If you have ever visited a website before that was poorly designed, then you know what it is like to try and read through an article that is nothing but a giant wall of text, with no breaks, and nothing drawing your eye except maybe some strange animated advertisements on the sidebar. The fact is, blogs are better with images to break up the text and help illustrate the point you are trying to make.
However, if you have ever gone looking for photos for your blog, you have probably noticed that the best images seem to come from professional websites, and a lot of those websites want you to pay a licensing fee before you can use them. So where can you find free images for blogs?
Here are two things you need to know to find and effectively use free images.
- Free images for blogs can be found from specialized websites.
- There is a difference between copyright free, and royalty free.
Free photos, and free use images are like gold when it comes to blogging. There is nothing better than improving the look of your blog and being able to do it guilt free. Several websites exist specifically to meet this need for free images. Just know that the pictures that are your first instinct to use, like the photos on Flickr, on a Google Image Search, or scattered across your favorite websites, are probably not free. Start with a specialized website.
Free infographics are a little bit different. As long as you do not modify them, or claim that you created them, and as long as you make sure that the infographic contains a note of credit to the original author, then you can probably use it. Infographics are meant to be shared. However, to be absolutely sure, it never hurts to contact the original author and ask for permission to re-post it to your site.
Copyright free images for blogs are images that have no copyright due either to expiration, or the work being in the public domain. If you choose a public domain image, which is free to use, you must be careful as some require a “model” or “property release.” However, if all you want to do is post a picture in conjunction with your blog, then that is allowable.
Royalty free images for blogs are not always free, they simply mean that you do not have to pay a royalty. For example, you usually have to pay a fee every time you use an image. With a royalty free image, you pay once, but not for every subsequent use. Typically, the cost of a royalty free image is based on the resolution and image size.
Finding free images for blogs could take a little time. When you find a website that purports to share images that you can use for free, always read the small text. Some images may need to be paid for if you are going to modify them, or use them for commercial purposes. For general blog use, you are usually in the clear. Besides, it is worth a little time and research now to not have to pay in legal fees later.