Creating Featured Images – More Traffic & Better Engagement

featured images are often the last thing.
we think about when publishing a blog.
post but they're quite often the first.
thing our visitors see sometimes before.
they even visit our website so it makes.
sense to put in a little bit more effort.
to make them look more appealing the.
good news is it's super easy and when.
combined with what i'm going to show you.
towards the end of this video you'll be.
smashing out featured images like.
they're going out of fashion.
hey there affiliate schoolers and a big.
welcome if you're new to the channel now.
most wordpress themes will require a.
featured image if you're using posts but.
you can even include a featured image if.
you're creating content on pages just by.
adding them in yourself and there's a.
good reason why you should put a little.
bit more focus and attention on your.
featured images the biggest reason is.
that it confirms the search intent for.
the user.
if i'm searching online for a dyson.
vacuum cleaner and i've served an image.
of a guy making coffee.
then i'm at best going to be confused.
and read on or at worst i'm going to.
head straight back to google.
the other key reason is that they make.
your website look more professional but.
only if your images look good now you.
can use whatever image editing software.
you want i tend to use stencil or canva.
we'll look at canva today as you have.
plenty of functionality in the free.
version to create featured images cue.
super quick guide to featured images in.
canva from the dashboard you can choose.
a pre-made template or create from.
scratch for ease let's choose a template.
from the non-professional version of.
canva.
make sure your dimensions fit those that.
work best with your theme i tend to use.
1200 pixels by 600 pixels for my.
featured images the most important part.
of the featured image is probably.
you guessed it the image so browse.
through the images in canva and pick one.
that suits although canva has some.
really good quality images to use a few.
youtubers have recently discovered that.
there are some issues with using certain.
sizes of images and then publishing them.
on the web now i'm not exactly sure what.
those restrictions are so if you do have.
an idea of that then please leave a.
comment down below irrespective of the.
canva restrictions on images i tend to.
try and avoid using free stock imagery.
just because i want my images to be more.
unique and to really pop so i tend to.
use paid stock images and then make.
adjustments to them.
in the past i've used adobe stock images.
but it is expensive at around 24 pounds.
per month for just 10 images per month.
more recently i've been using deposit.
photos they've got a fantastic library.
of images and every now and again like.
they have now they have a special offer.
that gives you about 10 times the value.
of adobe stock images and to be honest.
their images are just as good and i'll.
leave a link in the description below it.
is an affiliate link so if you do use it.
thank you very much for that but it.
really is great value now i'm going to.
show you deposit photos and canva in.
action just in a second but before i do.
that if you're getting value from this.
video i'd really appreciate it if you.
could bop that like button the.
promotional offer on deposit photos.
works out at 39. for 100 images which if.
we compare it to their normal one-off.
pricing is a massive discount it would.
usually cost 239 pounds which is.
probably closer to 300 so it really is a.
great deal and it's really simple to use.
you simply choose the topic that you.
that you want you browse for the photo.
that you want and then you download it.
and that uses one credit then we simply.
upload the image into canva we can use.
it as the background and make any.
amendments that we wish such as making.
you darker or lighter.
cropping it and so on because we've got.
such a high resolution image we really.
can be quite creative with how we use.
this as a background if your theme does.
not add the post title over the image or.
if you're creating a featured image for.
a page instead of a post then i would.
suggest adding the title as the text of.
course again this is fully customizable.
within canva so include your color.
scheme in the design and then download.
making sure to compress the image before.
you download and including a keyword in.
the name of the image file simply upload.
to your page or post and you have a.
highly engaging professional looking.
unique featured image that should help.
your visitors to know they're in the.
right place when reading your page if.
you do want to grab the image pack from.
deposit photos for 39 again like i say.
i'll leave the link in the description.
below i tend to use it for most of my.
affiliate sites and it really is a.
highly cost effective way of getting.
fairly unique imagery that is probably.
not used by the majority of other.
websites.
it's also not going to land you in hot.
water with canva or copyright issues.
further down the line but if you're not.
quite ready to do that right now then.
you might want to make sure you're.
mastering the rest of your on-page seo.
by watching this video here where i.
outline exactly what you need to do to.
get your on-page seo spot on guys thank.
you very much for watching and good luck.
with your projects.