Photography is probably the best way to express feelings or ideas related to almost anything around us. From happy moments, to sad stories, photography can easily depict all of these in a creative and artistic way. But photography for some is life, a job that helps them earn a living day to day.
Blogging came first, right after then influencers followed. From complex projects, to simple posts on social media, influencers and veteran bloggers alike rely on photography to express their ideas and earn a living just by doing that.
But how important is photography in blogging?
Let’s put it this way: a photograph makes 60.000 words. Basically, our brain can process photos 60.000 times faster than it can text, so I think this is a great explanation as how important images are in our day to day life. It is said that posts with images get 94% more views that a simple text only article. so bloggers do know why they need to invest so much time in taking the right pictures. But they don’t only invest time in this. Loads of money spent on high tech equipment for creating and editing photos and videos could mean better content, but it all sums up to how creative they are.
Why is it important to create great images
Basically images sell. Whether we are talking about travel bloggers, fashion bloggers, food bloggers or DIY bloggers, all of them need to send a message, create a visual story around the product or service they want to monetize. Blogging takes a lot of time, and many bloggers are doing this as a full-time job, which means that money wise they have to capture attention and and make us buy whatever they are endorsing. What do all the big companies use when they want to sell anything? Photography! Great pictures could sell anything if they are used right.
High tech vs. Creativity
Is it crucial to own the latest technology when wanting to create great visual stories? It depends. While all the latest smartphones might create high quality images, when it comes to video content, this is a bit more complicated. I have seen awesome pictures taken with a smartphone and horrible pictures taken with the latest DSLR camera and a 10k lens. Was the investment worth it in this case? Not really!. But what makes a difference here? Creativity and how well you know your gear.
Get better at photography
Creativity can be trained especially if you are really passionate about the subject. There are tones of mediums where you can learn tips and tricks for taking great photos even with amateur gear. I learnt so much from online courses that helped me understand the basics. It’s important to start with the basics and grow from there like in any other field as well. Find a mentor like Dan Doyle Pleasantville NY and try to work on your photographer skills.
Something that many bloggers forget – Optimization
After learning how to take the best images, optimization is probably as important as having photos on the blog. While search engines can see you have photos on your blog, if they are not saved for web, they will penalize you for having a slow page. Which means that the sizes of your imagines should be SEO friendly if you want to rank well too. Another important aspect is Alt text for your photographs. If you are a travel blogger and you take wonderful images with the locations you visit, try to add relevant alt texts to them. If someone is searching for “Port Vell Barcelona”, you will want your image to show up in the SERP, right?
As a conclusion. Be creative, optimize and properly name your photos to be sure you are getting the maximum results from your hard work.
