Spice Up Your Website With Amazing Free Photos
Flickr 'angel_caido'
I really HATE stock photos (at least the cheap ones). They just suck for the most part and I get nauseous every time I see those lame stock photos of a person with a laptop and their hands up in the air. I’m sure you know which ones I’m talking about, eh?
I also don’t like ripping off other images just to get better photos. So what’s a good solution for good photos for your website, blog, Squidoo lens, Hubpage?
Dig around on Flickr for a little while and you’ll see some really interesting, engaging, and captivating photos! It’s like night and day compared to free or $1 stock photos.
The question then is how, when, and where can you use them for your marketing website or page?
Flickr users can choose to offer their photos for use by others under a little something called creative commons license, which you can find on Flickr with a filter under their advanced search, or browse this page:
Flickr Creative Commons Photos
There’s several different licensing rules contributors can set, but as Internet Marketers you’ll need to mainly focus on 2 categories that allow for commercial use, which are:
This generally means you can use the photo and alter it into a derivate form, as long as you give proper credit.
This one basically means you can use the photo “as-is” with no alterations, and must give credit.
For giving credit, there’s multiple ways to do it and Creative Common’s language is kind of open to interpretation and subject to some specifications by each contributor. I’ve used my own interpretation for credit on this post, but there’s a good short thread on Metafilter for how to credit creative commons work with a comment by someone who says they used to work for CC.
A great example of a blog making extensive use of Flickr photos is the health blog called Disease Proof. Have a look on there and see how captivating and engaging it makes all the posts. And while you’re at it, read the excellent diet advice they have on there…good stuff. 
If you think an issue like photos is trivial, think again! Dave and I have seen many split test results of our own, and seriously, things as simple as a good photo, a headline tweak, etc…can sometimes make all the difference in the world when it comes to getting visitors to stick around, click through, and ultimately making a sale. You don’t have to use Flickr of course, but be creative and interesting…it’ll go a long way.
Oh…and here’s another cool tool for finding Flickr photos based on color. Play around and check it out:
By using Flickr, you too can add wonderful and interesting photos to your site just like this one (Doh!):
Flickr 'spaztacular'
Or wait…maybe this is a better example. 
Flickr 'walkadog'
Thad
photos by angel_caid0, spaztacular, and walkadog via flickr under creative commons license.
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Tagged with: commercial use • creative commons • flickr • free photos • marketing photos • stock photos
Hey There,
Thanks for sharing this tip with everyone. I’ve been using it for a while on a variety of websites and it saves a ton of cash as well as making a website appear more interesting.
You’d be surprised how many big companies are doing this as well. Marketing manager of a large internet company shared this little secret with me when we were working together.
I will say that if you are writing on a really specific topic sometimes you will have to think a little bit outside the box, but with a little creativity you can match up most content with an image.
Good Stuff!
Yeah I started using Flickr a while ago. The important thing is that you give credit because I know some readers are going to just stick the photo up without doing that.
Yeah Jay, you have a point. Without giving credit you are basically stealing the images as it goes against the legal terms. Apart from all of that it’s good manner as well.
You can see a good example of a post using flickr images and giving full credit here http://tinyurl.com/flickr-credit. It doesn’t distract from the content at all if you ask me.
Hey Thad… I thought you were taller than that and I’m not sure you suit pink. And what’s with the giant cigarette in the last one?
Tis a good point this… Google and many other places are clamping down hard on copyright just now (and rightly so) so it’s best to stay on the right side and giving credit where it’s due is the best way.
How many times do we hear people complaining about ripped articles, etc. It’s no different with pics.
Yeah and you guys should censor all the adult content on this blog. Look at all them nipples. geez.
LOL! Jay, I’ll have to have words with Thad… since he put THAT pic up we’ve been swamped with Porn site spam. I’m not kidding!
Tip: if you’re using a WP blog make sure you have the Akismet spam filter plugin switched on.
How the hell these people find you is beyond me. What they hope to achieve is even further from my comprehension.
Actually this has given me an idea for another post. We’ve been asking for a list building forum in WA, right? Never been quiet sure why they never had one.
Well, we could start with a series of posts on here. I’ll have a chat with Thad.
I’ve done a Reaper lens on list building but a lens ain’t all that interactive.
Watch this space…
*pulling up a chair*