Finding Photos for Your Blog


Photo on Flickr by mochida1970 (Highly Honored Photographer)

A picture is worth a thousand words….as a writer maybe I have to disagree with that!

There’s no doubt, however that finding a great photo to liven up your blog entry can improve your blog.

So, how do you choose and find photos that suit what you are trying to say through your company or business blog?

The picture is the last thing I choose before posting the blog entry to the site. The post is written and edited before I even think what kind of picture I am going to use.

In the beginning, I fell back on using my own photos. I enjoy photography and have quite a nice range myself, but it wasn’t long before I wanted photos of things that I had not thought to take photos of: a handshake, a work bag and fireworks. Well, I had taken pictures of fireworks, but they hadn’t come out too well because they were taken on a small snappy camera as opposed to a big digital SLR!

Finding Photographs on the Internet

It’s easy to find photos on the Web, but it is important to make sure that you are allowed to use them on your blog. Many are available for use on blogs, but you need to find out whether you can use them on a commercial blog. Never use a photo without making sure that you have tracked down the owner and checked that it is OK to do so.

I use Google Images, the Advanced Search to find a photo. Enter one or two keywords to help you find what you are looking for. Then use the drop down menu by Usage Rights to select labeled for reuse. There is also an option to select labeled for commercial reuse but this returns far fewer results. I think it is better to find a bigger selection and then ask the owner’s permission.

Look through the photos. The best ones tend to be on a Flickr stream or Creative Commons licence. When you find the one you want, you may have to contact the owner if you will earn money using the photo.

Credit Your Photos

For my blog, I tend to link back to the original photo with a credit. I also leave a comment under their photo with a link so that they can check it out for themselves and correct me if I have got anything wrong.

The final thing I do before posting the photo to the blog is to ensure that the image quality is low to avoid using too much space on the website. Pictures can take up a lot of room.

It is also a good idea to keep a list of photos and the links on a spreadsheet so that you know where to find them should you need to.

Choosing the right photo is an important part, even of a writing blog. Getting it right helps your blog to stand out from the others in the same niche.

Photo Link: The Photographer

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