Improving your business images

• Images are so easy to take and use, every tourism operator should use their smartphone/iPhone to take and share photos
• Images are not visible to search engines as such. To optimise my images for search I need to give them a keyword rich file name and a keyword rich Alt attribute
• To consider posting images on sites such as Flickr and Facebook to get more exposure
• Using images as part of a competition or game is often very successful, as people love to provide their thoughts. I shouldn’t be afraid to try something new.

Benefits to your business

Making your images available online provides many benefits to your business. The first and most commonly recognised benefit is the impact of showcasing your business and region online to people who might not otherwise know just how great it is.

Images validate what you are saying using words. Showing quality images as part of your website, social media strategy or business listings may very well mean the difference between people believing or not believing what you are saying.

In addition to showcasing your product and experiences, images can provide an extra channel in which your website and business can be found online.

The lower cost and easier use of cameras makes it more affordable for your business to have video and imagery.

Images tell a story

An image is not a two-dimensional, static placeholder – it sends a message to the visitor. In the tourism industry, this message should not only showcase a product but should also convey an enjoyable, positive experience.

It is therefore important for photos to paint a timely and realistic picture of all the aspects of the experience the visitor can expect. Use your images to tell a story.

On your website, images should:

• Set the scene: Show your product in context, for example your property in its surroundings, or the landscapes people will see on your tour.
• Show the action: Put a face to the picture and show people experiencing your product. These people must fit the look of your target market. For example, do not show children in your images if you don’t cater for them
• Evoke emotion: Allow the clients to visualise themselves in the middle of the picture and feel as if they are experiencing your offerings.

Too often websites only set the scene. Consumers need to be able to picture themselves at your property or enjoying your tour, in the centre of the action. Do your photos send a message to your visitors?

The importance of images to search engines

Before you upload your images to your website or to Flickr and/or other photo hosting websites it is important you understand the basic principles of search engine optimisation.

Images used to have one main purpose only: making your website look good. Things have since changed and search engines can now index images.

This means that images have a new purpose: improving your search engine results and directing visitors to your website.

Search engines cannot “view” pictures as such. They rely on text to understand what the image is about. The table below gives you an idea about how image details are used to communicate what your image is about to search engines.

File name	Use descriptive words in your file name: Uluru-bushwalking.jpg instead of DCM43x9AG.JPG
Image “Alt” attribute	Always use the Alt attribute and ensure you are using keywords. You will be able to edit all your images’ Alt attributes in your content management system.A good Alt attribute that uses keywords could be Bushwalking adventure in Uluru instead of John and Jane walking near the lake
Text around the image	Search engines use the text surrounding an image to understand what the image is about.Come and join our 4-day adventure tour at Uluru. Bushwalking at sunrise, feeding the kangaroos and camping in swags are what you can expect at MyUluruAdventure
Tags	These are used by social media sites such as Flickr and Facebook. Ensure you tag all your photos with numerous descriptive tags.Uluru, travel, adventure, camping, swag, kangaroos, morning bushwalk; .
The general nature of the website	Keep in mind that search engines are proficient at understanding semantics (linguistic meaning) of webpages. Always ensure that your images are very relevant to the content of each of your webpages.

Permission

Before you can publish your images online it is important that you first ensure that you have permission to use the photos and are abiding by copyright laws.

Gaining permission from my guests

If you have taken any photos or videos of your guests or visitors, you will require their permission to use the material in order to promote your business. Below is an example of a picture or video release form. We suggest you make your own and check with your legal advisor.

Insert Your logo

Picture/Video Release Form

I hereby give [YOUR BUSINESS NAME HERE] permission to take photographs/videos of me or use photographs/videos in which I may be involved with others for the purpose of promoting [YOUR BUSINESSS NAME HERE]. I also give the permission to use both photographs/videos that I took and/or photographs/videos that [YOUR BUSINESSS NAME HERE] took of me to publish the same, including web and/or electronic usage, without incurring any debts of liabilities of any kind.

