Images are important in blogging. They’re not 100% of a requirement. I’ve seen plenty of successful blogs that are minimalist and only focus on the basic design and the words. But in general it helps to have at least one image. And if you’re good with graphics you can really make your blog stand out with some custom images.
Most blogs will do well to include one stock-style image from a source like Unsplash. When you share a link to your posts on social media or if they’re included in feeds, usually the first image or the featured image from the post will be included as a thumbnail. And this can help to attract attention in the busy social media feeds.
When it comes to placing the images within blog posts, there are a few thoughts on have that may help you out…
Featured Images
WordPress and the other blogging software options usually have a featured image function. It can mean a few different things depending on the them of the blog. But usually setting a featured image means the image will be used in your blog feed. And it may let social sites and even sites like Google know that this “featured” image should be used in their feeds. But sometimes it seems like they just use the first image on the page or Google seems to try and pick the image they feel best fits whatever the search term is.
On some themes the featured image has a special place on the post. It may be at the top above the title. It may be at the top below the title. It may be set to the right or to the left.
One thing to watch for is doubling the image. Sometimes you can add the image to the post and then also set it as the featured image. Depending on the theme this may mean that the image will appear twice on the post.
In most instances you want to use the featured image option. Most themes put the image at the top, which is a great place for images. Especially stock-style images.
Top Of Post Images
Over my 10+ years of writing and reading blogs it seems that an image at the top of the post is most common. Readers seem to expect the image to be there. Usually the image isn’t too distraction when it’s at the top. We’ll get into this aspect more in just a bit.
Inline Images
Inline images work too. They can be added in the middle of the posts. You’ll often see this when an image is a chart or some kind of custom graphic. You go into a new section of the post and to help make your point you add an image in a specific section.
It depends on the type of post, but this works really well.
A Note On Distraction
One of my main things with blogging is distraction. The more things you add to a blog or blog post the more you risk distracting the readers from the most important aspect of your blog: written content.
When selecting images, I like to error on the side of something that doesn’t distract from the content. Just something nice to look at that can help draw in attention, but that doesn’t take away from the content.
And for placement, you don’t want the image to distract. So not too big so it takes up the whole screen, especially on mobile devices. And be careful with inline images because they can become distracting if the reader is really getting into the words on the page.
Final Thoughts
Images are important in blog posts. But don’t stress too much about them. The main thing is your content. It’s like a singer/songwriter. Is the cover art important? Absolutely. But if the song isn’t good then the art won’t matter. The art is there to enhance the main content.
So let the content be the main draw. Don’t go overboard with the image to the point of distraction.