#MyFriendAlexa- 3 Best Practices to use free images in your blog posts!
Welcome back to #Bloggingforbeginners series.
In last post, I had talked about 5 amazing websites to get free photos for your blog. And in this post, I will share another important topic related with use of free images for your blog.
Though it is very tempting to use free images for your blog post but before using them it is very important to educate yourself.
I am a part of various blogging communities. And I had observed many bloggers (new) often have many questions and confusion regarding use of free images in a blog post.
So, in this post I am sharing few basic guidelines for proper and safe use of free images in your blog post. Read the post to know more!
Best practices to use free images on your blog!
Never use any image or photos directly from a google search
Yes, first and basic rule. We bloggers need plenty of images every day to make our blog posts visually appealing. Google offers great quality images on every subject and niche. As a new blogger, it seems an easy path to use these images for their blog posts. And many newbies assumed that they can use these images by cited the sources.
But this is a risky move for your reputation and you may get caught up in copyright law suits.
Always remember, “All images on web are by default have a copyright license. And you cannot use them without having a legal permission from the owner (artist or photographer) of that work. Even citing the source of an image is not enough to get escape from copyright law suits.”
There are many incidences has happened in the past when bloggers got in big trouble by using other people’s photos or images without asking. Read this post to know more about it.
Conclusively, “always avoid using images or photos you found on web (by random search). It is always advisable to use only those photos that are legally safe to use for your website.”
Learn basic terminology regarding images and type of image licenses
This one is second important step to follow a correct path for using free images on your blog. Usually, there are three terms are commonly used regrading different kinds of images on internet. These are:
- Public domain
- Royalty free
- Creative common
Public domain- as the name suggested, public domain images either have no defining license or have an expired license. Usually these images are considered safe to use and can be used for commercial purpose too. As per Wikipedia, “public domain marks enable works that are no longer restricted by copyright and easily available for use for others”.
Royalty free- though they are called “Royalty free images” but contrary to their name, they are not free, but you can use them legally after paying the fixed amount to stock photography sites. As per Wikipedia, “It refers to a copyright license where the users have the right to use images without many restrictions based on one-time payment to licensor”.
Creative common– “Creative common” is a non-profit organization that allows artists and photographers to share their work. Usually “Creative common” provides different kind of licenses for each image. Such as CC-0, CC-1 and many more. as per Wikipedia, “A creative common license is one of several public copyright licenses that enable the free attribution of an otherwise copyrighted work. “
Each of this license has their own term and rules for using any image safely. For example: using Creative common-0 license images required no attribution but creative common-1 licensed images required a proper attribution (credit to artist or photographer).
Read this post to know more about the different types of creative common licenses.
Always perform a cross check of background before using the image and cite the sources when needed!
After learning the basic terminology of different type of images and image license, it is equally important to use them on practical level. Even when use free website sources (like Pixaby, Unsplash or Photopin), never make a rushed decision to use any image without knowing their license types.
Each of these websites have a FAQ page and rules for safe use of images. Read these rules and follow accordingly. Some websites like Photopin have a detail policy regarding proper attribution. You need to follow all recommended steps for legal and safe use of images from their website.
Cite the source when needed is best policy. And as an act of courtesy, you can say thanks to photographer (by giving attribution), even when it is not required.
Extra tips
Apart of these three basic rules, here are few more things that should be keep in mind while using images in your blog post.
Such as:
- Use your own images whenever possible. You can try different options like create your own chart or infographic, drawing or sketches. Use of screenshots are another popular way to make a blog post more informative and easier to understand
- Try to include only relevant images that add value to subject of your blog post.
- Add high quality, clear and high-resolution images (avoid using blurry or unclear images)
- Pay a proper attention to size of images (avoid using too large or too small size images)
- Type of image file is also important. JPGs are most popular option but quality wise PNGs work best.
- Optimized images for SEO purpose too, by adding ALT tags and proper description.
- Additionally, you may brand your images with your logo, brand name or URLs. This thing prevents the chances of stealing images.
So, these are some best practices to use images in your blog. I hope it will be helpful for new bloggers.
What are your thoughts? Please share!
I am taking my blog to the next level with #MyFriendAlexa campaign hosted by theblogchatter.com .
Stay tuned for next post.
Declaimer: this post has been written as a general advice regarding safe use of free images. it did not claimed or apt for any legal advice.
If you want to check out previous posts of this series, click here.
6 common blogging mistakes that most new bloggers make
Influencer marketing- let’s learn the basics!
5 effective tips to complete myfriendalexa challenge successfully!
What is self hosting and amazing perks of self-hosted website
5 Amazing benefits of joining blogging communities!
What is guest posting & 4 amazing benefits of guest posting!
5 reasons why every blogger should participate in blogchatter campaigns!
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47 Comments
Varsh
It is so tempting to pick up images easily from the internet but one has to understand the implications. I’m glad you raised this point since we need lot of images for our posts.
Alpana Deo
Images beautifies our blogs. But there are certain guidelines for using images. the google images is what I have noticed many times and if I know the blogger then I try to bring it to their notice. I always feel google is a pool of images coming from different source so giving it as the image source is incorrect .
DiaryOfAnInsaneWriter
I am totally LOVING this series, Surbhi. I disagree with you when you said in your initial posts that this series will help new bloggers, I am learning so much from each post. Thank you so much for this FANTASTIC series. Looking forward to reading more.
Sindhu Vinod Narayan
Thank you so much for sharing these tips to check on. This series is very useful for budding bloggers. #tmmreads
Metamorphosis
Thanks for doing this series Surabhi.. I am learning so much from all yours posts.. Thanks a lot for sharing.. Will try them all.
