Adding Pictures to Your Website or Facebook Page
Picture This ….
In our technology driven world, accessing information couldn’t be easier whether it’s a website or a Facebook Page. Studies show that the average browser views photographs first before either clicking somewhere else or committing to reading your carefully constructed text.
Do your photographs do you justice and attract your
ideal customer?
The Image
The
photographs that you use on your DJ website or Facebook Page paint an image
for the client. If you want to generate more pub work, show pictures of you
performing in local recognisable establishments. If you want to aim more at
the higher end of your market, show photos of guests enjoying the
entertainment in a 4 or 5 star hotel. If, for example, your target market is
predominately weddings, showing numerous photos of pub gigs with men in
tatty jeans won't help your case.
The Subject Matter
Yes, subject does matter! Are clients more interested in your equipment
or how you get a party going and the kind of evening you can create? DJs are
interested in the former, whereas most clients will be interested in the
latter.
Stock Photos
Although stock photos,
or existing photos on the internet, may look neat, they can be misleading to
clients and will probably not portray an accurate image of you and your
service. It's also worth bearing in mind that just because a photo is on the
internet, you are not at liberty to simply copy and use it for your own
promotion. Many photographs and images are copyright and the property of the
original source. Copying them at will and using them could get you into deep
water.
Your Unique Photos
There are many ways
to get quality pictures for your website. If you work solo you may find it
difficult to take photos during the evening so consider taking a friend or
family member along purely for that purpose.
Alternatively, if a
photographer is present, offer to buy some images from him/her, and the
rights to use them. Also offer to give them credit for the photography and a
link from your website to theirs.
Load Time
More people now access the internet using broadband (or 4G on mobile
devices) which means that websites load faster. You can help this further by
ensuring that your pictures are correctly formatted.
When you take a
photograph on your digital camera it is typically between 2 and 20 megabytes
in size and up to 1,000 dpi (dots per inch). This is far too big for a
standard internet web page.
Before inserting the image onto your site
use a photo editing program to crop it to only show the desired content, change the
dpi to 72 (ideal for computer screens) and finally change the dimensions to
those that match the space on your website. When changing the width & height
take into account the original aspect ratio and retain this at the smaller
size.
Some editing programs also have the facility to 'Save for
Web' which introduces further compression without affecting the
appearance of the photograph.