How Visual Hierarchy Helps Businesses Improve Website Engagement

Visual hierarchy plays an important role in any effective website design, as it allows users to perceive the available data quickly and achieve greater engagement. Therefore, businesses that want to optimize their appearance in search results by using SEO services should focus on the creation of scannable documents and the implementation of intuitive design to make navigation easier. Nuanced SEO packages could also be implemented to meet specific requirements and facilitate website optimization. In addition, link building services could increase the authority of a site and improve its visibility in search engines. These complex techniques will ultimately help in building an effective website that will meet the users’ expectations and promote business interests.

Use size to your advantage

When it comes to organisation, size is an important factor to consider. This is because something bigger automatically attracts more attention. Use bigger text for your headlines and subheadings or to draw attention to a certain element such as a call to action button, image or graphic. For example, a landing page promoting a digital marketing service may have a headline stating their main benefit, a subheading providing additional information and a paragraph of text and enquiry button underneath it. At a glance, the visitor will know what your page is about and what they should do next.

However, you don’t want to make everything big. You want to create a clear hierarchy which means having a balance between other elements such as your headline, subheading, body text and any other supporting text. This should be applied throughout your website pages, landing pages and marketing material to ensure it looks consistent and your audience can easily follow your message.

 Use colours strategically

Colours can play an important role in visual hierarchy. Use them to create a contrast between your elements such as your headline and body text, your call to action buttons and any other elements on your page. For example, you may want your website background to be a simple colour and use another contrasting colour for your CTAs so it stands out. This draws more attention to your buttons without adding more distracting elements to your page.

Your website colours should represent your brand and you should use them consistently throughout your marketing material. You don’t want to use different combinations since it may end up looking too busy and not cohesive. Also, keep in mind accessibility which means using contrasting colours for your text and making sure important elements aren’t only represented by colour. This way your message will get across to every visitor clearly.

Make sure there’s a clear reading path

When browsing the web, your audience won’t read everything on a page. They tend to read through headings, subheadings, any additional information provided and images. This is where your visual hierarchy comes into play. A good reading path should start with your headline, followed by your subheading. The body text should contain the main message and end with your call to action. For example, on a service page, you may want to start with the problem, provide a solution, inform them about the benefits and end with a CTA asking them to request a quotation.

Your website and marketing material should be organised according to the most frequently asked questions. This means structuring your information in a way that answers your visitor’s needs. Using clear hierarchy, proper alignment, spacing and consistent headings throughout your website will ensure your audience can effortlessly move from one section to another and find what they’re looking for.

Embrace the power of white space

White space refers to the empty or negative space on your website or marketing material. It’s the space around your content such as your text, images and buttons. Although many would think that white space means the colour white, it actually refers to any empty space. You may think that leaving space on your page isn’t a good use of it, however, it’s actually more beneficial than you think.

Using white space to separate your paragraphs, headings, images and buttons will make your content more readable and your buttons and links stand out. For example, instead of having long paragraphs of text, you can separate them and create a clearer reading path. You can also use it to provide additional spacing between your website sections or marketing material to give it a balanced and professional look.

Include relevant images

When used correctly, images can convey a message better than a paragraph of text. Relevant photographs, illustrations, charts and diagrams can help your audience to understand your topic and become more familiar with your business. For example, a marketing agency may want to show how their digital marketing campaigns can help their clients by using graphs and explaining the process through an illustration. Avoid using unnecessary images since they don’t serve any purpose and may distract your audience instead.

Make sure that your images are optimised correctly and that they’re accessible to every visitor and device such as a smartphone or tablet. It’s also good practice to provide a description of the image just in case it doesn’t appear correctly.

Make your call to action stand out

A call to action, or CTA, is an element which instructs your audience to take some form of action such as requesting a quotation or contacting you. Although writing engaging and informative content is important, if your audience can’t find out what to do next, they will leave without any further interaction. Creating a good CTA involves several tips such as making sure your CTA stands out by using a good contrast, positioning and appropriate text. Make sure your CTA is clearly stated so your audience knows what they have to do. For example, instead of writing “submit”, write “request a quotation”.

Your CTA should also be relevant to your audience. This means having different CTAs for different audiences and purposes. For example, a CTA which provides additional information may be good for an audience who is researching their options while a CTA asking them to request a quotation may be more appropriate for someone who is comparing their options. Avoid using multiple CTAs on one page since your audience may not know what to do.

Remain consistent

Consistency is key when it comes to visual hierarchy. Keeping consistent across all platforms and materials will improve your website’s user experience, brand image and organisation. Your website, email marketing, social media, advertisements and downloadable pdfs, among others, should all have a similar organisation and visual appeal. However, this doesn’t mean they should all look the exact same way. Use similar typography, colours, spacing, image styles and CTAs so that everything fits together. This will also make it easier to create consistent and high-quality material since you can use the same elements every time.

One way to achieve consistency is by using brand guidelines and website/laptop templates. This way, every member of your team or marketing partner will know how to create professional material. Having a good template will ensure that your website looks cohesive and all of your marketing material is created consistently.

Visual hierarchy checklist for your marketers

Having understood the 7 visual hierarchy principles, it’s time to put them into action. Before publishing any content, landing page, website page or marketing material, your marketers should utilize the following checklist.

Headlines: Use headlines to indicate your page’s theme, provide more information through your subheadings and make sure they are clearly represented through their size and weight.

Colours: Use colours to create a good contrast. Make sure you aren’t using too many colours or using them in the wrong places. Ensure that your text size, weight and colour is readable by everyone.

Reading path: Make sure there is a clear reading path, starting with your headline and following through to your body text and ending with a CTA.

White space: Avoid overloading your paragraphs, images and CTAs. Give your paragraphs additional space so your audience can read easily.

Images: Make sure your images are relevant and add value to the information on your page. Avoid using unnecessary images.

CTA: Make sure your CTA stands out with a good contrast, proper positioning and appropriate text. Ensure that it’s relevant to your audience.

Mobile optimisation: Ensure that your website, advertisements, social media and landing page are readable and navigable on mobile devices.

Consistency: Ensure that your website, email marketing, social media, advertisements, downloadable pdfs, among others, have a similar organisation and visual appeal.

Conversion rate optimisation: Keep track of your website’s performance, CTAs, forms and other elements. Use this information to improve your content.

You can always do a five-second test on your page to see if it passes the test. Look away and see if you can remember what the page was about and what action it wanted you to take.

How does visual hierarchy benefit digital marketing?

While visual hierarchy is an important component of website design, content creation and marketing material, it can also greatly benefit other aspects of your digital marketing such as SEO and link building.

Website organisation and content is important for SEO since it tells search engines what your website is about. Having a good website structure in combination with good quality content will help both your audience and search engines to have a good impression of your website. When it comes to SEO, there are many other factors to consider such as content quality, technical optimisation, competitors and more. Although having a good-looking website is important, it won’t directly impact your rankings. Search engines rely on algorithms which are designed to provide the best results possible to users. What this means is that search engines will favour websites which provide a good experience to users, have relevant content, have proper technical SEO and utilise other beneficial strategies such as link building.

Link building works along similar lines to SEO. Building links from relevant and authoritative websites will improve your website’s credibility which can also improve your rankings. Link building services can help your business to get backlinks. However, your business should utilise good quality strategies for link building to ensure that they get relevant and high-quality backlinks. Having good content, a visually appealing website and technical optimisation will help your website to get discovered and benefit from SEO and link building.