Using images in blog posts is something that all the experts recommend.

If you’re anything like me, you can create content pretty easily, but coming up with suitable images to go along with the post is pretty hard. But using images makes blog posts (and web pages in general) more attractive and professional looking. When you’re working at home and your work is your blog (or your web site), making it stand out is pretty important.

So what are we to do?

photo credit: timsnell

Luckily, if you’re using Wordpress, there’s an easy solution. There’s a Wordpress plugin called Photo Dropper that makes finding suitable photos as easy as typing in a search phrase and clicking a button. The plugin searches all the photos on Flickr and allows you to easily insert one into the post. The bullseye photo was inserted using Photo Dropper, and it ensures that you’ve attributed the source properly.

Unfortunately, the plugin cannot magically pick an appropriate image for you. You have to figure out what to search for…and for some reason I always come up with a bullseye picture as being appropriate for any post.

You can find the Photo Dropper Wordpress plugin here. After you install and activate it, it adds a section to your post editing screen where you can type in a search phrase and get back possible images. Clicking on the S, M, or L links paste into the current post either a small, medium, or large version of the image.

Be sure in the plugin options to check the box that says, “Show only photos that can be used commercially”. You’re trying to run a business of some sort, so it’s best to only use images that say they can be used commercially without paying any sort of fee.

Now go out there and find some great images for your next post!

Tags: using images

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