I wanted to share a little blogging tip that I learned almost a year ago and it deals with the reason that I don’t put an image before words in a blog post. (I just did another trick right there that I will explain today, too- #2 below). I always add a little intro first and then the image (find out why you don’t put an image before words in a blog post below…)
1- The reason that you don’t but your image before words is because when the ‘bots’ read your page, they will be reading coding instead of your words. If your image is first, it will have so many letters, codes, etc… instead of your focus Keyword. (ps- if you don’t have an SEO plugin, get one. I explain why it is important and how to use it here: SEO PLUGIN).
What is a focus keyword? Read about it in the link that I shared above for SEO plugins, but it is the keyword(s) that people will be searching that will lead them to you. So, this post would be PUT AN IMAGE BEFORE WORDS IN A BLOG POST. When people search that, this post will eventually be listed high on the search page and people will find it, read it, and hopefully become followers.
2- So, you want to make sure that you have your focus keyword(s) first and it has to be in the first 100 characters to make your SEO better. I also bold my focus keyword. Bold letters tell the the ‘bots that it is important!
3- You can’t just use your focus keyword without other words around it. The ‘bots can tell. So, I didn’t write “put an image before words in a blog post” right away. I wrote a long sentence & just included it, casually, but it is within the first 100 words. (See my intro above to see what I mean)
4- Make sure that your images have your focus keyword in there, too. Here is an example from my post on Monday. My focus keywords were HOW TO USE SEO PLUGINS IN WORDPRESS
Here is the example from today’s post:
All of these things will make you rank higher on searches, etc…
I hope that was helpful!
Find out how to make an Income blogging here (& view my blogging income report here)
Great tip…I just went back and readjusted my last post accordingly. I’ll have to go back and do others later in the week. Love the simplicity, timeliness, and practical application your provide in your posts!
I’m glad that it helped!
Great tip for my blog. I always include an image.photo but this gives me a better idea of where to put it. Thanks!
🙂
Thanks for the tip. This goes into the category of “things you don’t learn until later as a new blogger” so I’m thankful to have learned it early on in my blogging journey. Going to fix some posts… 🙂
Awesome!
Thanks for the information. I heard something about this before but not about bolding the type or including in the first 100 words. Appreciate your practical and informative suggestions!
Glad to help!
Wow! You learn something new every day! I think half of my post start with an image first because I just assumed Google went straight to the text. Thanks for sharing!
Sure!
Becky you really have rocked my world these last couple of weeks and I’m so glad I found your site. It has become my Go To Resource for all things Blogging. As with your other posts, this one was very helpful – Thank you!
Oh- I’m so glad that BOTS is helping! Yay!
I had no idea..I wish I knew this a couple of years ago.. 🙂
lol- better late than never. 😉
Does this mean I have to change all my posts? Well, it’s good to know, I’ll Just have to fix a little at a time I guess! Thanks!
haha- I would just change your most important ones. 😉 & then maybe do one a day?
I just learned something new. Thanks for sharing that.
Does this apply when you are using “featured” images?
I use featured images in all posts, but I use the focus keywords for the featured post & then I set it to not be shown on my main page- I add it manually. It is only shown on the homepage.
Oh wow…have a done it wrong all this time *haha* Time to change that now.
haha!
thanks for the great tip! i really have been enjoying the blog so far!
Thanks! This is a great post and good advice. I have done this wrong in many of my past post, but the keyword is past and I will definitely be changing this from now on.
I am thankful for this blog and all your willingness to share.
~Sherri
godlifehappywife.blogspot.com
Thanks, Sherri!!
Thanks Becky for this great advice. I am particularly intrigued because my images come before my content but I always include my key words in the image title and alt tag.. Does that mean that the bots won’t be able to read my keyword in the image alt tag?
I think that it can, but I think that when the keyword comes before the coding, it shows higher importance.
Great Tip. Thanks
Thanks for the blogging tips. I am working to pump up my SEO.
