Visitors Skip Generic Stock Photos and Study Real Ones
Website visitors ignore large “feel-good” images and generic stock photos. They do look at images that carry information relevant to what they are trying to do, such as photos of actual products and real people (Nielsen Norman Group, 2010). An image earns attention by being useful, not by being large or attractive.
What the research observed
Nielsen Norman Group’s eye-tracking research on photos found that users treat images as content only when the images tell them something. Large decorative and generic stock photos were passed over. Photos of the actual product, or of the real people behind a company, were studied.
One example from the same research: on the FreshBooks site, real photos of the team received about 10% more viewing time than the written biographies, even though the biographies took up 316% more space on the page (Nielsen Norman Group, 2010).
The difference is task relevance. A generic image does not answer any question the visitor came with, so it gets no more than a glance.
What it means for a business website
Many business sites open with a large stock photo across the full width of the first screen. That image takes up the most valuable space on the page and receives little attention in return. It also pushes the headline, the description of your services, and your call to action further down.
A real photo of your team, your work, your products, or your location gives the visitor information. It shows who they would deal with.
What to do
- Review every large image on your key pages and ask whether it shows something a customer needs to see.
- Replace generic stock with photos of your actual team, work, products, or premises.
- If you do not have an informative image for a spot, remove the image and move your headline and call to action up.
- Keep text out of images, and write it on the page instead.
Sources
- Nielsen. Photos as Web Content. Nielsen Norman Group, 2010.