Or putting an image alongside the post titles?

You have my basic opinion on the first, as for the second, they do little good.

First, on multi-post page views (front, search, categories, etc.), they are clutter.

Second, recent research has shown repeatedly that images are so overused, they are often ignored for content on the web as that is where the information lies the individual is seeking.

Third, what good do they do and what are their purpose? In the early days of online journaling, images were used to denote “mood” on a post. Then there was a period where people thought they were “pretty”. Now, they tend to be clutter unless there is a specific purpose for the image to be there.

Without more information, that’s the best I can do.

Again, images without value do nothing but waste time and bandwidth and clutter things up. Make them count.

Or anyones opinion actually.

I quite like it, but then I did it so =/

Wow, that’s an awesome article, and I don’t think I could have said it any better. Though I sure did try just a few days ago. Why don’t you go and check out my blog about imagines at ambatchmasterpublisher

Thanks,

Eric
ambatchmasterpublisher

In a few instances, over the last six months, the images/illustrations in some of the posts managed to get me some loyal readers (I think).

You say: “if the image matches the content, they may stay, but if it isn’t, or looks “fake”, the integrity of your content might have a questionable shadow.” and I totally agree with that. If I start putting stuff that’s not complementary to the text – pretty soon those loyal readers are going to vanish. :)

Sometimes it’s stock photography, sometimes illustration, and sometimes it’s me with my digital camera (like my last blog post about Adidas sneakers and e-commerce issues!) It’s interesting to hear everyone’s perspective on this topic!

Not all blog posts need images, and not all images need the words, but finding the right balance between them is a challenge, as I described. Whatever you do, don’t throw in images just because you think they break up the text or the blocks of text just need images because that’s what you should do. That’s a waste of everyone’s time.

Use images to continue and complement the story. Images consume bandwidth, so make them matter. They also can consume a few seconds of a reader’s time, and if the image matches the content, they may stay, but if it isn’t, or looks “fake”, the integrity of your content might have a questionable shadow.

When you see a store-bought image, one of the commercial images where everyone looks “perfect” and too pretty, don’t you immediately dismiss the image and begin to question the content?

Yes, I can be amazingly insightful like that sometimes. :o)

I quite like the look of it, it draws the eye better to article headlnes for example. But its my own work so obviously I will like it.

What do you guys think?