Contrary to popular belief, images in blogs and other content aren’t just for visual purposes. It doesn’t only add to the aesthetic, it actually has a considerable psychological impact on your readers. The importance of this can be emphasized on by the fact that professional writing websites like Content Majestic understand and cater to this need.
- Your user’s brain will focus more on the image than the text, because it processes visual content such as images quicker than it does text.
- An image directly related to your text will help give the reader context, which in turn will help them understand it way better.
Let’s talk about a few images that you can use in your content to have the aforementioned impact on your reader’s minds.
Stock images
Now, as we all know, stock photos don’t exactly have the best reputation. What comes to mind when you think of one is a badly edited and watermarked image of some guy in a suit with a cheap backdrop. Well, choosing the right source for your image and knowing what to pick according to your particular blog, stock images might actually be really helpful and add the perfect context with respect to your blog. Adding an image like this to the beginning of a piece of writing may act as sort of a binding agent for it.
- Choose the right type of image. Don’t let your selection be random.
- Understand where and when to use stock images. Forced use will stand out (in a bad way).
Screenshots
If you use screenshots, you’re definitely lessening the amount of work you will have to do. Screenshots will visually depict what you would have otherwise had to explain through text. This adds great perspective to your writing, adds the perfect amount of context and makes the overall look of your blog more appealing.
- In some cases, screenshots may even act as proof of what you’re talking about, thus strengthening your stance.
- Make sure that the screenshot you use isn’t a breach of someone’s privacy. That may be seen as unethical, and in some cases, unlawful.
Social media layouts
In some cases, people may even use hand-drawn social media layouts to prove a point. For example, have you even seen Facebook profile with a fake name and photo, with comments underneath it relevant to whatever the actual blog is talking about? No, we are not talking about screenshots. Often, these layouts can easily be told apart from the real thing, but just because of its association with social media, your eye immediately goes to it and you want to read what it says. A bit of a mind game, really.
Statistical images
Not to bring back traumatic memories from your high school math class, but graphs and charts are actually a really good way to support your writing when addressing an audience. It will give them somewhat of a pictorial representation of what you’re trying to say, along with providing certain proof of it. However, if it’s too complex, your reader might just want to scroll down immediately.
- Use simplified forms of any graph you may want to use so it’s easy to read at the first glance.
- Make sure your text is visible and that the images are not copyrighted.
Photos you’ve taken
Imagine reading a blog about a road trip someone had and what they did on it. If they are telling you a story, visuals will surely add to the experience, especially visuals that they got from the very trip that you’re reading about. Context straight out of the writer’s camera roll can be a great way to attract the attention of your audience and will help them connect with you a lot better.
- Try using recent images that you’ve taken on your own in relevance with what you are talking about in the content you’re writing.
Memes
To keep up with the internet, the content needs to be updated, and nothing can do the job like memes can. Any creative content writer must take advantage of their popularity. They are regularly updated according to current social events.
Stills from TV
As obvious as it may be, movies and TV shows are something everyone loves. A still or screengrab from a popular movie or TV show that adds to the context of the content you are writing is a great way to make your audience more invested in your writing. It will motivate them to keep reading and will also help them understand you better.
- Don’t be random with this particular selection. For example, a blog about serial killers shouldn’t have a still from your favorite comedy film.
Infographics
You may think of these as graphs, but easier to read and slightly more visually appealing. Infographics are something that can be seen in a lot of written content, because they are an amazing way to visually depict written information. They basically compress a large amount of information and simplify it so it becomes much less complicated.
There are websites where you can build your own info graphics, such as info gram. It’s initially free.
Some services provide readymade infographics, and if you’re willing to pay, they’re definitely for you.
Art and design
Art is meant to be visually appealing by nature, so this one shouldn’t come off as too much of a surprise. Art and design are something whose sole purpose is to attract attention towards them. This makes them great for when you’re trying to make your content more visually appealing. It gets rid of the dullness that solely text-based content might have.
Comic panels
Everyone’s mutual love of comics is a great thing to take advantage of when trying to entice emotion in your reader. We all would want to read a comic wherever we saw one, it would make your content several times more appealing.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Fiona Ray has a master’s degree in Linguistics from the College of Liberal Arts at the University of Illinois. Her love for writing clearly shows in her social media profiles and daily blog, which a lot of people enjoy. She dedicated herself to writing at a very young age.
Post a Comment