Images make everything online better. And that’ s a good thing, considering how several big shifts in the social media world are now placing bigger emphasis on using high-quality photos in content. So how much does adding images to your content matter? Maybe a lot more than you think.

Pinterest is now the third most popular social network. The gorgeous new kid on the social media block truly is all about the images. With page views up 210 percent in just the last three months, the site cements the importance of using high-quality, sharable images in web content.

Facebook’s recent switch to Timeline places a bigger emphasis on image than ever before. The larger size of photos within Timeline and the huge cover photo make images an important draw for user attention.

The Prize Facebook was willing to pay for photo startup Instagram is another sign of the social media giant’s image obsession. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg commented on the importance of images in the site’s future, saying, “providing the best photo-sharing experience is one reason why so many people love Facebook, and we knew it would be worth bringing these two companies together.”

Images in Practice

Using images in articles can give a boost to that content’s page views. But according to data from Skyword, certain categories benefit more from having images than others. The top categories where images boost performance are News content, Political content and Sports content. Articles containing relevant images have 94 percent more total views than articles without images, on average.

The more multimedia you include in your press materials, the more views you’re bound to get. That’s according to PR Newswire data that analyzed more than 10,000 press releases.

Having any image gives businesses a leg up. When searching, 60 percent of consumers are more likely to consider or contact a business that has an image show up in local search results. Get the most from your images by choosing a high-quality photo of your business or product/service instead of your company logo.

There’s no question high-quality images are key when it comes to selling products online, but a recent National Retail Federation report shows us just how important they are. More customers value the quality of a product’s image as more important than…

-          63% product-specific information

-          54% Long description

-          53% Ratings and Reviews

Figures represent % of consumers who say each element is “very important” in selecting or purchasing a product.

Social media posts also benefit from adding photosl. According to an analysis by Web Liquid (conducted pre-Timeline) Facebook posts with photos have the highest user engagement than any other post.