A few years ago SEO was mostly technical. Nowadays, it’s all about content. Due to rapid changes in SEO in the past few months, old SEO practices no longer work and may harm you.
On the other hand, spending the time and doing the right things will result in better rankings and more visibility for your business. So how do you know what to avoid anymore? By listening to people like Matt Cutts.

These SEO practices are frowned upon and we know this by piecing together several of Matt Cutts’ videos. Check out one of his videos below.

#1. Not having the right search terms on your page

Include the words that people are actually going to type. Matt Cutts posted a video, on the top 3-5 SEO mistakes he constantly sees by volume. Not having your keywords on the page is a mistake he sees all the time. He said, “You don’t just want to say Mount Everest elevation, you want to say words like how high is Mount Everest because people are going to type: how high is Mt. Everest?” If you’re a restaurant, include a menu. Include your business hours on the page.

Here’s Matt Cutts’ video where he describes the top 3-5 mistakes that businesses are making:

Matt Cutts’ video on top SEO mistakes businesses make

#2. Keyword stuffing

Even though keyword stuffing has been a frowned upon practice since the past decade, the change came about with the Panda update. Sites that didn’t conform were slapped with penalties. Last year, Google’s Hummingbird update was also a complete shift away from using a single keyword excessively on a page. Hummingbird looks for natural language queries and synonyms. With Hummingbird, these strategies work best:

• Use specific keywords sparingly, in the right places. Such as titles, meta descriptions and once or twice on the page.
• Write articles that focus on the overall meaning of your content and less on a specific keyword.
• Consider synonyms – the alternate words or phrases that describe what you do and that people might use, rather than focusing your content around an exact-match keyword. For example, if I were optimizing content for a hotel site, I would use synonyms such as lodging, motel, accommodation, tavern and inn.
• Use focus terms that are related to your subject. For example a page on cancer care will have related terms such as radiation, chemotherapy etc.

#3. No Title and description tags

What is the title of your home page? Does it say untitled or is it giving people a good idea of what your site is about. Think about the description of your best pages. Your description often determines what shows up in snippets. You want to create something that people want to click on.

#4. Not creating link-worthy content

Traditional inbound-links are still valuable after all these years. However, the links that count these days are links from high authority sites. Mat Cutts advised that instead of focusing on link-building, try to create compelling content that people want to link to and share. Some things to keep in mind about links and how they work these days:

• Instead of thinking of where to buy links (this technique has long been considered spammy), think clever guerrilla marketing. “What can I do to market my website to make it broadly known in the community?”
• Can I talk to newspapers, conferences and forums. Who would be interested in my content? How can I share this with them?
• Think of quality vs. quantity. There was a time when the number of links that you had were important. This was before the days of link-spammers and sites selling you links. Nowadays, the links that count are from high-authority websites.
• Pay careful attention to comments and who you allow to link to your content. Links from the wrong sites may also get you into trouble. Use the Google disavow tool if necessary.
• Create a rich system of internal links. This helps search engines better navigate your site. It also points them to links relevant to the topic of your page.

#5. Poor quality, too little, duplicate or plagiarized content

Many brands are facing the pressure of constantly having to churn out fresh content. Sometimes, this leads to a temptation to put out duplicate or poor quality content. After the Panda and Penguin updates, sites get penalized for these practices. It also has negative ramifications for your brand. People are constantly assessing your brand. Are you a trusted source of information? Do you deliver quality and value? High quality content speaks of these qualities.

#6. Not focusing on user intent

Hummingbird encourages us to understand user intent right from the start of the buying process. Focus on what you know that your customer came to your site to research.Identify intent, needs and problems. Provide solutions and answers. Look at queries and what customers need.
Here are some ideas to understand user intent:

• Use tools such as Qualaroo to understand user intent and preferences.
• Talk to your team’s customer service people to find out what customers and prospects most want or need from your product.
• Use Customer feedback forms, quick surveys and polls to identify customer needs.
• Talk to the actual sales people to find out what customers want from you.

Also, try to understand the long-tail queries users are typing in, especially these days with mobile search. Long-tail queries indicate that the prospect is very close to buying and just needs to be matched with the right product. Even though we can no longer look for keywords in Google, there are several ways to determine long-tail queries:

• Use the insights you receive from the Search box on your site
• Tools such as Google Suggest, related searches, Uber Suggest, Twitter Search and even social media Q & A sites such as Quora are great to tap into for long-tail questions.
• Last but not the least, check out the competition. Type in the terms that you are interested in and see who shows up first in search results. You will be able to get an idea from their pages the kind of queries they are trying to optimize the page for.

