There are always new trends in blogging.

It’s important to understand and follow current trends so that your blog is up-to-date.

In the last few years, there have been many different trends regarding images.

When I first started blogging, images were all the rage.

Then came the minimalist movement where most images disappeared.

But minimalism is definitely on the way out.

Now images are back again. With a twist.

Here is what an article in Forbes says about images:

Successful blog posts that receive the most social shares also usually have a common characteristic: they pepper in some well-placed pictures to break content up and emphasize certain points.

 

Why you should use images

There are many advantages of using images. Let’s take a close look at the benefits.

1. Images attract readers.

As you can read in Leo Babauta’s article about choosing images, images naturally make people want to read your posts. That is, if you choose your image wisely. As Leo says, images of human beings (especially if you can see the eyes),  children, and animals are particularly attractive.

A study found that 44 percent of users were more likely to engage with a blog that posts photos rather than purely text-based content.

2. Images add a layer of meaning to a post.

With an image, you can add a subtle message to your post.

For example, Write to Done recently carried a piece about overcoming procrastination. I wanted to use a fun image that carries positive energy, because most people feel bad about procrastinating.

Here is what I came up with:

3. Images add an emotional component.

When we trigger emotions in our readers, we touch them in a special way. An interesting way to trigger emotions is by using images that immediately get the reader tuned in to the post topic.

For example, one of our guest authors on WritetoDone.com wrote a piece on how to write funny. Here is the image that leads into the post:

I chose the image because it immediately makes people smile and they are warmed up for the information that follows. In addition, I’m subtly suggesting the benefit of learning to write funny – which is to make people laugh.

4. Images can keep new readers on the blog for longer.

When new readers come to a blog, the first twenty seconds are crucial. If you have an arresting image on your post, chances are that the new reader will stay and start reading.

5. Images encourage sharing on social media.

If you want to encourage social media shares, you need to start creating images that people like to share. To find out how to get more social media shares through using images, click here.

6. Images heighten readability.

I once interviewed Derek Halpern, and asked him about using images. He came up with a very interesting answer.

The most important reason to use an image is to make the first paragraphs readable.

What he meant is that images make the beginning of a blog post easier to follow because the lines are shorter.

Here is an example:

As you can see, the lines of the beginning paragraphs are very short. This means that the start of the post is easy to read.

Using full-width images with text

An interesting way of using images is to lead into a blog post with a full-width image (600×400). The drawback is that readers can’t read the beginning of a post above the fold.

That’s why it’s important to use text on the image to draw people into the post. Here is an example:

It’s a good idea to use a question to draw people into the post. But make sure you pose a question that can’t be answered with ‘yes’ or ‘no’.

How to create a pictorial post

You can create a pictorial post on your blog. This is a post that contains mostly images with overlaid text.

Here is an example:  10 Quotes to Kickstart Your Inspiration for Writing.

Each quote is displayed as part of an image, like the one below:

Here’s how to put together a pictorial post in three steps:

1. Choose the text you want to use for each image.

2. Go to Morguefile.com to choose free images that fit your text.

3. Use Pixlr to add the text to the image. Follow our paint-by-numbers guide on how to add a border and text to an image with Pixlr.

How to make sharing on social media easier

When you add an image, make sure you choose “Link to Media File” so that the link can be used to share your image on Facebook or Pinterest.

The newest trend: video header

The newest trend to to use big video headers on a blog site is . You can see what that looks like on Paypal.

Here is an article on how to create a video header.

Conclusion

If you want to get your posts shared more widely on social media, using images is an easy way to get traction. In particular, images with text overlays get shared widely.

There are many different ways to place images.

You can align your image to the right or left of the post to ensure that the start of your post gets seen above the fold.

You can also use big images with text to start a blog post. And of course, you can create pictorial posts that are a series of images with text.

It’s a good idea to bookmark blog posts that use images in an inspirational way. And don’t be nervous of experimenting!

Images are all about fun – both for the reader and the blogger.

Author: Mary Jaksch