More people than ever before are embracing social media every day to interact with each other, show their creativity and above all, get entertained. And with attention spans hitting an all-time low, few of them have the patience to read through long paragraphs. So, visual content is the best way to attract the users.
No social media marketer or individual user today can ignore visual content in the content that they post. If you do so, there’s a high probability that the post will go unnoticed. So, for the benefit of all, let us discuss a few strategies that can make your content stand out with the right images.
1. Adhere to the recommended dimensions:
Different social media platforms accept images of different formats and dimensions. For example, while instead and Facebook accept just Square images as profile picture, a landscape format is required for a Facebook and Twitter cover photos. Make yourself acquainted with the recommended dimensions of images on Facebook, Twitter, Google plus and Pinterest, so that you can adhere to the guidelines well.
2. Choose a simple design:
Since people are always in a hurry these days, they do not have time to look at complicated designs and try to understand them. Always Choose designs which get your message through in the least possible time. Simplicity is the trademark of genius. Does Twitter Optimize for Google Now?
3. Image size:
Keep the image size small, so that they can be loaded and downloaded easily, especially when you are sharing it through a slow internet connection. Large images take a long time to load and are detrimental to SEO as well. Use the “Save for the web” feature in Adobe Photoshop, or a plug-in like WP Smush that compress images on the go.
4. Use tools to create the images:
Even if you’re not a designer, still you can create professional looking designs using several online tools that are available. Canva is a very convenient online tool that allows you to do a lot for free or against a nominal payment. You can use many templates that they offer along with your own image, text and colours. Using this, you can create stunning images of different dimensions quickly.
Another benefit of Canva is that you can resize one image into several other dimensions. This will allow you to adapt the image for use in the different social media platforms, as mentioned in the first point above.
5. Sharing the right images:
If you are allowing sharing of content that is hosted on your website, then use a plug-in like Yoast Seo to specify which image is to be shared in each of the networks. Plug-ins like Social Warfare, Mashshare and Sharify allow you to add social sharing buttons to the pages and posts in your WordPress website for easy content sharing.
If you follow these ideas, you will have as much fun in creating images for social media, as we have in creating the images that accompany this blog.
