Three sites where you can find free (and legal) images for your content

The adage of “a picture is worth a thousand words” rings as true now as it did when it was first uttered. We need images, especially online with blogs. They can provide a visualization.

When you’re creating a blog post, it helps to add a picture. You need something in that post because you would have a wall of text. And while some blogs might be okay without images, most need them.  It serves as a complement to what you have written. Plus, it’s good for your SEO.

Unless you can afford to get a Getty Images license, it can be hard to find good pictures that you can use on your blog.

And you can’t do a Google Images search for “skyline” save a copy to your Desktop and use it in your blog. That’s copyright infringement. You don’t need an upset photographer suing you for copyright infringement.

The good news is you have options available. There are ways for you to get such images without breaking the bank.

Unsplash

Unsplash is one of the best sites for you to get a high-resolution photo for free.

The site offers a license in that all photos can be downloaded and used for free. You can use these photos for both commercial and non-commercial purposes. As Unsplash puts it, you’re free to “download, copy, modify, distribute, perform, and use the photos for free.” You can use the photos on your blog, your website, or social media.

There’s no need on your part to offer attribution. However, the photographer would appreciate it.

The only thing that isn’t allowed, according to Unsplash, is you can’t sell the photos. And you can’t compile the photos from Unsplash to create a similar or competing service.

What also makes Unsplash nice to use is you don’t need to sign up for their service to download their photos. But, it would be easier to sign up because you can keep track of the photos you use.

Pixabay

Pixabay is another photo site in which you can use its content for your projects. Much like Unsplash, Pixabay offers a license in which their images are copyright free and you can use them for commercial purposes.

What makes them different from Unsplash is they offer illustrations, vector images, videos, music, even sound effects.

Attribution is not required by Pixabay. However, it’s still appreciated. These photographers put work into their images.

There are some exceptions in Pixabay’s license. For example, you can’t sell someone’s content from Pixabay on competitor sites. You’re not allowed to use the stock photo and sell it on another product. It’s also frowned upon to portray identifiable people in the pictures in an offensive way. Finally, you can’t create misleading associations with identifiable brands.

What makes Pixabay nice is you don’t need to log in to download the photos.

One thing of note that you should know. At the top of your search results for images, you might notice a few listed images from iStock, another royalty-free stock photo website. Those are sponsored images.

Creative Commons

Creative Commons is another way for you to acquire royalty-free images. They’re a non-profit organization that seeks to offer licenses for works like images.

They offer a variety of licenses, including one that is for the public domain. Most of the other Creative Commons licenses require attribution. And some of the licenses are only for non-commercial use.

The good news is the Creative Commons website lets you search for images that you can use for commercial purposes.

If you’re using Google Images, click on the Tools on the top right, go to the Usage Rights dropdown and select “Creative Commons licenses.”

At Webster Digital Marketing, we believe in using high-quality images in our content. It’s something we take pride in.

If you’re interested in having us write blog posts for your website, then contact Webster Digital Marketing today.