Prettier Posts: Use Images, Please
The blogosphere could be a lot prettier if bloggers just utilized the included options in their blog software, and in their themes. I’ve spoken about ugly listings and what to do to make them more pretty, now it’s time for images.
In my opinion, images are great for making longer blog post seem more attractive. You can use them to lighten a post, illustrate a point, or just capture the reader’s eye.
Take Wisdump for example. While the design of the current version is far from optimal, it utilizes images for just about every post, and makes sure to display them in the listing. This is of course to make you see the post, the eye goes for the image rather than the text, and hopefully this will spark your interest.
It works. Take my word for it.
What it also does is that it lightens our listings, and the posts themselves as well. It’s a lot more pleasant to read blog posts with images, than long chunks of text without anything to soften things up.
Wether you use your images to prove a point, or just to offer a sensible distraction from the masses of brilliant content you’ve got, it will be worth it since the look and feel of your blog will improve.
Finding images isn’t very hard either, as Skelliewag points out in a great post on using Flickr images.
Are you using images to prettify your blog? And if you do, are your doing a good job?
Related reading:
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By larissa on December 7, 2007 10:51 pm
What are you going to do about it?
By Thord Daniel Hedengren on December 10, 2007 11:52 pm
I don’t believe that gratuitous pictures are going to liven up any blog. First and foremost is what you are writing, and that is what I personally judge blogs on. If your design is one that facilitates my visit and makes me feel welcome, then what’s a superfluous 3d render going to do?
By all means, if the image fits your article, or it is part of the content, include it. But don’t just post images for images sake.
And why you feel the need to link to your own blog on your own blog is beyond me.
By Ben on December 18, 2007 12:41 pm
Well Ben, there’s way too many blogs out there with bulks of type that never’ll be read, because the first thing a visitor sees is text, text, and then some text. It’s just too much. You obviously give every site the benefit of a doubt - good for you! Personally, I don’t have the time, and if it’s too much of a bother I won’t stick around.
It’s not too much to ask that great content is presented in a timely manner.
And link my own blog? You mean links to other blog posts here? What’s the problem?
By Thord Daniel Hedengren on December 18, 2007 11:03 pm
Self linking - it’s good to put in links to other articles on the site - but I’m saying there’s no need in converting the text Wisdump into a homepage link.
I’m not against images, to clarify. However, when images are irrelevant to the content they are at best a distraction, and more likely just background noise/visual filler. If you do not have the time to look around a site in detail, then surely you don’t have time to look at a silly graphic.
Daring Fireball (http://www.daringfireball.net) uses almost no images at all - it is successful because it is content orientated and easy to browse through. When John does show an image, it is obviously of importance/relevance.
By Ben on December 19, 2007 12:42 pm