For this post, I wanted to write about the absolutely critical importance of clear and engaging web copy. After all, we’ve all come across badly written web pages that prompt a rapid visit to the good old “go-back” icon.
Then I found myself reading a Linkedin post about why human beings like visual content. And this reminded me of something we often discuss with clients at Corporate Eye. So, despite having a vested interest in writing about good web copy (I am a blog writer after all!), for this post I’m going to talk about…
Okay, I’ll admit it – we have touched on the value and effectiveness of infographics in previous blog posts. But I think it’s worth revisiting this subject, and also adding some science to explain why visual images can be an incredibly effective way to communicate core messages and key data.
Human beings like colourful eye-catching content, and perhaps that’s no surprise when we consider that:
Bold and vibrant infographics on a web page can convey important stories about your company fast. And that could take the form of showing resources and markets, achievement against target, or aims and ambitions.
Providing engaging and clear infographics can also be good news for web writers. How many times have you skim-read copy within a website? Well, don’t worry too much if you might have done this on the odd occasion, as research suggests that web users often only read 28% of the copy within a website. And maybe that isn’t surprising. There is of course a lot to take in on even basic corporate sites. But good infographics can help us stop skimming and increase our willingness to read by a massive 80%! Engaging visuals that tell a story can also help to embed key messages. As a broad rule, we only remember 20% of what we read, but we remember 80% of what we see.
Infographics can be used in a variety of different ways, on webpages and downloads. And they don’t have to be static. Animated infographics can be imbedded into webpages or incorporated into video links, and both options can help to deliver memorable and attractive content.
But isn’t this just a lot of fuss being made about pretty pictures? If someone is seriously interested in a company, surely they’ll take the time to read the carefully crafted web text on your site, even if the visual content on your pages is a little on the thin side.
As a writer of carefully well-crafted web text (Note to Editor: Please feel free to disagree!), I would like to say: Yes – all you need is well-written text! But I’m afraid I can’t. The truth is we live in an incredibly information-rich age, and even the best text has a heck of a lot to compete with. And science tells us that engaging infographics can help good copy stand out, be remembered, and perhaps more important of all, be understood.
If you would like to find out more on how to use infographics and other visual tools effectively, why not drop us a line and we’ll be happy to share our knowledge.
Note: With thanks to Hubspot for inspiring me to write this post
Lucy is Editor at Corporate Eye