Do you prefer blogs with lots of pictures or lots of words?
My mom has a very popular blog, Jo’s Country Junction. We talk blogger business quite frequently. We like using Google Analytics to track our traffic sources and number of guests.
I have technically been blogging longer than her, but she has far surpassed me in daily number of visitors. Mom’s suggestions include:
- Blog everyday to build a relationship with your readers
- Make everyday experiences into blog posts
- PICTURES, PICTURES, PICTURES!
Mom never writes a blog post without a picture. She even took pictures of processing pigs! I am not confident in my photography skills so I avoid pictures if they are not necessary.
I am doing my best to heed her suggestions, although getting a post up everyday is difficult for me. One way I am adding more pictures to my blog is utilizing Flickr.
You can view and download pictures without a user ID. On the Flickr homepage, search for the item you would like. Before viewing your results, choose “Advanced Search.” Scroll to the bottom of the page and select “Creative Commons” licenses. Choose “Pictures to use Commercially.”
The resulting images are yours to use legally on your blog.
I chose an image for this post called “New Camera.” I clicked on the image which brought me to a new page. Under the “Share” tab I selected “Grab the HTML/BBCode.” There are a variety of sizes to choose from. Copy and paste the generated HTML code into your blog post.
You may also download the image to your computer and upload it to your blog. This is not my favorite method. One: It is more work. Two: These artists are giving away their images for free. It would be kind of you to promote the artist by linking back to their work.
I can’t promise a post everyday, but the posts I do have will have pictures from photographers far more talented than me. 
