5 Tips To Make The Most Of GIFs for WordPress Have you ever wanted to spice up your blog posts? Adding GIFs can be a great way to make your content stand out and catch the interest of your viewers. But where do you even begin? How do you know which GIFs are best for your content? And how do you find them in the first place? Well, worry no more! We’ve compiled 5 tips that will help you use GIFs for WordPress with ease. So, if you're ready to learn how to do this, keep reading! GIFs have seen an explosive growth in popularity in recent years, and for good reason. They're quick to make, easy to use and are highly shareable. They've proved so useful that WordPress even added support for them to the platform back in version 4.2. GIFs are a great way to get more website traffic, more email subscribers and more engagement on social media. Leverage Animated GIFs As Visual Aid One of the most popular uses for GIFs is to provide visual aid. For example, perhaps you're giving an introduction to a new topic. A great way to engage your audience is to include an animated GIF that illustrates the point you're trying to make. So, for instance, if you were writing a blog post about how best practices for digital marketing differ from traditional marketing methods, you could include a GIF that depicts what each type of marketing looks like. This would help readers understand the content better and might even spark their curiosity about the post. This might seem simple but adding an image can really enhance your content and make it more memorable. It also helps break up long pieces of text so readers don't get overwhelmed with too much text on one page. And if you're looking for high-quality images, there are plenty of sites out there where you can find free or affordable photography! Include CTAs to get your message across Did you know that 46% of marketers use GIFs in their email marketing campaigns? You might be wondering how adding a GIF to your email campaign could help you. Well, it's simple! You can use CTAs (calls-to-action) to encourage people to take the next step. For example, let's say you're using a GIF of someone holding up a sign with the word "yes" on it. When someone sees this GIF, they'll know what action to take—most likely clicking on the sign. A successful CTA will help strengthen your message and give viewers room for interpretation. That way, people will understand exactly what you're trying to say and do it with no confusion. Use Lossy Compression GIFs are already compressed, but it's important not to use too high of a compression rate. The higher the compression rate, the more details that are lost. If you're looking for a specific GIF and can't find it online, try using a tool like Photoshop or Gimp to edit your GIF on your own. Optimize Duplicate Frames If you're looking for a GIF that has the same frame twice, try searching for an optimized version. This will help you avoid duplicating frames and using unnecessary bandwidth. For example, say you want to use a GIF of someone telling a joke and you want to add it to your post. You search for something like "Tell A Joke" or "Joke" in GIPHY and click on the right category. From here, take a look at how many frames are in the video and see if there's anything you would like to change. In this case, the video has only one frame so it's going to be easy. If there were multiple frames that showed different angles of the same joke being told, then optimize duplicate frames would have been an helpful tip! Customize GIFs With Plug-Ins Did you know that WordPress has a bunch of plug-ins you can use to customize GIFs? With these, you have the ability to control how long your GIFs loop and where they appear on your page. One of the most popular plug-ins for this is Jetpack. When you activate it, Jetpack will provide you with a module for inserting GIFs into your posts. You can make them loop or not loop and decide their position on the page. Here's how to get started: 1. On your WordPress dashboard, click "Plugins" and then "Add New". 2. Look for Jetpack and then click "Install Now" Conclusion In the end, if you’re using a GIF, it should be adding value to your content and not detracting from it. If your readers find that it clutters your page and takes away from the message you’re trying to convey, then you should examine what you’re doing. GIFs are an excellent way to introduce little character into your content, and they’re also an easy way to give your blog some much-needed personality. There are countless benefits to using these images on your WordPress website, and it’s not just a matter of adding them with abandon. You can sacrifice context if you overuse them, but if used right, you can improve the user experience of your website. Learning how to make the most of GIFs is one part skill, but also one part experimentation. When choosing a GIF, try to choose one which complements your content, rather than distracts from it. You can make clever use of GIFs in the beginning or end of your post for a visual call-to-action, such as the “share” button at the end of this post.
