5 Ways To Use Visuals On Your Website

Monday, 3 October 2022, 9:41 am
Press Release: Hugh Grant

While your website may primarily use text to convey information to its visitors, it’s essential to break up long monotonous blocks of texts with relevant visuals.

Effective placement and size of visuals are just as important as what visuals you’re using. Even if your website already has photos and videos interspersed throughout, make sure you’re using them effectively by following the tips we share below.

What Image is the Best Image

Unless you’re rummaging around through government archives or scouring an online dictionary, it is hard to find a website that doesn’t include images. When choosing an image for your webpage, make sure that it is relevant and adds to your content — don’t just add images to fill space.

If your site uses vibrant colors in its header and navigation bar and calligraphic font, a photo with dark or muted colors will look out of place regardless of whether it is relevant to your content. Guneet Banga’s profile on AeraVC’s site is a perfect example of how a consistent color palette can make the page look professional.

To Gif or not to Gif

Deciding whether or not to include gifs on your website can be a tricky decision. On one hand, they can give an otherwise dull webpage life and motion. But, on the other hand, they can become distracting and look childish if not used correctly. If you expect visitors to remain on a specific page for an extended period of time, gifs will not only appear repetitive, they could also slow down visitors’ web browsers.

That isn’t to say that gifs should never be considered; they can be a great tool to reach out to a younger audience. For those selling physical products, gifs can also be used to demonstrate how to use a product or give a dynamic view that images couldn’t. Like with images, make sure that your gifs fit both your webpage’s aesthetic and purpose.

Pictures in Motion

It takes a certain level of commitment for a web page visitor to watch an embedded video. Not only do they have to wait for the video to buffer, but they also have to be somewhere suitable to listen to your video.

Potential customers shopping for shoes likely won’t bother watching a full video. On the contrary, visitors to a politician’s site may want to see a video of a speech or rally.

Videos transmit more information than images, gifs, and sometimes even the text on your webpage. Still, make sure your site has enough variety and doesn’t rely solely on videos. Your audience may as well just use YouTube at that point.

Solid Blocks of Color

Solid colors help give your website definition and borders. A website with no borders feels unfinished and unprofessional. Solid rectangles of color can be used to segment off articles, border images, or form backgrounds.

Places with text should typically be some shade of white, though the rest of your website doesn’t need to be so drab. The solid colors you pick to dominate your website will dictate the types of images and other media that will fit in, so choose wisely!

Where and How Big

If you’ve ever tried to drag and drop a photo into a word document, you’ll know just how easily it can throw off the formatting of an entire page. Ensuring the proper placement of visuals is key to using them effectively.

Images of products should usually appear above or adjacent to the item description. Videos often need a short explainer summary to accompany them. Photos and gifs that are low in resolution are most effective if they are sized so that their pixelation isn’t as noticeable. Videos often give viewers the option to watch using their full screen, so having them take up your entire page is unnecessary. In general, the size and placement of digital media in your webpage will be dictated by the surrounding content. Just make sure not to disrupt paragraphs or sentences with them.

If they’re used properly, visuals can provide your website with personality and direction. If they’re used incorrectly, your website will feel cluttered and busy. Look at your site from the eyes of your target audience. A popular cat gif won’t work for a typical law firm’s website. But maybe you’re an animal rights lawyer and that gif is perfectly appropriate. While we can’t tell you exactly which visuals to include in your website, these tips should point you in the right direction.

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