Should I put up a photo of myself on a blog?

Most I have seen most blogs these days have a photo of a contributor or its author. I'm wondering, should I put up a photo of myself on every blog or forum that I own?
I read somewhere that you don't have to use your real name if you're focusing on different niches. Is that correct?

what do you guys think?

You never "have" to use your real name regardless. Are you trying to build a brand around yourself or your topics?

I'd say there is a difference. You, yourself, is more personal. Making your name synonymous with expertise in your field is just as good on the web as it is off the web. What are your main topics? Curious. You don't have to use your real name because you could sell the authority of your site and not having your "name" can position yourself for website flipping better.

Under this methodology you would basically choose between a long term brand (by using your name) and a short term brand (not using name).

But there are many dynamics to this. Lets hear some other contributors answer...

I have done it both ways and continue to make that decision on a case by case basis. The easiest ones to succeed with for me was when I used the real info.

It will probably be easier for you to succeed if you used your real name and a real photo, especially with a blog. That doesn't mean you have to do it.

You can get away with using an alias if it doesn't bother you. Writers do it all the time.

You can also get away with pretending to be someone totally other than you are.

I know for a fact that there are some guys out there (even in the internet marketing field) who go around pretending to be women because it gives them an advantage. They pretend to be women because most of the people in the internet marketing world are men. And men treat women with more respect and dignity than they treat other men with. It is human nature. If a guy sees a girl saying something they disagree with, the guy will usually be more polite about correcting her or maybe they won't bother speaking up at all. If it was a guy telling another guy, then sometimes they rip each other's heads off.

And you also get the situation where guys will suck up to and kiss ass for someone they think is a girl. They will flatter her and act like a submissive follower of her if they think she is hot. It is in their nature to do so. But that person pretending to be a nice 26 year old sexy looking lady might really be some 45 year old, fat dude living in a dumpy apartment who never got his life together. And you would never know it. He is sitting at his food stained keyboard that sits right next to a huge ashtray overflowing with cigarette butts from some no-name brand of cheap Indian Reservation cigarettes. He hasn't showered in a couple days or shaved in a couple weeks. The dude is so nasty that he even has a booger dangling out of his left nostril that is about to drip out onto his lard ass, stretched out, highly stained and yellowed Jim Beam t-shirt. But he has everyone convinced that he is really the sexy, flirty 26 year old chic or whatever.

The problem with doing that is, what if you want to skype chat with someone and you are pretending to be someone you are not? Or what if you decide you want to record first person YouTube videos of yourself explaining something? Or what if you want to participate in an interview that you know will bring you a ton of publicity? If you are faking who you are, then those types of things will make you feel weird. And it is possible you might have to turn an opportunity down when one presents itself because you will be afraid they will uncover the truth.

Obviously you are not a guy pretending to be a girl. And I doubt you are a girl pretending to be a guy - (nasty). But I think you get the point.

If it is a niche you don't mind being associated with publicly, then use your real info and put up a real photo. If it is a niche you are embarrassed about in any way, use the fake stuff. But realize that you might be holding yourself back if you really start to succeed with what you are doing.

Don't for a minute think that most of the photos you see of people online are real photos of them. Half the people who join forums like this one use fake photos of Caucasian men or women when in fact they are probably from some part of the globe where there aren't many Caucasians at all.

Real info is the best in my opinion, as when you share your articles on social media at least your followers will know what your area of expertise is (or your niche).

From another angle, if someone were to click through the author bio to follow the author, that's just one more avenue where they'll be viewing your posts isn't it? I've seen sites with fake bios and their social media accounts are dead. That's just a wasted opportunity I'd say.

I would say generally speaking you want to try and use your real name. If nothing else because it has your name on it, you might try that extra little bit to keep things on the straight and narrow.

I would also say that if you have more than one site, there are some factors to look at that may lead you towards using an alias. I am of the belief that using Schema tags you can in effect leave a trail of content which would be the same as Google Authorship ( which no longer exists ) so if you have 2 totally un related sites this would be something to consider.

I use my photo, as shown in here, on every single account I have online as a personal identification.

My photo was taken professionally and includes the logo and the colors of my company, making it personal, and also avoiding people to steal it (yes, some people steal photos to pass as their own). I believe, and strongly, that when you put your own face on something, you gain a loyal fanbase of followers and you become more credible other than using a logo (often becomes too trendy and boring) or an avatar made as a kind of vector figure. It is the kind of situation in which you show that you are for real, the "I have nothing to hide" statement.

