What is Wordless Wednesday?

It’s a photography challenge I became aware of when I started blogging in 2014.

The purpose of the challenge is to allow photos or pictures to tell a story without using any words.

I’ve no idea who began the Wordless Wednesday photography challenge, but my hat goes off to them. It’s an easy and simple challenge to get involved with that’ll bring new followers to your blog.

The more you participate, the more new visitors your blog will get. However, it does help if you do the challenge correctly and ensure you promote your Wordless Wednesday blog posts on social media.

You will also gain new visitors and followers if you visit and leave comments on other Wordless Wednesday blog posts.

Fact: Participating in the Wordless Wednesday photography challenge ignited my long-lost passion for photography. I have also discovered some wonderful new blogs by participating.

Are there any rules for participating in Wordless Wednesday? 

None that I can find. So I’m sharing some of the rules I believe the originator of Wordless Wednesday would have set when creating the challenge. 

Those interested in participating can take or leave these rules, but remember that the key feature of the challenge is for your blog post to be wordless. 

• Published entries only on a Wednesday. 

• Other than the title of your post and any captions and copyright information, don’t use any words in the main body of the post. Remember, the theme is ‘Wordless.’

• Your photo should not contain words or letters (other than copyright information).

• Use the hashtag #WordlessWednesday when sharing your post on social media. That way, other participants can find them.

• Tag your Wordless Wednesday posts ‘WordlessWednesday’ on your blog so that other participants can find them. 

Can I use ‘Wordless Wednesday’ in the title of my blog posts?

Yes, and it’s something I recommend you do.

Warning: Do not use just ‘Wordless Wednesday’ as the title. Why? Because as you publish more and more Wordless Wednesday posts, you’ll build up many blog posts with the same identical title. SEOs such as Google and Bing dislike duplicated blog post titles. As a result, your blog will be ranked lower for using duplicated blog post titles.

Using the same blog post title also renders the search facility on your blog useless. For example, let’s say somebody wants to find a photo of a boat I published on a Wordless Wednesday post five years ago. If I’ve titled all my blog posts ‘Wordless Wednesday’ they’ll have to search through all those posts to find the one they’re looking for.

However, if I titled the post ‘Red boat’ #WordlessWednesday‘, a search result for ‘Boat’ will feature that particular post.

• So, always give the title of your Wordless Wednesday blog posts a different title. Here are some examples.

Clouds #WordlessWednesday

A Day at the beach #WordlessWednesday

In the park #WordlessWednesday

Solitude #WordlessWednesday

Hills and Mountains #WordlessWednesday

Go with a title that fits the photo(s) theme you’re sharing, and add the Wordless Wednesday hashtag to it.

Using images and photos that are not your own

If you’re using an image from the internet for your post, remember to credit the originator or the site where you got the photo/image. You can do this by adding a caption which you can turn into a pingback. 

Not sure what a pingback is or how to create one? Check out my blog post How To Create A Pingback On A WordPress Blog.

If the photo/image is completely free to use at all times, you don’t need to credit it. However, check the small print before using any photos or images from the internet as they may only be free to use for a limited time.

Warning: Bloggers get fined for illegally using copyrighted photos and images on their blogs. Check out Deborah Jay’s guest post, ‘Why I Was Threatened With Legal Action After Reblogging On WordPress‘ about being threatened with legal action and a fine for using a copyrighted photo on her blog.

Using your own images and photos is a much safer option.

What you shouldn’t do with the Wordless Wednesday photography challenge

• Use images and photos that are copyrighted and illegal to use and share.

• Add lots of text to your post. I’ve seen many bloggers use Wordless Wednesday in the title of a blog post and add loads of text to the body of the post.

• Likewise, I have seen some bloggers use the Wordless Wednesday hashtag on social media for a post containing lots of text. Those searching for Wordless Wednesday posts and taken to a blog post that contains lots of text won’t return to your blog.

The whole idea of Wordless Wednesday is for the blog post not to contain any text about the photos or images. Allow the photos or images to tell the story.

The comments section of the post can be used to give out more information about the photos or images you are using.

Here are some examples of some of my Wordless Wednesday blog posts. They’ll give you an idea of how to participate. Click on the links to see the posts.

Have You Ever Seen A Hippopotamus In Your Coffee? #Wordless Wednesday #Photography

Fresh And Fruity #WordlessWednesday #Photography

Sunrise Over Swansea Bay #WordlessWednesday #Photography

Feel free to leave me a link to your Wordless Wednesday post in the comments section. I’d love to see them.

Do you participate in Wordless Wednesday? Do you have any questions about the Wordless Wednesday Photography Challenge? Leave them in the comments section, and I’ll get back to you.

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