A complete lack of images and visual/aesthetic consideration is hardly a good idea if you want people to become and remain engaged. Visual content is going to help make people more engaged, and it will help reduce your bounce rate too. These days, people’s Internet connections are so good and so reliable that you are able to fill your website and blog with images and it doesn’t slow down the loading process.
Set The Tone And Message Of Your Blog Post With A Main Image
The starting image will help people understand the tone and the message that you are about to give. If your written content matches the tone and message sent out by your starting image (your main/featured image), then people will be more engaged with your content.
Give People A Clue As To The Type Of Article They Are About To Read
Your starting/main image is also going to help keep people engaged. Many readers are going to look at your main image or your starting image and make assumptions about the content of your web page. If your image accurately represents the content of your web page or blog post, then people will read on after looking at your starting image; on the flip side, if your image gives the viewer the wrong impression, when he or she will be fairly unengaged with the content and will probably leave the web page or blog post.
Break Up Your Text With Images
If you are writing essays or blog posts, then it is always a good idea to break up your content with images. Unless somebody is reading a book, he or she is not likely to enjoy large chunks of text. People are accustomed to seeing articles with images in them, so give people what they are accustomed to so that they do not leave and find another website to read.
Think About What Pushes People Away As Much As What Attracts Them
Forget about looking for secrets to attracting people and getting them engaged, and spend more time thinking about what is scaring people away. The things you are doing right may draw in a small crowd and keep them entertained, but the things you are doing to scare people away may be the reason most of your readers leave your web page as quickly as they do.
Stop Playing On Emotion Because It Reminds People Of Spammers
One of the biggest things you can do to push people away is to try and play on their emotions. Most spam posts on social media will feature some sort of beaten child, animal or woman, and people are sick of such a pointless exploitation of their emotions. If anything, try to keep emotions out of the equation completely and stick to the issues at hand.
Ask Your Viewers To Contribute To Your Website
Social media is proof that user contributions are a good idea. If you run the type of website that encourages people to return again and again, then having them contribute will give them an incentive to both return and engage with the content being posted.
Consider Infographics And Maybe Even Clipart
Some people are still able to generation attention and engagement with Infographics. There are some very simple processes and concepts that may be better explained with infographics rather than with detail pieces of text. You may also consider littering your text with clipart because the “For Dummies” books seems to have used such a technique to great success.
Give People Something They Can Relate To
Charity adverts will often try to make people in other countries appear more like the person reading the advert because it helps the reader relate to the people in need. If you give people something they can relate to in your text and in your visual content, then there is a chance the reader will become more engaged.
A Short Video May Dramatically Help Boost Engagement
There are some topics that demand a video over written content. For example, if you are researching into how Bitcoin miners work, then a video will help you quite a bit because the process of setting up a bitcoin miner is very difficult.
Memes Are Great
People still love memes, which is why there are so many of them still being created. There are even people going to events and functions dressed as people in memes. Plus, a funny meme is easy to create because it usually only requires a funny observation.
Check out: Visual Trends for 2018
GIFs Are Very Powerful Too
Adding GIF animations to your web pages and your blog post pages may help keep people coming back to your pages. GIFs also encourage people to share your content, especially if they are sharing on Google+ because people on Google+ love GIF images. The continued success of Google+ could be due to the sheer amount of GIF animations that people post on Google+.
Conclusion – Test Your Content On Different Devices
If you are relying on visual content to help keep people engaged with each of your web pages, then make sure you test your website and/or your blog on a variety of different devices. Your web pages may look great on a desktop because of their visual content, but they may look terrible on a small phone screen because of your web page’s visual content.
BIO: As a writer, Laura Buckler is thoughtful and tactful. She is also able to write search engine optimized content, and create something that is worth reading. Copywriting is another of her talents, and she can also create a rather good blog post too if required. Follow her on twitter.
