There are thousands of blog posts that get published every day and your posts are competing with them. Not only is good content needed, but so is a good image. Imagery can draw users attention to the content and give your post an additional boost.
Screenshots, logos, people, and product images are all good easy ways to incorporate imagery into a blog post. Almost anything is better than a big block of text.
When considering what type of image to add, think of what’s visually appealing. It may not always be a product shot, or a picture of a smiling person, quite possibly an image of the sky or an animal can convey the feeling you are trying to get across in your post much easier.
As an example, how do you feel just by looking at the images below?
Cat
Storm
Abstract Lines
Flower
Leaves
Each image should give a different feeling. When added to the post, the images can set the tone before someone reads anything more than the headline.
So where can you find imagery for your posts? Head over to Creative Commons search engine and they’ll show you images from Google and Flickr; which should be free to use. Stock photo sites, like iStockPhoto, are also great places to find imagery that can be used on your blog. Granted it’ll cost, but not usually more than a few dollars an image.
Imagery is very powerful. If you look at a magazine or a newspaper, the first thing you’ll probably notice are the images. Those images set the tone for the article and draw readers in. This is also true blog posts. Not only can imagery help catch more eyeballs, but it can convey an additional emotional aspect to your writing.
Bonus: Learn more about Creative Commons Licenses and Online Marketing at the Online Marketing Blog.
