“A picture is worth a thousand words…..”
But don’t expect to upload a picture on your next blog post as a replacement for content…
Images are used to attract readers to your blog and it can draw them to your content and can help build your blog traffic and improve your stats:
- Gain more traffic by adding your keywords in your image’s alt text and other image optimization techniques.
- Draw your readers to your blog content from visually appealing images.
Here are some great resources that I’ve used in the past to find quality images that you can use for free!
- stock.xchng: No I’m not talking about Wallstreet, this was probably my first site that I used awhile back and I you can find some good stuff here in their library.
- MorgueFile: It may seem to appear that in order to have an image site, you must have a weird name! This is another great site to get free images for your blog.
- Flickr Creative Commons: Many people know about Flickr but not many know that you can use images for free with their creative commons license.
- StockVault: A stock photo sharing website where designers and photographers can meet to share their images that doesn’t require you to sign up to use their image library.
You can also check out EveryStockPhoto, a search engine for images that compiles free images from all over the web, including some of the sites mentioned above.
What’s Your Take?
What other image sites do you go to find images for your blog post. Do you think it even matters? Would love to hear your thoughts below.
image by: Esparta
Related posts:
- How To Find Great Flickr Images and Use Them For Free On Your Blog
- 7 Great Examples of Viral Blog Posts
- 7 Tips For Writing Kick Ass Blog Posts
- Top 28 Ways To Make Money On Your Blog
- Top 5 Social Media Blog Posts of 2009
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{ 27 comments }
Twitter: TomSinfield
April 27, 2010 at 12:43 am
sxc.hu is a goldmine for free photos! That is who I usually use. Didn’t know there were other places like it, so I’[m gonna head over to check the others out!
Tom@Outsourcing Jobs Overseas´s last blog ..What Is Geoarbitrage?
Twitter: jacknguyencom
April 27, 2010 at 11:10 pm
Hey Tom – Yeah sxc was my first site for images, but now I leaning towards Flickr a lot more now.
I just get my pictures from Flickr.
Paul@entertainment tonight´s last blog ..Eslove Briones forced evicted on Pinoy Big Brother House for bad behavior
Twitter: jacknguyencom
April 27, 2010 at 11:13 pm
Hi Paul – Yeah me too, but I always love checking out the other sites.
Great post. I’ve always used Flickr so far, but going to check the other resources too!
Sometimes I’ll just go outside with the camera and span something on my own.
Bob´s last blog ..The Great Content That Attract Links and Gets Top Ranking
Twitter: jacknguyencom
April 28, 2010 at 2:54 pm
Hey Bob – Yeah I would LOVE to take my own pics! But I love the simplicity of finding them online, plus there are some high quality images that I probably wouldn’t be able to take on my own.
Sorry I meant “snap”, not span
Bob´s last blog ..The Great Content That Attract Links and Gets Top Ranking
Twitter: AndBreak
April 28, 2010 at 1:26 pm
Great list here Jack. To be honest I mostly use Flickr and Sxc.hu to find some quality images but I am glad that you have come up with some other web sites. I am just checking them out right now and they seem pretty cool. Thanks for the info buddy!
Twitter: jacknguyencom
April 28, 2010 at 2:48 pm
What’s up Julius! Yeah sometime when I can’t seem to find the right images, I’d use other sources other than Flickr.
Twitter: josiahstaggs
April 28, 2010 at 3:16 pm
Actually, i’ve only been getting my images from flickr. I had no idea the others even existed, thanks!
Josiah@Tumblr Layouts´s last blog ..Vintage Scrapbook
Twitter: jacknguyencom
April 28, 2010 at 3:39 pm
Hey Josiah! Yeah there are tons of site like Flickr. I love Flickr as well because they’re simple but effective. Thanks for commenting!
Twitter: Ileane
April 28, 2010 at 7:27 pm
Thanks for sharing the list. I’m using stock.xchng but I need to check out Flickr more often.
Ileane @ The Podcast Blog´s last blog ..HootSuite’s Ow.ly Shortener Just Got Better
Twitter: jacknguyencom
April 29, 2010 at 12:33 pm
Hi Ileane – Flickr has some great images that you can use thanks to their creative commons licence agreement!
Twitter: temi
April 30, 2010 at 1:12 pm
Nice share, am use to only Flickr from the list and also google images. I gonna check them out.
Biodun @ Web hosting blog´s last blog ..SEO & Site Promotion – Old Media Still Alive
Twitter: orc_dragoon
April 30, 2010 at 9:00 pm
Love the list. My Main sources for images are both Flickr and DeviantArt as they both have CC options, but most of the images on Deviant Art are uncopyrighted and offered by it’s artists FREE.
Joshua Pitts @Admin Blog´s last blog ..Blogging, an Everyday Thing?
Twitter: jacknguyencom
April 30, 2010 at 9:45 pm
Wow totally forgot about DA. I usually grab photoshop brushes and vectors from that site. Thanks Joshua for the additional site!
Pictures definitely matter, I use this one site called Zimbio, it has an option where you can receive email updates on certain topics of your choosing
Twitter: jacknguyencom
May 1, 2010 at 10:44 pm
Hmm..I’ve heard of Zimbio….but I’ve never actually used it.
This is great, I use Google Images a lot but it’s nice to know there are others out there such as the list you put together and thanks for that! Maybe a related post would tell people how to get their own images on these free image sites, sort of a TubeMogul for images?
Dick´s last blog ..The Gift of SEO Knowledge
Twitter: jacknguyencom
May 1, 2010 at 10:51 pm
That would be a cool post! Yeah TubeMogul is great to manage all your video uploads online. You have to be very careful with Google images, most of those images are copyrighted.
I have been getting most of my images from Flickr and Google and didn’t know these others existed. But why wouldn’t I want to load my own images, ones I am pretty proud of, so that the rest of the world can see them too? Totally free attribution is my motto. Use but give credit to the artist. So thanks for putting this useful list together and go see the post I did about it http://www.paysonweb.com/blog/a-picture-is-worth-a-thousand-comments/
Dick´s last blog ..The Gift of SEO Knowledge
Twitter: jacknguyencom
May 1, 2010 at 10:52 pm
Many people would love to take their own pictures but they lack the creativity and finding images online with credit to the photographer seems logical to most people.
Images matter a lot. They provide a very important first impression to the reader. I tend to use an image associated to my post everytime i blog. I really think it’s a valuable technique and i use a couple of the sources that you mentioned, will try the other ones as well.
Spyros´s last blog ..Warning: Great Ideas do Not Matter and This is Why
Twitter: jacknguyencom
May 2, 2010 at 12:33 am
Hey Spyros! You’re right about images! I would also add your keywords in the alt text for seo purpose and if possible, to rename the image with your keywords as well…..but there I go off in my seo world again!! Lol
Thanks for commenting!
I use Flickr almost exclusively for my work blog. I find it very straight forward.
I also allow my images to be used with attribution. I’m a photoblogger (personal blog), and I take requests, too. I’ve had bloggers send me requests for photos, and I can usually help people out within a few days.
James@Photographer´s last blog ..Couch Couple
Twitter: jacknguyencom
May 3, 2010 at 9:16 am
Flickr is very simple and streamlined (one of the best things that have happened to Yahoo IMO Lol)
Twitter: mothersland
May 20, 2010 at 11:36 pm
Image add more beauty to you post, it attract readers and it well optimized, it can bring lots of traffic to your. If you are using wordPress blog you can add an image plugin to optimise your image.
Thanks for image sites you share, I will have more site to source for my post images.
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