Choose the Best Images For Your Website
How to Tell a Story Through Your Website Images
Whenever I think of a website, I think of it as your virtual home. When you have guests over, how do you want them to feel? Welcomed? Inspired? Curious?
The images you choose should not only captivate your audience but also align with your brand messaging and identity, creating that special connection, and telling a story.
As a personal brand strategist, I get a lot of questions about the types of photos that should be on a business owner’s website. Questions like:
Should all of the photos be of me?
Can I use stock images?
Should all of my images be of the [insert service or product] I’m offering?
And my answer always goes like this: How do you want your audience to feel when they visit your website?
Just like when you have guests over, you want to evoke a feelings right off the bat. If you were to visit someone’s home and it was messy and stinky, you probably wouldn’t feel welcomed at all.
However, if you were greeted with a warm hello, shown where to put your purse and shoes, taken on a tour of the home, and handed a glass of something cold and bubbly, you might not ever want to leave.
Since our websites can’t (yet) have a full immersive experience, including smell and taste, we need to rely on our other senses to give our guests a memorable experience.
Let’s break it down.
1. Start with Your Layout
A messy website is just as off-putting as a messy home. You should aim to have a well-balanced site, with plenty of space to separate one section from the next. You need to have clear navigation and guide your readers through the site, enticing them to keep scrolling to see what’s next or click on the link you’re directing them to.
You have to tell your readers where you want them to go! If you want them to see your About page, tell them. If you want to direct them to your services page, be sure to direct them there and give them a reason to go.
2. Align images with Your Offers
The images you choose for your website should tell a story and evoke a feeling. Think about how images can represent your brand story, your brand values, and your brand purpose.
If you have a personal brand or you’re a service-based solopreneur, you can avoid having every image on your website be of you or even represent the service you offer. Instead, include other types of images on your website that represent your offer, your personality, and your brand strategy.
Let's start with your offer. Think about the transformation you give your clients. Are you offering
Comfort?
Convenience?
Efficiency?
Guidance?
Now think about images that would represent the feeling you're wanting your audience to experience. For example, if you’re an event planner and you offer event planning services, the images on your website do not have to be all about events.
Instead, they can represent feelings evoked by hosting or attending an event. Think of feelings like:
Joyful
Festive
Ceremonial
Commemorative
Enjoyment
Entertaining
Adventurous
Elegance
Meaningful
What types of images could represent these types of feelings? Below is a sample mood board of ideas, intended to evoke the feeling of gathering, plush, connection, and luxurious.
3. Align images with Your Brand Messaging Strategy
Your brand messaging strategy is the heart and soul of your personal brand. It encompasses your personality, mission, values, and brand story, and is your unique way of communicating with your audience. So, when selecting images for your website, think about the phrases you use, your values, and your purpose.
For instance, if your brand mission is all about empowering and motivating others, you can choose images that exude strength, resilience, and determination. Or if your brand personality is fun, playful, and bold, think about images that evoke those feelings.
Allow the images to reinforce your words and make that connection even stronger.
If you’re a personal brand, your brand is an extension of who you are — your identity, your values, and your passions all wrapped up in one beautiful package. When it comes to choosing images for your website, try to incorporate elements of your own personality.
For instance, if you’ve tied in a hobby (say, travel) into your brand messaging (hmmm, say sales copywriting), then consider how you could depict that story through imagery. Is there a favorite place you adore? Maybe it’s Paris. How could you tie Paris into your brand imagery? If you can’t afford to travel there for brand photos, how else might you nod at the notion of Parisian fashion, cafe life, or architecture?
By infusing your personal identity into your website, you're inviting your audience to connect with you on a deeper level.
4. Make Them Feel Something
I can’t stress it enough: the images on your website should evoke an emotional response from your audience. You want them to stop scrolling, linger a bit longer, and truly feel an experience.
Photos and images can create a lot of mood. Consider the photographic elements of the
Color & absence of color
Shadow & light
Line
Shape
Form
Texture
Size
Depth
When it comes to photos of people, whether it’s you or stock images, consider
Objects
Body language
Clothing
Scenery & background
Go for images that make your audience feel the way you want them to feel when they think of your brand. Is it joy, inspiration, or maybe a soothing sense of calm? Whatever it may be, choose cohesive images that give a vibe, inspire your audience to take action, and make them say “Wow, I love your website!”.
5. Remember that high-Quality and cohesiveness Matter
Lastly, don't forget about the quality of your images. Grainy, pixelated selfies or images can make your brand appear unprofessional and untrustworthy. Invest in high-quality visuals that are crisp, clear, and visually appealing. Consider hiring a professional to take your photos or explore reputable stock photo platforms that align with your style and budget.
I use Élevae for my stock images, including the ones you’ve seen in this post. You can use on-brand visuals to communicate the high-caliber product or service you already deliver. It’s is the only styled stock photography membership that includes:
A catalog of 6,000+ trend-forward, highly curated images.
The best photographers in the industry contributing to your brand visuals
A robust keyword search engine so you can quickly locate exactly what you’re looking for.
The only algorithm in the industry, Custom Curation™, that pulls images to suit your brand based on your color palette, industry, and interests
Unlimited downloads
Plus, a bank of hundreds of caption prompts to make it even easier to click post. You can sign up for your membership here.
Make sure that no matter the type of photos you use, whether it’s a combo of your own brand photos and stock photos, there is a cohesiveness tying them all together. This might mean choosing photos that share the same color scheme, exposure or filter, texture, etc.
Pro Tip:
Create a mood board on Canva and upload all of the photos you’re considering using and see that they all aesthetically tie together. Is the theme similar? Are the colors the same? Does one image pop out over the rest? Is there a way you can adjust it to make it better blend with the others? Otherwise, ditch it and find something else.
Wrap Up
If you are about to begin the rebranding process, make sure that the images, messaging, and brand strategy all align. A rebrand is an opportunity to get the pieces cohesively working together that may not have been before — hence the purpose of a rebrand.
Choosing the right images for your website is all about creating a cohesive and authentic brand experience. Let your images speak the language of your brand, connect with your audience, and leave them wanting more.
More free resources
Brand Messaging Framework Workbook
Brand Guidelines Canva Template
Interested in sharing your stories with your audience but aren’t sure how? Learn more about curated Brand Storytelling Coaching services where we can work one-on-one on your storytelling strategy.
