Spice Up Your Online Marketing With Better Images
Content, content, content. It seems like every online marketing expert is busy talking about content.
Long-tail kewyords. Short-tail keywords. Anchor text. And the latest trend in SEO—the critical need for “high-quality content.”
And they’re totally right.
If your content doesn’t show up in the search results, there’s a good chance it’s never going to be seen by anyone outside of your immediate family. As in ever.
But the one thing that always seems to be missing from the conversation is a focus on visual content. Photos and videos. The images that help give websites, enewsletters, and business blogs a unique personality.
The images that help you stand out from all of the other “quality content” that’s already out there and pique someone’s interest when your content appears in a Facebook or LinkedIn stream.
I’m not talking about generic stock photography of a bunch of professional models sitting around a conference table smiling from ear to ear as they stare at a blank tablet but interesting images of real people doing real stuff.
Think about it. The right images help to create the perfect 1-2 punch with your content. In just a fraction of a second they can either pull you in and make you want to click on a link, or if they're totally awful, make you want to immediately look elsewhere.
In other words, images matter just as much as your written content.
Recently, I had a chance to talk about the importance of creating an image strategy for businesses and how to create a visual persona with the Pittsburgh Internet Marketing and SEO Group.
You can check out my slides below. And I’m just warning you now, you are totally going to love slide 13.
Looking for a fresh source of free images for your small business blog?
Check out my review of Death to the Stock Photo--a startup hoping to rid the word of bad stock photography.
By: Shawn Graham
[Image: Flickr user DaMongMan]
