6 Mistakes that Could Hurt Your Website Presence
Images are an essential part of your website and marketing strategy. I’m sure you all heard a “picture is worth a thousand words”.
Pictures reinforce our text and also help to break up the monotony of too much text. Photos are even better when you have a product to sell. But unfortunately, there are so many mistakes people make when using images on their website. I wanted to share those mistakes with you so you know what to look out for.
Let’s jump right in and feel free to comment or drop me a message if you have any questions!
1)NOT Sizing Down images.
This flat out just causes your website to load slow.
Some good softwares to use to size down your images: Photoshop, Affinity Photo, Photoshop Elements.
If your site was built with WordPress, you could use some plugins too, but always best to size down BEFORE you upload. You can use IMAGIFY (free and paid), WP- SMUCH (free and paid), and several others. There is one online you can use as well: https://imagecompressor.com/
2)NOT using your own photography
Sure it’s easy to do a Google search and just right click and save an image and just upload it to your site. By doing this, you are risking a potential infringement lawsuit. There are companies that have a pixel installed and can tell who copied their images.
Try and take your own photos. It always makes your website look more warm and inviting – stock images can be detected a mile away
For example – for a weight loss coach —-better to show a photo of the apple with the measuring tape around it, or some guy jogging in the park, or would it be better to show a photo of you working with your client, for that personal touch.
Also remember get written permission if you will be using others in your photo.
If you MUST use stock, use Adobe Stock, Shutterstock, my personal favorite DREAMSTIME. Images cost usually $10-$12 and you can keep resusing. Make sure to go higher res in case you need for print. Cannot blow up a photo.
3)NOT naming your images properly
When you don’t name your images properly, you are hurting your SEO. Google does not give preference to web sites that don’t have properly named images. Make sure you save your ALT tags behind the images properly as well, as that what shows up when you hover over an image.
4)DELETE all unused images on your web site
Storing images in your website that are not being used is just not good. Delete all images that are not in use anymore and free up the space so your site loads more quickly.
5)Not using correct files extension on your photos
2 main image extensions are used for web:
- JPEG – standard. Best for photographs and gradient images.
- PNG – Better for logos, charts, and vectorized type of images (logos should be saved on a transparent background)
- New file format called SVG – sharpest and clearest – available from Adobe InDesign and Illustrator
6)Not cropping images
Sometimes you may get handed a photo to use, and its HUGE.
- If you upload it at the original size, it will push your website off the page.
- Make sure you crop the images
- Make sure you trim anything out the sides of the photo that will keep the focus on the target of the photo.
- If the photo isn’t good, DON’T USE IT.
- Make sure you also take into consideration the social media you will use it on, as each have their size requirements.