#7.Not integrating content marketing with your SEO efforts

In 2014 and into the future, content marketing and seo work hand-in-hand. You need to seamlessly go from one to the other. A good digital strategy now means having a great content strategy in place. This includes having a content plan, content audits and creating different types of content in the sales funnel. Like whitepapers, blogs and newsletters.

#8. Poor social media marketing

Social media of-course has many SEO benefits. Besides the fact that social shares alert search engines that the content is share-worthy, it’s an important trust symbol for visitors landing on a page. You’re also increasing the reach of your brand when you spread the word through social media. In order to get the most of social media you need to invest the time and effort in growing your communities and reaching new customers.

#9. Not having a local search strategy

Ed Parsons, the Geospatial Technologist of Google, has indicated in a recent talk at Google PinPoint that “about 1 in 3 of queries that people just type into a standard Google search bar are about places, they are about finding out information about locations. …this isn’t Google Maps just people normally looking at Google”.
Last year, Google started rewarding local businesses with the interaction between Hummingbird and the Venice update – a tweak that lead to more localized organic results for non-geo-modified keywords. What this means is that there are even more opportunities to capture local traffic. For example, if you are in Philadelphia, regardless whether you type in a search query for: ad agency Philadelphia or just ad agency, you would get local results first.
I recently interviewed David Mihm and he included some excellent strategies on how to optimize your content for local search.

#10. Thinking that SEO is a one-time job

Google has made several changes to SEO. What with the animal updates, Panda, Penguin and now Hummingbird and the semantic web. What works today, may not work tomorrow. To survive in the digital world, you need to be up-to-date or your site will lose its visibility. It’s good to have an SEO consultant come in and tell you what to do. But that advice will not stand the test of time. In order to increase your online visibility, you constantly need to read up and be open to trying new things.

Your Turn

What do you think are the top mistakes people are making with their content? I’d love to hear from you. Please share your thoughts in the comments below. Thanks.

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Albert Einstein once said, “If you can’t explain it simply enough, you don’t understand it.” It’s the same with our writing.
Clear communications can help us to:

• Increase conversions
• Increase audience engagement
• Improve readers’ understanding of our message

The best way to convert prospects to customers is through plain, simple and direct communications. People will only buy from you if they understand you. If your message is garbled, then they will be confused by your brand and your product.

The core principles of clear communication come from following plain language guidelines. Plain language (also called Plain English) is communication your audience can understand the first time they read or hear it. Most business sectors now use plain language in their writing. Even the government has a special website for plain language. The Plain Writing Act of 2010 requires the federal government to write all new publications, forms, and publicly distributed documents in a “clear, concise, well-organized” manner.

These principles and more are also part of an online course on plain language put out by NIH (National Institutes of Health). Joining and participating in this course is free. The Center for Plain Language also has workshops on plain language.

#1. Identify your goal and purpose at the beginning

Begin by identifying in your own mind what your goal is: What do I want my reader to do or understand after they finish reading? What action do I want them to take? Do I want them to buy this product or enroll in that program? Any copy that doesn’t support the realization of this goal can be cut. If you don’t have a clear cut goal, then the other tips in this post will not work.
After we identify our goal, we need to let our readers know the main benefits of this goal at the beginning, preferably with the headline and lead text.

#2. Write exactly as you would speak

Imagine that you are talking to your target customer. What would you say to him to convince him of the benefits of your product? Write as you would speak with that same informal tone. Imagine that you are directly talking to these customers and their reaction to your discussion. How can you speak so that your message comes out to them loud and clear.

#3. Write clearly and concisely: Fire words that are redundant

Wordiness endangers your meaning – precise words convey it. Keep your sentences short. And avoid redundant expressions. Get rid of every word that isn’t doing anything special or useful. Those are unhelpful, and a drain.
Extra words don’t just take up space. They suck the power from your writing. Compare these two sentences:
In the event of a fire, you will need to communicate with us and indicate to us that in view of the fact that you have lost your material, you cannot come.
So many extra words. Let’s try again…..
If there’s a fire, inform us that you have lost your material and cannot come. Much more understandable.

In consideration of the fact that
in view of the fact that
given the fact that
due to the fact that
on the grounds that
in as much as
Because is a better substitute for these words.

