Our question this week is one we receive quite often… And it’s a good one.
Do you really need images in your senior living blog posts?
I know it can be tough to purchase relevant and unique stock photos and images at reasonable prices. And it takes time many of our senior living colleagues just don’t have to create your own. Even with free tools like Canva.
While I’d like to say you can skip ‘em… the truth is you can’t. Photos make a big difference.
Adding Images to Your Senior Living Content
Here’s why you need to take time to add photos and images to your content:
- Articles that include a photo or an image get 94% more views.
- If you add a photo and/or video to your press release, you can up your views by as much as 45%.
- Photos encourage sharing on social channels.
- And let’s face it… most of us have the attention span of a goldfish when we read online. We scan and skim. Photos break up the copy and keep our interest.
Tips for Making the Most of Senior Living Photos
So here’s what you should know to make the most of your photos:
- Context: Photos can help put things in context. Choose images for your articles that help tell the story you want told.
- Quick load time: Choose images that load quickly. Ain’t no one got time to sit still while your big files load. So edit the file before you upload. We’re big fans of PicMonkey on all our sites and blogs. We use the paid tool, but the free one is great too!
- Keywords in the file name: When you are uploading the photo to your site, remember to name the file with a title that is relevant to the article or section of the article. Ensure the title includes keywords.
- Alt text: The image alt text is important. Don’t forget to optimize your images with descriptions that include keywords. It helps the search engines understand what your photos are about.
Free Digital Photo Sites for Your Senior Living Blog Posts
Taking your own photos and creating your own images is best. But we know it isn’t always possible. To help keep from breaking your budget on photos, here are a few free resources:
Just be sure to give credit where credit is due and follow each company’s rules for sourcing.
And Just for Giggles
We can’t not include this fun meme from a recent article discussing social media in senior living on the Senior Housing Forum. It illustrates how you can take an original photo…add some copy…and have a highly shareable image for your site.
Help Writing Senior Living Blog Articles
And if you need help keeping your senior living blog up-to-date with fresh and relevant content, we can help! We are happy to announce we’ve added another writer to our team. We’ll be introducing her on our site soon!
So for the first time in a few months, we are accepting new blog clients! Shoot us a note so we can talk…