When you’re browsing a website – what do you notice first? It’s probably not going to be a big chunk of text. 

Instead what you’ll see are the images. 

When you have a lot to say, and you know the information you are providing is important, it can be easy to overlook the value of images. 

The truth is that they serve a purpose so much wider than simply being something pretty to look at. 

If you’re trying to wade through a big sea of text, it can be difficult to focus your attention on it for any length of time. This is where images, and high-quality images at that, help the reader to enjoy the content.

Why are high-quality images so important for your website? 

They Help To Enhance Your SEO Strategy 

If you’re unfamiliar with SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, it is the process of writing and organizing your web content so it can be found by search engines like Google. 

Why is this important?

When Google likes the content you are putting out it shows it to other people. It does this by moving you up through the search listings to a higher-ranking spot. 

The higher you are in the search results, the more organic traffic you will get to your website. 

More traffic = more leads = more customers. 

How Do You Use Images As Part Of Your SEO Strategy? 

• Add captions to your images. Adding relevant, image-related keywords can help your website to rank for them. As mentioned above, this will help you to be found by users in both Google web and image searches. 

• Add Alt Text to your images. While not strictly linked to SEO, Google has expressed how important it considers the use of Alt Text on images. Alt Text describes the image in a few words to help those who are visually impaired to understand what the image is. 

• Link the images to content on your site. If you can, add a link to the images you use on your site. This can mean adding a link to an image that, when clicked, takes that user to another page on your website. This internal linking is helpful to your SEO. 

• Less is more. Don’t feel the need to overload your site with images. Just select a few that are relevant, useful, and important to supplement your written content. 

SEO for veterinary hospital websites is important in receiving more inquiries and finding new customers. 

Images Can Create More Visits, Leads, and Clicks 

We are drawn to images more so than we are to text. We rely on visual aids a lot to help us understand. 

They help us to feel things, draw us in and are what we find interesting. 

Nearly two-thirds of people would call themselves visual learners.

This is why using images on your veterinary website as part of your marketing strategy is so important.

When the contents of your site is aesthetically pleasing, with well-used and relevant imagery, the chances of people viewing it and clicking around are significantly increased. 

Not only this, once they are on your website – they will stay there longer if you include images. 

For example, using high-quality images to demonstrate the information you want users to remember, or as a call to action in wanting them to do something, it is so much more effective than simply using text. 

It helps people to digest the information you’re giving them so much more easily. 

Why do you want people to stick around longer on your website? 

Firstly, it helps your SEO efforts. 

Secondly – the longer people are on your site, the more likely they are to engage with you. This could mean they make an inquiry, or book an appointment, and turn into a customer. 

The bottom line is…the use of high-quality images on your website helps you to get more visitors, and the visitors you do get will enjoy your content more. 

Use High-Quality Images To Help With Your Social Media Presence

It is no secret how important social media is to the success of a business. 

There’s no way around it. It’s key to building a recognizable and trusted brand voice that people remember and recommend to others. 

Imagery is key to almost all of the big social media platforms. 

How good your images are can determine how well you perform. 

Embedding high-quality images into your social media posts makes it much more likely people will engage with them. 

This means more likes, more comments, more shares. Overall: more exposure.

It can feel overwhelming to try and be omnipresent on all forms of social media. 

It is more effective to have one or two that you use consistently to promote the services of your veterinary practice and attract people to your website. 

What Makes An Image “High-Quality”?

There are lots of factors that contribute to a high-quality image. 

When uploading images to your website, it can be a frustrating process. Images that look high quality offline can then become blurry and out of focus when you upload them. 

This is why it is useful to hire a photographer to help you with the process. 

There are certain aspects that contribute towards a high-quality image: 

• Sharpness – Having images is one thing, having good images is completely different. If the images on your website are blurry, too pixelated, or look skewed, customers will disregard them. Think of your website as an extension of your business. Low-quality images can be harmful to your brand, as they can look unprofessional. 

• Relevance – images that you put on your website should be relevant to its content. For example, if you are a veterinary practice that has pictures of cars on your website – it won’t serve your users or do your content justice. 

• Loading speed – The speed your website loads is incredibly important to SEO. If your website is too slow, you risk losing a customer before they have even had a chance to read what you have to say. When you’re uploading images to your website, it is almost inevitable that they will cause it to slow down to an extent. It is important to try and make the files smaller so they can load faster yet still retain their quality. 

Investing In A Photographer 

There are so many advantages to investing in an onsite photoshoot for a veterinary practice as part of a wider marketing strategy. 

Photographers are experts in the creation of high-quality images.

They will also be able to provide you with a set of images for you to use on your website that are optimized for this purpose. That means that they have already been made smaller, without compromising on the image quality. 

The Value Of High-Quality Images

Images are what tells a story. Not only that, they tell your story. 

They tell the story of your business, the services you offer, and who you are. This is how people decide whether they like you, trust you, and want to do business with you. 

Utilizing the value of high-quality images is going to help build credibility and recognition for your veterinary website. This is why it is so important to make it part of your veterinary marketing strategy.