Images are a vital part of blogs. Research shows that potential readers are attracted to a post by the right blog picture. But unless you’re a keen amateur photographer, or have friends who are, it can be difficult to source all the free, non-copyrighted photos that you’ll need to keep your blog regularly up-dated.

Here are some of the best places to find images:

•    Flickr – Many images are copyrighted but this service also has a useful “creative commons search” for finding free images. The latter offers access to the pictures that can be used for free, although they do need to be credited to the original source.

•    http://sxc.hu/ – Lots of royalty-free stock images.

•    iStockPhoto – Big selection of stock photos that you can buy, although there are deals that can offer a number of pics for a reasonable cost.

Just remember that it’s illegal to use images that are copywrited. If the image isn’t Creative Common licensed or you didn’t buy or create it, then don’t post it.