The content marketing world is getting more visual every day.

An image, infographic, or video's impact on blog content is immense. In fact, your article is likely to get 94% more views if it has visuals as opposed to having none. That’s pretty significant.

But what’s the hype behind having an image or video anyway? Why are they so effective in content writing? Let’s break down why they are essential to your content strategy.

Why Visuals Are Important

Let’s break down how visuals can help your content.

Break up text

In an effort to craft a more readable blog, inserting images is a great way to do that. But, as we all know, long paragraphs are out and short chunks are in.

While writers can aim to write 2-3 sentences per paragraph, using visuals is a creative way to break up the text. It gives the content more room to breathe and allows the reader to get a rest from reading.

Improve engagement and comprehension

Some people are simply visual learners, so they digest information better through seeing. This is where infographics become helpful. They’re great visualizers that help you organize your ideas in another format.

As a result, the information will better stick in readers’ long-term memory. As content writers, we aim to educate and provide value to our audience. If they consume your content and leave with a better understanding of the topic than they had before, then that’s when you know you did your job.

Grab your attention

People nowadays don’t read, but rather they scan the content. But appealing visuals can quickly grab the users’ attention.

Plus, adding a blog cover image will be useful when sharing your article on social media. When you post a link to your blog, most social networking sites will include the cover along with the snippet.

So that’s why it’s even more vital to set a cover image to catch people’s eyes on Twitter and Facebook.

SEO ranking opportunity

Oh yes! Images and videos give your blog another way to improve your rankings in search. One option you can select when photo editing is adding alt-text.

Alt-text, also known as alt attributes and alt tags, are HTML codes that help describe the contents of an image. While the main benefit is to make them accessible for visually-impaired people, search engines use alt tags to gain more context about the visual and its relationship with the blog.

As a result, engines like Google will know how to rank or index your webpage for specific search queries.

Tips for Using Visuals

Now that you know the benefits of visuals, here are pro tips for using them for your content.

Use high-quality images

Have you ever waited for an image to clear up only to find out after a minute that it’s just naturally blurry? Yeah, that’s a pet peeve of ours.

Always use high-quality photos on your blogs. It lets people know that you’re professional and authentic. Plus, clear images increase engagement. When people can easily see the visual without difficulty, they can interact with it better.

It’s also best to use your own original images if you have some for more authenticity. But we understand that not everyone has their own photo library, so it’s okay to use stock images. Just remember to choose a clear one.

Embed visuals every 300-400 words

If you plan to write a long blog post, it’s a good idea to include multiple visuals throughout your piece to establish a good balance between image and text. Give readers a quick break from reading with a helpful visual.

Plus, it helps your blog look more organized and dynamic. So sprinkle in visuals here and there to give it some pizzazz.

Make sure they’re relevant

What if a blog post was talking about airplanes, but it included a photo of people playing basketball – it would seem so out of left field, right? It’s kind of distracting.

So while multiple images are important, it’s even more important that they’re relevant to the topic at hand. For example, if the subject is on user experience, then include screenshots of apps, code, and computers.

Include videos

Nothing hooks people in more than video. In fact, 88% of people spend more time on websites with videos than those that don’t. Pretty impressive, right?

Videos have become the number one medium in visual content because they are effective at communicating and relaying information. When people don’t have the time or energy to read, videos solve that problem by having the content read and explained to them.

That’s why more and more marketers are investing time into producing videos because of their incredible engagement and traffic. You should too!

Conclusion

Now that you know why and how visuals impact your content writing, it’s time to apply them to your own. Do a quick audit of your blog content and add relevant visuals to improve reader experience and SEO. You’ll be glad you did when you start seeing improvements in performance.

We know that finding images can be tricky with copyrights and ownership issues. But People First Content can help you with that. Our team of content writers can help you craft engaging blog posts equipped with licensed images, so you have one less thing to worry about. Shoot us a quick message if you want to learn more!

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