#4. Cut out big words – Use short words and short sentences

Don’t use a $10 word when a 5 cent word will do.
Derek Halpern just put out a blog (video) post talking about how using big, pompous words may make you sound stupid. He talks about a recent University of Princeton research study with 3 experiments. In one experiment, they tested different essays going from simple to very complex. The simplest essay was given the best rating. In another experiment, they asked people to rate translations of a text. The translations ranged from simple to very complex. Again, the simplest translation got the highest rating.

#5. Use the active voice

Try to write as far as possible in the active voice.
She was loved by her family (passive)
Her family loved her (active).

#6. Use bullets, subheads and white space to help readers quickly scan the main points

Help your readers to quickly scan your content. When you break up your content with subheads and bullet points you organize and separate each point. This helps a reader quickly grasp the important points.

#7. Avoid jargon

I came across this piece of jargon:
My organization believes in three-dimensional third-generation projections.
The consultants recommend remote transitional flexibility. Huh? Whazzat???
Jargon and acronyms confuse the reader. If you must have an acronym, then be sure to spell it out as well.

#8. Use pronouns

“You” is the most important word in marketing. Use it often. This will automatically make you think from your customers point of view. Use of the pronoun “we” eliminates confusion. Customers know that you are referring to you or your business and not some third party.

#9. Use parallel construction

Parallel structure means using the same pattern of words to show that two or more ideas have the same level of importance. Bulleted lists need to be parallel.
Dr. McAfee lectured, was shouting, and waved his arms.
Here is the same information in parallel construction:
Dr. McAfee lectured, shouted, and waved his arms.

#10. Write to an eight grade reading level

Writing to a lower grade level doesn’t mean you are dumbing down, contrary to what many people believe. It’s smart business to do so.
How do you find out what grade level your writing is? Use the Flesch-Kincaid index. The index is a tool available in MS Word 10 (and above)
If your document is easy to read, you get a higher readability score (which is a score from 1-100). Shoot for a score between 60-100. You can also see the grade level of your document.
It’s easy to use the index. After you write and edit your document, simply go into Review – Spelling and Grammar. Word will proofread your document and at the end will give you a score that looks like this:

Microsoft Word shows you how readable your document is and it also shows you the grade level your content is optimized for

Your Turn

What are you doing to make sure your writing is crystal clear? Do you have other tips to share? I’d love to hear from you. Please share your thoughts in the comments below. Thanks.

It’s worth pondering: Do you work best alone or in concert with others? It may “take a village” to raise authority for even worthy content.

Authors and publishers – writers and bloggers – often have a symbiotic relationship that allows them to build authority and increase traffic for both. Building authority also means building trust, both with search engines and, just as important, with readers.

But both authors and publishers have to work at it. Fortunately, today more than ever there are good ways to do that.

It’s a team effort

How can blogs and authors work together to build authority? It’s really pretty simple.

First, each needs to establish its authority.

#1. Create a Google+ page

• Authors can begin by linking from their content to their Google+ Profile.
• Establish a Google+ personal page if you haven’t already.
• Place the rel=”author” tag on your byline (see instructions).
• Verify your connection using the structured data testing tool.
• Publishers can begin by verifying site ownership with their Google+ Page.
• Establish a Google+ Page for your business or organization if you haven’t already. Place the rel=”publisher” tag on your website and verify.

#2. Keep your work on-topic

Now publishers should build on that authority by creating content about a specific topic. They can write that content themselves or have other authors write it. The more authority the authors they use have, the more authority the blog will build. For search purposes, it helps to build nuance by varying keywords and keyword synonyms used to refer the topic. Publish both in depth (number of words) and in breadth (number of articles).

Authors should build on their authority, contributing articles in depth on their topic or topics of expertise and contributing to blogs or websites that have authority on that topic or those topics. They should work out with the blog or website to use the rel=”author” tag on bylines.

Now take it to your fans

#3. Build Social Signals

Next, both publishers and authors need to work on building social signals, coordinated and separately. That also helps build authority. Google+ seems to have the most impact on authority-based topics.

Increase trust on Google+

Number of +1s

• Blogs should promote content on their Google+ Pages, with authors sharing and giving a +1 to alert others to read their articles.
• Authors should promote content on their Google+ individual pages, with blogs sharing and giving a +1.
• In my experience, Facebook is more friends but Google+ is more professionals and people of authority, so their sharing information adds weight.
• Professionals and people of authority consult websites and authors for specialized content, again adding weight to +1s.

Number of Circles

• Authors should increase the number of Google circles they follow.
• In addition to personal topic circles (friends, family, coworkers), they should join circles related to their content topics.
• Publishers should join circles related to their topic specialty. There may be more than one.
• In addition, Publishers should start circles for their readers or for discussion groups, also called “Communities.”
• Authors may want to start circles for other authors or Communities, too.

