Did you know that WordPress has a thing called the “Featured Image”. Every WordPress page or post has the option to have a featured image that represents what the blog post or page is about. (Page or a Post? Click here to learn the difference between a page vs. post)

Remember, images make your site come alive. It’s important to pick the right images for your site that reinforce your message.  Although you can have multiple images on your page or post, you need to pick ONE to use as your “featured image”. 

Why is a Featured Image Important?

WordPress uses the featured image in different ways, depending on what theme you’re using. Here are a few places where your featured image may appear:

Featured images are important for engaging your website visitors. It’s the first image that the visitor will see on the page or post, so it should be eye-catching and relevant. 

Where Do You Set Your Featured Image?

set the featured image in WordPress

Here’s where you’ll find the featured INSIDE your WordPress dashboard. It normally sits in the right-hand column towards the bottom, and many people do not even know it’s there. Plus, unless you already know what it is, the name “Featured Image” doesn’t really help you to understand what it does.

 

Quick Video to See the “Featured Image” in Action!

Watch this video to learn more about this feature, and how you can use it to add accents to your WordPress site!

Simple But Important

The featured image is the first thing that some people will see when they visit your page or see a link on your social media. If it doesn’t catch their attention, they’ll move on. 

Setting your featured image is a simple but important step in creating great content. It’s often overlooked as we focus on the text and images within the post or page.  However, I encourage you to add it to your checklist of things to do when setting up a new page or post.  

 

(This article was originally published in October 2015)

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