The Importance of Images in Web Design
The somewhat overused phrase “a picture paints a thousand words” is often used in marketing to illustrate the need for good images to sell a product. The best way to sell anything is to give it the space and opportunity to sell itself. A well constructed image showing the product at its best, preferably solving whatever problem it’s designed to solve will sell infinitely more than any clever description. This is one of the worst kept secrets in web design, which is why most e-commerce websites are image heavy.
Copywriting is an intrinsic part of web design, but it can easily be brushed aside for a beautifully shot photograph or well drawn image. Pictures have the power to create an emotional response in the audience, which is worth its weight in gold. An image can also communicate instantly, as our brain can interpret them much quicker than text. They can give depth and context to a description, a testimonial or story and provide a much more immersive experience than writing alone. Web designers who know how to use images can manipulate their audience to feel whatever they want them to feel. A great website design can rise or fall on the quality of the images it contains, which is why it’s vital to get it right.
If the product you’re selling is new, innovative or just different, images are the best way of highlighting them. A good, clear image showing how the product works, solves problems, answers questions or otherwise will appeal to their target market will sell, and sell well. Being able to explain the innovation or the USP of a product instantly is just a fraction of the power of images. Television has used this power for years, a good news piece isn’t regarded as broadcastable until there are images to reinforce the power of the story. A breaking story doesn’t seem real until there are cameras there to show it in every detail. Advertising wouldn’t work half as well if there was just a blank screen and a narrator or piece of text describing the product.
Images can also be used to educate. The number of how-to guides and videos that appear in web designs now backs up this assertion. A good image or video can show someone what to do instantly, and clarify problems with a single shot. Adding these resources to a product website is a great way to remove a potential barrier to ownership of the product in question.
Websites that use images well can sell a lifestyle, an ideal, an idea of whatever the product needs to sell more. They can sell the features in an instant and provide clear and accurate information on the product. Having a well shot, clear image of something is the single best way of selling from a distance. We know that selling on the internet is difficult at times because the buyers can’t touch, images go a long way to overcoming that.
Article Credit: Orlando Web Design