In as much as we’d all like to disagree, it still remains a universally acknowledged truth that humans are naturally visual creatures. A simple second or minute could play a vital role and establish your success simply based on appearances. So, it comes as no surprise that many of us put in much effort into what others perceive of ourselves, our careers, families, goals etc. Based on this fact, it is safe to say that first impressions count for a huge part of the prosperity of our life, including our businesses as well.
The emergence of visual content resulted from the advancement of technology. The prominence of mobile devices today and the iniquitousness of social media platforms such as Instagram have made its presence even more resounding. Further, the internet has only improved since the early days when you needed to sacrifice three goats before your dial-up modem could get a stable connection.
These dynamic improvements have led to a massive information flood on social platforms regarding website do’s and don’ts. For the most part, these fears and prejudices regarding visual-first content are well-placed. The need for website image design-focused development presents itself more with each passing day.
What is visual content?
Human beings are functioned to desire visual content. Photographers, web designers and many others working in this field of work can attest to its significance and usefulness as an invaluable asset in building websites. While Images captured have to be of superior quality and have a creative feel to their design, they also need to stick to the economical side. So what makes your website stand out? How can you improve visual content? What is the importance of online platform? For one, an increased emphasis on using a photo gallery.
Simpley put, visual content is anything we interact with on the internet. These could be videos, images, photos, gifs, eBooks and even memes. Visual content has its emphasis on images and videos rather than endless walls of text.
How to improve visual content featured on your site
Inevitably, having visual content on your site isn’t as easy as firing up Google Images and downloading every photo that appears when your search for a keyword. It takes a bit of tact to ramp up engagement on your website and keep those eyes glued.
Social media
Social media is the most popular online platform for social networking. Consider Instagram for instance, whose sole appeal is to focus on the visual sides of things. Or Youtube, where over a billion seconds of video are viewed in a year. Pinterest and Vine (RIP) aren’t very far behind. If you dig deep enough, you’ll find an almost endless stream of social media platforms to choose from. However, rushing to exploit these sources will not only deliver poor results but also waste your time and energy.
Instead, consider picking out one or two of these platforms and invest your time in determining what aspects you’d like to portray on your website as well. You can also opt for private video hosting if you do not want to rely on YouTube and if you want to create your own ecosystem. Pair as many graphics, videos, and animations with your creativity to convey your brand’s utility. One key point to remember is that quality is the fundamental aspect of quantity.
Photo galleries
Visual content should make up the greatest percentage of your overall website image design. Perhaps the most obvious choice is using a photo gallery. Visuals enhance the livelihood of your layout and create a more appealing look. More importantly, it engages the users by giving them an experience of what you’re really offering them.
Apart from using high standard immersive visuals on the homepage, you can add more visuals to the internal pages. However, the most outstanding elements can be accomplished by using photo galleries for websites. One of the reasons why these are celebrated is because they simultaneously allow minimalism and presentation of many valuable images at a go. These are especially convenient for product landing pages and portfolio pages.
Emojis
The idea of using emojis might strike you as pretty odd, but they might just be your one-way ticket to social networking. Emojis have a strategic role in marketing when they are used efficiently. There may as well be an emoji manual to help you handle them if you still find this tip unconvincing.
Emoticons portray feelings and have a purpose in engaging people. Serious messages should not be communicated using emojis and lengthy messages should always be followed by textual signals. Serious messages and be sure to accompany long messages with plenty of textual cues. Remember, connecting with your readers on an emotional level is the most effective way of retaining their readership.
How photo galleries and visual content benefit you
Photo gallery can contain a variety of media, and using a variety of media can be an effective strategy to capture the attention of potential customers. You have the option of using whatever media to send messages such as videos, images, and graphics among others. Images, however, are the most effective method of conveying messages. Why do you ask?
Images are more engaging
Images can significantly enhance your website’s user experience. Visual content constitutes for more than 90% of information interpreted in our brains. Images are essential in presenting information and are capable of promoting emotion that can keep your visitors interested in your content.
Nobody wants to read through troves and troves of text. An image here and there can vastly improve how people relate to your website and subsequently decrease bounce rates. In fact, if your site is tailored towards the youth, a meme here or there (as long as they are used right) wouldn’t hurt.
People favor images over text
People generally prefer images over text. Without any images on your website, people automatically feel bored and would favor one with images. One major reason why visual content is more favored is that an image can fully convey a message in a single look, whereas texts are found to be long and tedious to read.
They are convenient and trigger memories which make your website more interesting. In addition, visual information is the easiest to memorize and is easier to send. In many ways, images overlook language barriers more efficiently than text.
Images give more life
Visitors will find your website more involving when you add human images to them. This is because it gives us some sort of connection, making it feel like we’re interacting with another human rather than a coded website.
Human features capture our attention and enable us to get a different perspective on things. Remember to use high-quality shots of people who equal your site’s style. If you’re unable to find images or are just bored of Google Image’s generic display, high-quality sites like Unsplash may interest you greatly.
Conclusion
A website that has been well designed will undoubtedly get the attention of many visitors. People rarely read lengthy texts, but images can stick far longer than the latter. The design of your website is important because it dictates how fast visitors can gather information. Visitors can get discouraged to revisit your site if it is difficult to navigate. An excellently executed design can help visitors search for information quickly and will get you a step closer to creating relationships with visitors.
