Ismail Sirdah
Blogging has been a common vehicle not only for self-expression but also as a means to make a business grow. This is why the demand for professional-looking photos in blog posts are important. Blogs with high-quality images tend to look more like a business page rather than just a personal online journal.
Ismail Sirdah, a professional photographer, gives us the benefits of having high-quality photos on your blog:
- Your photos can define the type of business you have. If you invest in your visual media, it helps build the idea of professionalism, credibility and trust.
- Great-looking photos can help you sell a product. Compared to an image that was just shot by an amateur, a professional-looking photo would be more appealing to consumers who want to see a preview of your product.
- Photos create engagement. When blogs are accompanied by various multimedia elements such as photos, videos, infographics and podcasts, the users will be more engaged in your content.
It is without question that bloggers who incorporate images with great quality gain more attention than those who don’t. If you are a blogger who wants to have professional-looking photos but you are not sure how to acquire them, Ismail Sirdah shares some great tips to get you ahead in your content production.
Great Ways to Have High-Quality Photos on Your Blog
1. Use stock images
Stock images can be found in several directories such as Pixabay, Pexels, or Shutterstock. Some of them offer royalty-free images, and some ask for a little fee for single use. This is one of the most affordable ways to add high-quality images in your blog. The downside of getting free stock photos, however, is using images that may already be used by other bloggers.
This might make your blog look unoriginal, especially if you are in a competitive niche such as health or technology. To stand out from the rest, you can try a membership subscription in the stock photo directory to have better quality images.
2. Hire a professional freelance photographer
Some bloggers do not necessarily rely on their blogs as a business. Blogging is one of the main ways for them to market their business, especially if they own physical products or offer services.
In this case, it may be better to hire a professional freelance photographer who can take care of product shoots. If you have product samples, a professional photographer can make high-quality images of them in a light room or lightbox, similar to those product images you see in big e-commerce stores such as Amazon.
Additionally, if you have a service-based business, you can ask the photographer to take professional-looking photos of you and your team to help readers become more familiar with the people behind your offer.
3. Do-it-yourself photography
If you don’t have the resources yet to pay for stock photos or hire a photographer, you can always do the task by yourself.
There are a lot of great applications that can help you create attractive images for your blog. If you don’t own a DSLR camera, you can use a smartphone with HD capacity. After taking some photos with your device, you can upload them in photo editing applications through your computer or mobile. The most popular ones for the computer is Adobe Photoshop and Paint Shop Pro. You can also try GIMP as a free alternative.
As for mobile applications, you can try using VSCO and Canva to help you add marketing elements and edit the composure and lighting of your images.
4. Hold occasional photo contests
Another great way to get great-quality images is by holding photo feature contests in your blog. For example, you can tell your readers to submit a photo featuring your product that they recently purchased. It can be a surprise that some of your readers are actually talented in creating good shots.
This is beneficial for you as well as it also serves as a marketing or promotional tool. Not only will your reader be pleased that their photo is featured on your blog, they will also be encouraged to share it with their friends as well.
5. Create your own graphics
Similar to taking your own photos, you can make professional-looking graphics using tools such as Microsoft Powerpoint or Infographic makers such as Piktochart. If you are a business that may benefit from graphics, this is a great way to provide information and increase engagement.
To do this, you just simply have to summarize your blog post’s information and place it in a digestible format through an infographic. Readers will be more likely to share these types of content especially if they’re done in a tasteful manner.
You don’t have to be a photographer to get high-quality photos for your blog. Follow these actionable steps and you can thrive in your blog’s visual content.