While successful blogs are built on a foundation of dedication, quality content and frequent posting there are other ways to enhance your blog and keep readers coming back.
By using images effectively, you will make your blog more appealing to your readership and help increase your credibility in the blogosphere.
1. Blog Header
Your blog header will be the first thing readers see when they visit your blog. As such, using an appropriate image here to strengthen and promote your brand is vital. Your blog header can and should include your brand logo, tagline, colors, etc. and should be visually appealing, as well. Additionally, the design scheme should be able to convey the message you’re sending while lending your blog credibility, as well.
Make sure when you create your personalized blog header, however, that the image you use, your business tagline, etc. is consistent across all of your marketing materials in order for your company to build even more credibility.
2. Incentives
For many bloggers, one of the primary goals is to increase the number of subscribers. One way to do this is by offering incentives, which the majority of bloggers have. If you do offer an incentive, such as a free e-book, report or other freebie, you can use an attractive image of your incentive to get people interested.
By using a compelling image of your incentive and placing it in a prominent location on your blog, readers are more likely to subscribe to whatever it is you’re offering. This is one of the easiest ways to use images to enhance your blog and can be one of the most effective.
3. About Page
Your “About” page tells the reader more about you and the goals of your blog/company, so placing a photo of yourself on this page can enhance the experience of your readers. By including a personal photograph, you are able to connect to your readers on a more personal level.
People enjoy being able to put a face to the person behind a blog or a business, and this is one of the most effective ways you can use images to not only increase the credibility of your blog, but help establish trusting relationships with your readers.
4. Product Promotion
If you sell products, you can use your blog as a place for product promotion. By using compelling, quality images of the products you want to promote while including a call to action within the image you have the potential to increase your sales and attract both new and existing customers.
Creating simple badges with your product images and placing these images in the sidebar can help compel your readers to make a purchase or, at the very least, check out what you have to offer. Furthermore, placing these images in your sidebar rather than constantly self-promoting in every blog post means that you aren’t likely to lose a reader because of too much self-promotion.
5. Community Widgets
If you are lucky enough to have a large number of fans or followers on Facebook, Twitter, or other social media sites, you can place social media widgets on your blog to highlight the size of your communities.
People with large numbers of followers are more likely to be taken seriously in the blogging world, and their blogs are likely to be viewed as an authority on whatever subject they’re writing about. If you want to make your blog look visually appealing (and you have a good amount of social media followers,) feel free to place one of these widgets in a prominent location on your blog.
When Enough is Enough
There’s a fine line between using images to enhance your blog and using entirely too many that it becomes distracting. Be sure not to overdo it.
Once you find the balance you need to make your blog visually appealing without going overboard, you’ll discover that the proper placement of images can really lend credibility to your blog and help you become as successful as possible.
Thanks Brian.
A good image helps for sure. It shows that you care for what you are doing.
When you add a nice image of an eBook that you are offering – the reader understands that you mean business and are in it for the long haul.
An image will sure help, whether it is to establish a strong personal brand or to build a business (blog).
Yep, sounds advice for sure!
Great post, and on a subject matter that goes largely ignored in the blogging world.
Too many pictures distract from the content, muddy the waters of why I came in the first place, and just may keep me from coming back again. But a quality image that enhances and promotes the content of the article can be a tremendous tool, when used wisely.
A picture is worth a 1,000 words. If your post is only 500 words, then maybe the image speaks louder than your content? Yet if the image strengthens the article itself, then you’ve done 3-times the job. (Well, that’s my fuzzy math, anyway.)
I’m working on my personal site’s Blog Header today. I went ultra minimalist last night and need to figure something out. Thanks for the reminder.
Great comment Charles, I don’t think I could have said it better myself.
I spend hours pouring over photos, trying to find the perfect combination. I constantly ask “will this add or detract” from the content.
We are visual creatures and the perfect photo, like Charles said, is truly worth a 1,000 words.
I really think images should be included on blogs and websites. I do think people have a tendency to overdo it thinking big images appeal to folks. That’s why I try to keep the ones I use here on my site wide, but fairly short. It presents value and some form of imagination to the post but gets out of the way once people start reading.
You’ve fired a pair of questions on my mind with your comment, Brian.
1. What do you consider a better solution?
- Big enough images without being able to click them for a larger size?
- Small images that people can click to make bigger?
2. For a website where you can complement your writing with personal photos?
- Take photos and use them?
- Take photos from another site (Like SXC or Google IMG Search avoiding copyright problems)
Thanks in advance for your time answering this one
Interesting Article, Brian.
The header seems to be very important for me. Also the About Page with the personal touch as you mentioned.
Featured images are also very important depending on our website’s design, specially if they’re amazing or impressive ones.
As for the Social Icons, I’m using the simple social icons widget, which is quite good looking, but maybe I’ll try another thing.
I think a balance when using all of those is really necessary. Of course some types of sites (photoblogs, etc) will warrant more use of images than others, but I’ve seen some pretty overloaded sites that are hard to navigation.
I spent ages on images before I published this post.
http://easypublicspeaking.co.uk/word-pictures-using-imagery-in-speeches/
The post was about the use of imagery in speeches so finding actual images was important.
Sorry Studiopress – it’s an Elegant Themes theme!
Heh, it’s ok – Nick does some pretty superb design work over there at Elegant Themes, that’s for sure. I had the pleasure of meeting him last year at WordCamp SF and also talked with him this year at the Copyblogger Party at SXSW. Great guy.
Great tips! I have been stuck in the rut of placing a smaller sized image on the left hand side of posts…on every website I own.
Now for a change…I much prefer your look with the wide, narrow image at the top. It grabs my attention and makes me read the article.
Thanks Brian!
Hey Susan – yeah, that skinny full width image thing is something I’m stuck on. Also seen in our new Decor theme that we released this week.
Hi Brian,
I thank you for this enlightening piece of information. I’m now going to update my “About Me” page with an attractive and beautiful portrait.
I’ve however issues with the Genesis Framework. I use the free Nomadic theme but I’ve completely failed to display “featured images” on the articles. This is why the front page of my website (http://bright.rw) looks old-fashioned.
What can I do to display those images? I need my website to look impressive. Please help me with the trick. Thank you very much for the tutorials.
Thanks fot the header image tips Brian, I blog for years, but not really care too much that way. I feel stupid for creating a logo for favicon and facebook page but that image doesn’t appear anymore on tho blog
By the way, I like this wider design, remind me of copyblogger.
Great advice Brian and works well for my personal site, but…
I have one caveat: Know thy niche!
I design a lot of sites for wedding professionals. Brides are almost entirely visual. For my clients image heavy is what works best for them to attract their target audience. I look through their stats and the more text, the fewer views.
Now if I could just get them to excel at labeling those images