Studies show that today’s web surfer is generally much more responsive to images than to text. For this reason, it is important that you choose the best images for your blog. Unfortunately, that is sometimes easier said than done. It helps to know what, exactly, constitutes a good blog image.
Relevant. If your blog is about gardening, then you shouldn’t have a lot of cute kitten images all over your site. Readers who are attracted to your site because of the images will be let down, and readers who are interested in gardening won’t be able to take you seriously.
Unique. Anyone can visit a stock photo or clip art website and download free images. Unfortunately, images that are not unique (or one of a kind) will be on other blogs beside yours. This has clear implications when it comes to having credibility and standing out from the crowd.
Interesting. No matter what the media, there is no denying that interesting images are the best images. Your blog images should be interesting in that they are eye-catching, make a statement, incite emotion (whether it be sentimentality or laughter), and represent your blog content in a way that adds to the text.
High quality. Your blog images should not be blurry, pixilated, unclear, or low quality in any other way (and, yes, there are many ways in which images can be low quality). Your site visitors will judge your blog by the images they see first-off, so provide them with images they can see clearly.
Convertibility. Remember that people will be viewing your blog on a variety of computing devices. This means that your blog images should easily convert to be viewable on all screen sizes, from smart phones to desktops.
Original. As you now know, unique images are the best blog images, and the best way to have unique images is to create images that are original to you. There are a number of resources for creating great original images online, so try it out, whether you have someone create them for you or if you take your own and edit them. Simply search the web and choose a method that works for you.
Makes a statement. Not only should your blog images compliment your blog, but they should also stand on their own to make a statement. When choosing blog images, ask yourself if a visitor to your site would be able to determine what your blog is about without reading a word. If the answer is not yes, then you need some new images.
Images can either make or break your blog’s success. Choosing the best images for your blog is not an easy task. Keep all of these considerations in mind when assessing the ones you want to use.
