Captivating or Cringe: Low-Quality Images Sabotage Your Readership

This story is about an obvious mistake that some of the best writers make.

Think about this: you spend x amount of time carefully writing a story you believe has real value for readers. You pour in creative thinking, carefully choose the right words to impact a reader, proofread, fine tune, and sigh with satisfaction at the end.

And then it happens.

You’re in a huge rush to hit that publish button. You dash over to Unsplash. Quickly type in a phrase that relates to your perfect story.

Your story is about self-actualization—you advise your readers to really believe in themselves and in understanding that they do not need to be fixed. A valuable message. But you shrug and haphazardly type in, “Being ok.” You feel anxious about browsing a bunch of images. I mean, who really cares about the picture?

So you quickly choose this image because it comes up at the top.

Don’t do that! The image is pointless. It needs cropping. It’s annoyingly big and gives the reader nothing value-added.

Or this:

Does the reader seriously give a rat’s patoot about looking at letter blocks?

Metrics and statistics about online reading and writing clearly demonstrate that images draw readers in—but worthless images can make readers click away from your story.

Consider these reasons to choose images carefully:

1. Grabbing attention quickly to encourage a reader to explore further
2. Improving comprehension
3. Breaking up text for a more relaxed reader experience
4. Provide emotional connection
5. Boosting engagement—readers often comment on interesting or appealing images.
6. Supporting branding—readers learn that you present good-to-look-at-images, so they seek out your stories
7. Improving SEO—Optimized images (with proper alt tags, captions, and filenames) truly improve search engine rankings, making you more visible in search engines. That's a fact.
8. Increasing dwell time--Outstanding visuals keep readers on the page longer, which is a positive signal to search engines and, again, makes you more visible.

It takes about five minutes, max, to find a great illustration, especially when you type in the right query.

Refine your thinking. Maybe search for “perfect.” Or “feeling great.” Or “self.” Think for a moment about what feeling you want to convey that will draw the reader in because the image is appealing, attractive, or unusual.

Consider searching for another term entirely—I used “self-esteem.” It only took me eight seconds to find my alternative choices to replace the insipid plaques with boring words spelled out.

This one says “I’m okay and satisfied” without using Scrabble tiles.

My point is that the image you choose doesn’t have to literally say, “ending up okay” or whatever your topic is. The image’s job is to offer one more reason for readers to stop clicking or scrolling and stick around on your story for a bit.

Have a look at Kenny Minker ‘s work. Or James Bellerjeau. Or Kristen Stark.

These writers often lure me in with great pictures—the image may not be specifically representative of their thesis, but it catches my eye and attention. So go, thou, and spend a few more minutes letting readers know you care deeply about the details.

My reading ratio is generally around 90%. I pay attention to every aspect of my stories because I respect my readers and want to offer value in every way. Just sayin’. I frequent sites with free-to-use images like Unsplash and Pixabay, and I browse museum sites with free-to-use pictures. Maybe I'll use a painting or drawing. You can, too.

Some sites to get you started

• Metropolitan Museum
• National Gallery of Art
• Art Institute of Chicago
• WikiMedia Commons
• Public Domain Images

If you don't care to invest time in finding a captivating image, then maybe choose to omit the visuals altogether. Better no picture than a repulsive picture. It's your choice.

This week, I saw 11 stories with pictures of words spelled out on wooden blocks. Writers, do better.