Contrary to popular belief; blogging isn’t just about writing; it’s also about creating a visually appealing experience to keep visitors flowing through your articles. Incorporating visuals into your blog articles can help you draw in readers, boost engagement, and even improve your search engine optimization (SEO) rankings.
Let’s look at why visuals are important for your blog and talk about how visuals impact SEO.
As the saying goes, “a picture is worth a thousand words”, — and this is especially true when it comes to blogging.
Without visual elements, your blog may be hard to read or digest, making it less likely that readers will finish reading it.
On the other hand, if you add visuals such as infographics, eBooks and white papers, images, or videos, people are more likely to stay on your page and read through your entire blog post.
What Kind Of Visuals You Should Use?
The types of visuals that you use will depend on what type of content you are producing. For example, if you are writing an instructional blog post on how to use WordPress, then including screenshots of the software interface might be helpful.
If you are creating a travel blog post, then perhaps adding some photos from the destination would be more effective.
In general, though, using high-quality images relevant to the topic of your post is always a good idea — just make sure that they are correctly attributed.
Another high-impact type of visual you should use is the infographic. Infographics allow you to visually explain more complex concepts and help readers absorb the information more easily.
You’ll also want to have visuals in place for when you share your content on social media. Social media graphics can make your posts stand out, thus leading to an increase in clicks and a boost in traffic to your website.
Here’s an example of some social media graphics the team at Pixel Theorem designed to help breathe life into a client’s blog.
How do Visuals Impact SEO?
Visuals can potentially impact SEO in the following two ways.
By helping improve user experience (UX)
By optimizing image file names.
Visuals to Improve SEO
Improving UX means making sure that your website is easy to navigate and visually appealing — this makes visitors more likely to stay longer on your site, which can lead to higher search rankings over time.
Here’s a great example of a website using simple design tactics and exhibiting a nice use of white space to create an easy, enjoyable experience for the visitor.
Apple uses a lot of white space to help the two Macbooks stand out so the visitor has a simple concept of what Apple would like them to do. The navigation menu is also laid out in an easy-to-navigate way.
Optimizing Image File Names
As for optimizing image file names, this means making sure that the file name reflects what is actually in the image so that search engines can better understand what is being displayed on the page — this can help increase organic traffic over time.
Make sure the description you add for your image is accurate and uses keywords when relevant. This can help give your site a boost in image searches.
One additional tip. You’ll want to ensure your images aren’t bogging down the site. Ensure your file sizes are smaller but not too small – and use .jpg, png, or GIF files to ensure the images are optimized.
Creating Visuals Without an In-house Graphic Design Team
Not every business has the luxury of hiring graphic designers. There are a lot of great tools, like Canva, for example, to create designs. But, those tools will never be an adequate substitute for an actual professional graphic designer.
For this reason, you should consider outsourcing your graphic design projects. Outsourcing the work to the right professional can save you might be avoiding paying a full salary when you have limited design needs. If you hire the right person or agency, you can rest assured you’ll get high-quality visuals for your blog.
Final Thoughts on Using Visuals on Your Blog
Incorporating visual elements into your blog posts can be a great way to make them stand out from the competition and deliver valuable information to readers.
Not only can visuals help engage readers, but they can also potentially improve SEO rankings if done correctly — all of which make them an invaluable asset for any successful blogger.
So go ahead and try adding some visuals to your next post – who knows what kind of amazing results you may see.