If you have a website or a blog where you share tips, news, a personal insight or a review, you usually want your visitors to take an action. This may be a purchase, a subscription to your list, click through to another page, a comment on your post or perhaps an email or a call. These are the usual goals of a blog and if I am not wrong, you’d design every aspect in your site to help get visitors towards taking that intended action.
Now, what if I tell you that using the right image on your site can help increase your sites conversion? That’s to get more visitors to give you their contact details, comment on your blog posts, make a purchase through your affiliate link or even buy your product. Think it’s not possible? Then let’s take a short 2 minutes ride together.
Do you know why the best selling magazines like the AARP The Magazine, The Costco Connection, Game Informer, Better Homes and Gardens, Maxim and many others don’t joke with images? It’s because alluring images can quickly turn viewers into readers and readers into leads. For instance, if you are looking for tips that would help you lose some fat, which would get your attention first; a full page of content on weight loss or a sexy, smiling young lady with a flat stomach probably sharing her secrets in a side-content? So let’s not even go over it again, it’s obvious which you would jump at first, and that’s the power of images.
Images have also successfully triggered phenomenal results on various websites both in traffic generation and visitor retention rates (reducing bounce rates). No, don’t take my words for it, take a look at Pinterest and see if you would be out in the next 5 minutes.
Now how can you increase your site’s conversion by taking advantage of images?
It’s not rocket science. You simply need to use the right images in the right way. I’ll use these few points to explain, further, what you have to do:
Appeal To Viewer’s Emotion
A lot of people make purchase based on how they feel. If you are a seller and you can make them feel just right, then it’s a sale. Now consider “clicking on the purchase button” as the action you’d like visitors to take on your site. So if you make your site visitors feel just right about what you’d like them to do, you are invariably breaking through any reluctance that may still be holding them back and then putting them in the right mood to take action. What images can you use to achieve this? Any image that will help put their mind at ease – think of a smile, a gesture or a picture of someone taking that same exact action (if possible).
Can You Use A Mascot?
Of course you can, especially if you are looking to solidify your brand. There are many successful sites that use different types of mascots among which are MailChamp, SEOMoz, Hostgator and many others. You know what a mascot does? It communicates with users in a different way and indirectly reassures them that they can rely on the products or services offered on the site. So if you have a review site, an ecommerce site or just a blog in your niche, a mascot can go a long way in solidifying your online presence and distinguishing yourself, products and services from competitors. Many companies and online entrepreneurs now use mascots and they speak volume of the company’s commitment to customers.
Bring The Human Touch To Your Site – Show Them Who You Are
Many people now prefer buying from individuals they know; the degree of this awareness or familiarity (so to say) sure differs in most cases. But the truth remains that you are likely to get more sales, comments, clicks, etc, from visitors who are a bit more comfortable with you and what you offer. And the one sure way of connecting with your site visitors and introducing yourself to them at a glance is by using an image. Depending on what action you might want them to take; you can either use your personal photos or something that really fits from a photo stock.
Show Validation and Satisfaction; Make It About Them Not You
A picture to show visitors what their feeling might be after taking a particular action can be just the next thing they need to act. Alternatively, you can show them a picture of the intended reward for taking the action. Yes, don’t just say it let them see it – a recipe book, a weight loss report, video tutorials, coupons, etc. Chances are, validating your request and pictorially describing to them how much satisfied they’d be at the end would give them the nudge to go ahead. If you have played around with squeeze pages in the past, then I am sure you understand how important it is to show some validation and evidence of satisfaction.
Use Infographics
Infographics have grown really very popular recently. In simple words, it helps to sum up what would have been pages of content with 1000’s of words in an easy to grasp graphics-like-chart. I have come across infographics on several sites and what really got my interest was how much ‘social shares’ those self-descriptive graphics got. So you may want to cultivate the habit of creating infographics to help highlight facts, benefits and any other feature you think would help your site conversions on the subject.
Do you still think it a waste of time to select and use the right image on your site? Many people have achieved tremendous success just by adding the right image to webpages. To have your fair share of these results, it doesn’t have to be just any image, it has to be the right image in the right place – one that would move a visitor. And I hope the points above explain this in details for you.