A daily problem I encounter as a blogger is finding the perfect image for each post I write. While this may not be considered by many bloggers as a problem, not being that particular about putting up and image on with each post or simply being unconcerned about the image quality and intellectual property rights, I have to admit that I am very much particular about all of the above. In my opinion, although an image is not essential for each and every blog post, having one helps in drawing visitor’s attention, increasing the chances of their taking time to actually read what you wrote. If you like using images for your blog posts as much as I do though, there are some things you should realize when it comes to picking the right image:

1. It should reflect the topic – Don’t add an image just to make your blog post look pretty. Choose images that reflect the topic and has something to add to the post, and when you can’t think of something suitably specific, go without (just like we’re doing for this post!).
2. Respect copyright laws – The good thing is that there are many images online that you can reuse without trampling on copyright laws such as those licensed under Copyleft. You can also search for stock images from sites like  Depositphotos stock photos, where you will find virtually any kind of image you need for a reasonable fee. However you get your images, just make sure that you give credit where credit is due and that you don’t do something against the law.
3. Think quality – Stay away from grainy images and choose image with good aspect ratios. Vector images are a good idea because they will scale properly whatever size you need them to be.
4. Insert them properly – One of my pet peeves about many fellow professional bloggers is that they don’t bother to properly align the images they insert. It only takes a few seconds to change the alignment and resize the images so that they blend with rest of the post. No matter how good your

Originally posted on February 22, 2012 @ 9:42 am