Car dealerships might utilize car stock photos to promote vehicles on their website, on social media or even for online ads and marketing materials. However, there is one space where dealerships might not think to use these photos: blog articles.
Car dealerships without a blog should consider embracing this marketing resource. While the blog is the place for written expression in the form of articles and posts, images also are important. Stock photos can heighten the impact of blogs and even encourage readers to explore car models. What are the best car stock photos to use in blogs?
- 360 spin photos
- Animated photos
- Base trim photos
- Interior/exterior photos
Why Should Dealerships Blog?
Car dealerships might not feel that a blog fits their brand. Maybe creating and maintaining a blog is too time consuming. What if no one on staff is a writer? Shouldn’t blogs be written by a professional?
While a professional touch could be a plus, anyone on the staff could maintain the blog. A professional writer isn’t required, but good grammar and spelling is an important must for an impactful blog.
Creative and interesting content also is crucial to the success of a company blog. Optimizing content also is necessary to ensure that articles rank well on the search engines.
Car dealerships interested in creating a company blog might not know what to write. Dealerships can create articles that help their customers. Think about ‘how to’ articles or tips related to car maintenance. Dealerships also could post articles that talk about the history of a certain car model.
Some marketing pros base articles around SEO keywords. These keywords are derived from phrases that are used frequently in the search engines. People might search for “popular cars 2022” or “best car for families.”
These keywords can help mold content. Dealerships who are optimizing their articles for the search engines should include keywords in the Meta title, Meta description, link URL, headline of the blog article and within the first 100 words of the content.
While this sounds a bit detailed, most writers who focus on SEO are used to these specifications. When incorporating keywords into an article, though, a writer needs to ensure that they aren’t ‘stuffed.’ These words need to flow organically and not distract the reader.
What is ‘stuffing?’ In the world of SEO, keyword stuffing is a black hat SEO technique that includes lots of keywords in an article in lieu of creating meaningful and helpful content. Keyword stuffing could result in penalties from the search engine; this means that the page or website could rank much lower or maybe even disappear from the search query.
When done well, a blog can be yet another resource for helping buyers understand their options and even find information they might be seeking related to their and other topics, too. Blog articles also can be fun and focused on holidays, the local area or feature other topics, too.
The Best Car Stock Images for Blogs
Blogs shouldn’t be weighted down with just blocks of text. A great blog needs to include several images within an article to grab a reader’s attention and break up the text of the content.
Car stock images are ideal to use in blogs. These images are high-resolution, which means they can be easily resized without any distortion or pixilation.
Here’s how to use some of EVOX Images’ most popular car stock photo options within blog articles to heighten the user experience and perhaps encourage engagement beyond the blog, too. Check out these photo options and their usage tips:
360 Spin Photos
EVOX Images offers exterior spin photos and panorama photos for car models. Spin photos are interactive; consumers can use a fingertip (for mobile devices) or the mouse to explore the photo.
Exterior spin photos depict a 3D image of the vehicle. On the screen, the mouse or finger can rotate the vehicle in all directions. This allows shoppers to better understand the exterior design of the car. It’s also fun to explore the vehicle.
Panorama photos are interior spin photos. These provide a tour of the inside of the car. Again, consumers can use a fingertip or the mouse to explore. They can look all around the car, including rotating the view upwards to check out a moon roof or other feature.
How do these images work via a blog? Dealerships can drop in a spin photo to break up the body of an article. Use spin photos in articles about a new model to help buyers understand more about the vehicle.
Spin photos also are available for previous model years, too. Dealerships might devote a blog article for an older model of a popular vehicle and could use a spin photo to add an explorative angle to the story.
Animated Photos
EVOX Images recently introduced animated photos. These images load automatically on a page and show a vehicle driving into the photo, spinning or being viewed from different vantage points (drone-type footage). As the vehicle moves, it changes paint trims. These photos let me better understand what the car looks like in each paint option.
Animated photos are designed to grab a visitor’s attention. Dealerships can add these photos into blog articles for an impactful and engaging focal point. These images might work best when writing articles for new models or highlighting a specific vehicle.
Base Trim Photos
When car stock photos are used, dealerships sometimes choose upgraded depictions of the vehicle. These upgrades might look nicer in photos, but what about buyers who just want to see the base trim?
As the average sale price of new cars is still more than $48K, budget buyers might be on the hunt for base trim models. Dealerships can focus a blog article on the base trim of new models. Write about what the trim includes and note the starting MSRP. Then include photos from EVOX Images base trim libraries to show buyers the visual depiction of this budget trim.
Interior/Exterior Photos
Car dealerships might focus on a blog article about upgrades for new models. They might also write an article about certain features like infotainment screens, safety systems or other upgraded features.
EVOX Images includes a library of interior and exterior photos for different models. Car dealerships can find the best car stock photos to highlight the content of their blog.
If an article focuses on a specific new model, dealerships might even decide to include a slideshow of images. This provides yet another way to help buyers research the car and understand the features.
What Images to Avoid for Blog Articles?
Car dealerships who are creating content for their blog can use a variety of car stock images from EVOX Images to illustrate the article. However, dealerships might wonder if there are images they should avoid?
The big issue with images might be related to copyrights. Obviously, car dealerships shouldn’t use an image that is copyrighted without consent. In addition, some photo services only allow images to be used for editorial purposes.
What about vector images? These images can be fun to include for certain articles. However, car dealerships probably don’t want to rely on vector images for their blog as these images don’t always look professional.
Car dealerships also could hire a graphic designer to create one-of-a-kind images or even infographics that can be used alongside an article. While car stock images are the most professional photos to use within blogs, custom images create unique appeal and can capture the attention of readers.