13 Places to Find Free Images for your Blog
You can use free images for your blog to capture attention and boost engagement with your content. Even so, for most content marketers, knowing where to find these free images can be a challenge.
Do you use images from Google and risk copyright infringement? Or are there alternative places you can go to find free-to-use photos. The good news is that there are plenty of sites where you can go to get high-quality free stock photos.
It can take a while for you to find these free images for your blog, so we’ve curated a list of sites you can go to whenever you need to add some imagery to your site. However, before we get to that, let’s talk about why adding images to your blog is important in the first place.
Why you need free images for your blog
Did you know that the average attention span is now 8 seconds? In fact, your attention span is now worse than that of a goldfish.
Part of the reason for this decline in attention is information overload. So much content is created every day. Furthermore, anyone with a smartphone or a computer can create and share content every day.
Imagine reading through paragraphs and paragraphs of nothing but text in the middle of all the distractions pictured above. It’s not easy, even for the most focused person.
So, how do you break through this noise so that you can both capture and retain your audience’s information? Firstly, you need to write about something your audience cares about. Secondly, you need to create quality content.
A big part of quality content is visual content. Visual content gives your readers a break from what would otherwise be masses of text. Moreover, visual content makes your blog post more fun to read.
Using free images for your blog will not only retain your reader’s attention but also make it easier for them to recall the lessons in your content.
Ultimately, if a reader can recall your content easily, then you will remain top of mind as a trusted authority and worthwhile solution to their problems.
Now that you know why using visual content in your blog posts is so important, let’s talk about where to find these images without paying a dime.
Where to find free images for your blog
Luckily, there are many places you can go to find free images for your blog. We’ve compiled a list of 13 ways you can get these images.
Licensing of free images
The images in most of the sources listed below are free from copyright or licensed under creative commons. This means you can copy, modify and distribute the images – even for business purposes – without asking the owners for permission.
Even though most of these fall under the creative commons, we have done our best to highlight where attribution is required. It also wouldn’t hurt to double-check when you’re downloading your images. If you’re especially worried about attracting legal fines, then just remember that images marked CC0 can be used worldwide with no restrictions.
13 places to find free images for your blog
1) Pexels
We love Pexels because you can search for quality photos and videos in different categories.
When you download an image from Pexels, attribution is not required but appreciated. Moreover, you can use the content you get from Pexels for business purposes, as long as you don’t portray any identifiable people in a negative light. However, if you’re selling the photo, then you must edit it first. Finally, Pexels doesn’t allow you to share or sell their photos on other stock photo or wallpaper sites.
2) Unsplash
When we can’t find something on Pexels, our next stop is usually Unsplash. This site is a great place to look for free images for your blog because it has a wide variety of categories.
As with Pexels, permission isn’t required but attribution is appreciated. Similarly, you’re not allowed to resell or redistribute Unsplash images unless you’ve made significant edits to them.
3) Canva
Over here at Kontely, we’re huge fans of Canva. While the primary purpose of Canva is to help you design your own visuals, a free account also comes with access to stock free images and videos.
Since Canva offers multiple design templates, what makes this deal even sweeter is the fact that you can incorporate images into any organic design of your own. For example, you can use their images in a social media post or flyer for your brand. How awesome is that?
When you use images from Canva, you don’t need to get permission or attribute anyone. You can use these images freely on your blog, your website and any marketing material. However, you can’t resell or redistribute their photos on other sites.
4) Freepik
Freepik is heaven for designers, as it boasts free vectors, stock photos, PSD files and presentation templates. For this reason, it works well as a one-stop-shop for free images for your blog. While there is a premium version, you can still access lots of resources on a free account.
As with the three previous sites, you don’t need to ask for permission or attribute your images from Freepik. On the other hand, you can’t sell or redistribute these images.
5) StockSnap.io
StockSnap offers a huge collection of high-resolution images across different categories. You can browse their collections at random or enter a specific search term for what you’re looking for.
The photos on this site are governed by the Creative Commons CC0 license. In other words, as before, they are free to download, edit and use. StockSnap encourages you to attribute the photos you download to their owners. At the same time, it’s not illegal to use the images without attribution.
6) Reshot
If you’re looking for non-stocky stock free photos, then Reshot is the perfect place to go. You can get free images for your blog here, and most of their images are unique.
The photos you download from Reshot can be used in both non-commercial and commercial projects. As with the previous sites, attribution is appreciated but not a requirement.
7) Foodiesfeed
As the title suggests, if you are a content creator and a foodie, then this is the site for you. Foodiesfeed will provide plenty of free images for your blog about food, cooking or dining.
All the images on Foodiesfeed are licensed under the CC0 license. In other words, you can use them for both non-commercial and commercial purposes without fretting.
8) Pixabay
Since Pixabay follows through on the promise of stunning free images, it’s a good site to check out for your blog.
All the photos on Pixabay fall under public domain, so you can use them freely without worrying about legal issues.
9) Kaboompics
We couldn’t leave Kaboompics out of our list of places to get free images for your blog. That’s because it hosts a huge collection of photos to meet every need. Go ahead, check it out and see for yourself.
All the photos you find on Kaboompics are covered under the CC0 license, thus making this an easy site to use.
10) Flickr
Flickr is more well-known than most of the other sites, and with good reason. This site has a huge collection of high-quality images which anyone can use.
Although we’ve added Flickr to this list of places to find free images for your blog, this site requires you to be a little more attentive. Given that Flickr has a combination of both copyrighted content and content which is covered by the CC0 license, you have to use these photos carefully.
If you need vintage photos, then New Old Stock is the perfect place to go for free images for your blog. The site is a collection of photos from the public archives, all of which recapture history beautifully.
These photos are actually sourced from Flickr and governed by the Flickr Commons license. While most photos from this site can be used freely for personal and non-commercial purposes, the site administrator provides a link to each original Flickr photo where you can confirm this.
12) Google Advanced Image Search
Did you know you can use Google’s Advanced Image Search to find free images for your blog under the CC0 license?
In order to do this, all you need to do is type a description of the image you’re trying to find. Once you’ve done that you can narrow the results down by choosing details such as file size and image colour. As you’re narrowing your search down, simply select the “Creative Commons licenses” option under “usage rights” and you’re all set.
If you need diversity in the free images for your blog about tech, then this is a great site to check out. WOCinTech knows that content creators have a hard time finding women of colour doing anything tech-related. They aim to solve this problem by building photo albums of women of colour in tech for the public to use.
Since the actual albums are hosted on Flickr, the actual photos are a combination of copyrighted content and content governed by the CC0 license. Use these wisely.
The value of company photos when you’re looking for free images for your blog
Yes, your company photos can be a valuable source of free images for your blog. In fact, they might be even more priceless than the photos you could get on any of the above sites. This is because they give your brand authenticity by displaying the real faces behind your brand name.
Ultimately, seeing photos of your team members helps your audience feel a sense of connection to your brand.
Your coworkers are actually the ideal models, just waiting to be photographed for free. If you’re having a brand event or just hanging around at the office, be sure to take advantage of these opportunities and build a collection of authentic photos which represent your brand. While you should always ask people for permission first, you shouldn’t let these photo ops pass you by.
As you can see, there are many places where you can go when you need free images for your blog. Most of the sites we’ve recommended are covered by the CC0 license. As long as you don’t imply that the people in these photos have endorsed your product, portray the photos in a negative light, or use them as part of a logo, you can use them freely. Nevertheless, it’s always important to be attentive so that you know what kind of license you’re working with.
