Just as an interesting cover helps a book attract potential buyers, an engaging picture can draw readers to your blog. The reason is simple. Humans are innately visual.
Cognitive psychologists have demonstrated through studies and research that young children develop memory through visual cues (Example: picture of an apple = teacher).
It takes one second for a person to view a photo and have his or her interest piqued. It takes far longer to be enticed by a block of text. Including pictures in your blog can help you:
- Grab reader attention
- Convey your message
- Illustrate examples
- Engage emotions
- Evoke the senses
- Give your posts authority
A picture by itself can tell a story. Pictures in a blog can help move a story forward— like little bread crumbs for a reader to follow. There are many practical benefits:
- Impact: Pictures help deliver the message with more emphasis (similar to bolding or italicizing important words and phrases).
- Memory: Our brains process memories as snapshots of images versus lines of text. We need an anchor to remember things. Pictures in your blog can help readers remember your message.
- Respite: Reading from a computer for an extended period is hard on the eyes. Looking at an image gives the eyes a break from reading.
- Absorption: Images break up the text and give the reader time to digest the various points of interest in the blog.
As the web becomes increasingly visual, the power of images is clear. Here are a few examples:
- Facebook has changed its format to include banners and accommodate larger images.
- Facebook analytics show that photos are “shared” and commented on more than links and text.
- Google+ has launched a new design for better use of images.
- The rise in popularity of Pinterest, a social media site devoted entirely to pictures.
Pinterest and Facebook have demonstrated that people love to share images and photos. You might be surprised how many more likes and shares you receive for your blog once you begin to include pictures.
Blog Post Written by Spencer Powell
Spencer is the Inbound Marketing Director at TMR Direct. Spencer specializes in helping clients create and execute effective inbound marketing campaigns.