Adding Images To Your Blog Posts

Posted on | January 8, 2010 | No Comments

AllPosters.com
It is important to use images to illustrate your blog posts. Images catch the eye and create interest far more than blocks of text. However interesting your blog post is, if you don`t include an image, some people may not even bother to read it.

Yes, a good title for your blog post is vital, preferably one that includes a keyword that people will search for. However, like it or not, we live in an age where everything and everyone moves fast. You have to make an instant impression or you are zapped or clicked and then it`s on to the next thing. There are millions of webpages out there to see, so you need to grab your reader by the eyeballs long enough for them to start reading that great content that you have sweated over.

So how do you find images for your blog posts? Basically you have two choices-free images and paid for images. Paid for images tend to be of better quality and you have more choice. Free images are not usually as good but if you are on a tight budget they are better than nothing!

For free images try http: //www.zemanta.com You can get plugins and extensions for your blog & browser which will give you relevant images(triggered by your text) to choose from as you write your post.

Try also http://www.sxc.hu/ which is one of the biggest sites offering free images.

Another place you can go for nice, high quality, royalty free images is http://www.photos8.com which is a site where the owner, Sam allows anyone to use his photos just as long as you credit him and perhaps link back to his site.

For paid for images you probably won`t find a better site than http://www.istockphoto.com This site has a wealth of very high quality images to choose from. You sign up and then buy credits to be able to download and use the photos. It works out at around $1.50 an image. By the way that link above is not an affiliate link, so I have nothing to gain by recommending istockphoto.com!

There is something you have to think about before using any image on your blog-and that is copyright! You might be thinking, surely I can just do a search on google and use any image I like. Yes, you could do that but just because you find an image on google it doesn`t mean you have permission to use it on your blog. You may find you get into legal problems if the owner of the image finds out you are using it without permission, so beware. Far better to ensure that the image you use is royalty free, or buy from istockphoto.com and know that you are legally covered.

There is another good alternative source of free images, which can actually give you an extra source of income! I use http://www.allposters.com/ (that is my affiliate link) quite a lot for images. You would be surprised at the selection of posters they have which you can use to illustrate your blog posts. The image at the top of this post is from Allposters.com. Just try the search engine on their site for an idea of what you can find. Once you have signed up as an affiliate, which is free to do, you can earn commission if anyone viewing your blog clicks on an image and then buys that or any other poster from allposters.com. I admit that I haven`t made any commissions this way yet, but the possibility is always there, plus in the meantime you have a nice, royalty free image for your blog-makes sense doesn`t it?