution. This makes images poor. If you are using stock photos, make sure that you are only using the images with the highest resolution that you can find. It’s a useful step to do a reverse image lookup to find higher-quality versions. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that your smartphone takes photos that are of adequate quality. Professional, high-quality images will always be more effective.
Learn some Photography
Taking your own pictures for your WordPress site is always going to build better results. If you do decide to forgo stock images and take some pictures yourself, it’s a good idea to learn some basic photography skills. This doesn’t have to mean doing a degree in photography! There are two essential elements of good photography: lighting and composition. Experiment with lighting and learn the basic rules of composition, and use what you have learned to take better photos of your products.
Adjust your Balance
The look of your website will depend on how you place your images alongside your written content. Getting the balance right can make your site look much more professional, which is a crucial factor for e-commerce entrepreneurs. Your images in this context refer not just to the pictures that you add to your site, but also to your logos and branding concepts. Consider colors and even the types of font that you use for your headers, footers, and any adverts that you have. Call to action buttons should also be factored into your balance so that they become a seamless step in the customer journey.
Edit What You Have
Whether you’re using stock images or photos that you have taken yourself, never forget that you can always make adjustments. Photo editing software is widely available, and there are free versions available alongside more well-known choices like Photoshop. Experiment with the dynamic changes that can be made to even the most tired-looking image and bring it to life using a variety of tools. Add colors, bokeh, or convert the whole image into black and white.
It’s never been easier to take control of the images that you use on your website. When the right picture in the right place can keep a website visitor on your pages for longer, it’s imperative that you only use the best, most relevant images. While the written element of your WordPress site is the core of your content, images are the finishing touch that makes all of the difference.
