I wrote an article a while back about how you can tremendously impact who reads your articles, who links or publishes your articles, and who becomes your “fan” by commenting on other people’s articles. What I failed to mention in that article was the one thing that will help put your visibility and branding on steroids is if you make sure that you have a “gravatar” image shown next to the comments that you leave on all these articles.

What Is A Gravatar Image?
A gravatar is a globally recognized image (avatar), which is a small square image that sits next to the comments that you make on blogs and forums. This image will follow you from site to site as your recognized global image. Most people will have a headshot, while others may use a logo image. It’s best to use a photo of yourself – and this is why…

1. Using a gravatar lets the reader know who they are talking to. It gives your comments a more personal touch instead of just being generic comments made by an anonymous person.

2. Gravatar images build trust. I know that when I think of a good article that I recently left a comment on – I think of the article, then the writer, and then the image of the writer. It’s easier for me to remember the article and the site I found it at because I’ve made a visual connection between the gravatar image and the author’s name.

3. People often think visually. How many times has someone told you that they cannot give you names of streets when you ask for directions, but can give you landmarks. Many people are “visual thinkers” and having a photo of you again helps to build visual connections between your image, your name, and your content.

How Do I Get A Gravatar?

1. Gravatars are free. All you have to do is sign up for one at: http://Gravatar.com

2. Add your headshot as the gravatar. Make sure it’s one you like, as it will be next to every comment that you leave on blogs that support gravatar usage like WordPress blogs. You can upload and use more than one image.

3. When you sign up for your gravatar, it will allow you to set up whatever email addresses you want to the account. This is IMPORTANT – your image is connected to the email address(es) that you use. So when you leave a comment and you input your email address – use the one associated with your gravatar account. If you find that your gravatar doesn’t show up on your own site, but does on others, check to see what email address you are using. The simplest thing to do is to add the primary email address of your blog to your gravatar site.

Do You Leave Comments On The EzineArticles.com Blog?
Well if you don’t, you should. It’s a very active article marketing community, and they have just started supporting gravatar usage in their blog comment section. Hooray! So join in the discussion!

Make sure to leave a comment here so we can see your gravatar…