Guest Contributor
[Editor: This guest post was written by Stephen Summer. Please see below for details about his offers.]
Blogging is work and strenuous work for that matter!
This is a bitter truth that many bloggers realize very early in their blogging career. And when they do the effect is easily seen in the downward trend in their passion for blogging. Very soon their enthusiasm and high hopes of making it big and living the internet life style is deflated as they become dismayed without any future in the blogosphere.
This is really pathetic but whether you’re presently passing through this phase or you have already passed through it one thing you must realize is the fact that this happens all the time. From the prevailing statistics however, this stage usually set in when your blog gets stuck at a level where it is finding it tough to lure new visitors and to retain the number of returning visitors.
Of course, we do know that traffic is the backbone for the success of any blog. Once you cannot drive new traffic to your blog and the returning readers are dwindling then you are already approaching that plateau point and you must do something really quick.
But not to worry, I have a humble and doable solution for you and that is using stock imagery in your blog posts.
Now before you begin to accuse me of trying to rob you off all your fortunes that you have amassed after so many hours of hard work, let me quickly say I have no such plans. What I am trying to do is to help you put some new life and color into your blog which may just translate into more fresh and repeat traffic. And this new lease of life can really fire up your zeal for blogging again!
Here are some reasons why you should consider using stock imagery in your blog posts:
1. Images are Really Powerful
Just imagine a magazine with texts crawling all over and no images to complement the bare facts and figures. It is hard to imagine, right? Then how could you expect that your blog will be able to hook onto the attention of the users without images? There is no doubt about it, good images contribute to the popularity of a blog and great images can make your blog shoot to fame.
But wait, you cannot just go out there and steal other people's images and pass it as your own. So, the only option left is garnering some credit for images in some leading stock photography sites and then using them on your blog. It’s that simple!
2. A Blog Does Not Need To Be Text Based
Why do you want to bore people to death with your dry statics? Why not put some life into those bare bones? You can really do this by coming up with some images that come with additional dose of twist and turns. However, if your photography skill is not that much impressive, you can pass the buck to stock photography sites as they have the best photography talents all over the world. Just find out the best images that are supposed to give your post a new lease of life and see a visible increase in the visitors’ interaction. And the good news, you would not have to put that much pressure on your pocket since there are some discount coupons available on leading stock photography sites like Jupiter Images, Phtos.com. Get them fast and you are good to go!
3. Pinterest Is Watching!
Ok, I think you will want to consider this one really quick. Pinterest is another great social media site that is in the making and if you wish to be a part of it, you need to make sure that your blog has a good volume of traffic otherwise, no one would care to repin your post or come up with an interesting comment. And come to think of it, the concept of Pinterest is nothing but images and so if you have any intention of being a part of this great revolution then you have no other option but to use images that are high in quality and powerful enough to seize the attention of the viewers.
4. It Makes Your Blog Look Beautiful
Wondering how looking good or smart can help your blogging career? Well, believe me even in this digital age, looking good is the first requirement to have a crush on. You cannot make you blog look pathetic and ugly with only texts surrounding it. You need to impress your visitors and the only way you can achieve this is by adding awesome images.
Ok, I have tried to help you see reason why you should consider using stock imagery in your blog posts. The simple reason is to put some new lease of life into your blog helping to bring in new traffic. As you do know the simple rule of thumb in blogging is:
More Visitors = More Money = Great Blogging Career
Social media sites like Pinterest have somehow made us realize what good pictures can do for us. Now is the time to put this to your advantage and the quickest way to doing this is using stock imagery. Once you start you would soon realize that it is really the best thing you have done.
Over to You: Are you using stock imagery in your blog posts or do you do you images yourself? let us hear your opinion in the comments section.
[A Photos coupon is available here and a discount for Jupiter images is offered in Stephen Summer's site. He is an advocate of using photos to better convey your messages on your blog. He is a professional blogger and social media addict. He is associated with a coupon blog and writes different articles on promotional codes. Stephen lives in Saint Louis, MO, with his family and enjoys working from home as a blogger and writer.]
Hi Michael,
I use beautiful images in my blog and it generates good traffic but I didnot know its actual importance before reading your post and now I am thinking to focus more on this subject.
@Syeda Mehwish, It is nice to know that you have started using images in your posts. yes by using images, you can make your post appear more interesting to targeted audience.
Thanks Michael to put light on this topic and I really saw very few posts which give information about importance of images in our blogs.I worked/am working on it at it has awesome results.
@Pete Goumas, yes without images, our posts will look uninteresting and visitors may not feel encouraged to go through the entire posts.
Simple blog with remarkable write-ups and elegant images and video. This Make your blog site unique and surely their will be traffic.
@Mobile Broadband blogger, yes, in order to make your visitors stay and engage with your content, you have to use images and there is no two ways about this.
I do think pictures can help optimize your site and bring more traffic, but one should try not to overdo it. Too much of something is never a good thing.
@Voorbeeld CV,
I can really understand your point. Yes, too much of everything is bad! If not for anything, too much of graphics can slow down your site’s load speed which is not good for seo.
Thanks for this insight.
I have seen an increase in traffic to my blog since adding stock photography. I must admit, it makes my blog more personable.
@Rob Koenig,
It’s great to hear that. It all goes to prove that these tips are really useful! Thanks for the comment.
In creating our blog for me the best and easiest strategy is creating a unique content, special images that will attract many readers, other option is adding videos for them to know what your blog site is talking about.
@Kate Brown Wilson, yes if you can use images and related video with visitors might be spending more time on your website. And of course, this will add more interactivity in the page.