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There are loads of articles on the internet that tell us how great images can be for engaging customers and improving web traffic, but how do you choose ‘the right’ images? This blog takes a look at how to optimise images for use on social media channels, in blog posts and on your website.

1. Social media channels
2. Blog posts
3. Website

1. Social media channels

Depending on the social channel, there are a few things to consider before you choose an image:

1. The orientation – if you’re using a site like Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn where images are displayed in one column, landscape images are the best fit, whereas sites like Pinterest and Google+ largely lay the content out in multiple columns, making portrait images an option too.

Instagram is a little different, with images predominantly appearing in a square, although recent updates to the Instagram app have added more flexibility to the size and shape of images.

Matching the most common orientation will not only make sure your images “fit in” but in turn will mean people will be more inclined to share them.

2. The image size – make sure your images are the optimum size for the social media channel you’re using. You want the images to be clear and high quality so when people see them in their social feed, they’ll be able to see what the image is straight away. Stretching an image that’s too small will look blurry and seriously reduce the chance of people engaging with the post. Check out this great infographic showing the .

3. The audience – no one knows better than you what your audience expect from your social media posts. Be mindful that each channel may have a different following that expect different things from you, so be aware of what your audience is looking for. There’s lots of to back up that evoking an emotional response from your audience is one of the best ways to improve social engagement and increase the chance of content being shared.

Before you post an image, think about how the post will help, entertain or inform your audience, if it will add value to them and why they would share it.

2. Blog posts

No blog post is complete without an engaging cover image to entice the readers’ interest. When you’re picking the cover image, bear in mind this is the image that everyone will see when you share the blog post socially, so pick something eye-catching and relevant to the blog post.

Depending on which blog-hosting platform you use, the flexibility of where you can position images will vary. But wherever you position the images, you need to make sure they’re the right size. Remember, your posts will be accessed from a number of devices, so the images need to be small enough to load fully and quickly from any device.

Points to consider when you’re choosing images for your blog include:

1. Use high resolution (hi-res) images
2. Make sure the images are relevant to the topic you’re writing about
3. Use images every 3 or 4 paragraphs to break up text-heavy posts
4. Use images that add something extra to the written content

3. Website

Your website is often the first place people will look when they hear about you, so you need to be sure you’re giving off the right impression. The quality of the images you use can affect how your visitors perceive your website, and people tend to judge quickly when something doesn’t look good. So, when you’re choosing your images, think about:

1. The image size – you need to make sure the page load time isn’t affected by images. Customers are more likely to continue using your website if the page loads quickly, so it’s important to make sure the image file size you use is as small as possible without compromising the quality of the image.
You need to make sure the images don’t dominate the page, but also that they’re not so small they don’t add any value to the content.
2. The resolution – hi-res imagery is essential if you want your website to look professional. People generally won’t respond well to a blurry, low-res image as it gives off a bad impression.
3. The relevance – there needs to be some consideration to how relevant the images you use are to the content on your website. There’s no point having a great quality image that doesn’t relate to the page’s content, so always choose images that support the text and make sense being placed there.
4. Your brand – there’s an opportunity to increase your brand image through the images you use on the site. If you have set corporate colours, you can select imagery that contains those colours so people can learn to associate your brand with certain colours.

No matter where you’re using images, you need to make sure that you have the right image license and permissions to avoid legal issues down the line. Using a stock image library like 17�Թ����� is a fantastic option as there’s a huge choice of images, with plenty of filters to narrow down your search to find exactly what you’re looking for.

With the ‘new’, ‘creative’ and ‘relevant’ tabs and a big collection of image categories, it’s even easier to find your perfect image.

Want to know more? Check out:

How to find the perfect image for your business
How to make your blog more engaging
How to increase engagement using images