Visuals: Why a sandwich equals a hungry customer

Websites work with a combination of billboard and brochure mentalities.

The first page uses the billboard mentality. A visitor will give a website an average of five seconds to decide whether or not they want to stay there or not, so it is important to grab their attention and keep it at the start.

If someone is looking at a restaurant's website, they are probably either hungry right then, or they are planning something for the future. A good shot of food gets their eyes and presses their hunger button.

A picture of a really nice fresh submarine sandwich stacked with meat and veggies appeals to a lot of people, and when someone sees it, the restaurant has their attention. At that moment, it doesn't matter what kind of meat they have, how many locations, where the owner is from or what the price is... That time will come soon.

All that matters right then is "You're hungry - look at this really yummy sandwich."

It works for sandwiches, and it works for all kinds of products and services.

There are two important secrets to making this work:

First - the picture must be great. This is not the place to skimp. Make sure that the photographer can take a good picture of your subject. Different photographers have different specialties, so be sure to ask them for samples where they have taken pictures of your type of product or something similar.

Take the time to present the product well. Food shots, for example, should have plenty of food and/or a very artistic presentation to make it look really good. If it's a steak, there's a certain way to cook it so it photographs well.

Product shots benefit by being taken in the environment where they will be used (there will be a whole series about photography coming soon). If that's not possible, consider using what photographers call a "white box," where the only thing in the picture is the product. Black backgrounds can also work, depending on the product.

The second secret is to make that one picture big enough to be easily seen on the website. A small picture will not get the point across nearly as well as a big photo. I usually recommend using one third to one half of the page to show the product.

Now the visitor has a clear picture of what is being offered... their attention is on the product. If they want more information, they will look for it (make it easy to find, of course)... and that's where the brochure mentality will come into play.