How a pretty face can lose you money

There is a common misconception that having a seductive shot of a beautiful woman on your landing page will keep your user enticed and ready to dive further into the site. Whilst a pretty face may sell print media, if you don’t use it in the right way online, it could be costing you money, not making you money.

The most effective imagery used will support the main message, product or service you are selling. In my opinion the ideal graphic shows a real person, as opposed to a model, using the product or service.

One of the most important things to consider are the subject’s eyes. As humans, we are naturally drawn to images of people and our natural instinct is to focus on the eyes. A shot of a model looking directly at the user could hold the gaze of the user and act as a major distraction. A shot of a model looking away from the message or main CTA (Call To Action) could lose the focus and meaning behind the page.

The ‘before’ image below shows an ineffective use of photography. The model’s eyes are fixed off screen leading the user straight out of the site and away from the content.

The ‘after’ shot below (ConversionWorks mock-up), shows the model’s focus shift from off screen to looking directly at the CTA . Having a caption or text next to your image is an ideal way to lead the user to your goal, supporting your image and getting that all important conversion.

So be careful next time you’re choosing imagery for your landing page. Instead of thinking ‘hero image’ think ’support image’.

However constructive this advice is, and however strong your image is, remember, you should always test it – so choose a couple of carefully thought out images and test them against each other.