My Words My Wisdom
This is very important point. I will read your entire series again once Alexa gets over. There is so much to learn.
Responsible blogging is must.
Paresh Godhwani
There so many aspects about which i had no idea. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.
Nils
I had no idea about this…I really thought giving credit was enough. I need to be careful. Thanks for this!
myworldwitheira
Surbhi this series is amazing. So much of information to learn. I always add credits to the images but being more careful is what I have to do.
Pragnya
Your series is going to help so many bloggers. Totally loving it. Images help us a lot to convey our post and it is easy to use google images but many don’t understand the replications behind it. Glad you are talking about it here.
Cindy DSilva
i think i miss citing the sources for the ones ive taken from online because i download them on one day and use them on another day. by that time i have forgotten. maybe i should save the name or something when saving the images from the internet. thanks for this.
Neha Sharma
Adding the relevant images in the blogpost can add more value to it and also enhances a reader’s experience. But many bloggers are not aware of how to use the images in a proper way. This post will surely help in understanding the right way of using the free images.
momcaptureslife
I am recently searching for these sites .I have tried unsplash only but i didn’t know we need to check their licence before posting .Thanks for this post
Roma
You nailed it dear. I so agree to all your advice. These tips are going to make a great book for a newbie blogger trying to ace her game
Ruchi
This is such an informative post. Totally agree with you on the points you have shared
Gleefulblogger
Another useful post in the series, Surbhi. It is very essential to know the basics before jumping to the bandwagon for anything. Images make our posts look good, but in the race of using the best one should not use wrong practices. Informative post.
Preeti Chauhan
Thank you so much for sharing these valuable tips ,Dr Surbhi ! I really did not know that we need to check the source details even on a free photo platform like pixabay .
MeenalSonal Mathur
Surbhi, this post explains all the details of image very well. I too try to make own images and if we use I.ages as background then surely double check on it.
LifeCoachPreet
I am so glad you spoke about this. Free images also come with a disclaimer which we all bloggers must know and respect. This is indeed quite a helpful post. Thanks for sharing the insights.
Deepa
These are helpful tips for new bloggers to understand about the pictures for a blog. Initially people are not aware about these.
Shalzz
So glad you wrote this blog post on how and from where free images can be used. I especially loved the point where you mentioned it isn’t alright to include Google images for blog posts. I have seen so many bloggers do this and it is indeed a huge copyright issue.
Isheeria's Healing Circles
this is quite helpful. its good to know that you can cite source and share, alternatively, use sites that provide free images.
freemindtree
Oh yes actually the best practices should be put to use when using free photos for any blog post. I have seen numerous time people take photo from google without knowing if it is copyrighted or not and simply put source as Google which is highly incorrect. Great tips indeed,
Snigdha
These tips are very helpful . It is good to use royalty free images for blog always . I too use Pixabay to get free images for my blog.
Sayeri
Image selection is really important when it comes to blogging. Good images make the post more attractive. Will try these sites.
Geethica
Thank you, Surbhi. I also used to take images from Google Search when I started blogging but gradually understood copyright issues. But I still struggle to have Indian images in relevance to my content.
Mayuri6
When I started out as a Blogger I was clueless about copyright and all things related. Luckily I learnt in time. This is such a helpful post for any blog still unaware about it.
Vaishali
Thank you for this useful post and emphasizing on the importance of plagiarism and copyrights. Crediting the source, using original pics and also seeking permission is a helpful way to avoid online disputes.
pythoroshan
Thank you for this. I genuinely had not considered some of these epoints and have been guilty on numerous occasions of directly using Google images.
Nazish
I use images mostly from unsplash or use canva. These days I am trying to inculcate my own graphic illustrations into my blog post so as to also reach out more audience and try out to get clients… This way I get to feature my art as well.
anurbannomadic
You really clarified so many doubts, I really thought Royalty free images can be used without any concern of fringing the rights. Glad I read your post
Upasna
These tips are new to me and are very useful because these are mostly ignored. Thanks.
Poonam
This tips are really helpful for new bloggers. I never knew about these during my earlier days of blogging because no one used to talk about the same.
Now I make sure to read Privacy policy of each site.
Ruchie
This is really important for bloggers to understand and equally important to give proper credit and link from where they are taking up the image.
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vartika gakhar
What a well researched post, Surbhi. When I was new to blogging, I had used many images directly from google as i was not aware of the consequences, later it was a tiring job to remove them from all my posts but i had to do it, this post will surely help many bloggers
Harshita Nanda
I am so glad you wrote this post. I know it is very easy to take pics off google but the realization comes quite late that it is not correct. I actually was not sure of the three different type of pics too (public domain etc). Very informative
Nitisha Mathur
Wow very informative post, Surbhi. I recently realized that google images shouldn’t be used directly in a blog. 😛
And I’m on cloud 9 after discovering websites like Unsplash, Flickr etc.
Kinshoo Agrawal
Informative post. I usually prefer my images or free ones from Canva or Unsplash.
Nupur
Very useful. And this is something that all bloggers should carefully adhere too – plagiarising images without checking is not cool.
Lavanya
Many of the bloggers are sadly unaware of these simple facts. Good post.
Atulmaharaj
I always believe in giving credit to whom so ever I’ve taken the photo from. And I too refrain from taking photos directly off Google. Royalty Free ones are the best. Thanks for sharing these tips.
Shweta Suresh
These are very helpful tips indeed. I always use images from Pexels or Pixabay and I always try to give due credit whenever the name is there.
writenlive
This post is very helpful Surbhi. And I have realised that I made many mistakes when I started blogging.
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Radhika Acharya
Oh dear. I was so unaware of this.
I assumed using pics from Google marked as free was okay.
I will be careful from now on.
Thanks for this post. ??