As the name signifies, the Hero image is the main spotlight of your whole website. It is one of the website design terms used to define a high-resolution image at the top of the website. A hero image can also be called the ‘hero header’ of a website.
This large-sized image is the user’s first impression of your website. It can contain offerings and company information. Your website shall place this hero image at the top of a web page and cover the web page’s full width.
Hero image ideas include- a high-resolution image with or without your company’s USP or unique selling point. Some companies also add links for signup to their website or any conversion goals or link to jump to their main website. Animated videos are the latest trends in this field of hero image.
Importance of Hero Image
While your website content is the main course of your platter, you still need to add some salt and spice to make it more attractive to your customers. This is where a hero image serves the purpose.
Hero images can be the synopsis of your complete website or the gateway to more offerings on your website. Since people are more visually appealing, hero images need to have high-quality graphics and animations. It gives your visitors the zeal to explore more on your website. The hero image is one of the key elements of any website. It plays a crucial role in increasing the number of conversions. You can manipulate your visitor’s opinion of your website only by presenting a hero image.
How to Choose the Right Hero Image?
The hero image is an essential feature in website design to engage a large crowd for your website. Therefore to make this daunting task of selecting the right design hero image, below are some vital tips that you can follow;
- A banner image or hero image (as it is known) depends on the category of services and products your website serves your customers. For the in-depth information about website, using videos is an ideal way.
- Ensure that all the uploaded content is in high resolution and the loading time is optimum and managed. Check out bugs and the number of visitors per day to reduce website breakdowns.
- Go for sliders if you have a lot of information to display. You need to experiment and change according to the need of the time. For instance, product images work best to attract the right customers.
- Keeping it simple is the new trend nowadays. Simple one-line of information with minimalistic illustrations can provide all the company’s offerings. Add a CTA, signup link, or a copy of your product brochure to have that perfect winning step.
- Use real-life illustrations to build trust and generate adequate responses to your hero image. Nowadays, people are too busy to go through the entire blog if they don’t find it encapsulated in the first instance. Make compelling hero images with the current database to give it a professional look.
- Learn to interpret the emotions of your viewers on hero images. Exemplify the real cause of your organization, what charity works are you engaged in, and how can your product be useful for humanity? This increases the chance of your website growth.
- Lastly, once you are done preparing your hero image, go for A/B testing. Optimize your hero header to blend with the rest of the webpage design. The banner image should be supported in mobiles and tablets also.
A/B Testing for Hero Image
Testing and releasing a hero image is important one should not skip getting promising results on their websites. Test out all the links and CTAs associated with your hero image display and all the conversion objectives to avoid website crashes when launched.
Here comes the role of A/B testing. This method works by displaying 50 percent of your crowd traffic, the original version of your web page, and the other 50 percent, the new version of your web page. The visitors are selected randomly to determine which variation of your page works the best in all possible conditions.
A/B testing allows you to always make changes according to their outcomes. To test new hypotheses, you can change the copy, imagery, animations, and CTA on your challenger page. You can also divide your customers into different segments and test different variations of hero images on them to get detailed results. Continuous testing and sampling improve website efficiency and conversion rates over time.
Best Examples of Hero Image
Freshers or startup holders may find it difficult to modulate the right hero image in the first go. Therefore, following the reputed companies or organization is a best way. They have tested and tried a hundred times to reach the position they stand today.
Below are some of the best examples from tech giants and big ventures;
1. Apple
Apple always takes pride in its valuable products, so preparing hero images using product images is their trick of the show. Specific product images alongside bullet-listed features and specifications on their site are also usually seen. Check out their background choices which blend seamlessly with the product backgrounds to give it a realistic feel.
2. Coca-Cola
Colorful imagery and real-life illustrations are used here that cover the full-screen size. There is a proper contrast and brightness to give you a delightful and savoring feel.
3. Charbonnel Town
A real estate website uses animated videos of luxurious real estate sectors. There is the use of fine detailing to showcase intricate architectural designs in old font styling.
4. Surfrider Foundation
A website page that clearly states its mission and vision on its home page with directed use of related imagery.
5. Atlassian
This web page uses colorful illustrations of the human form to explain the motif of their website.
6. Samsung
Samsung uses animated videos and detailed, bright images of their product to explain its carousel.
7. Airbnb
Airbnb has shown explosive growth in the use of hero images. They have integrated the use of UI/UX along with typography. This conveys the practical aspect of their traveling business.
8. NIKE
NIKE owners have spontaneously used excellent typography and UX designs to engage their customers in their campaigns and vote for a real cause.
9. Pollen London
If you are interested in making minimalistic illustrations with the least items on the screen, then Pollen London can be your best inspiration. The webpage uses black and white videos and goes loud and big on the screen.
10. Campos Coffee
This is an upcoming website that has managed to decode the minds of its viewers aptly. They use soft palette colors in their background to give more blasts of colors to their original product. The main message should be highlight on the website, this it will give customers’ a clear vision while approaching your website.
11. Kindeo
Kindeo uses dark background photos to give more screen space to their CTA buttons. This simplifies the users’ finding the right option on the same page.
Conclusion
Hero Image is considered the mirror of your website. It can contain minimal designs and fonts or be filled with CTA buttons. It all depends on the demands of your company and its visitors. Large oversized banners should fit in any dimension of the user’s convenience.
The abovementioned examples would really help you to get an idea that you can implement for hero image on your site. If you haven’t yet tried creating hero images, go for it today. Several free websites host free hero images to try on.
My name is Vijay Singh Khatri, and I enjoy meeting new people and finding ways to help them have an uplifting experience. I have had a variety of customer service opportunities, through which I was able to have fewer returned products and increased repeat customers when compared with co-workers.
