Images have become ubiquitous with online content and for good reason. As consumers are bombarded with huge volumes of information and data, they look for ways to receive, digest and filter what is valuable or important and what is not. The human brain can process images in as little time as 13 milliseconds, so photos and graphics allow users to scroll quickly yet still take in enough information to make decisions.
Pictures also drastically affect the perception of the displayed subject – such as a store, product, or person – by the viewer. Design, quality of image, and composition all affect that perception. 67% of consumers say that the quality of a product image is important in evaluating an online purchase and 46% feel that website design is the top criteria for weighing a company’s credibility.
So it is critical that the images associated with your business reflect positive attributes and qualities. Yet it is surprising how many businesses do not manage the images that appear online as representing their business whether it be in online listings or Google results.
For example, a simple search for restaurants around me returns many results with Google street view images as the thumbnail profile image. So I get images of a brick wall, the exterior of a strip mall, a patch of yellowing grass and many other unappealing profile images.
In this month’s Search Engine Land column, I take a look at other mistakes made by local businesses in the use or mismanagement of images and provide 8 tips to make sure your profile images help, and not hurt your business from being found and chosen.
