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)
Where the world currently sits, visual information is all around us and it has become a huge part of our everyday lives, which is exactly why it is so important as advertisers to capitalize on this and use it to our advantage. In fact, there are more people in the world that are visual leaners then ones that aren’t, which gives even more reason to use it to our advantage.
The first major reason that visuals are so important in web content specifically is because they stick in people’s long-term memories. If someone were to see a bunch of information on a website for example containing no visuals at all and just a bunch of text with maybe some bolding or italics, chances are if you ask them in a couple of days they may remember a little bit about the information they took in but not much more than that. But, with the power of visuals this can be negated. If a company, or a website can create a powerful enough visual that can help users remember the information a lot better, it can lead to more then half the information being retained instead of maybe just a couple of key points.
The second reason visuals are so important for web content is because visuals transmit messages a lot faster then the alternative. There are a ton of different elements that can go into creating the right visual in web content. But, if all of these elements can be cohesive enough it can help transmit the message at hand more effectively then anything else. The human brain is the best supporting idea for this point. If a visual were to pop up on screen in some type of web content, the human brain will be able see that images as long as it was on the screen or able to be seen for as little as 13 milliseconds! The human brain can also register 36,000 visual messages per hour, and there are a ton more facts about the human brain alone as to why visuals could be an amazing idea to incorporate into your web content efforts. Its been well known for a long time that the human brain can just capture visuals a lot more faster then its counterpart in web content specifically, text or long paragraphs of copy. Including visuals in your web content is not done just to make it look better, or improve the looks of your website. Visuals are used in web content purely based off the fact that it is just more effective, and its been backed by a ton of research over the years with many supporting points. Sure, companies can use visuals to purely improve the aesthetic of their websites but if these specific visuals are really optimized to be the best they can be the benefits are almost unmatched.
Finally, visuals are most important to web content because visuals can trigger emotions. Chances are, you have seen at least one visual in your life that has spoken to you specifically, or maybe even triggered some type of emotion after taking a look at it. This is a huge benefit to visuals, mainly because when someone feels more connected to something exactly like a visual it can help them also retain this information much better. Sure, someone can read through a bunch of text and maybe feel a little bit of emotion at the end relating to what they just read, but with the power of visuals this potential emotion being felt could be amplified. Once again, the way the human brain works plays a huge role in how beneficial visuals can actually be. Visual memory which triggers emotion is part of the brain, which means everyone has it. If a company were to create a campaign for web content without visuals, it would almost be like segmenting everyone with a brain out because its something everyone has. Including certain metaphors in your visuals are also another amazing way to trigger emotions for a user. Abstract advertising and Abstract concepts are a great example of how visual advertising can trigger a certain set of emotions for users, and its also a great reason as to why you should be incorporating visuals in your web content efforts.
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