I want to give a big Congratulations to my client Ed Hecht, on the launch of his new website, Hecht Family Law.
You will notice that Ed has used a number of different photos on his website. He understands the value of photos in effectively marketing his services.
Although I love words and I pride myself on being able to help attorneys find the best way to present themselves on their websites, I also understand the value of images.
When I was in college, I took a lot of film classes, and one of the classes was a course in Semiotics. "Semiotics, or semiology, is the study of signs, symbols, and signification. It is the study of how meaning is created, not what it is." I was never really good at discussing Semiotics with the grad students in the class [I was 19 years old] but I instinctively knew and understood the value of images as symbols.
When Ed and I were discussing his new website a few weeks ago, I could tell that he understood how important it is to have images on your site that convey specific ideas or emotions.
For instance, one of the images on Ed's Home page is a split photo. On one side is a Dad and his daughter playing, and the other side shows a Mom and her two children. Everyone in these shots is smiling. The inherent meaning here is simple. Single parents raising children can be a HAPPY thing. This is a great idea to convey. Divorce doesn't have to mean an end to happiness and good times.
All too often, attorneys have the exact same images on their websites: the scales of justice, cityscapes, smiling but stiff loooking attorneys, maybe a shot of the law library. Look at ten law firm websites and I guarantee you that you will find all those images.
All these images are OK, but they don't really grab a viewer and say HEY, HIRE ME! They just say uh yeah, i am a lawyer... and maybe i have nice offices...
Images are important because when someone Googles your site and the Home page pops up, the images they see will grab their attention immediately. There will be an instant decision made, either "I like that image" or "Blah, what a bore," or maybe "huh?" or there may be NO effect on the person searching.
What you need to think about - whether you're a lawyer or just a small business owner - is this: what image can I post that will tell the viewer instantly HERE'S WHAT I CAN DO FOR YOU.
So, if you're a personal injury attorney, do you want to show photos of badly mangled cars? Nope. That tells the viewer you like grisly images, nothing more.
How about a view of people standing around a wreck site, and a driver looking disheleved and upset is being comforted by someone? Isn't that really what you want to convey? If I have been in an accident, I want a personal injury attorney to take care of me, to help me get the compensation I need.
It's also important to have more than one image. I know a number of attorneys who have, at most, 2 images on their websites, other than photos of attorneys. That's a mistake. Images create interest. Images tell a story.
BIG IDEA HERE: People LIKE to look at pictures. Give them pictures.
A lot of folks skim read when they are online. They don't read in depth. They are moving quickly, and they click on and off pages very rapidly. An arresting image can stop that quick exit from happening. [see the image at the bottom of this story - the huge tree right next to the building grabs your interest, right? I took it when I was at Isle of Palms last year.]
I know from blogging over the years that blogs with photos or images get a lot more hits than blogs without images. I like to take photos, as do some of my friends, and I have a huge backlog of photos I can pull from. Not everyone has that, and that's OK. Google "stock photos" and you will come up with numerous services where you can purchase stick photos for very little money.
You can also post pictures you've taken.
Just be sure and post photos or images that you have permission to use, so there are no copyright issues.
It's also important to ask folks you trust to take a look at your site and pay particular attention to images, and give you feedback on their reactions. Marketing is not an exact science. You want to grab attention in a positive way. You want viewers to feel something when they view your site. If what they feel is boredom, that's not good.