Adding an image to your blog post or website page can add significant impact in attracting visitors. Not only will the article be more attractive, but even the search engines will index the image and display it in their image results when it matches the searched keywords. This will increase your overall search ranking for those particular keywords. However, it is not always easy to find the right images for your article. It is even more difficult to find the right images, which are not copyrighted or can be used freely for commercial purposes. Using images that are copyrighted or that you don’t have a proper license for can land you in trouble or even legal trouble. This article helps you get some clip art and images that you can use on your WordPress blog or website for free, even for business or commercial use.
Creative Commons Search
Many webmasters have heard of Creative Commons and have seen images tagged with it on Wikipedia. However, very few people know that there is a huge library of these types of images, which are in the public domain and are free to use on your website or blog. These images are contributed by a variety of websites and their users. The creative commons website allows you to search for creative commons images based on a keyword, on websites that offer creative commons images.
Wiki Media Commons
Wikimedia Commons is also similar to the Creative Commons Database. The Wikimedia Commons welcome page lists the most adequate explanation of what it really is:
"Wikimedia Commons is a repository of media files that makes public domain and freely licensed educational media content (images, sound, and video clips) available to everyone in their own language. It acts as a common repository for the various Wikimedia Foundation projects, but you don’t have to belong to one of those projects to use the media hosted here. The repository is not created and maintained by paid archivists, but by volunteers."
Microsoft ClipArt and Office.com
Another cool place to look for your imaging needs is Microsoft Office ClipArt in the Microsoft Office program. Under the EULA for the Office program, you can use these images in any document or for any work, as long as you don’t distribute just the image. Microsoft also provides access to its huge database of quality clip art and graphics at office.com. These images are high resolution and some are even in vector format. You can download images and use them on your website or blog without any hassle. The Office.com Terms also mention that you can use these images in any document, even for commercial purposes.
Flickr
As your website mentions, "Many Flickr users have chosen to offer their work under a Creative Commons license, and you can browse or search for content under each type of license." Flickr is a major source of images for the open source community and helps promote the unrestricted exchange of information over the Internet. WP plugin called Wp-Inject helps you search for images on flickr and then add them to your articles in a jiffy.
pixabay
Pixabay’s description of themselves is pointed and very clear. There is no technical jargon or fancy words to let you know that they offer free images. Your website says "Finding high-quality free images is a tedious task, due to copyright issues, attribution requirements, or simply a lack of quality. This inspired us to create Pixabay, a repository of stunning public domain images. Your source for free vectors, free drawings and free photos. You can use any image from Pixabay without attribution in digital and print form, including for commercial applications."
To keep things simple, there is also a WordPress plugin available for Pixabay, which will allow you to browse and add images directly from Pixabay without having to upload/download or make a template.
Open Clipart
If you’re still hungry for more images, why not give OpenClipart a try? It also has the same advantage as Pixabay, i.e. there is a WordPress plugin available that will allow you to pull images into your blog post or page, directly from the OpenClipart website.