Tips on Writing: Using Your Blog Images

I have been strongly encouraging my clients to use images in every post and to tag them with their blog keywords. The thing is, pictures make your posts easier to read. Your readers will scan your images first and get an idea of the premise of your next section. This puts their head in the right frame of mind for reading your specific content. It's like giving them an introduction to your topic before they read it. Before you go forth and use images, it's incredibly important to remember not to use pictures unless they are your own. You absolutely can get sued for that one image you used offhand and didn't think about it. Instead, use free pictures from the extensive ones available at these sources.

Tagging images with your keywords:

If you aren't tagging your images with your keywords, you're passing up an opportunity for increased web presence. Images are a great and easy way to boost your SEO. For example, if your blog is about vegan recipes, and one of your keywords is "tips on eating vegan", you might want to:
 1. Title your image "Tips on eating vegan image"
2. Tag your image with keywords: "Vegan recipe, Tips on eating vegan"

Tagging your images for your blog "button":

The typical code for a blog button looks something like this:
<a href="http://greatproofreading.com/"><img src=" http://i50.tinypic.com/2mi3uvl.jpg" /></a>

To insert your keywords into your button, you'd want your code to look more like this:

<a href="http://greatproofreading.com/" title="Proofreading and Editing"><img src=" http://i49.tinypic.com/24yxsow.jpg" alt="Proofreading and Editing" /></a>

When you use a blog button without these tags, Google has no idea what the image is, and no idea what it will find at the end of the link. By adding in your keywords, Google will associate your link with your keywords. In the above button, I've told Google to associate "proofreading and editing" with the web address for GreatProofreading.com. (Incidentally, I just did it again by link "proofreading and editing" to GreatProofreading.com in the previous sentence).

 If you need assistance choosing image tags or doing your keyword research, the editors at Great Marks Proofreading Consultants can help. Email edit@greatproofreading.com for more information.