First name: _________________________ Last name: ______________________

Address: ________________________________________________________________

City: _________________________ Post code: ______________________

State: _________________________ Country: ______________________

Email: ________________________________________________________________

Date: __________________________

Signature: __________________________
(Parent/guardian signature if minor or under 18)

Setting up an image strategy

An image strategy is vital to ensure your images are being maximised online. The key part of an image strategy revolves around deciding where and when your images will be posted on the Internet:

• Will you be updating your image gallery on your website each time you take a great photo
• Are your images uploaded to Facebook, Flickr and Picasa ad hoc or do you upload them as part of folders and larger strategies.

Create an image strategy for your business that outlines the when, where and what of loading business images to the Internet.

Your image strategy document or plan could look similar to the below:

Image strategy

• Who: The receptionist is in charge of capturing happy snaps of clients once they are about to head on the tour bus. Email also sent to clients 2 weeks post tour enticing them to post images on company’s Facebook Page. Key Performance Indicator (KPI): 2 images per week.
• What: Efforts should be made to photograph couples only as our target market is couples. Outdoor shots are preferred.
• Where: Photos are to be uploaded to our website, Facebook (incl. Albums?), Instagram on Flickr.com using the Flickr
• When: This needs to be done on Fridays.
• Why: Because our product is best showcased with images.
• How: Please use company iPhone and save the original images to Dropbox.

Photos on your website

To effectively use images you need to ensure that your website is kept up to date. If your website is built on a content management system (CMS) updating your website with images should be fairly simple. If you have a group of photos relating to a special event you could use the images as part of a blog post to maximise readership and views.

Photo sharing

Take your beyond your website and post them on photo sharing sites. This will increase your online visibility and it’s free.

There are many photo sharing sites, a few of the most popular ones are:

• Flickr: www.flickr.com
• Pinterest: www.pinterest.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com
• Facebook: www.facebook.com
• Google My Business: business.google.com

Please keep in mind that your clients can also do the same and post their photos of their holiday at your property or business on their accounts. Ask them to tag your business name on their photos when possible, use your Hashtag or even tag you. It will maximise your business’ exposure.

Photo competitions

Holding competitions on your social media accounts where users can load their favourite photo of their time with you is a great way to increase interaction. Simple competitions like “Upload your funny holiday snaps at My Hotel for your chance to win an extra night stay with us next time you book”are a great way to encourage fan participation and get images of your business online.

Copyright and attribution

When you upload images to Flickr or use free images (Pixabay) different levels of copyright/attribution may apply: full copyright (standard) and Creative Commons.

• For more information about copyright in Australia, visit http://www.copyright.org.au/find-an-answer/
• For Creative Commons licence in Australia, visit http://creativecommons.org.au/learn-more/licences

Sourcing images for your website

If you don’t have your owm images, you’ll need to source images you can use. There are generally referred to as ‘stock images’.

There are free stock images or paid stock images.

Paid:

• istockphoto.com
• gettyimages.com.au
• bigstockphotos.com

Free

Instead, use sites such as:

• pexels.com
• pixabay.com

Do check if attribution of the image is required for any ‘free’ image sites.

Alternatively, you can use Google for images but be careful.

You cannot use any image you find on Google. You will need to search under Images/Tools/Usage rights.

When searching for images on Google, always make sure you check the settings as per the below screenshot to ensure you have permission to reused / modify the images. Then check each image individually and read the Creative Commons guidelines to ensure you attribute credit as per the licence.

Ideas and recommendations

• When it comes to publishing images online you need to be aware of your target market and community’s interests. Do they want to see pictures of the amazing nature around you, pictures of other people enjoying your services or do they want to see “behind the scenes” images? Mixing up a collection of different image content will increase your interaction
• People love creative “guess the …………” games. You can take a photo on an obscure angle, of a more detailed section of a commonly used item or even the back of one of your tour guides’ heads. Send out the challenge for people to guess the rest of the picture
• Online images don’t have to all be professionally taken. Just make sure your picture is clear and big enough for people to see the details. It’s always better to show that amazing view than miss out all together.