There aren’t many blogs today that use text only to present their content. We all know having a variety of media makes content look better and keep people longer on site.

Depending on the niche you are in, and the social media you want to win over, you may even have to have different forms of content on your blog (example would be Pinterest and having to have images in posts).

So let’s say you want to do it all, you know how important it is but you just have no clue where to start!

Images

Images are the easiest thing to start with.

Create your own images

There are two great tools you can use for free, to create great looking images for your blog.

Picmonkey is an editing tool with a lot of options, all you have to do is upload an image or a blank canvas and start creating. Big selection of patterns, filters, fonts and colors make this tool very useful for bloggers, giving them a lot of options to work with. This tool is web browser based.

Gimp is a free software, similar to Photoshop, you can use to create and edit images. Again, upload a photo or start from scratch and make a quick image. Unlike Picmonkey, you need to install this software on your computer.

These images don’t have to be something special, just use some nice font to tell people what the post is about, that way, if they Pin the image, people on Pinterest will know what to expect. Sharing on Facebook will also look better if you have an image in the post.

I use this strategy from time to time, and you can see how simple the image is in this round up post. It took me 2 minutes to make it but when pinned, it attracts attention.

Combine your own and others’ work

Sometimes creating an image with a few words won’t cut it, so you need a good photo to make it work. Since I want to make all this free, the site I can recommend where you can find free images and then edit them is Morguefile.

Hop over there, download the image you like, add some info or a quote to it, and post it to your blog. Make a pinnable out of it! Actually, the image at the top is created in Picmonkey, with an image from Morguefile.

Use someone else’s work

Infographics are the bomb and getting more popular and better looking over time. So why not use them. If you are not great at designing one, use someone else’s.

Visua.ly is a site with a great collection of infographics you can embed in your posts. Go to Visua.ly, find an infographic in the topic you write about (use the Search option at the top of the screen) and scroll to the bottom of the infographic you want to use, there is an embed code for you to copy.

You can even make money from images you use on your blog (the link goes to a post of mine explaining exactly how to do just that – make money from some really amazing photos). 

Video

This is a no brainer. Youtube is the second biggest search engine after Google and you don’t want to miss on the opportunity to get some traffic from it.

Create videos

Almost any type of blog can use a “talking head” videos. All you need is a web cam, go to Youtube recorder tool and start recording yourself as you teach people how to do something.

If you don’t like the camera, or you are in some niche where you can’t apply this tip, see if you can make screencasts. Screencasts are recordings of your screen while you show how to do something. I love doing these and they are perfect for bloggers.

Great free tool you can use to record screencasts is Screencast-o-Matic. I used to use this tool until I moved to a more robust paid software, and I have to say I loved it.

Use someone else’s videos

If you can’t make videos or just don’t want to, you can use other people’s videos. Youtube again, is your best shot. There are so many videos over there that there is no chance you won’t find something to match your content.

One example I see often is people embedding posts from Matt Cutts and then writing a post around them, trying to figure out what was he saying about good SEO practices. So pick a video from an authority in your niche and write a post around it.

Youtube isn’t your only choice, though. Another great site for videos is Vimeo and there are a few others people use. I just like Youtube because it has videos about everything under the sun.

Presentations

Presentations are often neglected as a media of choice, which is kinda crazy considering you can find some amazing presentations to embed in your posts and make them pop.

Slideshare is a site with presentations you can embed in your posts and they have a big variety of great designed presentations. Use the search feature to find topics that interest you, at the top of the presentation you will see an embed code, just copy and paste to your post.

Conclusion

There is no reason why you should not include more than just text in your posts, and make the experience better for your readers. If you make it interesting, they will come back!

So what are you using on your blog? Leave me a comment below!