The same goes for the name, mine is Alex de Borba, nice meeting you. I rather trust someone that uses their real name other than someone with an untraceable nickname and/or presence.

Yes, you should do it if you want to establish yourself in the market as a product or a brand. If you do that, people are more likely to connect to you and have your purpose as their purpose. You can include your photos of vacations, your work, how do you spend the free time and what else you do apart from you do as a business. This way people would relate to you and to your cause, connect to you, say a few nice things about you, and may even promote you and your services and products. However, if you're doing blogs not for recognition, but for pure fun, then you should not include any personal photos. You may include them, but that's not even worth if you don't want to sell yourself as a brand or monetize your blog or website.

I would use a real name and picture if you want to connect to your audience. People will have a much easier associating the content you write with a picture of your face then some avatar. Because we live in a seeing is believing society!

It depends on what services or products are selling. Usually it is better to provide a photo of yourself for services like online tutoring, writing, etc. When it comes to selling products, the product is the main focus so you have to make the product look attractive and good via media like photo image and videos. If you do put a photo, try and pick a professional looking one. First impression is very underrated.

If you have a personla blog you should have an about page with your photo. You should write a brief bio on your about page. Even if this is not your personal blog and you publish resource articles, it is good to have author page along with photo. having a photo of you on your blog or website helps you to establish you as a brand. Photo gives facevalue to your blogs and websites.

paulgl said:

Most I have seen most blogs these days have a photo of a contributor or its author. I'm wondering, should I put up a photo of myself on every blog or forum that I own?
I read somewhere that you don't have to use your real name if you're focusing on different niches. Is that correct?

what do you guys think?

Click to expand...

Your picture or avatar represents you or something people can identify you with.

Using your real name or pen names are a matter of choice with due considerations of other factors like personal privacy, family, employment, cultural beliefs, gender, products, and catered market. Some also use a different name as an extension to his personality or to create a mystery. Accomplished writers or celebrities sometimes use pseudonyms to conceal their real identity for privacy reasons or to test their new grounds. Similar cases happen for male authors of love stories, female authors for mystery thrillers, etc.

It would always go down to the content of the blog. Some informations are better spread anonymously. In contrary, readers would be attracted more to an author/writer whom they know and believe. It case to case basis and should not be a default.

I think you should. Putting a picture of yourself on your blog will make it more welcoming and personal rather than just words thrown onto a site. It makes people relate with you more as they see what you look like, they may feel closer to you if that makes any sense.

In my opinion, it depends on the purpose of your blog. The online world is huge and its hard to find someone that you trust. My assumption is that you want to use your blog for affiliate marketing. In this case, I would think that the most important thing for your blog is to have good content that attracts as much traffic as possible.Once your visitors click on your link, the owner of the product will then have the responsibility of creating trust with the potential client.

A photo is not important unless you're selling your own product. In this case, you need your readers to trust you. I would also be careful putting my photo and real name. Identity theft is real! Personally, I use a photo that is not very clear. Only those who know me can tell it's me.

Its depend upon you on how would you want to use it or not , different person had different opinion so the person with the final decision is you. hehehe Just saying sir

For me its a yes, you should put your picture in your blogs for the viewers to trust you it can also make your blog more formal. If I were your viewers, I will trust you more if I saw your pictures in your own blogs and also if your blog has your picture, as a viewer, I can say that it is a legit blog

Of Course! Blogging tells about you, your interest and your passions. It may be a different topic however, if you can put your image, then it will be a plus point because you are portraying to your audience trust and originality in content, images and experiences you've gone through.

But the choice is still yours. No one can interfere with that. However, Remember this, if you have several blogs, it would be necessary to show your image so as other blogs can be visited in the future.

A legitimate Blog never fakes readers! EVER!

paulgl said:

Most I have seen most blogs these days have a photo of a contributor or its author. I'm wondering, should I put up a photo of myself on every blog or forum that I own?
I read somewhere that you don't have to use your real name if you're focusing on different niches. Is that correct?

what do you guys think?

Click to expand...

Putting a photo of yourself with your real name on it is mostly commercializing your brand. If you want to be known in the blog field, you should have an identification of who you are and a simple background of yourself so readers will know who's the person behind this blog. It somehow shows your authenticity as a blogger/ author.

I need to ask you this first? What is your blog all about? If its about yourself, then you should at least write your true name and a picture since its everything about you. Plus, if you have those details on hand your audience would feel your connection with them, they can know you virtually since they know specific information about you.

It can add a mutual understanding between you and your audience so definitely put one on your site!