Visual Content Creation: What Actually Earns Attention
Most advice on visual content leans on statistics nobody can trace. The evidence that does hold up points somewhere simpler: people look at images that tell them something.
Look up advice on visual content creation and the same numbers appear on page after page. Attention spans of eight seconds. Video remembered at 95% and text at 10%. These figures travel from one statistics roundup to the next, and some of them have no study behind them at all.
The evidence that does hold up is less dramatic and far more useful. People look closely at images that tell them something and skip the ones that are only there to decorate. This guide is about making the first kind.
What is visual content creation?
Visual content creation is the planning and production of the images and video a business publishes wherever its customers will see them. For a small business, the camera matters less than the choice of subject. The visuals that work show the reader something they need to see, and people give those far more attention than decorative ones.
Which visual content statistics can you trust?
The best known is the claim that human attention now lasts eight seconds, one second less than a goldfish. When the BBC's More or Less programme traced the attention span statistic, it led to a report by Microsoft Canada, which had taken the figure from a website called Statistic Brain. The sources Statistic Brain listed could find no record of the research. Psychologists who study attention told the programme that an average attention span is not something they would measure in the first place, because attention depends on the task.
That matters when you plan visual content. If you believe your audience gives up after eight seconds, you make everything short and loud. If attention depends on the task, the question becomes whether your image or video is worth the reader's time for the job they came to do.
A quick test before you trust any statistic: follow the link to its source. If it leads to another roundup, keep going. If you never reach a study that explains how the number was measured, leave it out.
What kind of images do people actually look at?
Nielsen Norman Group studies how people look at websites with eyetracking, and its research on photos as web content is clear. Images that carry information are studied closely. Big feel-good images added to make a page look lively are ignored. Photos of real people who work at the company get attention, while stock photos of generic models are ignored.
One example from that research is a team page. The test user spent more time looking at the portrait photos than reading the biographies, even though the biographies took up about four times as much space. The photos worked because they showed the actual team.
For a small business, this turns into one question to ask of every image: what does it show the reader that the text does not?
| Shows the reader something | Only decorates |
|---|---|
| Your real premises, inside and out | A generic office or city skyline |
| The people a customer will deal with | Models posing with laptops or headsets |
| The product from the angle a buyer would check | A mood shot that hides the detail |
| A chart that makes a number easier to grasp | An icon that repeats the heading |
Is video worth it for a small business?
Video earns its place when the subject moves or speaks. A walk through a holiday rental shows the layout in a way a set of photos cannot. If the same information fits in a photo and two sentences, the photo is quicker to make and quicker to take in.
Make it work without sound
Captions were designed for people who are Deaf or hard of hearing, and the W3C's guidance on captions notes they also serve anyone else who cannot hear the audio. On a phone in a public place, that can be anyone. The same guidance warns that automatic captions are often wrong, so read them before you publish.
Does original content matter on social media?
Instagram says it does. Its advice to creators on improving reach says it is less likely to recommend reposted reels or content with noticeable watermarks. Accounts that regularly collect and share other people's content are also less likely to be recommended.
For a business, that closes off the easy route of filling a feed with other people's images. A video exported from another app with its logo still in the corner also starts at a disadvantage. If your reach was low before you changed anything, the visuals may not be the main cause, and we look at the other reasons in why organic reach on Facebook and Instagram is so low. It is also worth checking that your Facebook and Instagram profiles tell people what you do and where to find you.
How do images help a page in Google?
Google's image SEO best practices explain that it works out what an image is about from the page around it, including captions and image titles, and recommend placing images near the text they relate to. Alt text should describe the image in a useful way. The filename gives what Google calls very light clues, so faro-office-reception.jpg does more than IMG00023.jpg.
The same page notes that images are often the largest part of a page's size, so compress them before upload. Google also says large images are more likely to bring visits from Google Discover and recommends a width of at least 1200 pixels.
Should you use AI to create visual content?
AI tools save time on production chores, such as resizing one image for every platform. Where they fall short is the subject. An AI image of a café is not your café, and there is little reason to expect readers to treat it differently from a stock photo. We cover the wider question in will AI replace content creators?
Where to start
Open your homepage and your last ten social posts and sort every image into the two columns of the table above. Replace the decorative ones first, starting near the top of the page, since the same eyetracking research found that people give less and less attention to content further down.
You do not need a professional shoot for most of this. A recent phone in good daylight will do. What you need is a list of things worth showing, and the questions customers ask before they buy are the best place to find it.
When visual content is not the problem
If people find your page and leave without getting in touch, look at the offer and the contact route before you look at the photos. Better images will not fix a price that puts people off or a form that never arrives. If nobody reaches the page in the first place, the work is in search and distribution, and why your website traffic is dropping is a better place to begin.
Frequently asked questions
How many images should a blog post have?
There is no right number. Add an image wherever it shows something the text would need a paragraph to describe, and leave it out where it would only fill space. Make sure at least one image is at least 1200 pixels wide, which is what Google recommends for Discover.
Are stock photos bad for SEO?
The bigger risk is with readers. Eyetracking research shows people skip generic stock images, so the photo adds weight to the page without adding anything a visitor looks at. Google also notes that images are often the largest part of a page's size, which means an ignored photo still slows the page down.
Do I need professional photography?
For the homepage and the main service pages it is often worth paying for, because those images carry the first impression. For social media and everyday posts, a phone is enough as long as the subject is real and relevant to the post.
Should every video have captions?
Yes, if anyone speaks in it. Captions make the video usable for people who are Deaf or hard of hearing and for anyone watching without sound. Automatic captions are a good start, but read them first, because the W3C notes they are often wrong.
What is the difference between a visual content creator and a designer?
A designer usually works on the brand itself and the layouts that carry it. A visual content creator produces the ongoing photos and video for social media and the website. In a small team one person often does both, which works as long as someone decides what each visual should show.
Can I post other people's images if I credit them?
Credit is not the same as permission, so ask the owner first. Even with permission, an account that mostly shares other people's content is one Instagram says it is less likely to recommend, so it will reach fewer people than one that posts its own work.
Salty Lavender, a full-service marketing agency in Faro, plans and produces visual content for small businesses. If you are not sure which of your images are doing any work, send us a few pages and we will tell you, or write to hello@saltylavender.com.