A human being is an extremely visual creature. We rely, of course, on our other four senses heavily, but our vision is the primary method that most of us use to get around, learn, and make sense of the
world around us. If we understand what that means in a little more detail, we can use that understanding to improve our Myrtle Beach SEO efforts. If that sounds funny at first, let’s give it a little background and it will start to make more sense. Here goes:
The eye: Your primary tool for understanding the world
Before There Were Words to Read
Consider a human being living in a world without modern technology—no electronics, no advanced information resources, and no printed materials of any kind. This human being doesn’t need to read, but he does need to be able to understand the world surrounding him. That means interpreting visual images, memorizing routes to and from important locations, recognizing friends and enemies, and identifying healthy vs. dangerous food sources. The human brain is built, first of all, to help the human survive. Even in today’s modern world, our ability to remember faces, routes, places, and other image-heavy information is more important than our ability to memorize numbers and text.
What it Means for Myrtle Beach SEO
If the human brain “likes” visual content more than basic text, how can we use that fact to enhance Myrtle Beach SEO efforts? Hopefully some ideas are already coming to your mind. The big idea is that by incorporating more imagery into our content, we can help the brains of our audience members process and retain the information we are passing on to them. There are a couple of important methods that are particularly effective in doing just that.
Infographics
Everyone loves a good infographic…in fact, there are entire websites that post nothing but infographics on every possible topic! Why are these image-oriented elements so popular? Hopefully the preceding discussion makes it clear. The average person finds it easier and more enjoyable to take in information that is organized in visual form rather than reading lines of basic text. The person’s brain also finds it easier to categorize and store that information for later, which means he will remember what he learned and use it in the future.
Video Content
According to one statistics site, 400 hours of new video content is uploaded to YouTube every minute. You may know people who go to www.YouTube.com first when they need help with almost any topic. That’s because, once again, when there is a strong visual element added to text (in this case, in audio form), we comprehend and retain it much more effectively. Almost anything that you can communicate as a written page of web content can become more effective in video form, with photos, graphic elements, demonstrations, and other visuals added to cement the information in the mind of the viewer.
Other Visual Methods in Myrtle Beach SEO
Think for a moment about the average visitor to your website. Building on our knowledge of what the brain is built to focus on, how do you think you can help the visitor find the most important parts of your website? Make them highly visual and image-based. Add icons for your services, not simply a text description of them. Instead of plain text that says “contact us,” create a big button that incorporates the text.
There are subtler details to consider in the area of visual content as well. A heat map is a tool that researchers use to find out where a person’s eyes go naturally when they visit a website. This research shows that people naturally focus on the top left area of a web page first, then move to the right and down the page. Guess where you should put the content that you want your visitors to notice first?
Certain color combinations, font sizes and styles, and visual patterns can either appeal to or repel the human brain—often without the person being aware that it’s happening. These seemingly minor details of your website are important and deserve a lot of planning!
Myrtle Beach SEO Services
A professional Myrtle Beach SEO company can help you create infographics, videos, design elements, and other tools to give your online audience the best experience possible as they interact with your website, YouTube channel, social media accounts, and other marketing platforms. Contact us today to learn more about these and other Myrtle Beach SEO topics.
Reference: Statista (http://www.statista.com/topics/2019/youtube/), accessed 5/6/2016.
