Pictures have always been used to tell a story. As the creators of Evernote explained their love for Skitch, before acquiring the company, they emphasized that the days of “drawing in the dirt while pointing and grunting” may be over, but the days of visual importance will never be gone. Pictures are worth a thousand words, and they are never going away.
But what does this mean for your website? Simple:
You need pictures.
Visual communication has ALWAYS trumped text (just compare movies to books). The issue isn’t what people prefer, but where the technology is. For years, printing pictures wasn’t practical, so we only had text. However, once pictures became realistic for our textbooks and magazines, they took over.
And then it happened again. Pictures used to overwhelm our small hard drives and internet speeds, but since those things are now mute points, we are seeing pictures emphasized all over the internet (memes, anyone?).
Especially now, with mobile devices taking over, trying to utilize every inch of the screen space is of critical importance. This is accomplished by making your website responsive, but also by adding engaging, informational, and attractive images. Many businesses have changed out basic text headlines for icons that feel more engaging – and (a bonus) they are easier to click on than normal lines of text.
Obviously, anything can be overdone, but if you do not have GREAT pictures of staff, locations, products, etc – then you have your work cut out for you: you need pictures to visually engage every person that comes to your website. So either rearrange your website to have pictures be emphasized, or you replace your current pictures with better ones.
If you’re wanting to create your own collection of great stock photos, here’s a website that offers 10 new photos every 10 days. I subscribe to their email blast and love the pictures I get from them. unsplash.com