Assign a purpose before choosing the picture
Every important website image should have a clear job. It may document a product, identify a team member, explain a process, show a delivered project or illustrate an article concept. The job determines the subject, crop and surrounding explanation. Selecting an attractive photograph first and finding a place for it later often produces pages that look full without communicating useful information.
Make an image inventory with page, role, approved source, required view and publication destination. A service hero, owner portrait, portfolio screenshot and article cover have different needs. Give them appropriate formats rather than forcing one wide image into every location. The visual identity can remain consistent through colour and composition without making every subject identical.
Separate documentary evidence from illustration
Use genuine, permissioned photographs when a page claims to show the company, team or completed work. Conceptual imagery can explain an idea, but should not imply that a generated office or person is part of the business. Label conceptual views where the context would otherwise be misleading.
For portfolio screenshots, open the correct project and wait for its content to load before capture. Review the result for missing banners, overlays and incomplete images. Record what the screenshot represents, especially if the external site later changes. A current capture does not automatically document the version delivered by the agency.
Create topic-specific covers instead of visual duplicates
An article about enquiry forms can show a form-review task; one about typography can show type hierarchy; one about maintenance can show an update workflow. These concepts communicate more than giving every article the same generic laptop scene. Check both identical files and repeated concepts, because different files can still make the archive feel repetitive.
Use the approved company logo as a separate asset when branding covers. Place it in a clear corner without obscuring the subject, and inspect contrast at card size. Do not depend on image generation to reproduce exact company lettering. The logo must remain legible after cropping, not only in the original wide composition.
Prepare derivatives for their display roles
Retain an approved original and create identifiable web versions for article covers, cards and larger views. Avoid stretching an image to a different proportion. Select a crop that keeps the important subject visible at the intended screen width. A portrait may need full-subject framing while a technical screenshot needs enough detail to remain useful.
Responsive image markup can provide differently sized resources through srcset and sizes; web.dev explains how these choices relate to the display. Test the actual selected resources and layout rather than assuming one large file is suitable everywhere. Optimise delivery while preserving the detail the image needs to communicate. This workflow is more specific than pursuing a performance score without inspecting visual quality.
Write alternatives according to function
W3C's image guidance bases text alternatives on purpose. An informative image needs an appropriate description of the information it contributes. A purely decorative image can have an empty alternative so it does not create unnecessary announcements. A linked icon may need to identify the action rather than describe its appearance.
Do not copy an SEO keyword list into every alternative. For a project screenshot, useful context may identify the relevant interface or delivered view. If an image contains essential text or detailed information, provide an equivalent readable explanation where needed. The alternative should support the reader task, not become another promotional caption.
Review assets as a collection
Inspect the article page and archive card together. The cover may look correct on the article but lose its subject or logo in a smaller card crop. Check filenames, paths, aspect ratios, captions and alternatives. Open nested blog pages directly to catch relative-path errors that may not appear when browsing from the homepage.
Keep originals, derivatives and publication records organised. A descriptive filename and clear version prevent an editor from replacing a large project view with a small thumbnail. When an image changes, review all locations using it. This process makes covers relevant and maintainable while preserving the distinction between actual business evidence and conceptual visual explanation.
Practical checklist
- Assign each image a page role and approved source.
- Review repeated concepts as well as duplicate files.
- Check logo visibility and subject cropping in cards.
- Preserve originals and choose purpose-based text alternatives.
Frequently asked questions
Does every image need descriptive alternative text?
Its purpose determines the alternative. Informative images need useful equivalents; purely decorative images can use an empty alternative, while action images should identify their function.
How can branded covers stay visually distinct?
Develop a concept tied to each article, then overlay the approved logo consistently. Recolouring the same generic scene does not provide meaningful subject distinction.
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