Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About PhotoBlogging But Were Afraid To Ask
About a year and a half ago, I wrote a post about the ABC's of Photoblogging and it contained a couple useful videos about photo placement in a blog post . There are many tutorials in the ActiveRain library but if you are unsure exactly what you are looking for you you could easily miss them. So I have included them here once again for anyone not familiar with them. So assuming you know how to place a photo in a blog, what else do you need to know about photobogging?
For starters maybe I should define what photoblogging is or not as the case may be. You are probably acquainted with the wordless groups. These are groups where you simply add a photo and the photo becomes the post. They are popular groups. People do want to add a photo and call it a post and move on. Some photos are just so rich in content that the owners feel they require no words. A sunrise for example. But a lot of you figured out that if you don't have at least 50 originals words you get no points for those posts. Sorry, but I don't make the rules. So what transpired is some would add the (Almost Wordless) in the title and then the necessary words to make that post count for points credit. Some just add their signature at the bottom and if it is not set up in the default signature line in your settings, the scanners cannot tell that the signature material added is not original words.
Actually it was this rule that gave rise to the ActiveRainPhotoBlogger group itself. A photoblog by defintion ( ActiveRain ) is a blog about the story contained in the photo augmented by words to position the story and expand on it. The first element of this is then adding a photo to a post. But not necessarily the first thing you do in setting up that post. The first thing you encounter when you are adding a new post is the Title Bar. This is where you decide if you want Google Juice for that post. Google Juice is that warm fussy stuff that people work so hard to obtain. In a nut shell, it is Page ranking for your post.
While we are on that subject, what do want in return for the photoblog presentation? Kudos from your AR network subscribers or real page ranking from your client prospects when they see the posts. I'll will assume it is both but I will focus on the latter, otherwise I don't have a very good reason for writing this.
Selecting a title for a Photo blog is really no different than that for a regular blog post. Does the title capture interest? Wait a minute, the spiders and crawlers don't care about interest. They are interested in key words people use to search for things and that is what they are looking for. So depending on the nature of the post, be aware that while Google loves Photo Blogs, they expect the photos to have an Image Description and a Title and they are key words in the post. Google indexes photos in a different way than words but if done correctly, they will make quite a difference for you.
For those newer in the Rain, this first video will show the 2 different ways to insert a photo onto your blog.
This second video will show you how to align the photo in your post, re-size it and also how to place some white-space around your photo so that the words of your post do not run into your photo.
Now that you have your photo downloaded into the post, you are ready to enhance your story contained within your photo. What's the difference between a photoblog and a regular blog since both of them can have a photo in them?" It is a nuance of course but here is how I would explain the difference. When you write a blog some may want to illustrate it by adding a photo. The photo adds interest and supports the blog or story you have written. In a photo blog, the photo is the story and you write words to further enhance and embellish the story. It is my contention that photblogging is a way to get more attention for your blogging efforts and ActiveRain Localism is a great place to focus your community specific photoblogging. Who doesn't like looking at photos? And when your photo blogs are about your community or events taking place there, it puts you and the consumers in the community or event together. And on top of that, you look like the local authority.
Think of photoblogging as photo journalism. The photo becomes the story and the words enhance the story contained within it. As I mentioned this is a nuanced meaning that it is open to other interpretations. But it is why I started the ActiveRainPhoto Blogger Group. To share resources, to share experiences and to learn how better to enhance our own photo telling stories and presentations. We also share in photo editing and enhancements, tutorials on photo taking, branding and and even copy writing your photos for public presentations, etc. And if you don't see your questions answered in our group posts, one of us will be available to help you.
Some of the more interesting Photoblogs I have read capture important history, past or present and the photos and corresponding stories take on an even more important role. When you show historical sites or events in your community, you really have taken on the appearance of the true expect in your area.
Some of our members posts even share you how they originally took the photos as a tip to better photography. There is so much we can all learn about Photo Blogging but it is mostly about having fun and sharing what we do. Google loves them and so do consumers so in my estimation, it is a win win.
I hope if you haven't already joined the ActiveRainPhotoBlogger group, that you will consider doing so. And also please understand that you don't have be an expert photographer to be doing great photoblogging. Any reasonably good photo works because there is always a story. But if you need help in that regard, we have some real experts in our group that will help you. We do use guidelines that have been approved by ActiveRain and by doing so, our photo posts are also eligible for consideration for daily featuring just like the other regular blog posts. Our group members have had many of their posts featured. So we hope you will drop by and check us out.
There has been a rumor circulating that come the end of April, we are planning to have our first ActiveRainPhotoBlogger group contest. OK, there is truth to the rumor ( I think I started it, actually, LOL ) but I haven't yet approached Bob or Kerri at ActiveRain to see if they allow us to offer just an obscene amount of points for all the winners and special incentives for everyone entering the contest. I know that some will want to take special photos and that may take some planning. So watch my posts for the announcement of the ActiveRainPotoBlogger Contest.
Comments (118)Subscribe to CommentsComment