With the rise of social media and the general focus on visual content, it is becoming increasingly important to think about how visuals can be used in a blog post.
In this article we will look at 11 ways that could help you use images or video to engage with your readers on your blog posts and articles.
1. How to generate visual content that stands out?
Visuals are very important because they help you get more visibility, generate traffic, boost your SEO and increase engagement. But only if used properly.
The general rule is that visuals should be around 60% of the content on the page. This should include video as well as images. Content with imagery gets 94% more views than posts with just plain text. According to recent research, the average human attention span is 8 seconds. This means that if your blog post doesn’t capture readers’ attention within a few seconds, they will go somewhere else. So make sure that you give them loads of information from the very beginning and use visual content in your blog posts. This catches your reader’s attention and keeps them interested for longer.
2. What keeps a reader engaged?
To keep your readers engaged and make them want to stick around, your blog post should follow these guidelines:
Is it visually appealing?
You can make a really good post even better by adding visuals to it. It’s not just about prettying up your blog. Visual content attracts more attention from readers and improves your brand image as well. They help readers to remember and relate to your content.
Is it easy to consume?
Complex, detailed and lengthy content may bore your readers. They will slow down their reading speed to understand what you have written. So keep your content short and focused with simple explanations of concepts.
Does it give value?
What’s the point of publishing new content if it doesn’t help your readers in any way? You should share your knowledge and experiences so that people reading can learn something from them.
3. Use Video to engage your readers
There is a difference between images and videos. While images are static, videos engage the reader’s senses and imagination. Videos can be very effective but they take time to create. So you should choose a topic for your blog post that you think will work well with a video. You also need to create great captivating and engaging scenes to get the attention of readers. It’s very important that it is relevant to the content in your blog post.
So what are some ways to use video for your blog post?
Record a screencast
You can turn the content of your article into a short screencast that explains it in a more visual manner. It helps your readers to have an interactive experience of reading your blog posts and could make them more likely to share it. You could either record your voice while explaining the content or you could add commentary over your screencast.
Make a video from your images
You could take the images that you have created to explain your blog post and turn them into an actual video using services such as Wideo, Animoto or Powtoon. They all provide tools with which you can add music or narration to your images. This turns the images into an engaging video that you can share on social media and other platforms.
Do a Q & A video
This is very effective for topics that require expertise such as in how to guides and tutorials. Create a screencast or even better an animation where the character actually asks your readers questions about specific issues. You could also create a screencast video of you answering your readers’ questions. The good thing about this approach is that your readers can immediately see the solution to their problem and they will feel like they have a connection with you.
4. Include infographics in your blog posts for an easy way to add visuals
Infographics are probably the most popular trend in visual content today. They give you an opportunity to share valuable data with your readers. It could be any kind of information from how your business works or market stats about your industry, anything that can be presented visually and would make sense for your audience to know. You can use an infographic to expand on a concept in your blog post and embellish it with more detailed information for your readers. Make sure that the content you include is relevant and not just for decoration. You also don’t need to go overboard with the information if you are creating an infographic from text. Keep it simple and easy to understand so that your readers can use it as a reference in the future.
5. Designing charts is a good way to make your content more engaging.
Using a chart in your blog post will give it an instant interest and also add credibility to the information you are sharing with your readers. Just be sure that your charts visually support what you are trying to convey. Charts should not contain more than three variables so that they don’t become too complex.
6. Create an image gallery that showcases all of the photos taken at an event so that people can easily find what they’re looking for by scrolling through different sections .
Image galleries are very popular on social media platforms. Create a photo gallery for your blog post that showcases all the photos you took with your device camera or phone at an event. You can make it more engaging by creating different sections and labeling them for easy access. Use a variety of images and videos to convey your message and really connect with your audience.
7. Make sure you have enough visuals in every blog post.
You can under-communicate by having too little visual content as well as overcommunicating with a lot of it. When you don’t have enough images or videos in your blog post, you are not providing the experience that readers want. On the other hand, if you provide too much visuals than is necessary to convey your message, chances are your readers will get bored pretty fast. That’s why you should aim for the middle ground and make sure that your blog post contains a mix of different visuals, from videos to photos, infographics etc.
8. Use Quotes to engage readers
Quotes can be a great and highly effective way to communicate your message with readers. What they also do is add some personality to your blog post, especially if you are quoting someone else or if the quotes come from an expert in the field that you are writing about . This lets you build credibility with your readers as well as creating another connection between them and you. You could even mention the conversation that you had with someone in a quote and how it affected your work. Include quotes of experts who have created an impact on your writing field, or who are just living great lives that’s worth to be shared with others. Quotes say a lot about people and can offer inspiration for your readers.
9. Use visual storytelling to engage people in the story on your blog post.
Visual stories are a great way to engage your readers in the story. The audience loves the feeling of actually being there and taking part in what is happening rather than just reading about it on paper. Visual content helps you tell a much better story with your blog post and show how it can have an impact on them as well. You could also show how a specific person went through something and how it changed them for the better, or for the worse, depending on your post. It adds personality to your blog posts which can be very engaging when done well .
Imagine that you are writing an article about different ways to stay motivated and inspired throughout your day. You could start by saying that you’ve tried and tested many different solutions until you found one that really worked for you. Then, create a video of yourself going through your morning routine before starting the working day while telling how these little things make a big difference. You could also show some tips to help them stay motivated throughout their day or week.
10. Use Data based content
Data is another great way to engage your audience and communicate with them on a different level . You can show some statistics, surveys or other research that has been done by you or someone else to prove a point. The numbers speak for themselves and they are very easy to understand which means the easier way for your reader to take in the message you are communicating through your blog post. When you show data, try to make it easy for your readers to understand the information. It is essential that you don’t just throw numbers and statistics at your reader without explaining what they mean. You can always mention some examples of how these stats apply to them in this case.
Data based content is also a great way to really get into the details of your blog post. It is very effective when you are trying to prove a point and want to show your readers why it matters that they implement certain steps or ideas in their lives.
11. Use Social Media Content to Engage Readers
You can add social media content on other platforms of yours, into your blog posts. This engages people and makes them feel they belong to a community where others share similar interests with them. You could also include some information about how people can connect with you on other platforms or ask questions. This will help you build your community and allow them to feel more connected to you as a brand/personality. It also helps them to continue interacting with you even outside of your blog posts. People love being included in the conversation and this is another way for readers to be engaged in a different way. Because there are so many people on the internet using social media, it is an excellent opportunity to reach your target audience and spread the word about your blog post.
To summarize, there are a variety of ways to keep your blog post engaging and interesting for readers. You can use quotes from experts in the field that you’re writing about or who inspired you to write this article, create visual storytelling content with video or pictures, use data based content to engage people in new ways when they read your posts and include social media tools such as buttons on other platforms within the body text so that it’s easy for them to connect with you outside of blogs. We hope these tips will help inspire some ideas for how you can improve engagement rates on your own blog posts!
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