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Get more traffic using images
It can seem difficult to find quality, relevant images for your site posts without purchasing them and that can get very expensive for a website with many pages. If we can add relevant imagery to all of our pages and posts we’re going to see a lot more success in terms of the percentage of people who read our content and spend some time on our websites.
We are visual by nature. We grow up from a young age reading books that are “visual” and we never really lose our desire for this as we get older.
If you are creating pages that are an ocean of words, then you are most likely not going to attract the broad audience that’s out there. You will also get less engagement from those that do read the pages as people will not immerse themselves in the content on your website.
It’s best to find the free-to-use images whenever possible. After all, you can always purchase images whenever you want or need to for certain situations, but not for each page. You might be using 3-5 images per page and if you purchase each image the cost can quickly add up, so let’s look at a few of the free options:
Find Royalty Free and Free To Use Images
- Pexels.com
- Unsplash.com
- Pixabay.com
- Go to scx.hu.com and search?
- Go to Wikimedia Commons and use the search bar
- Amazon Associates, Free to join and use product photos
Images, likely one of the most confusing and scary aspects of building a website for many. To be honest, with a little understanding, there is no reason to feel like this. I’ll show you some of the most popular sources of “royalty-free” images for your website and I’ll offer you two strategies for creating your very own images, within most, if not all niches.
There are some other free stock photo sites as well, which means the images are fully public domain and you can use the images however you like. Something to keep in mind is that some authors might want you to give them credit for the photo while others will give you “full purpose” access on an image to image basis.
Screen Captures
Sometimes it’s best to take a screen capture, or screenshot, to show content to your viewers. Enter “print screen key, or print screen Dell, Mac, Windows 10, Apple, etc”, and learn how to take and save your files for use. On my Dell laptop, I simply press the “Windows” and “PrtScr” keys at the same time and the screen dims for a moment and the screenshot is saved in my file pictures.
You can also see if your pc has a Snipping Tool which will allow you to box off an area of a page or even the entire page and then save the snipped image to your file pictures for use on your website or elsewhere.
If needed you can use the following software:
- Snagit – has a 30-day free trial
- Droplr – is completely free
- Print Screen (on PC) or Apple + Shift + 4 (on Mac)
Use Your Smartphone Camera
One thing to keep in mind is that you can take your own photos in many cases. A couple of examples would be if you were in the “dog training niche”, or cats, there are plenty of opportunities to take photos at home or at the local dog park or grooming salon, etc.
If you are in an electronics niche go to the local stores and take some product photos that you can use. Another example could be food items. Make your own scene and take photos or go to a local market and get images locally to put on your website.
When you take your own photos, the image ownership and rights are yours only. So take as many of your own pictures as possible and always consider this option when adding images to your articles.
You Can Use Paid Images
Sometimes I’ll search the paid image sites if I need to find a certain photo type that I can’t seem to find in my free options. The images are usually $1 or less per photo and you get a better price if you subscribe. High-quality images are important for your website, especially the main article image.
Some of the most popular social media sites like Pinterest and Instagram are successful just because they are completely visual.
Just keep in mind that with the content you get from “royalty free” sites, you will need to check the permissions for each image as one might have different rules for use than another.
How to add images to your WordPress website
- Go to your WordPress website Editor.
- Find the page to edit.
- Find where on the page to place the image and click there.
- Click the Add Media button.
- Upload the picture from your files.
- Fill in the Attachment Details – Title and Alt text settings – Use the keyword in the Title and Alt text boxes.
- Display settings – choose the page location for the image, left, center, or right.
- You can Add a link to another page or an offer page if desired.
- Choose the image size, thumbnail, medium, or large.
- Click “Insert Into Post” – That’s it.
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Source by Peter Mangini
