Driving engagement with visuals is vital in the age of short attention spans and information overload.
Interactive images allow pulling visitors deeper by encouraging clicks and exploration.
According to marketingexperiments.com, interactive content can deliver up to 94% longer engagement compared to static images or text.
By adding hotspots, animations, and expanded info sections, you can direct focus, promote calls-to-action, and get audiences actively involved.
In this expert guide, I’ll show you how to maximize interactive images in WordPress using the versatile Draw Attention plugin.
Why You Need Interactive Image Content
Some key benefits of interactive images include:
Improved Audience Engagement
Static visuals have engagement limitations. In a Content Marketing Institute study, only 37% of best-performing content items were static graphics or photos.
In contrast, interactive elements boost time-on-page:
| Content Type | Avg. Engagement Time |
|---|---|
| Static Image | 7.6 seconds |
| Interactive Image | 29.6 seconds |
| Motion Graphics | 38 seconds |
Based on MDT research, the 4X jump with interactivity delivers a captive audience. Hotspot callouts, reveals, and user-triggered animations outshine plain visuals.
More Visual Impact Through Guidance
Without direction, visitors may overlook key details in images or miss intended messaging.
As eye-tracking studies show, users follow visual cues that stand out. So highlighted zones, color contrasts, and animated elements direct attention more consciously by acting as visual guides.
Credit: NNGroup
Such guidance also aids usability for navigational images or product diagrams. Visitors don’t get lost exploring disjointed graphics.
Seamless Conversion of Static Assets
For publishers with existing media libraries, adding interactivity doesn’t require starting visuals from scratch.
You can conveniently activate hotspots and popups on top of photos through a quick editing process in WordPress. No need to rebuild images in costly design tools.
Similarly, interactive images remain forward compatible. If you disable interactivity features later, the base visual design stays intact. This allows flexibly adapting content as needed.
There are many other benefits like lower bounce rates, better storytelling, and multi-channel content repurposing.
Now let’s see how we can build interactive images efficiently using Draw Attention.
Getting Started: Installing Draw Attention in WordPress
Draw Attention is a popular free plugin with over 9,000 active WordPress installations. The sister premium version packs additional effects as well.
Once installed, integrate the utility under Draw Attention → Edit Image:
Draw Attention main dashboard for image editing
We’ll craft an interactive tour of a sample dashboard application covering:
- Adding hotspots
- Launching info popups
- Applying highlight effects
- Stylizing elements
- Exporting images
Let’s run through each phase in detail:
Easy Image Maps: Adding Hotspots
Image maps involve defining clickable zones that initiate actions like opens an info popup or jumps to a destination URL.
To define a hotspot:
- Select a region shape
- Draw the area boundaries on your image
- Assign a label and action for the spot
For example, here’s a dashboard section marked up with a hotspot:
I’ve added a simple tooltip label. When published, hovering the zone triggers a pointer change plus this identifier.
Clicks then launch a configured popup or link. Construct all required hotpots to annotate your image similarly.
(Pro Tip: Avoid tiny, precise image maps on mobile designs. Use large, finger-friendly regions.)
Launching Expandable Information Popups
Popup info boxes help impart additional details, backstory, or context upon hotspot activation. These appear as extendable dialogs without navigating away from the page.
To demonstrate, I’ve added an info box to explain the charting module tied to the previous hotspot:
Animated gif shows configurable info box styles
The content editor supports text, images, buttons, videos, and more.
Information popups work well for:
- Expanding feature descriptions
- Defining terminology interactively
- Sharing multimedia supplementary assets
- Highlighting subscription incentives
- Hosting a contact support form
Get creative with popup actions to prompt, educate, convert or capture leads.
Apply Eye-catching Animated Hotspot Effects
So far we’ve built functional yet subtle interactivity. But creative highlight animations can grab more eyeballs.
Effects like pulsing circles, wavy overlays, and color transitions around hotspots deliver striking cues.
Enable such magnetizing calls-to-action only for key pages like:
- Promotional launches
- Subscription appeals
- Webinar signups
- Free trial forms
Reserve widespread use for critical spots so they don’t lose impact. The premium Draw Attention plugin packs 40+ attention-grabbing effects.
Stylize Popup Dialogs, Tooltips and Hotspots
Beyond core behavior, customize UI elements by adjusting:
- Colors
- Typography
- Backgrounds
- Borders and shadows
- Animation effects
For a polished look, I’ve tweaked my sample styles here:
Fine-tuning creates cohesive user experiences and enhances branding. Map styles to existing theme aesthetics.
While previewing changes, the plugin renders adaptive responsive views to match your actual website styling closely.
Export and Reuse Images Across Pages
Manually recreating intricate hotspots and effects gets tedious. Instead, export and replicate interactive images rapidly using import/export.
To reuse assets:
- Select images for export
- Copy generated plugin code
- Import to additional WordPress sites
This technique works great for:
- Embedding across blog posts and landing pages
- Migrating designs to development/staging environments
- Propagating to multilingual sites
With robust support for moving images between systems, you can focus efforts on authoring rather than rebuilding.
Tips for Maximizing Interactive Image Impact
When planning interactive visuals, apply these proven strategies:
Lead Users Through a Storyline or Process Flow
Diagrams often depict complex stories or sequences. Using hotspots to actively direct through key phases retains visitor focus.
Credit: Venngage
Pull visitors along an explanatory progression before opening full complexity.
Break Up Long-Form Written Content
Blocks of text risk reader fatigue and tune out. Insert interactive images midway article pages to give eyes a breather while sustaining engagement.
Overlay graphics also motivate continued progress through lengthy posts. Inserts act like checkpoints for commitment.
Emphasize Calls-to-Action (CTAs)
Encouraging conversions requires prominent placement and reinforcement.
Embed interactive images above the fold directly preceding CTAs. Animated hotspots can dynamically shift attention to key buttons and links through movement.
Such flourishes make desired next steps harder to ignore.
Chart Performance With Built-In Metrics
The Draw Attention dashboard reports usage metrics like:
- Hotspot click frequency
- Info box views
- Mouse hover heatmaps
Collect data to identify popular/unused areas and improvement opportunities.
For example, add more contextual details ifpopup copy consumes heavy reads. Or boost link visibility where lower traffic maps appear.
Go Forth and Enhance Visual Engagement
That wraps our guide to creating immersive interactive images for WordPress.
We walked through:
✔️ Adding hotspots to define clickable zones
✔️ Launching popup info boxes
✔️ Applying spotlight effects
✔️ Customizing styles
✔️ Reusing images across posts
Kickstart driving more value from articles, landing pages, and diagrams with Draw Attention.
Install the free plugin or premium toolkit to infuse visual pop and interactivity across your website.
Questions or suggestions? Sound off below!
