Why do you think images matter?
In a fast-developing virtual world, content is being produced in lightning speed. It is a place where everything offline is being presented for the audience to see and where users are constantly choosing what to read (and what not to!). Interesting visual content is bound to appeal to our senses. Information that is driven through visual content can drive in more blog traffic and hold the interest of your readers.
After all, it is proven that images generate greater click-through rates. Tweets with images can generate 28 percent more retweets, links with images are shared more on social media, and promotions through interesting, beautiful, meaningful and often shocking images can attract the attention of greater number of users. Images are a doorway to greater information – they are a valuable keyhole that opens to provide a greater and better view of what’s being written on your blog.
So, the question arises – how to use images to drive in greater blog traffic? Here, are a few strategies that might help you win the hearts of your readers.
Tip # 1: Using infographics that illustrate a ‘how to’ or a step-by-step guide of a certain plan
Inforgraphics or information graphics are brief representations of data that can be visualized quickly and be understood clearly. When used in a colorful manner to illustrate a step-by-step tutorial, it makes your blog post much easier to share on the internet.Take for example, the answer to the question ‘How to open a Facebook account?’ – instead of writing hefty posts on how to go about with the process, a simple guide with essential labels and brief informative content can engage a much wider scope of audience. Moreover, they don’t need to be fancy or designed with much detail; they just need to solve the purpose at hand. People love shortcuts, especially when they are restless enough not to go through an entire article. Such instructional graphics are also shared more on Pinterest and can be bookmarked easily.
Tip #2: Using graphical representations of web-statistics or tables or charts
A statement that is juxtaposed with hardcore data from a trusted source immediately becomes a more valuable piece of information. Sometimes bloggers want to push forward a basic point, and in this regard, tables, graphs and charts help to explain the data well. Such images also become more ‘share-worthy’ on social networking sites or on Pinterest. They also elucidate on a statement and make blogs more readable and relevant.There are many blogs that use stat-based data to drive forward a point to the audience. One that does it really well is Dan Zarella’s blog, an award-winning ‘social media scientist’. His blog is an asset to marketers as he breaks down most of his posts into relevant graphs and charts. Take for example his recent post on the length of tweets so that they are more likely to be considered for a retweet – with a graph showing the percentage of retweets against the number of characters of a tweet. He comes to the conclusion that tweets between 100 and 115 characters are bound to increase retweet percentage by about 34%. You can go through his blog to get an example of how to drive in more blog traffic to graphical representations and maybe get a few ideas from there!
Tip 3#: Using lots of screenshots
Most blogs that ask for guest-posts often carry the instruction to fill the article with many screenshots, original images. They can accompany a how-to guide putting forward the visual aspect of going about with each step. For example, if you are writing down the instructions on ‘How to Open a Facebook Page?’ after each instruction, you can take a screenshot of the Facebook webpage that matches with the instruction that you have mentioned. Moreover, you can edit the screenshot using arrows or red lines to guide the viewer visually. Screenshots are easy to create and are extremely helpful for the audience because they are easy to follow.Tip #4: Marketing the images across various social networking platforms
Recently, Qdoba came up with a brilliant social marketing campaign wherein the queso eaters of their brand could vote for their favorite fresh queso across social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. They updated the results in real-time; hence, engaged their fans with the entire endeavor. Moreover, the campaign was done mostly through content that stimulated the eyes!So, remember – when you post important content in your blog, always incorporate at least two images – they may be landscapes or portraits. After doing so, share an icon of your Facebook page or your Twitter page on your blog, so that they are easily accessible. Also, include links to your blog on these social media platforms so that followers and likers can easily access your blog by clicking on the link that you have shared.
After all, social media today is a network – it is almost like a transport medium that can take you from one place to another. Social media fosters connections that you never anticipated and thus spans across many platforms that can generate leads from out of the blue.
Tip #5: Designing an eye grabbing page header on your social media page or on your blog
Covers on Facebook are the first thing that a person looks at and the same applies for the top-most picture of a blog page. A captivating blog or a social media page characteristically features a well-designed and visually-intriguing cover that can hold a viewer’s interest even from the beginning. Covers are colorful and classy or often contain an illusion or a beautiful quote to go with it. They are almost like a billboard advertisement for a brand.Think of it like this – say, you are a pedestrian who is walking down the street. Suddenly, you look upwards and what captures your attention is this huge billboard that comes with a very catchy picture or a headline. The same applies to a person surfing the web. They are browsing through the internet and suddenly they see your blog. The first thing that they see is the compelling picture on the top. Sure-shot traffic, I must say.
Tip #6: Getting more blog traffic from Slideshare
Slideshare presentations can be a great way of creating a simple overview of what your blog contains. A content-rich and easy to comprehend presentation can be included as a link on your blog post. Such links can be viewed by the readers while on the blog page as an array of continuous pictures.Slides that are useful are often awarded the ‘slide of the day’ title, attracting a number of views and being retweeted in a number of occasions. They may also generate a high click-through rate and be featured in the trending section. Thus, it is a brilliant strategy to add Slideshare to your bag of marketing strategies. A well-designed and inspiring presentation can be an asset for your blog post and a huge boost to the traffic that is driven into your blog.
Tip #7: Proper placing of images based on word ratios
This is rarely discussed, but the image-to-word ratio in your article can make a huge difference. It’s no news that adding images to your article can instantly increase the traffic that your blog post gets; however, marketers often become confused on the number of images to add. A recent survey by Buzzsumo says that articles that used one image for every 75-100 words were more likely to command a greater number of views than other articles. Thus, you should know when and where to put the images in your article.Tip #8: Using varied and relevant visual content
The visual media that accompanies your blog post must also be specific to the purpose at hand. Illustrate what you want to establish through the picture using a proper and relevant caption that summarizes the entire idea behind the image.Also, it is essential that you vary your content. No one wants to go through a drab blog page that keeps harping on the same point over and over again. Users value diversity and the best way to do so is by using varied visual content. Some of your pictures can be simple images taken from the internet, some can be photographs and some can be infographics. A steady dose of graphs and humorous comics in between can prove to be a boon for a blogger.
Infographic courtesy of: Design School Canva.
Visual content can be that secret trick up your sleeves through which you can boost your blog engagement. They can be eye-catching, attention-grabbing and compelling additions to a blog post that can increase traffic by manifold. The above mentioned list of tips were created to give you a simple introduction as to what can help you as a blogger, but additions are welcome. Hence, there will be enhancement of your creativity and resourcefulness in using visual content. Go on; tell your interest of using visual media that drive traffic to your blog.
About author:
Eve Haugen has been a freelance writer for a long while. Her passion in writing is her main drive in crafting articles that are engaging, informative, and meaningful. Her partnership with QuickSEOResults has given her a whole new opportunity to take writing to a whole new level.
