The Alliance of Mobile & Party DJs (AMPdj) 60 Second DJ Digest

Adding Pictures to Your Website or Facebook Page

Adding Pictures to your websitePicture This ….

In our technology driven world, accessing information couldn’t be easier whether it’s a website or a Facebook Page. Studies show that the average browser views photographs first before either clicking somewhere else or committing to reading your carefully constructed text.

Do your photographs do you justice and attract your ideal customer?

The Image

The photographs that you use on your DJ website or Facebook Page paint an image for the client. If you want to generate more pub work, show pictures of you performing in local recognisable establishments. If you want to aim more at the higher end of your market, show photos of guests enjoying the entertainment in a 4 or 5 star hotel. If, for example, your target market is predominately weddings, showing numerous photos of pub gigs with men in tatty jeans won't help your case.

The Subject Matter

Yes, subject does matter! Are clients more interested in your equipment or how you get a party going and the kind of evening you can create? DJs are interested in the former, whereas most clients will be interested in the latter.

Stock Photos

Although stock photos, or existing photos on the internet, may look neat, they can be misleading to clients and will probably not portray an accurate image of you and your service. It's also worth bearing in mind that just because a photo is on the internet, you are not at liberty to simply copy and use it for your own promotion. Many photographs and images are copyright and the property of the original source. Copying them at will and using them could get you into deep water.

Your Unique Photos

There are many ways to get quality pictures for your website. If you work solo you may find it difficult to take photos during the evening so consider taking a friend or family member along purely for that purpose.
Alternatively, if a photographer is present, offer to buy some images from him/her, and the rights to use them. Also offer to give them credit for the photography and a link from your website to theirs.

Load Time

More people now access the internet using broadband (or 4G on mobile devices) which means that websites load faster. You can help this further by ensuring that your pictures are correctly formatted.

When you take a photograph on your digital camera it is typically between 2 and 20 megabytes in size and up to 1,000 dpi (dots per inch). This is far too big for a standard internet web page.

Before inserting the image onto your site use a photo editing program to crop it to only show the desired content, change the dpi to 72 (ideal for computer screens) and finally change the dimensions to those that match the space on your website. When changing the width & height take into account the original aspect ratio and retain this at the smaller size.

Some editing programs also have the facility to 'Save for Web' which introduces further compression without affecting the appearance of the photograph.