"Tell me, I forget. Show me, I remember. Involve me, I understand.â â Chinese Proverb
Weâve all heard the old adage that a pictureâs worth a thousand words. But in the 24-hour Internet age, when every second is precious and our attention spans are shorter and shorter, the power of strong images and videos is something no business owner or website admin should take for granted. Not only do visuals do wonders for catching a customerâs eye or piquing someoneâs interest in a moment â but product pictures and lifestyle snaps have been proven to inspire trust and encourage spending in customers.
Donât believe it? Just look at the figures. According to a recent study, 60% of consumers said they are more likely to trust a business that includes their own images on a website. And 67% of consumers say that the quality of a product image is something âvery importantâ to consider when selecting a product. In fact, in the eCommerce world, shoppers think good quality, nice-looking product images are more important than a succinct product description. Even just looking at Social Media â Facebook sees roughly 37% more engagement on posts that include pictures or videos instead of just text.
Beautiful images and good web design go hand in hand. When you have one, the other seems to come a little more naturally and easily. So do yourself a favor and start snapping pictures when something catches your eye. And luckily these days, you donât need to spend a huge fortune on equipment to get a great picture thatâll beautify any page. With the iPhone 6 boasting a 8-megapixel camera you can take beautiful shots using your phone. (If you want to hone your craft even more, here are 10 of the best deals in the camera world.
So how should you actually display pictures and videos on your page? Well, thereâs an endless list of ways that you can beautify any page with a few great shots. Most site builders these days have beautiful templates for you to use that include huge photo and video headers and backgrounds (here are some great tips on how to effectively use video backgrounds on any page) But there are so many more ways you can use images and videos on your page, and thereâs a whole slew of POWr plugins that can do it for you, too.
Show it off in a gallery
Thereâs nothing new or revolutionary about an image gallery, but theyâre efficient and they definitely get the job done. Our Pinterest-style Media Gallery is a great way to show off a lot of images in one fell swoop. Itâs easy to feature many images at once, and visitors can easily scroll through and see everything you have to offer at once. Media Gallery is very easily customized to suit your specific needs and match your individual aesthetic. POWr plugins can be added to pages made by all major site builders, so you never have to learn how to make another gallery again. And itâs pretty powerful. Not only can you use it to feature pictures, gifs, and videos, but you can also show off blogs and articles in a block-style gallery, by adding both images and text to an entry. Like all of our plugins, you can always upgrade to add custom CSS if you want even more editing power.
Share your social feed
If youâve spent valuable time editing, filtering and sharing your images onto social media, you might want to go ahead and embed your social stream directly onto your page using POWr's Social Feed plugin. Itâs just like adding a gallery, but without having to go through the trouble of re-uploading all of the pictures youâve shared with your various social networks. This is particularly great for Instagram feeds, Vine feeds, Vimeo, YouTube and other predominately visual posts. Check out this blog post for more handy tips.
Keep it moving
If you want to add images and some movement to your page, consider showing off your beautiful pictures using POWr Multi Slider. You can add a large amount of content to your site, without consuming the entire page, with our simple, intuitive Slider plugin. Banners, images, and videos can all share space above the fold and reduce your reliance on user scroll. Sliders also catch the eye with movement and can help focus visitor attention. A slider is a great alternative to a gallery if youâre looking to save space and also prioritize which content your visitors see first.
Map it out
For years, maps have been used both decoratively and to share information. Cartographers for years have striven to make beautiful and helpful maps, to both delight the eye and help the lost find their way. So instead of just including long, cumbersome directions on your page, try engaging your customers by actually showing them your location. POWr Map is a great way to do that, as not only can you pinpoint different places on just one map, but you can also customize it to change the aesthetic. Choose a sepia tone, or the bright blue option to make your map match your website (learn more here.)
Show off live action
If you really want to involve your visitors and get them interested in your product, think about following one of the newest trends and broadcasting live on your website. This sounds way more labor intensive than it actually is. Using Meerkat, a live video sharing app, in conjunction with POWrâs Meerkat plugin, you can show off a livestream from wherever you are in the world, that your visitors will see instantly, in real time.
How do you like to display visual content on your website? Please let us know in the comments!