I love to include images in my posts. I don’t know, I think there is just something about seeing images that pertain to the content that gets me interested in reading more.
When I’m on Google searching for a particular topic, if I see an image that stands out for me, I’ll click on that content and read that above all the rest. Just because that image got my attention.
But some people seem to think that images take away from the content itself. To me, if the content is awesome then that speaks for itself. No amount of images in your post will ever take away from that.
Others complaints have been that by having too many images on your blog it can slow your computer down quite a bit and that is a valid concern. But I have a resolution for you if that is the only reason you have not been including images up until now.
By installing the WP Smush.It plug-in, it will automatically reduce your image files. This will help significantly by improving your blog performance. Just go to your “Add New” plugins and type in Smush.It or, click on the link above and it will take you directly to their download page.
So we know now that I like to add images to my blog posts whether they are serious or funny. I think it just adds something to your blog altogether.
I think the old saying of “a picture is worth a thousand words” has been around forever for a reason. We are a visual society and we like to look at photos, videos, art, you name it. So why not include images in your posts!
One thing you need to be cautious about when adding images to your content is that you aren’t grabbing any photos that have been copyrighted. That can definitely get you into a whole lot of trouble.
For instance, what most people do is head over to Google and click on images. From there they will do a keyword search on that particular topic they are writing about and see what kind of images come up. They find the image they like, copy it and include it on their site. Now, there isn’t anything wrong with this IF the photo isn’t copyrighted so be sure and do further research before moving forward.
I’m guilty of having just grabbed photos in the past without doing any further research. I do claim ignorance on my part but hey, I will continue to learn something new every single day probably for the rest of my life. At least I learned which is why I wanted to share this with you.
I have located several sites that offer free royalty free photos. That means no copyrighting issues at all. Now there are plenty of others sites I’m sure and also plenty of sites that do charge you a small fee. But as another old saying goes, “it’s better to be safe than sorry.”
Here is a list that might be of some help to you that I have been locating images on for quite some time now. I’m sure there are plenty others ones available so if anyone would like to add to this list, be sure to leave me a comment. Now these are not in any particular order but will give you a pretty good start of locating some good photos you can use in the future.
Free Digital Photos
Public Domain Pictures
Morgue File
Free Images
Stock Vault
Picsearch
Pixsy
I Can Has Cheezburger
Dumb Jerks
XKCD
Funny Sign
Now remember, if you have any you would like to add to this list, be sure to leave me a comment so that others can find some great images to include in their content as well. That’s what we are all here for, to help each other right!
Okay guy, happy photo hunting!!!
{ 16 comments… read them below or add one }
Adrienne,
This really is a great list. Most of these I have not heard of before. I have added them to my resources.
Since you asked here are a couple I like to use.
http://www.public-domain-photos.com/
http://www.wpclipart.com/
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Hi Sheila,
Thanks for the additions to this list. Gosh, even more to choose from now. That’s awesome.
I really appreciate you stopping by and glad you found this list helpful. Thanks again for your input. Will add those 2 sites to my collection as well.
Have a wonderful afternoon,
Adrienne
I am always on the lookout for some cool images for several of my sites so this will really come in handy.
I use Morgue file a lot and can guarantee that everyone can find some great photos there
Thanks for the list, cause I haven’t used the other ones before.
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I am too Brankica which is why I’m always on the lookout for more photos sites. I’ve found some really great ones on Morgue as well. Sometimes I want funny, sometimes I want serious so it’s nice to have a variety of sites to choose from. Glad this list helped and thanks for stopping by. Always appreciated.
Adrienne
I also love to put an image in each of my blog post. It is true that a big file size image will slow our blog so it needs to reduce the file size for sure. So far, I use IrfanView to reduce the image file size manually.
Thanks Dan, I’m agree with you there. Appreciate you sharing with us what you use to reduce your file size. Great way to learn what people are using and how it’s helping.
Adrienne
Great list, Adrienne. As far as I’m concerned, no blog post is complete without at least one image. Plus, my theme (Thesis) pulls a thumbnail for use on the archives and category pages, which I think it important. Otherwise your pages are just boring blocks of text. Yuck!
I like to use Flickr for my photos, and found a great site that searches for only those images with creative commons licensing. You can even set it to only find those images specifically tagged for commercial use. It’s pretty handy. You can find it at http://www.compfight.com/. I’m not affiliated, just a fan.
Thanks for the list – I’ll be checking some of these out as well.
Cindy
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Thanks Cindy, I appreciate that. I’m with you… I don’t think a blog post is complete without at least one image. Thesis is a great theme too.
Thanks for the tip on the other site. Love finding new sites to pick through and I appreciate you sharing this one with us.
Adrienne
I have an additional question.
I can’t see anywhere permission to use for example these two sites – I Can Has Cheezburger and Funny Sign.
So how do you use those photos, when that would be copyright problem?
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Hey Brankica,
If you go to the bottom of the page on Cheezburger and look at their Terms of Service, it states that you can use their images with their permission on your site. Funny Site did have the same verbiage but I’m unable to locate it now. Looks like they have changed up their site some. Not sure what’s up with that.
Hope that helped.
Adrienne
Hi Adrienne,
Now that was a very useful blog! I haven’t been using pictures enough (know I should but been lazy). Thanks so much for some really good resources.
Riley
Hey Riley,
I love using photos, I think they tell their own story a lot of times. Sometimes it’s hard to find good photos so glad I could help make your job a little easier. Thanks so much for stopping by and your comment is always appreciated.
Adrienne
I guess a plugin is a fast way to reduce their size, but from my experience the best solution for quality over size is Photoshop. I’ve worked with a lot of image editing programs and Photoshop is by far the best one when it comes to saving images for the www. But you have to do it manually, not quite as easy as using a plugin.
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Twitter: adriennesmith40
July 19, 2011 at 6:50 PM
Photoshop is more for editing images not locating them. I wanted to help people find out where to look for great images.
It is advisable for a blogger to include images in his or her blog entries so as to attract more readers, and since there are people who are more into visuals.
Twitter: adriennesmith40
August 3, 2011 at 4:11 PM
People do love pictures so if you can include one on every post, you will attract more people to your blog. Or so I’ve been told. But I know for sure I love looking at pictures. I also like to figure out if the picture fits the post or not. Some of them are kind of out thee wouldn’t you agree?