How to Find Fantastic (and Free!) Images for Social Media and Your Website.
Let’s say you’ve crafted some amazing content, and now you need to embellish it with a stunning image. You search Google images and find the perfect photo. You can just copy and paste it, right?
Not so fast!
You may be able to find any image on the internet, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that you can reuse any image that you find. The Copyright Act of 1976 prohibits any unauthorized use of creative works (such as images, film, or text), and protects the author’s right to copy, distribute, alter, and display the work.
It can be tricky to know what you are or are not allowed to use, but fortunately there are some great resources to help you find fantastic images and stay on the right side of the copyright laws. (Disclaimer: this is not legal advice.)
Copyright, Creative Commons, and Public Domain – Oh My!
You are probably familiar with the copyright symbol: ©. In general, copyright is automatically given to the author or creator of a work. It’s always best to assume that an image or work is under copyright, even if you don’t see the symbol.
Creative Commons is a non-profit foundation established to facilitate the proper use of creative works on the internet. It provides a framework to know what the rules are for reusing a work that is under copyright. There are 6 different Creative Commons licenses, ranging from very permissive (attribution only) to very strict (no alterations or derivatives, only for non-commercial use, must credit author).
Some works are in the public domain, which means the copyright protection has expired or been waived. In general, creative works automatically become public domain 70 years after the death of the author. Some living authors may waive their exclusivity rights and release works immediately into the public domain. Creative Commons released two public domain symbols: © and CC0.
Free Image Resources
There are several places to find free images online. Attribution is appreciated but usually not required.
Sites like Unsplash and NegativeSpace features an extensive collection of images from incredible photographers.
Pexels is a great source for high-quality images and videos.
Pixabay has illustrations, vectors, and music in addition to photos and videos.
Wikimedia Commons is a great resource for works of art or vintage illustrations. (Double check that the image you choose is in the public domain; some photos of works of art are copyrighted by the photographer.)
Google Image Search has a setting under “Tools” that allows you to search by license. Toggle “Labled for Reuse” for a quick search of images that are likely to be in the public domain or under a Creative Commons license. You may need to dig deeper to verify the attribution requirements, but it can be a helpful tool if you need to find an image quickly.
Also, you can search by size as well to ensure the image you choose will show up unpixelated (not blurry) on your website or social media channels.
Why Use Images?
According to Buzzsumo , Facebook posts with images see over 2x as much engagement compared to posts without images. Articles with images every 75-100 words were also shared twice as much as articles with fewer images. Buffer reports that tweets with images get 150% more retweets than tweets without images. Furthermore, outbound links tend to have lower reach than an image with a link in the post itself. The average engagement rate for link posts on a facebook page is 2.72% When looking at the 500 top Facebook posts of 2018, images accounted for 18 percent of the top posts, while Links made up a mere 0.2 percent.
One caveat: make sure that you are posting images that are relevant to your brand or message. Avoid posting images “just to post an image,” and avoid images that are overused, trite, or unrelated to your content. Not sure if you are using images effectively? Schedule your free 30-minute consultation with us and we can evaluate and strategize your visual marketing plan.