Engagement on Google+

• Don’t think of Google+ as just a place to promote your articles. It’s also a place to explore content ideas and engage your readers. One science author asked for ideas about a speech he was giving at a conference. Readers offered him great ideas to talk about.
• Many authors post shorter article-length updates on Google+ and the +1s they receive add to the writer’s authority.
• Blogs can post headlines, graphic treatments or photos, surveys, and more for reader reaction. They can even host “Hangouts” to invite fans to live video chats.

Non-Google Networks

• Google has the easiest time reading its own signals, but don’t discount reader feedback from Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Quora, Pinterest, and others.
• Facebook “likes” and “shares” carry more weight than comments. Hashtags on Facebook facilitate searches and can be associated with a specific URL.
• Twitter RTs and trending topics carry weight, too, so if you can associate a trending “hashtag” with your name or blog (in a good way), that’s a good thing.
• Answering a lot of questions on a topic in Quora can add authority value, too. You can broadcast your answer to Twitter and Facebook, and if they are liked or shared, have value.
• “Pins” and “Repins” on Pinterest have value. Add a “Pin it” icon to your blog or Web page, and promote it on social media.
• Promote blog articles on LinkedIn updates and Group pages. They often result in more traffic.

#4. Connect with other authors

Greater authority results when you connect with other authors, which social media channels like Google+, Facebook, and Twitter can help you do. There you can meet up, help promote their work, interact regularly, and even connect with influencers who help build you as an influencer. With the right influencers, your content can even go viral.

An element of trust building plays in here, also. It includes endorsements, positive reviews, and linking to the works of others or from others.

#5. Try to increase interaction and engagement on your blog

Comments

• Blog and website articles with a lot of engagement in the comments section show a sense of community and engagement with the site and author. Certainly a lot of traffic indicates popularity, which can mean authority. It isn’t a sure thing. Engagement with link sharing is telling, but no or little engagement is also telling.
• Publishers should monitor and manage comment spam, which detracts from authority. Trace comment links multiple levels to ensure their efficacy.

#6. Guest Blog for authority sites in your niche

Even though it’s no longer a method for posting back links, guest blogging is still valuable for reaching other audiences and building authority. Especially if you write for an authority site.

#7. Try to build links with valuable content

Another area for building authority is links. Outbound links can be powerful for extending topic nuance, but inbound links can be powerful for showing how others favor your content.

Inbound Links

• Inbound links are harder to arrange, but the more authority behind them the better.
• Back and forth links are usually more powerful, but in terms of authority, links from news, research, educational, informational, and other authority sites are best.
• Check all the links to your site (see Google Webmaster Tools Site Dashboard for lists). Disavow any spam or undesirable links.

#8. Review and Increase your Domain Authority

The more signals you provide on your site that your site is about what you say it is, the more authority you will derive for it. Among the factors you can control is the domain name. With more and more extensions available, it’s much easier to get something specific that once was already bought up.

• Use a simple, topic-specific domain.
• Use topic-specific URLs, not arbitrarily generated URLs
• Use topic-specific file names, graphics names, image names, and navigation titles.
• Your domain authority and the way search engines use DA to rank your site are effected by your domain age (the older the better) and inbound links (the more solid the better).

#9. Try to work on traditional search engine trust signals such as PageRank and MozRank

Page Rank has been desirable for many reasons. Among them is that the more times you earn a top ranking, the more authority it gives you for that topic. Among the things Google looks at to assign ranking are popularity (you met reader needs), links (readers think your content is good), and Web stats (of those who visited, how many stayed and for how long?)

• Work on content that attracts lots of visitors.
• Look for ways that keep visitors on your page and your site.
• Engage on social media for sharing links and encouraging others to do the same.
• Note that page rank is becoming less determinant – Google prefers that you to ignore it, but resistance has been heavy. Mozrank may be more meaningful.

#10. Build up your Author Rank

Author Rank is a developing signal – no one can seem to agree whether is up or down or just sitting around. Google itself says it’s certainly using it in assigning rank to authors of in-depth content, for populating content in Knowledge Graphs and Rich Snippets.

