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Today’s web users expect visual content everywhere they go online. They will often skip over giant blocks of text entirely, assuming they stay on the site at all.

This makes choosing high-quality pictures crucial. Lawyers USA spoke with Sandra Niehaus, VP of User Experience and Creative Director of Closed Loop Marketing, a web marketing firm, and Sean Singleton, Creative Director of 12foot Interactive, a web design agency to get some advice on how attorneys can best use images on their website. (Both firms are based in based in Roseville, Calif.)

“Many lawyers make the mistake of assuming that pictures are just decoration,” said Niehaus.  “[But] they also guide the eye to important content.  People are very visual, so pictures are an easy way to communicate top-level concepts subconsciously.”

“The right image can help show your firm’s professionalism, while at the same time making prospective clients feel at home,” said Singleton.

Here are some tips for sprucing up your website visually:

• Avoid low-quality images.

Anything out of focus, blurry, or with poor composition or lighting won’t create the right image, said Singleton.

“Good-quality images help [establish] the credibility of a site,” he said. He analogized to a brick-and-mortar store: older furnishings can make you uncomfortable and want to leave, but you’ll stay longer if the store is newer and cleaner.

Photographs are generally best for humanizing a page, said Neihaus. Only use illustrations when the subject matter is difficult or impossible to photograph.

• Focus on your homepage.

Most websites need one really great image for their homepage, something that represents the firm or the client base.

However, “avoid going with cliché images – such as a car accident – that can make you come off as an ‘ambulance chaser’,” Singleton warned.

For an appropriate stock photo, you can expect to spend around $150 to $300.  However, this isn’t the place to cut corners, said Niehaus, who recommends hiring a professional photographer. This ensures image quality and eliminates the possibility of someone else using the same image in a context you may not like.

“A really good graphic design can get away with using only one picture, but most sites will need more,” said Niehaus. “Don’t go overboard, though: too many pictures can make you look like a news site.”

• Get a review.

“Think about how your clients will perceive the site,” said Niehaus.  If at all possible, have your images reviewed by representative members of your target demographic.

• Check out the competition.

Niehaus recommends reviewing other firms’ websites to see what kind of pictures they choose.  However, because law firms can be behind the times when it comes to the Internet, it’s a good idea to look at other professional service sites as well.

• Find some resources.

iStockphoto.com, Fotolia.com and Gettyimages.com all offer good stock photography, although their images are sometimes overused, said Niehaus.  She suggested Blendimages.com for stock photography that includes people of color.

- Tony Ogden

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