Alicia Dodd
I have to admit, I am so tired of seeing such uninspired feature images on blogs and I’m not the only one. My colleagues share my sentiments and I’m sure other professionals agree; feature images matter.
Statistically, content with relevant images gets 94 percent more views than content without. Furthermore, the brain processes visuals 60,000 times faster than it does text. This really illustrates why compelling images make all the difference in a post. Personally, the feature image is what often hooks me to read a blog post.
With that said, for today’s Quick Tip I thought I’d share three ways to improve your blog images. (I am also on a mission to get professionals to STOP using those dreaded clip art gummy people).
- Invest in a stock photography account.
Although there are free services such as google images and Flickr to find pictures that are safe to use, they don’t always have that perfect picture to go with your post. I would suggest you bite the bullet and invest in a stock photography site. Some to consider include, shutterstock, 123rf, Dreamstime, istock, and Getty Images.
- Size and crop your images properly.
Take a few minutes to look up the correct sizing requirements prior to uploading your image to LinkedIn, WordPress, and the like. Next, edit your photo accordingly. If you have a Mac, you can do this directly on your computer – using Preview. If you use a PC, you can always use services such as Canva and Croppola. This will help to eliminate the chances of your image being pixelated, too large, or oddly shaped in a post.
- Move Away from the gummy people.
Call me radical, but I try to limit the use of the those clipart gummy people as much as possible. In my opinion, they are a telltale sign of someone who is either an amateur at blog writing or just unwilling to take the time to find an actual stock image that conveys the message of their post. Either way the use of the gummy people is just downright cheesy in my eyes. Instead, try to use images that show actual people in natural settings. If you can’t find a great image of an actual person, go abstract. Images with abstract items, such as an apple, computer, or shapes can capture a reader’s attention much better than a gummy person or (even worse) a team of them.
I hope this post inspires you to do better when it comes to images and please don’t take offense. We’ve all been guilty of not updating our blog image a time or two.
Bonus Tip:
If you have a recurring blog topic, such as our quick tips, consider creating an image with words, like ours. Happy posting.
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