• Keep your content deep and rich in detail. Google is now giving special credit to those authors who write in-depth articles, ranging from 1,200-2,500 words. They’ve initially started this effort for high authority sites. But the more you write on a particular topic, the better chances you have of establishing your authority.
• Write about your special topic(s) across multiple blogs or sites to develop breadth.
• Use schema.org markup to make data easy for access across platforms and formats.
• Use schema.org “article” markup and follow Google webmaster guidelines to help search engines understand your content.
• Use the rel=”author” to link to your Google+ profile as suggested earlier.
• Even if Author Rank develops more fully later, doing these things now will make you readier for it when it is used.

Publishers working with a variety of authors who write on topic and a consistent group of authors who attract readers and work with those authors to promote their content online will build mutual authority for lots of future growth.

Your Turn

What are your thoughts? Have you already used these techniques and seen results? Do you have other tips to share? We’d love to hear from you. Please share your thoughts in the comments below. Thanks.

Are you creating mobile-friendly content? The world is rapidly moving to mobile-first communications. And you don’t want your brand to be left behind in this revolution.

In the U.S today, we have more customers that visit via mobile devices than via desktop. Chances are that soon your customers may only look at your site on a mobile device.

A recent comScore study – More than 50% of users use various mobile devices in the U.S

Some quick and simple steps to easily make your content stand out and look awesome on mobile devices:

#1. Invest in responsive design

This may sound like a no-brainer for most, but you’ll be surprised at how many people don’t know that responsive design is taking over the internet. The best part about responsive design is that you don’t need to direct a user to a special mobile site. The site is designed to adjust to your mobile device so that the content is presented to you in the most pleasing way. For example, if you visit my homepage via a laptop, you should see two columns. If you visit via a mobile device, your will see a one-column layout for maximum reading ease.

Investing in a responsive site need not be expensive. WordPress responsive themes can cost you as little as $40. You get many free responsive themes on the market as well.

#2. Keep headlines short, punchy and less than 10 words

No one knows the value of a short and punchy headline better than content creators. With mobile content, it’s best to keep headlines short and sweet, preferably less than 10 words. Some mobile marketing experts advise keeping them between 5-8 words. Whatever length you choose, the old rule of copywriting – speaking to your customers’ needs applies even more for mobile content. And woo your audience with benefit-driven headlines.

# 3. Create links and icons that are touch friendly

In the absence of a cursor, clicking on an exact element on a smartphone screen can be difficult. Users can get frustrated if links are too close together to select the link they intend. And this means they will stop reading your content.

Designing best practices for mobile content requires increased space between different touch targets within your content. If you are trying to attract viewers to a product page, it’s preferable to include your link as a call-to-action at the end of your para. This makes it easier for your users to tap on your calls to action and links to your additional content or to your social media channels.

When designing your content and landing pages, follow guidelines provided by different mobile platforms to decide on the size of the touch targets you should use. For example, iOS Human Interface Guidelines recommends a minimum target size of 44 pixels wide 44 pixels tall.

#4. Create content that is snackable – in easy, bite-size pieces

Studies show that people are task oriented on their mobiles. They come in, want to finish their task and leave. Simplify their time by providing them with these conveniences:

• Use big fonts that are easy to read
• Give your audience the most important info first. Use the inverted pyramid style of journalism, where the most important info is first.
• Use:
  • bullet points
  • numbered lists
  • lots of sub-heads for scannable text

#5. Keep your tone conversational – Use plain language principles

The good news is that the use of plain language is spreading. Most corporate and government websites are now embracing plain language as their preferred style of writing.
Here’s how you can keep a conversational tone:

• Write as you speak
• Avoid jargon, even if your industry has a lot of jargon
• Use more action verbs
• Keep sentences short

#6. Design a mobile app for customers

Even though a mobile app is not yet a must-have for every retailer and industry, creating the right one may lead to more conversions. You need to research and see which mobile apps are traffic drivers for your industry. Studies show that certain industries have more than 80% of their users coming in through mobiles apps. For example, Pandora, Yelp and Twitter show substantial traffic via mobiles.

80% of Pandora users listen in via mobile devices

#7. Measure and research what’s working with your mobile audience

Measure, measure and measure. Your analytics report will give you a breakdown of what your mobile customers are looking for when they visit. The greater the depth in understanding your audiences’ mobile habits, the more compelling your content will be. And understanding their needs will help you to create content they want to see.

Webcontentblog’s mobile audience statistics
Looks like a lot of my crowd uses IPhones. My bounce rate is higher with my mobile audience. This tells me that they are coming in, reading the article that they came to read and leaving. If I was engaged in selling, I could set-up conversions to get an accurate sense of how many mobile visitors are converting into paying customers.

