If your brand or personal Facebook page lacks photos, then you’re not using Facebook to its full potential. Not only will a photo increase the weight of your Facebook EdgeRank, allowing your post to organically reach more people, but more people are going to actually spot your post in their feeds. If you don’t know what EdgeRank is, stop reading, open up and new tab, and Google it.

Think about how fast you go through your Facebook newsfeed, specifically on your phone. For the most part, we scroll though and scan status updates rather than reading each update word for word. It only makes sense that pictures are going to catch your eye and plain text status updates are going to be quickly scanned though or completely passed over.

Take a look at the Facebook feed below and tell me which of the four posts really stand out. Pictures or plain-text?

Our eyes naturally go to the images. If the image is appealing enough, maybe we read the post copy. On the Taco Bell post, the image post has a single line of text copy that can be scanned over, consumed, and understood in a second. IF I happened to read the text-based update, I would have to stop my natural quick scroll, read the update, and comprehend. I know it doesn’t sound like much but next time you’re on Facebook, see how many text updates you read word for word. Not to mention, the picture really brings this Taco Bell post to life. As for the Valentines day post: that image took me about 30 seconds to make and it sends the message I want more effectively than the plain-text version. All I did was put my message in picture form. It’s as simple as putting your text on a blank canvas and saving it as a .jpg or .png.

Don’t forget that posts come and go on a cell phone with just a thumb stroke. An overwhelming majority of the time, more people will notice your post if there is an image attached to it. You’ll encourage more likes, comments, shares, etc. on your posts and as a result, you’ll show up in more of your fans’ and friends’ news feeds (I hope you read up on EdgeRank. This will add weight to your edge and over time, to your affinity). This doesn’t only apply to brands, it also applies to personal pages as well. The point of Facebook, and all social media for that matter, is to share information with one another. Whether you’re giving your brand exposure, letting your friends or fans know what you’re up to, sharing an interesting article, or interacting with and engaging your audience, you may as well share your message with as many people as possible.

To sum up: Make sure you’re spending your time on Facebook effectively and efficiently. Post pictures… every time. There’s no reason not to.