Online People expect images. It’s an undeniable truth of life. And if you’re not using images your committing blogocide. Now I’m going to go out on a limb here and assume that because you went through the effort of creating your blog, that’s not exactly what you’re trying to do. You may already know where to find the writing services for brilliant content help. And so, this article will give you some help in how to create great images for your content.
I can feel you. I used to be in the same boat. I’m a writer and images weren’t my strong suit. When, however, I saw the statistics on them, like:
- people are 80% more likely to read a text when it’s accompanied by an image
- people retain information 6.5 times better after three images if presented with an image
- people are 94% more likely to click on a link if it includes an image
I knew I had to change or die.
Here is what I learned:
I’ve been using Cloudways since January 2016 for this blog. I happily recommend Cloudways to my readers because I am a proud customer.
Free Stock Photos Are Your Friend
Now there are a lot of great image libraries out there. A lot of them, however, cost a lot of money. Now if you’re not in a position to fork that over, then start out with Free stock photo libraries. The biggest and the best is probably Pixabay, but that also means the images are the most used.
Don’t be afraid to try one of the less used ones to find something you like.
Also, try a lot of different combinations of the keywords you are looking for as often the images have been added by different people who all follow their own logic about how to tag.
Know Your Copyright Short Hands
If you can’t find the images you’re looking on these websites, or you don’t want to use what everybody else is using, then don’t be afraid to go looking on other websites. Just know what the different licenses mean. Here’s a crash course:
- CCCO: Okay ,officially it’s not a CC license, but a CC0 notation does mean the image is in the public domain. That means you can use it as you want and you don’t even have to point to the original author! Neat, huh?
- CC BY: This one is almost the same, except that the author wants credit. You can manipulate and change the image to avoid this. Nobody is quite certain how much change suffices as enough change.
- CC BY-SA: Here even if you manipulate the image you have to give credit. You can still use it as you want, though. So if you just want to use it in a blog post, you’re fine.
- CC BY-ND: Here you need to give attribution and you can’t manipulate the image in any way. It’s an ‘as is’ basis.
- CC BY-NC: Here the NC means the picture can only be used in a “Non-Commercial” capacity, which means if you can profit from a blog, you’re not allowed to use it. Is your blog monetized in any way? Then stay away!
- CC BY-NC-SA: This tag basically means ‘keep your hands off’.
- CC BY-NC-ND: The same idea as the one I mentioned above.
Where Can I Find These Kinds Of Images?
Well, there are a couple of good websites. Check out Flickr, CCsearch and Google Advanced Image Search, where you can specify that you’re looking for images that have been labeled for reuse. Do make sure that you check that they are categorized correctly, as sometimes they won’t be. In that case saying ‘but Google told me so’ won’t do.
Canva
Don’t want to shell out thousands of dollars for Photoshop and then take courses in order to get the hang of it? I can’t blame you! Instead, check out Canva! This is the savior for non-digital masters like myself, as this tool is easy to use and gives me the basic functionality of image manipulation, like how to resize something, how to manipulate the colors and so on.
Oh yes, and the best part? It’s free! Yes, you can do a little happy dance now. I promise I won’t tell anybody.
Apply The Same Filter
Work on figuring out which filter you want to apply to your images. Really, spend some time doctoring around with the different options, because really it’s a good idea that you continue to use the same filter throughout your blog. Why? Well:
It will create cohesion, with your whole blog feeling like it is part of the same mind. Readers might not notice this consciously, but they’ll notice nonetheless.
When you decide to use a different filter, that image will be far more arresting than then other images you’re using on your blog. Used sparingly this can be immensely successful, allowing you to a bit of zing to a particularly bit of brilliant content. The best thing? The most user won’t be able to figure out why the image is so arresting, which will create a real sense of mystery.
What Font Should Use?
There is a whole psychology to fonts. Spend some time working out which font you want to use throughout your images. Again, it’s a good choice if you can make certain that you keep using the same fonts throughout your images, as that will create cohesion for your audience and seriously reduce the amount of work that you’ve got to do. And we can all use less work.
Find The Right Color Combination
Next up, you need to figure out what the right color combination is. If you’re like me, you have no idea what colors are supposed to go together (some colors go together?!) In that case make certain you use a tool like paletton.com.
The buttons on the top will let you select some sort of combination, while the wheel at the bottom will then let you figure out which colors can be used in that combination once you’ve selected the basic design. Then, on the right, you can figure out which colors are supposed to go together!
And just like that, you’ll look like a professional!
Last Thoughts
Apps, tools, and tricks can help you a great deal in becoming better at selecting the right images for your site. Of course, they still are only the imitation of designers. Sometimes it’s still a good idea to get a designer to look at your site.
If you just ask for their help in terms of consulting it doesn’t even have to cost that much. Heck, if you know them, they’ll probably take a glance at it for free and offer you some advice. In that case you’ve got the best of both words and you’re far more likely to have a well-designed website.
Don’t have those kinds of friends? Well, at least now you’ve got a whole bunch of apps that you can cuddle with instead at night. Good luck!
