Top Strategies for Better Photos on Your Website

Top Strategies for  

BETTER PHOTOS on Your Website  

Melissa Eggleston  melissa@melissaegg.com

"I know it when I see it.”    - Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart

in Jacobellis v. Ohio (1964)

4 Strategies

1.  Understand what makes a great photo 2.  Know how users engage with photos online 3.  Determine great photos for your website 4.  Figure out how to get these photos

•  DO:  Content  strategy,  content  crea1on  (text,  photos,  graphics)  and  user  experience  research  

•  LOVE:  WordPress  and  its  community,  photography,  art,  teachers  and  other  people  who  are  passionate  about  what  they  do  

•  HATE:  Rota1ng  carousels/sliders  on  websites,  cold  weather  and  whining  

About Me

What makes a great photo?

Moment

Light Emotion

“If your pictures aren’t good enough, you’re not close enough.”  

 - Robert Capa Photojournalist

Background  –  ideally  contribu1ng,  but  at  least  not  distrac1ng  

Add  Craig  B  photo  edited  

Hemming and hawing = rejected

How do people engage with photos online?

Real  Images  Are  Scru1nized  

Give  me  some  real  bakers!  

41  

1.  Prefer large photos to small photos

2.  Study real people

3.  Ignore stock or staged photos

4.  Like to look at faces

5.  Look where faces point them or may emotionally connect with direct eye contact

6.  DO NOT LIKE CAROUSELS

Website viewers

What makes a great photo for your website?

1.  Is the right size 2.  Fits the space well

3.  Meets your audience’s needs in

addition to your goals

4.  Reflects the chosen message

A Great Photo for Your Website

Where do we get great photos?

What if we need to do it ourselves?

1.  Take a live photo class

2.  View great photos (NY Times, newspapers, magazines)

3.  Practice shooting yourself

4.  Ben Long’s book or class on lynda.com

5.  Do not host an event and shoot photos at the same time, please

DIY Tips

•  UNC-Chapel Hill Journalism School Professors

•  Nielsen/Norman Group E-Newsletter

•  100 Things Every Designer Needs to Know About People by Susan Weinschenk

•  Articles found though online searching

•  Personal experience running usability tests and shooting photos

•  shouldiuseacarousel.com

Sources

Q&A

Audience Challenge

1.  Now that you know the inputs, find a really great photo online

2.  Email me the link and tell me why you think it’s a great photo (melissa@melissaegg.com)

3.  Perhaps win a 30 minute consulting call

Let’s Keep Talking

Email: melissa@melissaegg.com Twitter: @melissa_egg Blog: melissaegg.com/blog