6 reasons to use images on your blog
Take a look around at my blog and you’ll notice that I try to use at least one high-quality image for each post. When I sat down and first crafted the concept and layout for my blog I made the intentional decision to illustrate each post with one main image.
Use images that can get the audiences attention (photography © Sukanto Debnath)
In many cases the value of my writing would be the same with or without an picture to it. But the images aren’t added just for the fun of it.
There are good reasons why you need to work with images in order to be found, be clicked on, be understood, be enjoyed and for you to successfully deliver you message.
6 reasons why I use images on every blogpost I write:
- Grab your visitors attention – It is a scientific fact that our brains are built to respond to images much faster than to writing. The message an image delivers is picked up and processed at higher speed. It’s like comparing an old 56k internet connection to a 3G connection with 28 Mbit/s (in existing services – in theory it could be even more).
Images have the power to grab the visitors attention even before she decided to read the first letter. Images can transform your visitors into active readers.
- Illustrate the message – A well chosen image will communicate parts of your message, the intention you have with your writing or even the core message of the article.
By choosing the perfect image for your post you can add information that otherwise wouldn’t be found in the text itself. Images can show details that couldn’t easily be described or even give a hint on your approach towards the topic your dealing with. You could go for an informative, a humorous, a sarcastic, a surreal image etc.
- Make your content scannable – Since images are perceived so fast they are ideal to allow your readers to quickly scan your content or your whole website for relevant information. Your audience will also access your website trough a search for a specific term via a search engine and you’ll have only seconds to convince them that you can provide the answer they were hoping to find.
Especially first time visitors that came looking for a specific piece of information won’t bother to read all your text. They need an answer and it better be delivered quickly. Let your images tell them: “This is it! This is where you need your eyeballs to focus on. The info you are looking for is right HERE!” - Make your content scan- and shareable on all platforms – I like to use one specific image as the “featured” image for each post. I use that image to illustrate the links I share on all the platforms I engage on. Not only can can an article easily be identified through the featured image.
Just like the stream of posts on your blog the walls of your audiences accounts are packed with information. You can help your reader to quickly scan all that input and at the same time adding a quality image gives you the chance to stand out and grab the attention.
- One more puzzle piece to optimize – Search engines don’t only pick up your text. They care for a whole load of information to index your content. Meta tags, headlines, links, text are all important parts of the indexing process. Images provide one more chance for you to add information to your article that can get picked up by search engines.
A lot of people use Google’s image search to find content. Adding an image to your post and supplying the appropriate meta information will get you positioned within the image search ranking.
- When nothing else works – Sometimes images are simply the only possible way to describe what you are writing about. You can explain what shade of green the grass on Greenland’s meadows during sunrise in the early springtime in all the words you can possible find for it. You’ll never create an image in your audiences heads as clear and real as a high-quality image can. There are things that words just can’t describe.
Let me ask you a question: How do you select the “perfect” picture for your post? Please share your answer in the comments below.
