By using eye-catches, you can attract people’s attention and easily promote your content. It’s mostly used in web media, but it’s also an effective
marketing
tool in many other places.
In this article, we will explain the meaning of eye-catching, where to use it, its effects, and things to keep in mind when creating images. If you want to know the difference between thumbnails and how to create eye-catches, please refer to this article.
What does eye catch mean?
An “eye-catching image” is an image that is attached to an article on a blog or website.
As the name suggests, it has the role of “eye-catching”.
The purpose of images is to convey the article’s theme and attract people’s attention, and they are often inserted at the beginning of the article or in a prominent place.
By simply inserting a featured image, people who find your article are more likely to click on it or decide to read it.
Featured images are also posted when sharing articles on social media, increasing the chances that they will be seen by even more people. It is one of the important elements in article creation, as the click rate of the article can be improved depending on the degree of perfection of the eye-catching image.
Difference between eye catch and thumbnail
“Thumbnail image” is a similar word to eye-catching image. A thumbnail is an image used as a landmark when displaying a list of content such as videos, images, and articles.
Thumbnails can help you find the content you are looking for from multiple content lists. In other words, featured images are used to specifically show the content of a single article or page, and thumbnails are used to help users choose from a large selection of content.
Both words are often used in web content production, but they have different meanings, so you need to be careful.
Where to use eye catch
Here are some places where you can use eye-catches:
I will explain each in detail.
Website
Among websites, it is often used on blogs and
owned media
. Eye-catching images not only increase the number of accesses, but also play a major role in
SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
, so content is created using eye-catching images.
Since you can understand the content of the article at a glance, you can expect traffic to your website from sharing on SNS using the eye catch. Eye-catching images on websites often have a specified size, so the size of the eye-catching image often changes depending on the medium.
Flyers/Posting
By using eye-catches on flyers and postings, you can visually promote your products. By using eye-catches, you can catch people’s attention and increase the chances that they will pick up your flyer or post.
In addition to being able to concisely convey the benefits of a product, it also helps clarify the brand image of a store or company. The more effective the eye catch, the more likely it will be remembered by those who see it, and the more likely it will lead to a purchase in-store or online.
eye catch sticker
Eye-catching stickers are so-called “POP stickers” that are attached to products to advertise them in stores. In particular, they are often attached to shampoos, treatments, detergents, and hand soaps sold at drugstores.
By pasting eye-catching stickers on the product itself, you can make it stand out among the many products lined up in the store. You can highlight the product’s features and ingredients and convey the product’s selling points at a glance.
SNS
By using eyecatches on social media, you can visually convey the content of your posts and attract users’ attention. Text posts tend to be the main content on social media, but using eye-catching images can make your posts stand out from other posts, leading to more impressions.
Also, by using eye-catches, you increase the probability of receiving comments and likes on your posts, so it is an important element in
marketing strategies
using SNS.
TV anime
In TV anime, eye-catches are short videos or still images that are inserted before and after the transition to advertisements (CMs) in the middle of an episode.
Since the flow of the anime is interrupted when the commercial breaks, one of the roles is to make sure the audience is immersed in the story without feeling out of place.
Just by inserting a single eye catch, you can tell even people who haven’t seen the anime what kind of story it is and what kind of characters there are.
Additionally, by inserting eye-catches after commercials, you can maintain viewers’ anticipation and interest in the episode, preventing them from leaving the channel.
Expected effects of eye-catching
The expected effects of eye-catching are as follows.
Inserting a single eye-catching image has various benefits as mentioned above. It is a very useful method as a marketing tool to convey your brand image and increase its recognition.
By increasing the likelihood that people who see the eye catch will respond positively to your product or service, you increase the likelihood that they will take action such as making a purchase or making an inquiry. Eye-catching is a tool that creates a sense of unity in the overall design and atmosphere of a website and maximizes the value of the content.
How to create eye-catches effectively
The flow of creating an effective eye catch is as follows.
I will explain each in detail.
Put important information in the safe zone
It is preferable to create the eye catch in a rectangular shape with 1200px width x 630px height.
The eye-catching safe zone refers to a place where you can clearly see important parts without missing or hiding them.
When shared on SNS, the size of the featured image displayed differs depending on the medium, so important information must be placed in a safe zone where it can be displayed on any medium.
If you create an eye catch without taking safe zones into consideration, important information will be missed, visibility will deteriorate, and the desired effect will not be achieved. If it’s 1200px wide x 630px high, it won’t be cut off no matter what SNS it’s shared on.
For those who want to create eye-catches with
WordPress
, we recommend setting the size above.
Be careful about copyright infringement
This is not limited to eye-catching images, but be careful about copyright when creating images. If you use images when creating eye-catches, visibility will increase and the content will be more appealing.
However, it is dangerous to use found images or free images found on the Internet without permission. Please abide by the terms and conditions when using material sites and using images distributed on official sites.
match the tone
Tommana (tone and manner) is a rule for consistently aligning colors, shapes, placement, etc. used in designs and advertisements. If the eye catch is not tailored to the nature of the media or content, it will not be effective in promoting the content.
If your article or content is aimed at women, use a design that matches the tone, such as eye-catching illustrations in soft colors.
Points to keep in mind when creating eye-catches
When creating eye-catches, keep the following points in mind:
I will explain each in detail.
Highlight important points clearly
If you put a lot of information on the eye catch, visibility will be poor and it will be difficult to catch people’s attention. Create a design that highlights the important points of your articles and content so that they can be understood at a glance.
For example, it is best to place the title of an article in a large format in the center of the featured image, and emphasize it by making it bold or with a frame.
clarify your purpose
Be clear about the purpose of using eyecatches. For example, if you want to use eye-catches to share on SNS or gain followers, you need to create eye-catches that look great on SNS.
By clarifying what kind of demographic you want to reach and what kind of design you want to share with many people, the eye-catching effect will increase.
The effectiveness of eye-catching tends to depend on the design, so carefully consider the purpose of the eye-catching so that the design is optimized for the purpose.
Think about color scheme
Color scheme is an important element to attract more attention. Also, the color scheme plays an important role in matching the tone, so choosing it too carelessly will lead to failure.
Choose a color scheme from a variety of perspectives, such as “colors that are easy to catch the eye,” “colors with high visibility,” and “colors that match the nature of the content.” It is important to consider not only the color of the eye-catching background but also the balance with the text color when designing.
summary
In this article, we provided an overview of eye-catching, where to use it, and its effects and precautions. Eye-catching is primarily used in web content production, but it is also used as a means of advertising in a variety of places, not just on the Internet.
The more effectively you create eye-catches, the more likely you are to get noticed. After thinking carefully about how to design it to make it stand out, be sure to be careful about formalities and copyrights when creating it.
Please use this article to help you create eye-catches.