Researchers have conducted studies that show people remember 80% of what they see and only 20% of what they read. In fact, there’s research that suggests that 65% of people are visual learners. In terms of websites, the role of images becomes more important as they capture the visitors’ attention; they can convey complex messages very quickly. Of all the images, featured images are one of the most important images.

A featured image, also known as the primary image, is an image that supports a blog article or web page. It is often found at the top of the content pages. Featured images offer a visual summary of each page on a website. 

If you don’t use your featured images wisely, you will lose an opportunity to grab visitors’ attention. If your images don’t entice users or leave them with a wrong impression, how do you expect anyone ever to read your content? Today, we will look at five tips for creating more attractive and engaging featured images:

1. Use A Consistent Style Featured Images

All your featured images can have the same style; however, giving a different look to certain types or categories of content can improve the appearance and navigability of a web page or blog article. Readers can easily find the kind of content that interests them due to their distinct styling.

While the distinction is helpful, the overall styling must be consistent across all images. People should instantly recognize your brand or business when they look at the images.

2. Use The Right Colors

Colors are one of the most crucial and complex aspects of featured images. Colors set the mood, convey emotions, create an atmosphere, and evoke intense experiences.

According to a study conducted by researchers to study the impact of color on marketing, 90% of quick judgments made about products can be based on color alone, depending on the type of product. Other similar studies have also revealed that colors must support the personality and characteristic you want to portray.

The colors used on your featured images must guide your audience through a story. Consider colors that support storytelling or at least a specific portion of the story. You can start with understanding ‘the principles of color theory’. Use the theory to harmonize your featured images.

Different colors affect our brain differently. It would be best if you used them in storytelling and marketing accordingly.

• Red denotes energy and urgency
• Orange denotes aggressive
• Yellow denotes optimistic and youthful
• Green denotes wealth and relaxation
• Blue denotes trust and security
• Pink denotes love, romance, and feminine
• Black denotes powerful and sleek
• Purple denotes soothing and calm

3. Create Balanced Featured Images

Balancing the featured images is tricky, but very essential. One way to approach image balancing is to think as if each element of your design has a weight attached. Simply put – if you place the image on a balance scale, would it lean towards one side?

Remember that different elements carry different weights and balances do not have to be bifurcated right down to the center. There are four types of balances:

1. Symmetrical
2. Asymmetrical
3. Radial
4. Crystallographic 

All of these can contribute to a beautiful featured image. Symmetrical balance is perfect for illustrations, drawings, photographs. Asymmetrical balance creates tension through contrast and can be visually attractive when done correctly. Because it’s abstract, there is no symmetry; there are no perfect mirror images.

4. Focus On The Main Subject

One way to help readers quickly comprehend the message you want to convey in the image is to make the subject the main (if not only) focus of the image. In most cases, centering the subjects and fading out the background works well for featured images. It will allow your readers to focus on the subject rather than the less essential elements, like the background. Surrounding details create a clutter that gets in the way of the core message.

That said, it doesn’t mean that backgrounds are useless in featured images. It is just that the focus of the post needs to be the front, center, and larger than everything else. The minute the surrounding elements distract from that, you’ll need to look for a new photo.

5. Use Authentic Featured Images

When selecting or creating a featured image for your webpages, you need to focus on a few important things. Make it eye-catching, descriptive, and authentic. If your images aren’t eye-catching attractive and don’t clearly describe what the post is about, you won’t be able to garner the required attention. In simple words, very few or no readers at all. Another risk is that you may attract the wrong readers.

The authenticity of images has more to do with the state of the consumer-business relationship in today’s world. If consumers don’t trust and vouch for a brand, it’s hard for a business to create more users or retain existing ones. So, it would help if you were careful about what your featured images signify.

Abstract and vague images might leave readers wondering if the content is of any use or value. Moreover, heavily staged stock photos may cause them to wonder how genuine the content will end up being.

6. Stay Away From White Backgrounds

It is very much possible and easy for you to go wrong with your image backgrounds if they’re empty or lack the subject matter altogether. Ensure that your website uses a different background color. If not, your featured images should at least come with a dark border automatically. Otherwise, your featured image may get lost within the webpage’s white space.

Your readers must be able to identify where each of your blog posts starts and ends. You also want to keep off surrounding distractions from barging the main content. A clear distinction between featured images and everything else will help with this.
The featured image plays a pivotal role in grabbing readers’ attention and convincing them that the content is worth investing their time. We hope that these tips will help you in creating eye-catching featured images. For more insights and help, contact our team of experts.

Read more about how to highlight your web content here.