Choosing the Perfect Image for Your Content
The saying goes ”A Picture is worth a thousand words”. And the saying is not too far off. Articles containing relevant images have 94% more total views than articles without.
If you are not sure about how to choose the best images and wonder what make users click on one image instead of another— the tips below will hopefully help you making the right decision.
Stay relevant and keep it interesting
Might sound like common sense but it is really important here. Research shows people respond to images they can relate to and will make them more likely to engage. Keep in mind what your target demographic is and use pictures that characterize their interests and lifestyle.
Never ever mess with quality
No matter how compelling a headline is it will never make up for an image with bad quality and that is grainy or pixilated. Most likely it will annoy or drive away your readers. Choose high quality images with great resolution.
The power of emotions
It is well known that people respond well to images containing faces.This fact has been used across all mediums. But not all faces and expressions show the same positive result. Faces with complex emotions shows on higher engagement and outperform expressions such as sympathetic, merciful or goodhearted expressions.
Less is more
What translates well on a large screen, print or billboard does not translate as well to smaller screens (such as mobile devices). The format is just different and basically the size of a thumbnail. Too much will be considered as a blurry message and you will lose the attention of your reader. After all you just have a very short time to capture the attention. Keep it simple!
Mobile, mobile and mobile
Have in mind that the images need to translate equally well on a mobile screen. Even if your site is responsive you need to consider how they will appear on a smaller device and what impact your images will have combined with your text. Will the message reach your audience or will it lose impact?
Use colors
Colors are a powerful and important communicators. Use images with bright and bold colors. Lastly; in the search for the perfect picture to match your headline remember to always respect copyrights.
We hope these tips will help you in your work. Good luck!
