30 Days to a Better Blog: Add Images or Video to Each Blog Post
Images and video are important to blog posts and pages because they immediately draw in the reader’s attention and help break up the monotony of all that text! Today’s tip is to incorporate these visual elements into each and every blog post.
Adding Images To Your Post:
- Upload the images to your blog. Don’t hotlink to other images because 1. It’s bad practice and 2. You never know when the hosting site will remove the image or replace it with something else altogether!
- Make sure that you images are of a good quality and source them at the bottom of the post. Don’t steal! If you are searching for pictures online, make sure you look for the Creative Commons License (more on that on our Creative Commons 101). My favorite sites for free photos are SXC and Flickr (if you search correctly).
- Align images properly. If you right or left align them, make sure the text wraps around the image, and I personally think it looks best if the image is less than half the width of your main container. If your image is going to be larger than that, I think its best to center the picture and not have the text wrap at all.
- Resize your images. If you have a very large image, resize it to fit the container of your blog. This way you don’t have to worry about it breaking your computer or taking a long time to load!
Adding Videos to Your Post:
- Search for the best quality of a video. Many people upload the same videos (from television, interview clips, etc) – but some are better than others!
- Embed a size that fits your blog. You don’t want to break your container.
Image Source: SXC
Nikki,
You are so right. Photos and videos make a post come alive. I have found that if I can’t find a photo on-line or do not feel comfortable with the photo rights, then I try to find a photo of my own that will work to add interest to the post, or I take a new photo. For example, when I wrote my 2010 review of Blog World Expo I used all of my own photos. I think it made the post more interesting.
Zemanta is a great tool that not only provides applicable photos for the blogger’ use, it also provides links for related news items or blog posts and relative links. Last year Blogger began offering Zemanta software as a plug-in for Blogger. It really is helpful.
Your advice about sizing and placement is very important. So often new bloggers will think everything looks great when they hit “publish”, but often times they don’t check their work. Quality assurance is really critical for photos, videos, and links. Test to make sure they all work correctly.
Thanks again.
Good point Judy!! Using your images is a great way to make a point and is very beneficial in many blogs (crafts, food blogging, etc). It can showcase your personality and your products.