When working with clients about improving their small business blogs, I frequently ask about their own surfing habits. “When you visit a new first for the first time, what draws your immediate attention?”, I ask. More often than not, the first answer that I hear is ‘images’. I then suggest to my clients that they need to consider ways to add to or improve the imagery to their own company blogs.
What sort of image works best?
Anything! Well, almost anything. It’s best to use a photo that is directly on point. For example, if writing a blog post about how to get more life out of one of our products, then a photo of that product is a great fit. If announcing the arrival of our newest employee, then certainly a photo of that new staff member would work wonderfully.
Yet, if we’re blogging about a concept that is less tangible, then consider using a photo of a related topic. Consider my post about tangible benefits of blogging: I snapped a photo of US dollars and British pounds to represent the commercial value of the tangible benefits.
Shooting your own
With the quality of digital cameras and the cameras on smart phones, it’s now easier than ever to take your own pictures for your blog. No, not everyone can be David Bailey just because they own a camera. Then again, most blog posts do not require breathtaking imagery. All they require is a visual complement, a graphic anchor to capture the reader’s attention. That can often be achieved with a simple camera (or an iPhone) and various objects from around the office.
The following images are just of sample of photos that I’ve used on my own blog:
All those photos were shot in my office, with items that I had laying around. Sure, I used Photoshop to digitally enhance some of the photos, but those tweaks are not really necessary. I edited the images because I am a communications designer. The native images, as they came off the camera, would certainly have worked.
So, as you focus on getting a few more blog posts up before the start of holiday season, why not try to add some of your own photos to your blog posts?
I confess I’m surprised folks wouldn’t immediately think of photographs as having no small amount of importance for a web site.
But I’m still not certain if this is Wednesday or Tuesday, so I’m not the best judge of anything.
Hi Forkboy,
I think it’s a combination of underestimating the value of imagery and finding a cost effective way to add pictures to posts that cause most bloggers to stumble.