Attention-Seeking Websites: How to Use Visuals Most Effectively

Visuals are one of the most effective ways to grab the attention of your audience and retain their interest. Whether it’s photos, video content or infographics, visuals are guaranteed to make your website more enjoyable and aesthetically pleasing. But there are ways to use it more strategically to optimise the visual content you choose and create a truly attention-seeking site.

Content isn’t just text, and visuals can and should form an integral part of any marketing campaign or website design. Visual content has the power to attract and retain an audience, bolstering your entire website to make it more engaging and interesting to scroll through. Visual marketing is taking over, with 49% of marketers believing it to be ‘very important’ to their strategies, and it’s no wonder, with apps like Instagram and TikTok becoming more and more present in our daily lives. In fact, 60% of consumers are more likely to engage with a company in their local search results if the results include an image. When it comes to creating a site that converts, it makes sense that visuals should play a central role in the content you create.

Data is relevant to virtually all businesses, but when it comes to showing that information off on your site, it can be uninspiring if you simply publish it in its original form. Data visualisations can be a fantastic way of presenting the results of a case study or sharing information with your audience in a fun and visually arresting way. It makes the data easier to digest and allows readers to quickly spot the trends and patterns, but it also makes it easier for your visitors to share your data. From inspiring people to see a subject from a new perspective to making your content shareable and tapping into their curiosity, data-driven visuals can be a fun spin on an otherwise bland or long-winded topic, making it concise and easy to understand.

To draw attention to certain areas of your website, visual cues can be very effective. Whether lines and arrows or animations, visual cues can draw the eye and bring focus to the right parts of the page, catching the attention of your views and pointing them in the right direction. Maybe you’re looking to guide them to a contact button, a form or making the navigation easier to find. Visual cues can help you to direct the journey, but be sure that you use them sparingly — too much, and it can be overwhelming and confusing rather than helpful.

Everyone loves good storytelling, and when it comes to visual content, developing your skills in this area can increase engagement. You’ll find that your brand is much more successful in translating the USPs of your products or services if you can package them into a memorable story that users can engage with. When it comes to creating images that tell a story, for example, structure the narrative of your images to guide your audience to the conclusion you want them to reach. Your images need a beginning, a middle and an end to make sense to your viewers.

When trying to increase conversions or attract more visitors to your website, social proof should not be underestimated.  Studies show that there are several reasons why user-generated visuals can be so effective, from making it easier to see the quality of a product to proving that reviews are accurate. In all its many forms, social proof can build your brand as a trustworthy business, verify your value propositions, and instil your target audience with the sense of security that they look for. It shows that your brand is authentic and can deliver on what it says it can.

People are far more likely to check out a business or take the plunge and make a purchase if someone they know has recommended the brand, but it’s not just personal acquaintances that can have this effect. Simply seeing reviews, video testimonials and customer-generated images can back up your claims and make your brand seem more genuine to those who are yet to engage with you.

By creating a more interactive experience with visual content, whether it’s images, videos or infographics, you can make your brand more relatable to your target audience and spark an interest early on in their journey. Graphics can help to convey the industries that your business serves, for example, which is far more attention-grabbing than simply a bulleted list of text. An image of their industry will show a potential customer instantly what you’re trying to convey and helps them to feel more connected to your brand. Likewise, if you’re trying to sell a product, showing rather than telling your audience who the product is designed to serve instantly puts the viewer in those shoes and helps them relate. 

There are various options to consider when it comes to using visual content on your website, but one thing’s for sure: visuals shouldn’t be overlooked. Even just implementing one or two of the ideas listed here can have a huge impact on how your brand is perceived and the ways in which your audience engages with your site, putting you ahead of the competition, boosting conversions and encouraging people to find out more about what your business is all about.