A picture is worth 1000 words; Or is it?

The saying goes that "a picture is worth a 1000 words", but is that really the case? Do pictures really give everyone and everything the understanding that you are trying to convey? Or are we betting on the fact that we understand the image, than everyone else must? Lets take a minute to discuss how images can sometimes be less effective then some properly used words.

What the search engines see, isn't what you do...
When you look at a website you see text and images arranged in some fashion so as to look appealing. There is a header, a logo, some navigation links a paragraph and maybe a photo along with contact information at the bottom.

What the search engines see on the other hand is code and text. That picture that is taking up your entire site, they don't even know what is just that it looks something like this to them '< src = "images/image.jpg">' - not exactly the pretty picture you were seeing right? The search engines see numbers, symbols and letters which makes up the display that you as the user sees on the front end. So although images are good when used in the right places, they can be harming your ability to be seen by the search engines.

It's not always as apparent as you might think...
Another common mistake that people make is using representative images in place of something more direct. Take for example the bulls eye that is often used in marketing when you are trying to convey that "we hit the mark". Sure most people might get that one, but what if they don't? Is it really worth the cute image to sacrifice a few people understanding the message?

Everything has a time and a place - images included...
Images are great for logos, product shots, demonstrations, etc. I'm not so sure that images are great for relaying an important marketing message, unless used in conjunction with words/phrases. Don't just put the picture of a black sheep among white ones, put a message on it that says "Ever want to stand out from the crowd?". Now they are associating the meaning with the message.

Remember: You can never be too straight forward when it comes to marketing.

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Ignite MediaLLC, Ignite Your Site™
http://www.ignite-media.com/
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