How to Choose the Best Blog Post Graphics

While blog posts rely on SEO-optimized content in order to rank well and receive a good amount of traffic, it’s really the images that do all of the heavy lifting. If you think about it, the world we live in today is highly visual.

There’s no denying how important and impactful visual content is. No matter how much time you spend on writing up a blog post, if it does not have great blog graphics, it will not get the attention it deserves.

 If you’ve ever felt daunted by a huge block of text-based content… your best bet is that someone else has, too. Here’s how to choose the best blog images.

Always Ensure You Have the Right To Use Blog Graphics

What exactly does this mean? Well, if you have not snapped your own blog images, you’re most likely using someone else’s. Not all images that you find across the web are fair game to use because some else owns them. These are the basics of copyright.

So, before you choose your images, make sure you have the right to use them. Images licensed under Creative Commons are free, but you must attribute the owner when using them. There are also a number of sites that offer free stock images to use, such as Pixabay, Pexels, Unsplash, and more.

Bear in mind that ”free” stock images are not always the highest quality and your selection might be limited.

If you’re looking for outstanding quality and a huge range of graphics, it’s worth signing up for a subscription with Getty Images, Shutterstock, or iStockphoto. These sites also remove background material from their graphics if you’re looking for clear, product-style images.

Are Your Graphics Relevant to the Post?

This is super important. You can’t just slap any old image on a blog post and hope for the best. Your images have to tie in with the topic of the blog post.

Your blog image(s) should speak for themselves and outline what the post is about, without you having to read anything. Your header image is also the first thing that blog readers see. So it has to make a relevant impact, otherwise, you could lose traffic altogether.

Are Your Graphics Eye-Catching?

Here’s a little wake-up call for you: it’s not enough that your images are relevant. They have to catch the eye and make an impact, too. When you choose a blog graphic, think about the visual appeal as well as the relevancy. Is the image well-balanced and does it have great color? Is it clear, high-quality, with good depth-of-field?

Ultimately, it’s your images that attract attention to your blog, so make them count.

Remember Your Image Sizing and Optimization

This is yet another fundamental factor you want to think about when uploading blog graphics. If your image is the incorrect size, i.e. too big or too small, it can look completely unprofessional.

If you choose an image that’s too small, it could upload as blurry and unclear. If you choose an image that’s too big, it could slow down the load time of your entire blog, which always results in traffic abandonment.

Remember that each blog page should not take more than 3 seconds to load — on average, up to 40 percent of users will not wait any longer for a page to load. And don’t forget, you should also optimize your images to suit all screen types and devices in today’s day and age.

Are You New To Blogging?

When it comes down to it, your blog graphics are just as important as SEO-optimized content. Some might say, more so, due to the fact that they have so much power in directing traffic to your blog. So, choose wisely!

If you’re an aspiring blogger and looking for inspiration, knowledge, or ideas, be sure to explore the rest of this site and broaden your blogging acumen.

Vivek is a published author of Meidilight and a cofounder of Zestful Outreach Agency. He is passionate about helping webmaster to rank their keywords through good-quality website backlinks. In his spare time, he loves to swim and cycle. You can find him on Twitter and Linkedin.