For Websites, a Picture’s Worth a Thousand Words

Like the popular saying goes “a picture’s worth a thousand words”, especially on websites and blogs that contain a lot of textual content. Are you utilizing pictures to their maximum potential? Here are the top reasons why you need to include images on your sites.

Pictures draw readers in
Have you ever encountered a site with pages and pages of nothing but plain black text? Nothing turns me off more than a bland site with an overload of text. If you want to draw readers in, you want to have an inviting site design with relevant images and pictures to accompany your text. That way your content will seem less intimidating and will increase the chances that visitors will stay on your site and come back for more.

People learn visually
Some things are just difficult to explain using words. For example, would you rather learn how to change a tire using a wordy document or a simple step-by-step diagram depicting each of the individual actions? Pictures can say a lot and are effective tools to help make your content come alive. Rand of SEOmoz does a great job of utilizing images to explain some of the technical and more complicated aspects of SEO.

Pictures are easier to remember
What’s easier to differentiate - a plain article with 2 paragraphs vs an article with 3 paragraphs or an article with a bright picture of a dancing leprechaun vs an article with a sleek Maserati sports car? I think the answer is clear. Use relevant images to make your article more attractive and to help readers remember your site. Maki of Dosh Dosh does an excellent job in using anime images to differentiate his blog posts.

It’s important to use attractive pictures to draw readers in, help people understand concepts you are explaining, and brand your site. If you aren’t using images, you’re leaving a lot unsaid. Don’t let that happen. Use pictures as much as possible.