Using Images on Your Blog Posts

By Mohammed Bhimji

Arguments go both ways on this topic - do you use images on your blog posts, or not? There are those that absolutely will not use them as it could deter the visitor from the post itself and lessen the impact of the site and information, however images definitely add more color and visual interest to the posts and will draw your visitor into the story.

So what's the answer? Really, it is entirely up to you. You should use images where they seem appropriate or when you need to show something that would be difficult to explain.

Why Use Images on an Internet Business Blog?

Images create visual interest. You want to capture your visitors interest immediately, adding a well placed image that is relavent to the post creates that visual interest. A post that looks mono-syllabic, pure black & white with no use of hilights (such as bolding or italics) can look very boring. It is not dangerous to add a little spice to your posts.

Where Do You Find Copyright Free Images?

You can't. Most images have some type of copyright attached to them, however many individuals that make their images available on the Internet may offer their images through the Creative Commons license.

May community based sites offer their images through the CC scheme, but you should always read any disclaimers that they provide so that you are not infringing on any copyright laws or on the rights of the copyright holders.

Some sites that I can suggest are:




Stock.xchng (www.sxc.hu) - free stock photography site. Read their Image License Agreement, and some individuals may have specific requirements before you use their images. The information is usually located on their image page.




Yotophoto (www.yotophoto.com) - The first line on their website reads "Yotophoto is now indexing well over a quarter million Creative Commons, Public Domain, GNU FDL, and various other 'copyleft' images." Read their licenses FAQ to ensure you don't run into problems later on.




Free Photos Bank (www.freephotosbank.com) - free images, so long as you follow the guidelines listed in their FAQ.




Flickr Images (www.flickr.com) - great source of images - there are millions of images on Flickr. Read their Creative Commons Licensing agreement.



I have not listed Google images here, since they are a search engine and the images presented might be copyrighted. You would need to do some research before using images found through Google image search.

If all else fails, just key in "free images", "free photos", "free art" or "royalty free images" into your favourite search engine. As always use due care before you decide to use an image in your blog post, or on your website.

Mohamed Bhimji runs Internet Business Opportunity where he offers a Fresh Perspective on Running a Successful and Profitable Internet Business. You will not find MLM or other get rich quick schemes, but business processes and principles that will help you generate income over the long-term.

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