Caution: Resist the urge to use any random image that you found online on your blog or Website—you might be violating copyright law.

Adding images to a Website or blog not only adds some flavor, but they also have SEO benefit if you use alt tags—and you are using them, aren’t you?

The easy solution option for finding free pictures and illustrations is to search Google Images. But before you do, know that most of those images are copyrighted, and using them on your blog or Webpage without permission is illegal.

Instead, consider these solutions for images that are not only affordable (and in some cases, free!), but also don’t infringe on intellectual property laws:

• Fair Use
• Public Domain
• Royalty Free
• Creative Commons

Best Practices: Invest in Royalty Free Images

This is especially true if you are outfitting an entire Website for a hospital.

Not only do you want images that reflect your healthcare system’s professionalism, but you might also want photos or illustrations that provide a consistent look, something that can be quite difficult to achieve by cobbling a piecemeal collection of fair use or Creative Commons imagery.

Derek Rudnak | Communications Specialist | AVID Design

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This entry was posted on Thursday, February 5th, 2009 at 10:57 am and is filed under Best Practices, Images, Photos & Art, Web Design. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.