I was just about to do a Google search on where to put your first picture in a blog post when I came up on this post. Thank you for answering questions I was wondering. I was wondering about the picture being first. I am pinning to my blog board. Thanks
Wow!! Thank you for a fabulous tip! You guys are really helping me navigate the blog world! I have blogged on and off for awhile now. I have great info to share about health and fitness but I was never gaining the following I needed to keep spending the time. By following you guys the past few weeks I see just how much I was missing behind the scenes!
What about the small photo to the left or right (like a thumbnail) before the jump-break. With a few sentences along the side of it?
Do you use jump-breaks? What do you think about them?
Thanks so much,
Sissy 🙂
Thank you! I have to go rework a few posts. I’m a new blogger so this is very helpful, as I don’t have too many posts to redo yet. I love tips like this one!
Gack! I have to go back and fix all of my posts! So glad I read this. Thanks for the tips! 🙂
Genius! Really – it is… such great information in your blog. I keep reading and reading. Now I want to go back and move my images down a little bit.
If some one wishes expert view on the topic of blogging afterward i propose him/her to visit this weblog, Keep up the nice job.
Here is my web blog google
Wow, this is one tip that I have not come across before! Very interesting.
Wow, I just learned something new. Now I have to figure out how to move my featured image. Thank you so much!
Came across you on Pinterest. Pinned this & then stopped to read it. Great tips. I’ve been bloggging 1x a week for past year – love giving substance in my content as it relates to women, not just my jewelry. My blogs haven’t been getting read by others beyond my group members, so I’m exploring the details I have missed. Hope they help. Will be following you. Love 1 tip at a time. When I read to learn and its lots of stuff, I don’t retain any of it. What can you expect from a 75 year young learning social media marketing?
🙂 thanks. YOu can learn a TON – watch you tube videos on social media.
Thanks for the tip! Just went back and edited my posts. Luckily, I just started so I didn’t have all that many to correct! Thanks for the insight.
🙂 sure!
Thanks for the tip. I’ve been doing it backwards for years! I have a lot of posts to edit.
These are great tips! I’m adjusting my posts tonight. I will use this advice moving forward. Thanks for sharing.
Great advice. Looks like I have been doing it wrong on all of my posts. I have homework tonight! Thank you.
haha!!
Another great tip! You always have different stuff than all the other “how to make money blogging” blogs. Practical tips, instead of “write great content”, which I think we’ve all read a bazillion times by now!
Wow, such a great tip! And I have been doing it wrong this whole time..! Now up to writing a few new blog posts with your tip in mind! Thank you so much!
Love,
Stefi
Great advice. Now to enforce it! Thanks Becky 🙂
Go for it!
Thx very helpful. I want to reach students, so bots first ~:-)
Great tip! Thank you. 🙂
Great tips I am always looking to improve my blog posts, and to increase my audience.
Great point – the bots and SEO aren’t something I had really thought about in regards to image placement – I was more concerned with aesthetics. Thanks for the tip. x
I noticed that you did not name your image but left it with a screenshot name…it is always good to name your images with thoughtful names as well.
Hi! This actually isn’t true, but what is important is optimizing the images so the tags include your keywords and the file name does as well. There is no need to put the image after the text. You can Google SEO image optimization and get lots of tips there. The tags are also often pulled in as the pin description when people pin your posts, so image optimization is very important.
Those bots are a pain in my rear end. I found this post on pinterest and I am thankful to you for sharing. I have a blog post scheduled to go up friday but I will edit my placement of my photo. Thank you. I will let you know how it turns out.
I have always put an image first as I felt like it was useful for grabbing the attention of the viewer, but this method of not putting it first (especially for the reasons you outlined) makes so much sense.
I really need to work on creating a focus keyword / phrase and creating that little opening blurb. Excellent post! Thank you for sharing!
I cannot thank you enough for this post! I have been having trouble for the past few weeks with a few images on my website coming up with an error saying “Pinterest cannot fetch the image”, making the images unable to pin. I searched for hours and had tried everything to fix this error and came upon this post and decided to try it out and viola! Error fixed! I can now pin all of my images to Pinterest so thank you!
WOW! I did NOT know that this was my issue. I want to go to my blog now and fix it all but I’m not sure where to start hahaha. I definitely am looking to be found but I’m experimenting everywhere to figure out what the deal is. I definitely gotta try!