The Kursiv picture agency existed from 1997 to 2018. For more than 20 years we have bought pictures worldwide and licensed them to many customers mainly in Switzerland. A standard requirement was the image search. In the good years we searched hundreds of thousands of images every day for customer inquiries. It was about the topic, the imagery sought, the available budget and much more.

Today anyone who has a website is faced with image searches. Almost overnight, images became relevant to anyone who runs a website. No text can do without a picture. But where do these images come from? Obtaining images is new territory for many people.

Image acquisition

Anyone who wants to keep a website alive needs new texts and new pictures on a regular basis. The keyword “regularly” shows that it would be good if you had something like an “image source” to which you can fall back.

The requirement is not new and the following methods have worked well:

1. Take photos yourself
2. Picture agencies
3. Photographer.

Of course, if you want to take photos yourself, you have to have the necessary equipment and experience. For some, that’s a possibility. If it does not concern a private website, but the presentation of your own company, you need good quality and appealing and consistent imagery. This increases the requirements. Image agencies can offer something like this, but this is associated with financial costs. If you need unmistakable pictures or lots of pictures, a photographer is the cheapest option.

Know-how about images

There is a blog on the subject of stock photography on our own website kursiv.com. Many topics related to image acquisition are clarified here. The last post is about the question

• How expensive are pictures to shop?

In the article, various reference options are presented and weighed against each other. An important statement is that pictures are not available for free and that supposed “free pictures” also come with a price.

Planning the website

Once you have a website, that’s the starting signal for further development. Anyone who wants to have long-term success with a website needs some planning. It is always about the question of what would be interesting for the visitor to your own website. Which topics best reflect your own service? What questions do my customers have? What do visitors need to find when they land on the website?

Each subject includes both text and images. Thinking about it is especially important when you have no ideas. Planning makes it possible to call someone for advice, get ideas and then gradually get closer to your own goal.

Typical characteristics of good websites are:

• Topicality
• Relevance (for the purpose of the website)
• Information.

The visuals play a big role in all of these things. Our world and our communication today are primarily visual. When choosing photos, it comes down to keywords such as:

• theme
• Imagery (its own, unmistakable visual identity)
• Emotionality.

Imagery

There is no such thing as a single good imagery. The visual language should be adapted to your own website and topic. You can think generously. It’s not about the individual picture, but about the appearance of the website as a whole. Do the pictures match? Does it seem personal or more distant?

No two websites are the same. The requirements for insurance are different from those of a bakery. The website of a daily newspaper shines with reportage photos, while an automobile manufacturer skillfully emotionalizes the technology with outstanding photography.

How do you come up with a visual language? The first step is to become aware that your own visual language is part of communication. It is already now. It is always communicated. Communication is often better with good visual language. This has a direct effect on the acceptance of the website and plays a role in the customer’s trust in the service offered.

Get the right pictures

It doesn’t matter what type of image acquisition you use. The decisive factor is whether you are pursuing a good strategy that contributes to the success of your own company. You should not only consider the image price, but also, for example, the effort required to search for an image. The effort can be significantly higher than the price of the image itself. Legally correct usage rights should be guaranteed in any case.

Further articles on photography and image acquisition can be found here: kursiv.com . Are you looking for advice on the subject? Here is the> Contact .