The importance of having photos on your web page cannot be overemphasized. Much of the social media marketing literature stands as proof that images serve as powerful communication tools, perhaps even better than written communication.
Research shows that the upcoming generation prefers picture-based communication rather text-based communication. In fact, studies show that 80% of the people remember what they saw as photos and only 20% remember what they read.
There are many different reasons as to why should one use photos on their web page including better user experience, higher user engagement, and improved website SEO which therefore increases traffic, and consequently, revenue.
In this post, we will discuss the importance of using photos on your web page, but more importantly, we will answer the million-dollar question: how many photos is too many for my web page?
Importance of Photos on Your Web Page
As we have mentioned above, having photos on your web pages is super important and play a crucial role in your web page strategy. Let’s explore some of them to highlight how important these photos are.
Higher clicks, engagement, and conversions
Naturally, as humans, we are attracted towards visuals. These visuals not only steal away our attention but invoke emotions within us, this is where the famous saying “a picture is worth a thousand words” comes in which is absolutely true. Because we are attracted towards pictures and visuals, we have seen that photos draw more clicks and attracts traffic.
Having photos on your web page will also improve the user’s experience which will consequently improve the engagement which has also been proved through analyzing Google’s data. As such, we have seen that higher conversions have been recorded for websites that use photos.
Higher SEO
Your web page will be more search engine optimized. This is because if you have a well-written and SEO-optimized alternate text for your image which contains the right mix of keywords and genuine description of the picture, it will rank higher in search engines and therefore attract more traffic to your web page.
The Risks of Having Too Many Photos
We have discussed the many benefits of having photos and how they are an essential part of a web page. In view of this, it is important to note that too many photos on your web page can be as bad as not having enough photos.
So, how can having too many photos on your web page be bad for you? Well, one, because the photos take up space, the load time of your web page is slowed down which would negatively impact traffic and therefore engagement. And two, too many photos can overwhelm the users on your website which will consequently increase the bounce rate, lead to a poor user experience, and as such, have lower SEO rankings of your web page. Ultimately, you will have lower engagement and thus conversions.
In light of this, we see that having too many photos is seriously bad for your web pages and you must use an ideal number of photos.
3 Ticks to Check with Photos
Before moving on to discuss the different number of ideal pictures for your web page, let’s have a look at three things that you must keep in mind when you are dealing with images on your website.
1. Provide Context to Your Message
As the visitor lands on your website, they should know what the website is about, your principal line of business, and your target market i.e., who you do it for. Although a clear paragraph detailing all of this may be good, pictures and photos on your web page play their role to emphasize and reinforce this message.
In other words, these photos and images provide a context to what you are trying to say and provide an easy-to-understand and digestible way to convey your message to your visitors. So, on its own, it may be a powerful message, but a good image will reinforce it and allow better retention among the visitors among many other benefits. As such, you should ensure that you are using the right photos for the right message for the right audience.
2. Don’t Overuse Images
As mentioned above, having too many pictures is a risk as well and produce adverse impacts for your web page. It can lead to slower load times, lower traffic, low engagement, lower clicks, and more importantly, lower conversions.
So, keep in mind that you don’t overdo it and overuse images for the sake of reinforcing your message because sometimes you can reinforce too much that it loses its effectiveness and detracts visitors and ultimately missing the aim of using photos on your web page.
3. Message First
Ensure that whatever image you are using strongly conveys and reinforces that message. Sometimes, we tend to see that this reinforcement and emphasis on the message is lost in design. As such, make sure that your priorities have the context & message as first and then design.
Ideal Number of Images on Your Web Page
The million-dollar question: the ideal number of images on your web page. Well, the answer is not so simple because it largely depends on what type of a business you are. And, since your web pages are all about your visitors, you should try to understand that with how many images are your visitors comfortable with.
Let’s discuss specific examples of industries to provide you a better idea about the ideal number of images on your web page.
Legal
On the web page of a legal company or an attorney, an entire image gallery or a lot of images are not recommended. This is because visitors come to the web page in order to see whether the attorney or the legal firm is suitable for them or not and are not very interested in the pictures that you display. And, as such, their primary concerns are to see your past results and the success record.
Construction-related Industry
In this industry, the visitors on your web page would like to see how your work is. They would like to see the finished products, judge their quality, and whether the products such business produces is suitable for them or not. These construction-related industry includes landscapers, carpenters, and builders.
Therefore, a good number of pictures are needed on your web page to push up the level of trust among the customers and convince them that you are the right business that they would like to deal with. But again, you shouldn’t have a million pictures displaying your products. Most of the visitors would like to see 4-5 pictures of a single project, and therefore, keep this in mind when you are putting up pictures on your web page.
Cosmetic Surgery Industry / Dental Industry
In this industry, similar to the construction-related industry, the visitors would like to see how you have improved the physical appearance of your clients, their success rates, and related items. So, in such a web page, you need to have a good number of pictures so that the visitors can see your past results on customers to increase the level of trust and therefore win customers. So, just have 3 to 5 examples at most and don’t have a gallery of 2,000 pictures. As such,
Electrical / HVAC and related Industry
Visitors on this web page are more concerned with whether they can trust you with the projects or not, are able to deliver the project within the deadlines, and the quality of the work. As such, they are concerned with the reviews of past clients rather than an image gallery of past projects. You can have a few photos of your specialist teams and such but not have a huge image gallery. So, we don’t recommend an image gallery.
Technology Industry
This is an industry where it depends on the sub-industry type. For example, if your business is about mobile accessories, you need a good number of images to exhibit your product and whether it is of good quality or suitable for the customer. So, you need to have a good gallery of images for products. But if your business is about providing technology consulting then you don’t need to have many images on your web page but rather you should provide reviews from your past clients on your ability to deliver high quality content within deadlines.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the ideal number of photos on your web page depends on your business’ type and having too many photos on your web page can just as bad as not having enough photos. Overall, you shouldn’t ignore the other pages of your website, not overwhelm visitors, and keep in mind the goal of using images. Moreover, we recommend that you don’t use more than slideshow gallery in a single page so as to not slow down load times significantly.