Where in the World Did You Get Those Blog Pics?
Posted by Dan Ronken
A few days ago I received a very nice message in my inbox from Mari McCarthy of Create Write Now asking me, "Dan, where do you get your great blog pics? They make your blog work."
I gave her the quick answer of Flickr, but neglected to go into more detail. I'll do that here so others can benefit as well.
Actually, I get the images for my blog from three sources: Flickr, iStockPhoto, and my personal pics.
Flickr
If you haven't done so already, create an account in Flickr and then log in. With creative commons, you may use the pics for free, but some of them may have restrictions (see attribution license in bullet). Begin on Flickr home page, then click:
- Explore>>>Creative Commons
- You'll notice different types of attribution licenses. I generally choose the first one (titled 'Attribution License') because it's the least restrictive, and you can use any photo as long as you give proper credit.
An additional benefit of using Creative Commons is you help out the owner of these photos by using them in your blog post and giving them recognition. I highly recommend you take the following three action items when you find that perfect image for your post.
- Leave a comment (on the Flickr page where the photo is). Thank them for making this photograph available through Creative Commons.
- Be sure to include a link to your post. You may use 'anchor text' but you will not get search engine optimization (SEO) benefit because they are 'no follow' links.
- It's best to find a less popular image with low comments. The reason is because the person will get excited that you chose their photograph, and will more likely want to share your link with other contacts.
So, Flickr is the free option to find some decent photographs for your blog.
iStockPhoto
iStockPhoto is an internet membership community where you can buy stock or a subscription (cost per image varies from $1 - $20+ depending on size, quality, etc).
You can get some killer photography (like this one in a post for a pull marketing strategy), vector images, flash files, etc. There are some incredibly beautiful images on this site. You'll just have to crack open the wallet a little bit to get them.
Personal Photos
Ah, yes. They're free and there's no need to offer up any credit because they're all yours. Downside is, your options may be limited unless you have a vast collection with lots of variety. I've been fortunate to have done some traveling so I have a few to choose from. For example, this sunset in India for a 12 steps for small business owners post.
One quick reminder. Don't forget to use 'ALT text' in your photos because search engines cannot read images.
Do you have another strategy for gathering images that works well for you? Please leave a comment. We would love hear from you. Quiz time...Can you tell me where I got the pic for this post?
Photo Credit: Silvio Tanaka