- As discussed in class, please provide three reasons why visuals are important to web content. Please ensure you go into detail for each item. (6 Marks)
Visuals are important to include in your web content because they stay in the long-term memory of the viewer, and communicate messages faster compared to copy. Images are very capable of triggering emotion and powerful actions from the viewer. As discussed in class during week 9, visuals stay in the long-term memory and can increase brand retention by 42%, this is because you can remember the context of an image longer than you would for copy. Your web content can become something customers remember much easier and longer if you include images or videos within your web content. You can use visuals in your content to transmit messages faster and get to the point without having to say anything. People don’t like to read as we have discussed before, and it only takes 13 milliseconds for the human brain to process an image – website images in your web content are the most effective way to communicate your message to the right audience within seconds. Lastly, images hold high power to trigger any emotion and persuade a viewer into a specific feeling or strong emotion, and using powerful images to convey emotion is very effective for web content. Images can incite fear, happiness, sadness, anger, and more, and these emotions can be so strong that viewers take action on your site to resolve these strong emotions. Viewers are not guaranteed to read words and information but they are guaranteed to look at an image which is why they are very important to your web content.