INFORMATION

I have always told my clients that every blog post needs to have at least one image, and I stick to that rule myself. I even go so far as to set up a separate field for the "primary post image" in my Drupal website installations so that an image must be uploaded. (That also has the benefit of giving the website a specific image associated with that blog post for slideshows and other displays.) I usually mention that images help generate interest in your content, but dont go into a lot of detail unless asked regarding all the reasons for including an image. So, here are ten benefits that I see to making sure that every time you write a blog post, you include at least one great image.

When you share a post on social media sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Google Plus, it is always effective to include an image with your post, rather than just text. As social networking sites are becoming increasingly more visual, using images in your posts helps to draw the reader in. Also, when users use the social sharing icons on your site, the network will automatically scan your post for images and select one which works best. It helps if you include a dedicated field that is labelled and programmed correctly so that it will be more obvious to the network when choosing an image. If the post doesn�t include an image then the networks might try and find another image from your web site which may not be relevant to your post at all.

Images also help you to grab lots of traffic from image search engines. Though you might need to take care of few things like Alt text and description. Initially when I used to add images, I never cared about my image names, earlier it used to be something like screenshot.jpeg, DSC023.Jpeg and so on. After knowing that images helps in driving traffic from search-engines, I started optimising my image Alt text and description.  You should use SEO friendly image WordPress plugin to optimize your images for search engine.

The right image can not only be interesting to your readers and used on social networks, but it can also add real value and insight into your post. For instance, we often use screenshots when talking about apps and websites that obviously do a much better job communicating what the app looks like than my poor writing.

Even better is when you can find an image that is interesting, different, and not necessarily obviously tied to your topic or industry. The viewer will naturally stop and think about the image you chose and consider why you used it. Getting your readers to stop and think is something every blogger should hope to do!

As I mentioned above, when I set up a Drupal site for a client, I include a separate field for the image so that I can use that field and image to reference the blog post elsewhere. On my own site, for instance, the Home page includes a slideshow of images from featured blog posts, and there are four thumbnail images from other recent articles and stories. That same image gets used in category lists and the RSS feed.

Images can be a great help to your blog, for some businesses the image itself is the main focus of the blog. If you�re selling a product, having an image of it in action that is interesting and cool can draw the readers in and encourage them to share it with their friends. 

Take away images from a blog posts and all you have is just blatant text filling up a page. An image brightens up your content and makes it look more appealing especially if you are using colorful images. Adding images to various parts of your article adds a particular kind of beauty and appealing look which makes your content better and sticky for your readers.

Seeing a long page of content without images to spice it up can easily bore your readers, but adding one or two related images or funny images takes away the boredom and makes your content beautiful and lively!

If you have images that are not only relevant to what you writing about, but trigger some kind of emotion within the reader, not only are they going to be more engaged with the blog post, but they are subsequently more likely to comment.

It turns out that images can prove a shortcut to social media success. Having added a relevant picture to go along with your blog post can do miracles on Facebook and Google+.

When you share an article on one of those, you can fetch the images you have used and thus share a more dynamic preview. If you haven�t included an image, you will only share just the next plain-text boring status update. You can�t expect too many shares and likes that way, especially with people in a hurry, who scroll down without paying too much attention.