According to Hubspot post, 17 Stats You Should Know About Visual Content Marketing in 2015, marketers who are leveraging visual content are seeing significant increases in their blog traffic, social media engagement, visitor-to-lead conversion rates and inbound customer acquisition results. So this post is about more than a desire to relieve the gray wall of text – these tips will make your website a better sales tool for your organization.
1. Grid Layout Archives Page
How boring is a bullet list of the industries your company serves? Very. We live in an age of visual culture. The impact of images on your website cannot be overstated. A camera in everyone’s pocket and more than 2.5 billion camera phones proves images help drive engagement with your visitors. Don’t believe the hype? Take a look at the infographic It’s All About the Images by MDG Advertising.
Displaying valuable information with images is a great addition to your website’s sidebar. Display the industries you serve, the partners you support, the charities your sponsor, the customers who trust you, and more. Include the text labels under each icon to communicate the meaning and reduce the ambiguity for your visitors.
Industries slideshow example
The sample above was created with the very easy to use Logos Showcase plugin. You can set the speed of animation, add active URLs, place text labels and more. Browse and get excited by the many animated examples here. It will spark ideas for other uses.
2. Pop Ups
Promoting events, newsletters, sales and limited time offers are a cinch with pop ups. The ITRO Popup plugin gives you all these features and more:
- Select the pages where you want it to display
- Fully and easily customize with html
- Set a countdown for automatic closing
- Set cookie expiration time
Sample pop up
3. Video Demo Call Out
Visitors won’t spend time wading through all the words on a page of your website trying to figure out what your product actually does. Videos are really the best tool to explain the value of your product. Color boxes and clickable buttons will grab their attention. Need help on how to improve your product demo videos? Check out Hubspot’s article How to Deliver the Perfect Sales Demo.
Sample call out
To create a call out like the one above, first, install the plugin Shortcodes Ultimate. Navigate to the page where you wish to place your call out. To the right of the Add Media button you will see the Insert Shortcode button. The example above is using the Lightbox shortcode and button shortcode nested within the Note shortcode. The advantage of using the Lightbox Shortcode is that it uses less real estate, therefore avoiding a long scroll for your visitors. When the button is clicked, it creates a nice overlay popup for a professional look.
Shortcodes Ultimate sample code
Above is the sample code. Be sure to change the hex codes to match your websites’ colors.
4. Archive Page with Images
You may have collected your webinar posts (or another category of posts) to display on your website in a list format using your WordPress theme Archive Page Template. That template allows you to display a list of your posts by category, month, author, and recent. But a list of posts without images can be pretty boring for your visitor. Compel your visitors to click and engage with your valuable content with images, color and buttons.
Archive of webinar posts sample
Content Views plugin lets you display your posts by category, tag, or author in a responsive grid layout without coding. There are several different responsive layouts to choose from and you can get it done in 3 simple steps. Purchase the pro version and you can customize the look even more: font, color, style, and a few more amazing layouts like Pinterest, Facebook Timeline. In the sample above, each post shows a Featured Image that is pulled in automatically into the grid layout. The visitor can click on the image, button or the title to read the entire post.
5. Relevant Footer Menu
The footer is the last port of call with your users. Disregard placing unnecessary information of no value to your visitors and prioritize. Is your website all about your services and products? Or is it about your valuable articles and downloadable content? Add a menu that draws attention to those pages or posts you really want to drive visitors to.
Sample footer
In the above sample, a Text Widget and Font Awesome Icons were used to insert a custom menu in the footer. Check out sample code examples you can use from Font Awesome. Another useful tool you can use is the Featured Page widget or Featured Posts widget.
I hope this has inspired some ideas to increase the effectiveness of your organization’s website. Interested in getting some professional help with your WordPress site? Give us a buzz at eCoast Marketing. We can support your need for updated graphics, solutions-based navigation, theme customization and more.
