Your website is the most effective way to advertise yourself online. It is where people can view your work, decide if they want to use your services as well as get in touch with you. You can also utilize your website to build your reputation and expertise through an online blog.
One key way to attract people to your website, keep them engaged while they are there as well as convince them to convert is to add images.
Here are some reasons why images are crucial to your websites’ success.
They help people retain information
People are inundated with content. They read text messages, emails, social media posts and blogs every single day, and there is no way they can remember everything they saw.
In fact, when people learn information, they are likely to only recall 10% of that information three days later, according to HubSpot. But if that information is paired with a relevant picture, people will remember 65% of it three days later.
In addition, people who follow directions with texts and images perform 323% better than people following directions without images. If you want your website to be memorable to your visitors and stand out amongst your competitors, images will help.
They are the preferred form of content among consumers and marketers
Visuals are also critical because it is now how people prefer to receive information. Over time, Facebook has become increasingly visual, and visual social media platforms like Snapchat and Instagram have exponentially grown in popularity. According to HubSpot, 37% of marketers reported that visual marketing was the most important form of content, falling only second to blogging.
In 2016, 53% of marketers said that 91% to 100% of the content they created contained visuals, according to Venngage. In one survey, a majority of marketers, 35%, stated that they utilized stock photos most frequently. This is because marketers say their biggest struggle when it comes to visual marketing is consistently creating engaging visuals. Stock images can solve that problem.
They persuade people to read your content
Your website may be text-heavy, and you don’t know how to get people to read all about what you do. By breaking up your text with photos, you can persuade visitors to actually read your content.
According to CrowdRiff, colored visuals will increase a person’s willingness to read your content by 80%. In addition, the average website visitor will only read 20% of a website, but will look at every image, and 63% of consumers say that good images are more important than descriptions of products.
To get people to read your calls to action, blogs, and sales pitches, spice them up with great visual imagery. Otherwise, website visitors won’t be as interested in your content and you will struggle to convert them.
They endear people to your brand
According to Unbounce, studies have shown that photos of people can boost empathy. Website visitors are going to feel more connected to you and your product/services when you include pictures of other people on your website.
It has also been found that photos of objects have the power to increase trust. Consumers see companies as being more legitimate if they put out photos of their products and services.
They help people visualize your services
You can write about your goods and services, but without images alongside the sales pitch, you are going to have a more difficult time converting your visitors. If your services are not image-worthy – perhaps you own an IT company or you’re a writer – you can use images to describe what you do.
Even if you’re a photographer, you may only do landscapes or portraits, and not have the ability to take photos of all your goods and services yourself. You’ll need additional imagery. This is where stock images come in handy.
Why use stock images?
Hiring a photographer to take pictures of your products as well as adjust and retouch them takes a lot of time, energy, and resources. While it’s important to have some original images, you can supplement the ones you don’t have with stock images.
Stock images can be accessed and uploaded to your website within minutes. You can add dozens of more images to your website that will work to convert your visitors.
If you’re interested in utilizing stock images for your brand website, try Adobe today.
