4 Quick & Easy Blog Image Tips

It’s a proven fact that simply having a picture with an article will increase your click-through rate, and capture your audience’s attention better, even if the picture isn’t the best. The goal, of course, is to have a relevant picture that conveys the message and feeling of your article. These quick tips will help you do that, just a little bit better.

Unique

It’s easy to just slap a generic stock photo on your article, and call it good. Sometimes a stock photo works, but in some cases, your picture will be more effective if you use a photo that you or someone at your business has taken. This also ensures that some other website isn’t using the exact same photo as you, which can be common with stock photos.

It’s also important to think just a little bit outside the box with your picture. If your article is about roof insurance, don’t simply use a picture of a house. Instead, use a picture of a damaged roof, or a picture of a contractor working on a roof.

Emotional

While using a photo of a damaged roof is not only more interesting to look at, it also appeals to the viewers emotional side. The viewer may have had a damaged roof before, or it may inspire them to take action to protect themselves.

Another example can be seen in non-profit websites that help children. Often times you will see a sad or lonely child. These kinds of pictures appeal to the viewer’s emotional side and encourage you to help. Alternatively, many of those same kinds of websites focus on the positive by showing happy or playful children. This helps show the effect the non-profit has on people’s lives. Either route is acceptable, but you want to be consistent with the emotions you’re conveying on your website.

Contextual

It’s also important that you maintain context with your article. You want your image to relate to your article as much as possible. If you’re talking about the newest drink at your coffee shop, a close-up shot of that particular drink will be more effective than an overall shot of your shop. It may be more difficult to find a contextual picture for some articles, especially when the subject matter is abstract. In cases like these, you’ll want to try to frame the concept for your article in a tangible way.

For example, this article for one of our clients, Sandler Training of Oklahoma, is about overcoming obstacles. While it may not be possible to show overcoming the actual obstacles that the article talks about, we can use a picture that conveys that feeling, instead.

Quality

If you’re going to use a photo that you or someone on your staff has taken, you want to make sure is good enough quality. Here is a quick check-list that can help you determine whether or not your picture has what it takes:

• Is the photo high-resolution?
• Is the subject matter in focus?
• Is the photo bright enough?
• Is the subject matter large enough?
• Is the subject matter properly framed?

If you can only say yes to a few of the points above, you may need to rethink your picture. Some of the issues can be fixed with a quick visit to a photo editing program, but sometimes it may be easier to find another picture to use instead.