Adding images to your blog posts help break up the content, makes them visually appealing, and enhances your storytelling. By using keywords in the image filenames you can also help boost your Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Alternative text should always be included and captions are highly recommended, unless the reader can already understand the image content based on surrounding text.
Sizing Images
WordPress has a few size options available when you are adding your image. The sizes listed are the maximum size and may be reduced to fit the space available on various devices and will also vary based on the layout of sidebars on your blog site.
- Thumbnail: 150 px by 150 px (square)
- Medium: 300 px by 200 px (wide or tall)
- Large: 1024 px by 680 px (wide or tall)
- Full Size: the original size of your image
For original images larger than the Large size you should avoid using the Full Size option. The image will not display any bigger, but the Full Size image will slow down the webpage loading speed.
The system will not scale or stretch any images to be larger than their original size. If your original image dimensions fall below one of the listed maximum sizes, that option will not be available for you to insert.
Vertical Images
Vertical images work well for portraits of people or tall structures. Due to the length of the images on the page, the medium version is the optimal size for these images. A thumbnail could also be used. The large option should generally be avoided, because it takes up so much space.
Horizontal Images
Horizontal images can be used to simulate the layout of a CMSvwebpage by inserting the image without a caption at the top of your post. They can also be used for non-portrait images throughout the body of your post. A good rule of thumb for horizontal images is to insert the largest size available, except Full Size if it is larger than the Large option.
Images Smaller Than 150×150
When your image is smaller than the thumbnail dimensions of 150 px square, you will only be able to insert the Full Size image. Notice that a caption may not work so well for an image that is extremely small!
