"The effectiveness of any given web page element [copy or image] to communicate the value of your product or service can be measured by two capabilities: the ability to communicate value with force and the ability to communicate value with precision." [My italics.]
This from Dr. Flint McGlaughlin in his webinar, "Image v Copy: How getting the right balance increased conversion by 29%." McGlaughlin is managing director of MECLABS, a science lab and consultancy conducting experiments in the science of optimization. You can listen to the webinar here. It's a top level discussion using scientific results to help businesses increase conversion rates on their websites.
The issue at hand was an experiment with a major newspaper's landing page. The landing page contained a subscription offer and the question is, how did the placement of images and the amount of copy effect response. For this post, I'll stick just to Dr. McGlaughlin's insights into images.
McGlaughlin goes on, "In most cases, images have the greater potential to communicate value with force, and copy has the greater potential to communicate value with precision."
Images are better able to communicate with force. So what does that mean?
Well, I have a photo on my desk. It's one of my kids. My cute little twin girls and two boys a year apart. The picture opens a flood of emotions...love, happiness, pride. I can't imagine the same feeling seeing just their names in print.
That's the force of an image. Keep it in mind as you think about your website images.
According to Dr. McGlaughlin, a forceful image on your website must shorten the distance between your product's value and your prospect's perception of that value. It clarifies what you're offering.
In other words, your images need to help your prospects visualize what they get. The image must be relevant to the person looking at it (as your child would certainly be to you) and authentic.
A terrific example of this is an ad for an online encyclopedia. Since it's online, how do you show the hefty amount of information offered? The answer: a photo of 32 volumes of encyclopedias lined up behind a computer screen. This visual clarifies for the prospect that she gets 32 full volumes of information by purchasing the online encyclopedia.
So, use quality Web pictures of your products or the images available online free or for a nominal cost. But before you pick them, think through what the selling proposition is for your web page and then find images that help your visitors understand that value. If you do, your conversion rates will increase making you as happy as you are when you look at that picture of the kids!
Until next time,
Nick
