Oftentimes I’m asked where I get all of the images I use on blog posts throughout the site. My constant response is: Flickr’s Creative Commons.

Flickr is an amazing tool for quickly finding hundreds of targeted images that match the topic of most any blog. What’s even greater is that many can also be used free of charge – as long as you give the author credit. This option comes through the beauty of Creative Commons.

Creative Commons licensing allows content owners to release their products under specific copyright guidelines – allowing other users easier access to modify and build upon their work. On Flickr there are many different forms of Creative Commons licensing, but the one I’m most fond of is the Creative Commons Attribution License. What this license allows is for the user to use the original owners work as long as credit is given. In the sense of blogging with images – credit can be easily given. Following are the few steps I take when integrating Flickr images into my blog posts.

3 Simple Steps

1. Find the Image – Flickr offers a built in, easy-to-use search feature for finding images licensed under Creative Commons. Since all the images I use have an Attribution license, I search only under this specific license. A link to the Creative Commons Attribution search area is http://www.flickr.com/creativecommons/by-2.0.

2. Use the Image – I use a wide range of methods for integrating images within blog posts, but I’m most fond of either adding a large “vanity” image before the blog content – or I use smaller thumbnail sized images inline with the text. Both options are satisfactory, yet give a different feel to the post.

3. Attribute the Image – If a photo is used under the Attribution license of Creative Commons, you must cite the author. On most occasions I include a “Photo by AuthorGoesHere” text snippet at the end of the post, and link the author’s name to their Flickr Photostream. This allows blog readers to find more work from the creator of the image.

This Concludes our Photo Session

As you can see – it’s actually rather simple to find professional, beautiful photos for use within your blog by using Flickr. Not only do photos help to beautify a post – but they also aid in capturing your reader’s attention, and give them something extra to chew on while browsing the posts within your blog.

Take a look at Flickr’s Creative Commons area – and see what photos might brighten up your blog!