Law Firm Marketing Agency
Adding photos to the content area of your website can be a great way to enhance your site’s appearance while giving it a more customized feel. Many content management systems, like our own Site Manager, allow site administrators to add photos directly to the site. With the ability to add photos, come many questions. What’s the best size for photos on the site? Should they be cropped? Should I apply any effects to the photo (sepia looks pretty cool, right)? In this post, we’ll explore some photo basics and best practices for adding photos to your law firm’s site.
Photo Size
Photos in the content area of a site are meant to make the page a bit more visually appealing but they should never overwhelm the text. After all, it’s a legal site meant to deliver information, not showcase pretty pictures. As a general rule of thumb, the photo should never be wider than the text block on the page. Whenever possible, have the text wrap around the photo. With the Omnizant Site Manager, all photos are uploaded to the top right hand side of the page and there is an option to have the tool resize the photo automatically so you don’t have to worry about inputting the desired pixels for the width and/or height. If you’d like to manually resize the photo, you may do so through any photo editing program like Photoshop or even Google’s Picasa (a free program). If you prefer a more simplified option, try using Pic Resize– a free site which allows you to crop and resize any photo.
Cropping
Since the size of the photos is likely to be reduced when placed on a content page, it’s imperative to crop photos to ensure they are still clear in a smaller form. This is especially true of attorney profile photos which should be cut down to frame the face and omit the rest of the body. When cropping a photo, make sure you keep it balanced by keeping the right and left sides of the subject equal in width.
Photo Effects
In the era of Instagram, the popularity of photo effects has skyrocketed. With just a few clicks, you can make a photo “look retro” or convert it to black and white. While some photo effects can be great, it’s best to leave photo treatments up to the experts or you very well may jeopardize the professional feel of your site.
Depending on your area of practice and target audience, website photos can go a long way to help you effectively convey your message and resonate with site visitors but only if presented in a clean, organized manner. If you’re unsure of the best images or ways to integrate photos into your attorney website, contact our team of graphic designers who can advise you on the best layout.