How to stamp the copyright logo to my images

Black female food blogger taking a photo in a cafe wearing a light blue shirt and red hair bandana

Imagine: you’ve spent lots of time creating the perfect image to upload onto your soon-to-be website. It is eye-catching, unique and perfect for your online business. But, although this image is legally owned by you, the internet is a dark place and someone snatches up your image for their own purposes. Suddenly, your image is no longer identified with your online business. All that time and effort spent sourcing this image is wasted. 

So, how do you avoid this case of online theft? Well, the answer is pretty simple. By stamping a copyright logo onto your images, keyboard thieves will fail to pass off your content as their own. 

Step 1: Choose your software 

Adobe photoshop, Inkscape or Paintshop are the most obvious editing softwares to do this. However, if you don’t fancy spending your money on these, then there are multiple free photo editing softwares which you can use to watermark your image instead.    Alamoon Watermark, WatermarkLib and Kigo Image Converter can all be used to stamp your copyright logo onto your image. 

Step 2: Where to put the copyright

Open your image in one of these programmes and select the section of the image where you want to add your copyright stamp. Make sure your text goes in a place which is visible. This ensures would-be users cannot get rid of your logo without destroying the image itself. This is important – strategically picking a location for your text to go into means digital thieves cannot steal your image without shooting themselves in the foot.

Step 3: What information do you need to add?

When applying a copyright stamp, you need to make sure you include your name/business name, the year your image was created and the copyright symbol ‘©’ into your text. This way you are solidly safeguarding your image from being swiped up by someone else. Although you can’t stop people from downloading your image free of charge, your name will now always be affiliated with this image. Remember, it is important that you lower the opacity of the text so that people can still see your image!

Now that your image is protected and associated with you, it is important you have a website that people can visit if they want to access your material. Check out our 14-week free trial of Go Sitebuilder and see just how easy it is to get your business online!

What kind of online business is the most profitable?

Female relaxing on a grey sofa whilst using her mobile phone to run her business from home

Whilst starting up an online business seems daunting, it is not as difficult as you may think. People from all backgrounds can create a successful online business, and not all online businesses demand a vast amount of time or money for them to be profitable. As long as your content is of real value then there is a market out there for you.

Online home rentals

This first example doesn’t require any special skills; anyone can rent out their home. Although sites such as AirBnB or HomeAway may suggest the market is overly-crowded, InvitedHome or Luxury Retreats show that there is always potential to market your property to a certain crowd. Creating a niche category in the market means you can create a steady and reliable source of income, and make it more likely that those who use your site will return. 

SEO consultancy

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is a market of endless opportunity. If you are already confident in SEO strategy, then you can create profit by marketing your skills to online businesses who are looking to rank higher on Google. This will help them gain visibility, and will improve your reputation as a leader in the field. Don’t be deterred if you have limited knowledge; there are loads of resources online to help you understand SEO – check out Moz’s Beginner’s Guide to SEO to get you started. 

Managing advertisements

If you understand the methodology behind paid advertising, then advising businesses on how to manage their ads – or doing it for them – can boost your income dramatically. Considering that online business giants such as Snapchat, TikTok, Facebook and Twitter rely on ads for their growth, ad management could be your ticket to success. It is still a relatively modern market with huge potential for growth – eMarketer has reported that, for the first time in America, online advertising spending exceeds that of traditional ads.

What next?

If you are interested in pursuing any of the above then it is vital to have a website to boost your credibility and to provide a platform to market your skills. Check out our 14-week free trial which gives you all the flexibility you need to begin your online business journey – why not give it a go today?

What is the best tool to optimise images for the web?

Male wearing a short sleeved blue shirt is sat at a desk typing on this laptop. He has a black watch on his right wrist and a notebook and pen is next to the laptop

Optimising your images before you post them onto the web could be the make or break of your online business. If your image isn’t optimised then your file size is larger, slowing down the speed of your website. This could dramatically affect your search engine optimisation (SEO) ranking – the slower your website, the more likely your image will become congested in google image search traffic. 

Failing to optimise your images is also a huge turn-off for those who do find their way onto your website. Forbes quoted an Aberdeen group study that a one-second delay in website load time could cost you 7% of sales, result in 11% fewer page views and a 16% decrease in satisfied customers. The following tools will help you optimise your images, making sure your website is highly attractive to those who visit your site.

There are lots of ways to optimise your images for your website, and those that optimise for SEO like adding alt text and making sure your images are named correctly can be done within your website builder. However, other important factors like image size, type and dimensions will need to be altered using external software. 

Adobe photoshop

This premium software is a well known classic. It allows you to save your files in different image formats such as JPEG, PNG or GIF. Once you have selected your options, your file size will also be displayed. This is a great option for those who are new to optimizing their images on the web, as it is easy to follow and fairly simple. 

JPEG Mini

This software reduces image sizing without diminishing any of its original quality. The fact that you can compare your original image against the compressed image is also a big plus, as you can test whether any quality has been lost. Whilst the computerised programme comes with a price tag, you can use their web version for free – another bonus!

Image Optim

Image Optim is a software specific to Mac. It removes unnecessary colours and finds the most suitable compression parameters to ensure no quality is reduced. It pretty much does all the hard work for you. And, luckily, Windows users don’t need to despair – Trimage acts as a promising alternative. 

Now that you have the knowledge needed to optimize your images, it is vital that you utilise these skills when starting your online website. If you’re also unsure how to build your online website then try Go Sitebuilder. Our responsive website builder is designed with small businesses in mind, helping you craft your business into a success. Try Go Sitebuilder today with our 14-week free trial period!