Visuals are not decoration. They are communication tools. Provide three strategic reasons why visuals are essential to effective web content.
For each reason:
• Clearly explain the concept
• Provide a real-world example (not generic statements)
Marks are awarded for depth, not surface-level answers. (6 Marks)
When it comes to the creation of content online, visuals are truly not just present for the sake of decoration but rather they help to act as a tool for communication. The first strategic reason as to why this takes place is the fact that visuals are generally going to help significantly when it comes to reducing the cognitive load on consumers in addition to improving their overall understanding of the content itself. Visuals are truly a key aspect of web based content as a whole as they significantly aid in making information easier and faster for people to process and understand. Oftentimes, audiences of content online will not actually read through content in full but rather they will scan and skim it in order to quickly attempt to gather an understanding based on what they are seeing first. Seeing as how this is the case visuals can help leverage this in how theft communicates meaning and messaging immediately without actually forcing a reader to work through reading large blocks of text completely. To illustrate this, as mentioned in class “Visuals are 60,000X faster to process than text”, which only goes to further emphasise this strategic reasoning for the importance of visuals within content. Visuals are incredibly helpful in this area in how they are able to support information processing quicker for users by turning ideas which they have into something that is recognizable almost instantly or at a very fast rate. This is done through the effective usage of colours, composition, texture, symbols and visual contrast. It’s also incredibly important to take note of how important this is within content where users are expecting to provide quick answers and seamless user experiences overall. When a page just feels very overloaded with text that requires users to read through it in full as it lacks visuals, users are going to ultimately be much more likely to leave before they fully have engaged with the content itself. Therefore, in this way visuals are not simply here in order to make a page look “cooler” or better “decorated” but rather they are functioning as a strategic tool for communications through content. These communications are a means of helping users understand a product or service or just a key message with less effort, less confusion and an increased understanding of the content’s meaning/purpose overall. A really good example of this is the imagery used within my own fictional business’s content of Ava’s Lil Bakeshoppe. This is because within my blog’s content I have already begun to feature some imagery such as that of a pink decorated cake on display in a bakery setting which shows visible colour and texture. This ultimately is allowing my viewers to understand what my content is about instantly as users already understand what a cake is and how it generally looks. On the other hand, had I just written a detailed or lengthy description in isolation without the presence of this clear visual, there would have been extra friction for users looking to consume this content as they would have had to stop, read my content and imagine what the content was describing for themselves. Therefore, adding this cake imagery removes this extra step in order to communicate my product’s benefits regarding product quality more clearly, convincingly and efficiently.
The second strategic reasoning as for why the visuals placed within content are so important is the fact that visuals stay in reader’s long term memory much better than just simply writing in isolation. When it comes to visuals themselves, they are something that plays a very critical role within the creation of content and the long term memory retention that it can offer. This is because the human brain tends to process and store imagery/visuals much better than it can just text within content alone. When a visual within content is being strategically placed alongside text based content that conveys meaning with regard to what exactly the content is about, people are much more likely to not only process the information smoothly but actually remember it. This means that within online content the visuals being featured are not just communicating in the present moments when users are reading the content but rather it is also helping to influence how early users are going to continue on to recall a brand, its products, services or core messaging later on. This long term memory retention is so significant as when users actually are abl;e to recall what exactly they saw from a brand, it is gonna increase the likelihood of them converting themselves into local longer lasting customers for the business. This can be done through returning visits, increases with brand recognition and visuals also heavily influence future purchasing decisions. Overall, within internet content which is a rapidly growing means of promotion within advertising, visuals that are placed strategically alongside meaningful content are especially important for long term memory retention as users are being exposed consistently to large amounts of digital content and so being memorable is key for success. An example of this can be seen on my bakery business’s content as having images such as if I had an image of my gourmet chocolate chip cookies which is distinctive and aligned with my brand;’s identity and aesthetic, my product is far more likely to stay within my users memory than if a description of them was written in isolation. This is because even after people elevate my blog, the users will likely remember the way in which my product looks through its texture, colours and the aesthetic of the visual itself. This can help to create an emotional trigger as when people are thinking or craving a cookie or treat they will be more likely to recall my product and consider making their way further through the sales funnel past the TOFU/ awareness phase which they are currently in.
The third reason here for why visuals are so essential to have included strategically within web based content is because of how they are effective in triggering quick emotional responses among consumers. These emotional responses are significant here as they help to strengthen user’s rates of engagement and memorability from the content. While long paragraphs of text by themselves within content are requiring users to actually slow down and read them to then eventually have to interpret their meanings, visuals that are paired with concise pieces of text that are strategically designed so users can scan and understand it quickly and easier allow users to process information/messaging nearly instantly. This immediate processing of the content’s information and messaging itself is very significant as it allows users to feel emotions regarding the content and its respective visuals without actually having to fully think about it due to their preconceived understandings of what is featured throughout the image. This is very critical especially within modern times in 20226 within digital based environments as so many people possess very small attention spans which bring them to make decisions regarding products or services quicker. Cognitively it is very powerful for advertisers to be leveraging and using to their advantage as visual memory allows for users to see a visual and receive an emotional trigger/response that is tied directly to what it is that they are seeing. Emotional triggers can be in relation to feelings such as joy, nostalgia, sadness, anger and more. This overall makes the content much more impactful as it is able to boost the likelihood of people choosing to engage with the content due to their emotions and makes the content more memorable due to the long lasting nature of these emotional responses. An example of this within my business of Ava’;s Lil Bakeshoppe is a close up image of freshly baked soft and melting brownies that instantly help to trigger feelings of comfort, nostalgia and indulgence for those who are consuming my content. This emotional reaction in particular is significant due to the fact that it would be happening instantly for my product because the visual of the brownies that I would have paired alongside a concise yet relevant and meaningful caption regarding the content’s purpose itself with respect to my target audience and objective wpi;d allow my consumers to recall both my product of brownies and how seeing this imagery within the content made them feel on an emotional level.
RESOURCES:
- Briscoe, The Power of Visuals in Web Content Overview (W26).pdf, Slide 13
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