There are many mobile content marketing strategies. Choose what suits your business needs and will help convert the most prospects to customers. With mobile device usage becoming predominant, it’s time to start creating a mobile-first content marketing strategy — and then work backwards to cater to your desktop visitors’ needs.

Your Turn

Do you have a responsive site? How are you making your content mobile-friendly? I’d love to hear form you. Please share your thoughts in the comments below. Thanks.

A picture is worth a thousand words. I could write a long and elaborate description of this tantalizing strawberry cheesecake. Or I could give you an idea of how delicious it may be with one simple photograph. Sometimes, all you need is one powerful graph, chart or image to instantly convey the big picture. And studies are showing that compelling graphics drive more traffic and eyeballs to your content.

Most of us are not big corporations with massive budgets and in-house designers. All we need is a sizzling image to spice up our already great content. But finding high-quality images that you can use without attribution, without licensing troubles, and without having to purchase each time is a challenge. Also, there are several stock-photo sites that charge a high premium to buy photos. These sites are good for corporations with large budgets.

So what do you do if you need a quick photo to enhance your blog post, slide presentation or whitepaper? There are plenty or sources – some free and some that you can purchase at a small cost.

I like to either click my own photos or buy them relatively inexpensively from sites that have pay-as-you-go plans. That way, in my small way, I’ve contributed to the artist and I’m not stuck to one site. I have the option of trying several different sites.

Sites that have high resolution, low-cost Images

#1. Canstockphoto.com

You can buy pay-as-you-go plans for as low as $19. You get 20 credits and most small size images cost you 2 credits. So you end up paying about $1 per image.

#2. Istockphoto

Although this is a slightly pricier option than all the other sites here, I like to use it when I need high-resolution images.

#3. 123RF.com

I’ve often found some great, low-cost images on this site. I’ve paid as little as 40 cents for some images. They’re also a great option for slides and presentations.

#4. Bigstockphoto

A subsidiary of Shutterstock, Bigstock adds to its library every day as photographers and designers from around the world submit their work. Bigstock had more than 5.3 million royalty-free images available. Images cost from between 1 to 6 credits each, depending on size, with credits ranging from 90 cents to $3.

Sites for free images

When using free images there are a few things to keep in mind:

• Always be mindful of copyright issues. One rule is clear – if you didn’t produce it or click it with your camera then you don’t own it.
• Always give attribution to the artist. No matter what your source, it’s a good practice to credit the artist when possible.
• Read the license carefully to see if you can reproduce image, only use the image in it’s original form etc. This is escpecially true for Creative Commons licenses, where there are so many different ways for an artist to give permission.
• Regardless of where you get your images, it’s best to follow these image optimization practices.

# 5. Freedigitalphotos.net

This is my favorite site for images. Small images are free and they have a great range of high-quality, low-cost images.

# 6. Google image search

Google’s Image search now has various choices that make it easy to find an image for reuse. You need to click on the option for Search tools and you will be able to search by size, color, type and usage rights. I’ve often found that most of these images are copyright images.

You can find images on Google Search with different usage rights

#7. Morguefile.com

MorgueFile contains free high resolution digital stock photography for either corporate or public use. The term “morgueFile” is popular in the newspaper business to describe the file that holds past issues for reference. Through the years, the term has been used by illustrators, comic book artist, designers and teachers to mean post production materials or an inactive job file. The purpose of this site is to provide free image reference material for use in all creative pursuits.

#8. Stock.XCHNG

This site has a large gallery of over 395,000 stock photos. You can search by country, users, photos or browse through categories. They also have a nice collection of tutorials, various “how-tos” on stock photography and image editing.

#9. Free Range Stock

Once you sign up for free, you can use these images for commercial and non-commercial use. Photographers get paid when users click on the ads that appear next to their submissions. Images on the site are either shot by or contributed by a talented community of photographers. According to their website, “The images want to be seen and good photos should be available to everyone – so we give the collections away with the hope that they will be useful and be enjoyed.”

#10. Creativecommons.com

Creative Commons is a nonprofit organization that lets artists share their creativity and knowledge through free legal tools. It provides artists with a simple, standardized way to allow the public to use their work. The artists can choose from sixteen different licenses ranging from giving full rights to some rights. I’ve often found the Creative Commons licenses to be confusing but some people swear by them and use them all the time.
Photo-sharing sites such as Flickr have the option to search by Creative Commons license.

Also, from time-to-time Hubspot gives away images that you can use without worrying about attribution and licensing.

Your turn

Which are your favorite sites for finding images? Please share them in the comments below. We’ll all benefit from the info. Thanks.