When you think about writing your next blog, what’s the first thing that comes to mind? Most likely you probably said to yourself, “the content, of course.” I mean, it should be the first thing that comes to your mind as a blogger. You spend hours brainstorming about what to write, how to write it, what perspective to take, how to outline it, and what details to include or questions to answer.
So, what falls on the back burner, if you’re thinking of the content to type up? Everything else involved in the blog! From SEO best practice, to web design, to the media you upload with the blog including graphs, infographics, and images.
Truth be told, there is always more to cover when we talk about how to improve blog writing, especially with how quickly technology changes.
Today, though, let’s focus on the media and images. Let’s face it. The online world and social media is very competitive. With your audience having so many choices flying past their feeds at the speed of light, it is images that will more than likely have them stop scrolling and click. That is why the images you choose to use are so important to the success of your blog.
3 Ways To Capture Your Blog Audience With Images
1. Create Infographics that people will want to share
If you’ve spent any time on Pinterest, you’ll see that a huge portion of blogs that are repeatedly pinned are those that use infographics that are sized 1000 x 1500 pixels. Canva offers free option templates for putting together awesome looking infographics fast and easy, even with no prior experience or graphic design knowledge.
Some tips for putting together eye-catching infographics:
- Use short phrases rather than full sentences.
- Alternate facts with percentages, numbers, and quotes.
- Use the same infographic template repeatedly through your blog to make it a cohesive look.
Creating great looking and informative infographics is also a great way to get backlinks without a lot of extra effort. Other sites love to share them in their own blog content and with a link back to you, new readers have an opportunity to find you through other channels. Not to mention that Google will reward you for being cited on other sites.
If you have no idea what kinds of infographics to create, just look at your posts. More than likely, you have at least a few listicles. Those are perfect to convert to an infographic image.
2. Take selfies!
If you’re writing a fashion or lifestyle blog, it is imperative that you utilize your own pictures. You don’t need to look like a cookie-cutter model. In fact, readers are going to enjoy it more if you look like a real person that they can connect with and relate to. Honestly, go look at your Insta feed and you will see women in all shapes and sizes and ages. And they all have huge followings. Some even more so than the “perfect” model types.
But even if you are in another niche, do not overlook the importance of not only taking your own images but sharing snaps with you in them as well. With so many blogs out there, personal connection is one way to help readers form a bond with you. And that can happen as easily as someone attaching a face to a blog. People trust people more than a faceless entity.
Ok, I convinced you to take selfies, now what?
It is very helpful if you have someone in your life that can help you take photos. But most of us don’t. If you don’t want to wrangle an unsuspecting friend into taking photos for you while you cook meals or stand beneath colourful blossoming trees, consider the art of the advanced selfie, a term popularized by Sorelle Amore who teaches online courses of the advanced selfie, and has several youtube videos on how to use a tripod and real camera to take timed selfies that are absolutely phenomenal. You’ll never have to bribe a friend to take photos of you again!
And honestly, the more you do it, the more comfortable and better at it you will become. So start taking selfies often as practice. You don’t have to post them. You just have to get used to doing it.
3. Learn how to edit your images
The most visually inspiring blogs are those that have engaging images that are both thematically linked as well as similar in color tones and vibes.
When you think of editing your photos, if you are thinking of spending hours behind your computer screen, nitpicking every detail, you’re overthinking it. You can edit easily from your smartphone with apps like Snapseed or VSCO that allows you to put saved filters over your images.
The same image with different filters can take on a different feel entirely, and it’s a simple way to link your blog articles together. You can even use the filter over infographics so that they’re tied together visually. If you’re not sure where to start, type “VSCO Themes” into Pinterest to get some ideas of what filters you may be interested in.
If you are totally new to editing and using filters, it is going to take some practice to create the look you want. Be patient. You may also want to write down the filters you use as well as the settings. There is nothing more frustrating than finally coming up with a filter you like than not being able to duplicate it to update old images or create new ones. Write down every process and every filter you try along with the results.
A key takeaway
Don’t overdo your blog with images – a blog with three photos is just as valuable as one with ten, and a lot less overwhelming for the reader and the writer. Ultimately, have fun with the images and media you include in your blog, and always make the images relevant to the topic discussed.
