Understanding the importance of great imagery and video can turn your destination's website from drab to fab!
Taking delivery of your destination's shiny new website is an exciting time; you've gone through the wireframes, drooled over the stunning design and now it’s time release it to the world. However, this is also where a large proportion of websites start to lose those “day one” looks. Imagery, people, I'm talking about imagery.
Ensuring your site looks as good as it does at launch throughout its life is down to a couple of major factors;
and last but by no means least - GREAT IMAGERY!
So often we see that a site starts to be let down by poor iPhone photos or blurry pictures - ultimately leaving your destination looking less like a place to visit and more like a scrapbook of holiday snaps.
Now clearly the majority of us aren't Mr Bailey (famed photographer for those that aren't aware) and the truth is, you don't need to be! There are ways that even the untrained among us can do our best to ensure that our photography still looks as good as it can and truly reflects the place it depicts. Some simple steps could be;
Of course, the other option is to hire a professional to take care of all this for you, but in reality, budgets don’t always allow so this may not be an option for you and your team.
Visitors are going to be looking for imagery that best shows off your destination.
In order to be able to get those photos looking great before they get uploaded to your DestinationCore site, you're going to need some simple tools to make sure that;
One of the biggest killers of page load times is huge image file sizes.
There are some great tools out there that will allow you to cover off the three points above to make sure that your great imagery doesn't impact the performance of your site. Also, not all of them will break the bank!
Take a look at a couple below:
GIMP (excuse the name!)
GIMP is a photo editing app that is free to download and use as you wish. It has all the basic tools that you will need to resize and save your images in the correct format for your website.
Adobe Photoshop
The undisputed king of photo editing apps, you can get Photoshop for around £20 per month on a subscription via adobe.com. If your budget allows – this would certainly be my recommendation. Benchmarq has a great tutorial on how to save your images for web in Photoshop: https://bmarq.co.uk/photoshop-tutorial-save-web/).
TechRadar also has a great article on the best free image editing software:
https://www.techradar.com/uk/best/free-photo-editor
It can all seem a bit intimidating at first but trust me once you have resized and optimised a couple images, it's childs play, plus on top of improving your websites' look and performance, it's another useful skill to add to your arsenal!
NOTE: As mentioned above, images for web should be 72DPI, this is because most screens can only display images at this resolution. Some can go to 96DPI but 72DPI is the norm. Images for print will need to be 300DPI and CMYK colour (as printers can handle a much denser amount of Dots Per Inch).
Of course, if you are a DestinationCore client, then we are always on hand to help. Great photography is just another service that we can provide throughout the life of your DestinationCore site. Get in touch to talk to us about your needs. For those with larger budgets why not also consider video or drone footage/imagery to really make your site pop.
The truth is, visitors are going to be looking for imagery that best shows off your destination. If you are anything like me, when I book a holiday or trip, I am straight on Google Images or YouTube to start to get a real feel for where I am going, it builds up my excitement. They key is to be ahead of the curve and have that content already present, and to keep creating it.
Epsom is an historic market town nestled between London and The Surrey Hills. Epsom is more than just home to The Derby. It’s famous for Epsom Salts and has an abundance of history and heritage. The challenge was to showcase everything that Epsom has to offer without blowing the budget - enter DC One!
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VISIT WEBSITEWith the break-up of the intu Group, the client was looking for a website they could get up-and-running in a short space of time and as a temporary solution, so they had a web presence to give them time to build out the website of their dreams. DC One was the perfect solution – offering all the functionality they needed with a quick turnaround.
VISIT WEBSITEThe NewcastleGateshead Initiative is the DMO representing Newcastle, Gateshead and the surrounding areas. They came to us frustrated with their existing website solution – feeling that their current provider was offering poor value for money. Our solution has helped transform their online presence by improving the user experience and offering greater value for their members.
VISIT WEBSITESouthampton BID had just gone through a brand refresh and were looking to help bring that brand to life with a powerful online experience. They wanted visitsouthampton.co.uk to be the go-to website for users to find out about what to do and what's on in Southampton. They chose the Pro core package and The List Events Feed module to power their website.
VISIT WEBSITEAll About Ipswich is a DMO for Ipswich and the surrounding area. The website showcases events and offers, and also includes a business directory. It provides easy access to a huge range of content, with the Journey Planner and Itinerary Builder modules enriching the user experience. The Campaign Section module provides a hub for the client's numerous marketing initiatives.
VISIT WEBSITEAs a BID in their first term The Junction BID needed to make an impact. Attracting visitors to Clapham Junction by showcasing what’s on offer and demonstrating value to the businesses they represent was essential. They chose the Offers and Events progressive web app alongside the Pro core package to encourage people who work within the BID area to spend more time at The Junction.
VISIT WEBSITEIn Colchester is the consumer website for the Colchester BID. We helped them create a new consumer facing brand, and then applied that brand to the DestinationCore platform to create a stunning looking website. Launched in August 2019 the feedback for this site has been superb.
VISIT WEBSITEWe’ve created a demo site for our fantasy town of Melchester. It’s an idyllic location by the sea, with an abundance of independent retailers and fair number of local characters too. Be sure to check out the blog about a true local hero - Admiral Standfast. Go on. Take a trip to Melchester!
VISIT WEBSITEWant to know more about DestinationCore? Call, email or fill in the form.
Tel: 01473 215656
Email: info@destinationcore.com