When it comes time to write your next blog post, whatever the topic, don’t forget to include an image with your content. Why? Well, because you can get more traffic with images through Google search, if course!
Never underestimate the potential an image has in bringing high quality traffic to your site. If it’s optimized correctly, at times, you’ll be found more for your images than you will for your actual content. At least this stands true for several of my posts.
However, in order to get more traffic with your images, there are a few things you’ll need to do.
First, your image must be a higher quality image. There’s nothing that annoys me more than an image that has been stretched to fit a specific space. Stretching an image distorts and blurs it, making it look very cheap and unappealing. If you’re using wordpress as your CMS, I would typically upload an image that is at least 600 pixels wide and 400 tall, or vice versa. WordPress has features that can reduce the size of your image if need be. It’s always better to start big and downsize.
NEVER stretch an image. EVER. Please….for my sanity.
Second, all images must have an ALT tag. In order to get more traffic with images through Google searches, Google has to know what your image is about. Your ALT tag will tell their spiders that information. However, be sure to match your image to the ALT text you assign to it. As an example, you don’t want to give a picture of a cat the ALT tag of “dog.” With that in mind, your ALT tag will also give you SEO credit. Google counts your properly tagged image as a bonus point. In WordPress, when editing or adding an image to your post, the space that reads “alternate text” is the ALT tag.
If you aren’t using wordpress, the basic HTML for an ALT tag is simple:
<img src=”http://www.yourdomainname.com/images/makemoneyfromhome.jpg”alt=”Make Money from Home” />
Third, send a message with your image. Get an image editing program installed on your computer. I use Macromedia Fireworks for all my photo editing and graphic design. Starting out, a few things you can learn that greatly increases the look of an images are: adding simple borders, adding text and cropping correctly. Once you learn the basics, you can start venturing off into more advanced image and graphic design.
For example, if you’re currently working a home based business, you could include a call to action on your images, or even just the title of your post. Try your best to describe, or represent the content of your blog post with your image.
Lastly, include a watermark, logo or website URL on your image. Know that one of the reasons your images are being found is because other bloggers and internet marketers are looking for an image to use in their own content. Adding a logo and your website URL to the image will make sure that they know who created the image and where to find the original. That won’t stop some people from cutting those things out of the image, but it will sure help with bringing more people to your blog when they don’t.
In conclusion, adding the right images to your blog posts will not only increase your traffic, it will also increase the quality of your site and the amount of time your visitors spend on your site. Most people are the type that just flip through the magazine, looking at all the pictures, and when they find one that interests them, they’ll stop and read. The same applies to your blog. Without images, many of your visitors will leave your site within seconds of arriving. Not good.
A quality image can go extremely viral and is shown across the web in areas such as Facebook posts, on Pinterest, Flickr and in RSS feeds.
It only takes a few more minutes to add an image. Take the time to do it. I promise you it will be worth it!
David Allred is the author and creator of CFW. David has been teaching entrepreneur minded people how to earn a full time income working from the comfort of home for nearly a decade.
Think about it. Never miss your kids’ events, set your own schedule, choose your own income and enjoy a lifestyle and income which most people only drool over!
Be sure to connect with David Allred on Google+, Facebook and everywhere else!
