What Is a Featured Image in WordPress? The Ultimate Guide for 2023

Hey there, WordPress user! If you‘ve been blogging for a while, you‘ve probably come across the term "featured image" when creating your posts. But what exactly are featured images, and why are they so important?

In this ultimate guide, we‘ll dive deep into everything you need to know about featured images in WordPress. From the basics of what they are and how to set them, to more advanced tips for optimizing them for maximum impact.

Let‘s get started!

What Is a Featured Image in WordPress?

A featured image, also known as a post thumbnail, is the main representative image for a post or page on your WordPress site. It‘s the first visual element a visitor sees when browsing your blog homepage, archives, or search results.

Featured images give readers a quick preview of your post‘s topic before they click through to read the full article. They‘re a powerful tool for grabbing attention, setting your content apart, and encouraging clicks.

According to research by Venngage, articles with an image once every 75-100 words got double the number of social shares compared to articles with fewer images. And content with relevant images gets 94% more views than content without.

So in short, great featured images lead to better engagement, more traffic, and a stronger brand for your WordPress site. That‘s why almost every WordPress theme released in the past 5+ years has built-in support for featured images.

How to Set a Featured Image in WordPress

Adding a featured image in WordPress is super simple. Just follow these quick steps:

1. Open up the post or page you want to add a featured image to.
2. In the right-hand sidebar, look for the "Featured image" section.
3. Click the "Set featured image" link. This will open up the media library popup.
4. Here you can either upload a new image or select one you‘ve previously uploaded.
5. After choosing your image, click the "Set featured image" button.
6. Update or publish your post and you‘re done!

Here‘s a visual of what the featured image panel looks like in the WordPress editor:

Featured image panel in the WordPress block editor

After setting your featured image, it should now appear wherever your theme displays featured images. This could be at the top of your post, in post previews around your site, or when your post is shared on social media.

Enabling Featured Image Support in a Theme

If you‘re developing your own WordPress theme, you‘ll need to make sure it supports featured images. Luckily, adding featured image support is quite easy.

Simply add the following line of code to your theme‘s functions.php file:

add_theme_support( ‘post-thumbnails‘ );

This one line tells WordPress that your theme can handle featured images. You‘ll then be able to display the featured images by adding the appropriate template tags to your theme files:

<?php the_post_thumbnail( ‘thumbnail‘ ); ?>  // Thumbnail size
<?php the_post_thumbnail( ‘medium‘ ); ?>     // Medium size
<?php the_post_thumbnail( ‘large‘ ); ?>      // Large size 
<?php the_post_thumbnail( ‘full‘ ); ?>       // Original size

For more advanced usage, you can register your own custom featured image sizes with the add_image_size() function. This lets you create versions of the featured image cropped to specific dimensions.

Where to Find Quality Featured Images

Of course, to have effective featured images, you need to start with high-quality, relevant photos. But where can you find great images that are free to use?

Here are some of the best sources for free, professionally-shot stock photos:

• Unsplash – Over 2 million high-res images free for any use
• Pexels – Large library of free stock photos and videos
• Pixabay – 1.8 million photos, illustrations, and vectors
• Burst – Royalty-free images for businesses and creatives
• StockSnap.io – Hundreds of free images added weekly
• Flickr Commons – Public domain images from museums worldwide

When using images from these sites, double check the license to make sure you‘re allowed to use them on your blog. Look for images licensed under Creative Commons Zero (CC0), which means they‘re free for personal or commercial use without attribution.

If you need more premium, exclusive photos, you may want to consider a paid stock photo site instead:

Comparing free vs paid stock photo sites

For the highest-quality, most relevant featured images, you may want to invest in a paid stock photo subscription or commission your own custom photography. But in many cases, free CC0 image sites are enough to find the perfect featured image.

Advanced Featured Image Tips

Want to level up your featured image game? Here are a few more advanced techniques to try:

Lazy Loading
Improve your page load times by deferring featured images until they‘re visible on screen. Use a plugin like a3 Lazy Load or add the loading="lazy" attribute to your img tags.

Responsive Images
Ensure your featured images look great on any device by using responsive image techniques. The srcset and sizes attributes let you specify different image files and dimensions for varying screen sizes.

Optimized Alt Text
For better SEO and accessibility, always add descriptive alt text to your featured images. Use relevant keywords, but avoid keyword stuffing. Describe what‘s actually shown in the photo.

Open Graph Tags
Make sure social media sites display the right featured image by setting Open Graph meta tags. Install a plugin like Yoast SEO to automatically generate the OG tags for your featured images.

Consistent Styling
Create a cohesive, professional look for your blog by using consistent sizing and styling for all featured images. Consider adding your logo or graphic overlays to build your visual brand.

Conclusion

Featured images may seem like a small detail, but they can have a big impact on your WordPress site‘s success. By carefully selecting, optimizing, and displaying compelling featured images, you‘ll capture more attention, get more engagement, and keep visitors coming back.

To sum up, here are the key takeaways about featured images in WordPress:

1. Featured images are the main representative photo for each post
2. They help increase visibility, clicks, and shares when used effectively
3. Setting a featured image is as simple as selecting it in the post editor
4. Themes need to explicitly add support for featured images
5. Use only properly-licensed photos from reputable free or paid image sites
6. Optimize your featured images for performance, SEO, and social media
7. Keep your featured image style consistent to build a strong visual brand

With these tips and best practices, you‘re ready to become a featured image pro and take your WordPress site to the next level. So choose those images wisely and watch your traffic grow!