Mozak Design Blog

Why Add Images to Your WordPress Blog?

Grab a copy of the White Pages off your shelf – if you still own one! – and flip open to any page. Where does your eye go first? Are you pulled into the content? Do you want to read more, or are you tempted to simply slam the book shut and stick it back on the bookshelf?

When visitors come to your website, you have a choice. You can make it inviting and pleasant, or you can make it just about as appealing as the innards of the phone book. The only difference? Images.

Images – photos, illustrations, or other graphics — are often the first thing visitors look at. If the image is compelling, visitors stay to check out the text. If the image is poor quality or unappealing – or non-existent! – visitors leave. It’s really that simple.

Here are some ways effectively using images enhances your blog:

1. They break up text. Facing a page of black-and-white text is daunting. Images can give the eye a place to rest, breaking up the flow of an otherwise monotonous page.
2. They lead into the text. Since people look at them first, the images provide a starting point for the rest of the blog post. Good images are like flashing arrows that say, “START HERE.”
3. They introduce the topic. Picking an appropriate, related image gives the reader an idea of what to expect from the post. For instance, a photo of a street sign that says “Bumpy Road Ahead” lets the reader know that the post is about challenges or change.
4. They support the post content. A diagram, graphic, or other image can further illustrate the post’s content. A flow chart of a sales funnel, for instance, gives you another way to explain the concepts you’re presenting.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. If that’s true, you can’t afford NOT to use images in your blog posts. They may be the most powerful tool you have.

Getting the Most out of Your Images

Adding Images to Your Posts

Remember when you were in second or third grade, and you went to the school library? Sometimes you’d pull a book from the shelf and take a look at it, only to quickly put it back in its place. Why? It had no pictures – just pages and pages of black text on a white background. How unappealing!

Today’s web surfers are much like typical second-graders. If you don’t show them something besides text, they’re going to put you back on the shelf faster than you can say, “hopscotch.”

Now, what if you’re not a master photographer or an artist who can whip up line drawings at the drop of a hat? Are you destined to a life of being ignored by all but the bravest of readers? No! There are many ways you can incorporate photos, clip art, and other images on your pages:

1. Take the photos yourself. You don’t have to be Ansel Adams, especially with today’s cameras and auto-correction. If you can take a photo and crop it, you can upload it to your blog quickly and easily.
2. Get “creative commons” images. Go to flickr.com/creativecommons for millions of images you can use for free on your blog under the creative commons license. Typically, this means you can use the image for non-commercial purposes (e.g., you can’t use it on a sales page or on the cover of your eBook), if you provide attribution to the photographer. That’s as easy as including a caption with his name and a link to his Flickr site).
3. Embed video from YouTube. Do a search on YouTube to find interesting and relevant videos for your market, and use the code provided to embed the video on your site. Also check out sites like Vimeo for more options.
4. Subscribe to a stock photo site. You pay a monthly fee or buy a pack of credits you can use to pay for one-time use fees, and you’ll have access to thousands of high-quality photos and images. Good stock photo sites are www.clipart.com, www.istockphoto.com, and www.dreamstime.com, and there are many others as well. Just Google “stock images” or “stock photos” to find all the stock photos you could want.
5. Use clipart from your computer. You can also use clipart from your computer, though you may want to be careful with this one, as many “old school” clip art styles can make your site look dated. Not sure what to use? Check out some of the leading blogs in your market and follow their lead.

Including images in your post makes your page look more interesting and entertaining. Of course, for best results, those images should also add depth to the point you’re making in your post.

Blogging … beyond the text

Whenever you think “blogger,” you generally think of a writer. Though Web 2 . 0.0, that’s no longer always the case. Many bloggers also incorporate audio and video within their blogs. Even when text is the main mode of communication, using other media forms to interact your audience is a powerful blogging strategy.

Here’s why: The more senses you involve whenever you talk with your audience, the greater cognitive abilities – literally! – they will dedicate to you. And more connections means higher levels of involvement and trust.

Here’s the good thing: Once you discover ways to record and upload your media, audio or video blogging can certainly be quicker than writing – even for professional writers!

Below are a few fun approaches to pull audio and video into your site posts:

1. Reviews. If you are reviewing an item, what better way to share your thoughts on it? From unpacking the item to assembling it and putting it to use, video reviews add fantastic value for your post.
2. On-the-Spot Reports. Say you’re in the fishing industry. Wouldn’t it be great to “take your audience with you” to your favorite fishing spots? Talk about making a connection! You could do exactly the same for cooking (“Let’s have a field trip to the farmers market!”), running (“Here are my five favorite running trails”), and much more.
3. Demonstrations or Tutorials. Rather than trying to explain a cooking technique in words and photos, why not create a video of yourself cooking live in your own personal kitchen?  After all, if a picture is worth a thousand words, video is worth more than that.
4. Interviews. Text interviews are great, but being able to hear and see you connect with the interview subject takes the experience to a completely new level.

Whatever your industry or niche, there are methods you can effectively use video and audio on your own blog. Think creatively and brainstorm a summary of topics that might be greatly enhanced through the use of audio or video.

WordPress Plugin’s In Review: TinyMCE Advanced

Finally you can format your text the way you want!

I remember the first time I sat down to create a post on my new WordPress blog. It was an exciting moment that quickly changed to frustration. All I wanted to do was change the font size!

Seemed to me like a reasonable enough request. But, I’d be darned if I could figure out how to do that with the default tool bar. Sure I could change from “paragraph” to “Heading 1″ or “Heading 2″ but none of these gave me the results I wanted.  

This sent me on a quest for a good wordress wysiwyg editor. After hunting around for a while I discovered two that I liked. One is called “WP Super Edit” and the other is “TinyMCE Advanced”.  Since of the two I prefer TinyMCE Advanced, that is the plugin I will discuss today.

So with out further ado here are some of the features this plugin provides:

1. Change font size and font family !!!
2. Create and editing tables
3. Text justificati0n
4. Text hi-lighting
5. Subscript & superscript
6. Anchor links
7. Search and replace
8. Time & Date insertion
9. Emotions (Smilies)
10. ieSpell checked

40 new formatting buttons in all.

Needless to say this plugin has become a staple in each and every wordpress website & blog I design. To see the plugin installation in action I invite you to watch the video below:

Good Copy Tip #2: People do not read, They scan

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Often when we sit down to write our thoughts come on in the form of paragraphs. In fact this was how we were taught to write. The problem with this is your website readers have little patience to sit and wade through all your text. They want to be able to scan and quickly identify if what they are looking for exists on your website.

Here is a recipe for scannable text:

1. Break your page content into topic sections
2. Create a Header for your first section. Format it in color and with a large font.
3. Write a 2-3 sentence intro paragraph on the topic. Make sure your line height is set to 1.25x the font size for easier reading.
4. Next utilize numbered & bulleted lists to highlight the key points linking them deeper into your website
5. Finally repeat for your other topics on the page.

By following these tips your website will present your business in a way that caters to the needs of your visitors. By doing so, there is a much higher chance that your website visitors will become clients.

Good Copy Tip #1: It’s not about you

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I often see website homepage text that reads more like an “About Us” page. While the history of your business and all the services you provide have their place in; make sure the homepage is engaging to your viewer. Speak to them. Why have they sought out your business? What needs do they have? What solutions to you offer?

By writing content that speaks to clients on an emotional level you can connect with them. If they feel understood then they will think … Wow, this business gets me – I’d like to work with them.