Images are without a doubt the first thing our eyes are drawn to when visiting a site, yet so many site owners tend to downplay their importance in favor of content. Good quality content is an important aspect of any site, but high-quality and relevant images are also extremely important. As the saying goes, “a picture is worth a thousand words” — and website images are no exception.
Website images serve a purpose that goes far beyond simply looking pretty and can be used to convey anything from a brand image to a complex message in a fraction of a second. So, why waste the amazing opportunity presented and resort to “filler” stock photos? Here are five reasons why your website images are just as important as your design:
Images Boost Conversions
Most websites nowadays are designed to generate conversions. Whether your site’s conversion goals are sale, lead, or inquiry-based, images are a surefire way to boost conversions. One of the most important things to remember about images is that they drive emotional responses. Images should be a fundamental part of your site’s content strategy, and the fact that they drive emotional responses should be leveraged to better connect and engage with your audience. In turn, increased engagement results in visitors spending more time on your site, thus increasing the chances of them converting.
Images Enhance User Experience
User experience is a phrase that has invaded practically everything produced today. Put simply, user experience can be measured by how easy your website is for visitors to navigate and use. By adding clear, relevant images to your webpages, you’re making this process much easier and adding to your site’s overall user experience. Moreover, the user experience a site offers is playing an increasingly important role in modern search engine rankings and this role is expected to grow as search engine algorithms become more sophisticated.
Images Improve Your Search Engine Rankings
Speaking of search engine algorithms, properly optimized images can even help you increase your site’s search engine rankings! But, it’s important to note that simply adding images to your website isn’t going to cut it. The images need to be relevant and helpful to your visitors, as well as optimized for search engines. Since search engines can’t see the images, they rely on information such as file names, alt text, and captions to determine their relevancy. What’s more, search engines will also consider things such as an image’s file size and responsiveness, favoring those websites that use images that load quickly and display correctly on any device.
Images Help Your Business Stand Out
Images are perhaps one of the best ways to show your audiences why your business is unique. They help you build trust, which in turn develops credibility and brand recognition. Uploading images of your staff or business location is essential when building trust — avoid stock photos! People feel more comfortable and can trust a business better when they know who they’re dealing with. The same applies to things like logos and mascot, which are excellent tools for building a brand image and giving your audience something easy to remember you by
Images Increase Engagement on Social Media
When it comes to being shared, liked, and commented on, it’s no secret that images do much better than pure text. Social media can do wonders for a business’s visibility and images and social media go hand in hand — a single image going viral can have a tremendous effect on your site’s traffic. So, be sure to upload high-quality images that can easily be shared by your visitors.
While the above list is definitely not exhaustive, there’s no denying that images trigger an emotional response from visitors and are much more effective than text at conveying information. Contact The Three Marketers to find out more about the importance of adding images to your website and unlock its full potential today.
