Did you know that blogs with images get an average of 94% more views? If you’ve been blogging for even a little bit of time you’ve probably noticed the correlation between engagement, and visual setup. Images help draw us into posts, give us context for what is going on, and help space out thoughts so that writing isn’t just eight chunky paragraphs. Finding free images for blogs isn’t always easy, though. If you’re searching for some good pictures to use, then here are three ways you can get your hands on them.

1. Websites that Offer Royalty Free Photos

Did you know that you can’t just copy/paste any image you find off of Google? Sure, you might not get caught right away, or at all. But if you do get caught? You’re not only risking getting fined, your entire site might get pulled down if you’re run through a hosting site. In order to avoid this type of DMCA takedown, look through sites like Flickr and Photopin. Thousands of professional artists have contributed their work there using a Creative Commons license. This means, in most cases, that you can use their work as free photos for blogs so long as you cite them.

2. Infographics for Blogs Combine Data and Image

Infographics are one of the next big things, and including them on your website can increase traffic by 12%. An infographic combines data and illustrations to make an appealing, easy to read chart. It’s more than just a pie graph; it’s a quick “story” about your topic, industry, whatever. Since you can use sites like Piktochart to make custom infographics yourself, these will definitely be copyright free images for blogs. Just remember: do your research, spell check everything, and don’t create a design that is too busy.

3. Make Them Yourself

There are a ton of great tools online, as well as your own arsenal of photo taking devices, that can help you get great images for your blog. In short, there’s no excuse to take someone’s copyrighted image and run the risk of getting caught! There are so many options for what you can do on your own. Splashup, for example, is a nice online equivalent of Photoshop you can use. Even just drawing simple stick figures can grab someone’s attention. One of the most popular webcomics of all time, after all, XKCD, is just black stick figures on a white background.

How do you get free photos for blogs?