Protecting your website image is a big concern. You don’t want anyone to steal your hard work, copy it, or use it to their advantage without permission.
Unfortunately, many people take online assets for granted and believe they are free for everyone to use.
If you want to protect your website’s images, you’ve come to the right place. Today we’re sharing nine ways you can do this effectively.
9 Ways to Protect Images on Websites
The top nine ways to protect images on websites are:
Here’s how to do it and why:
1. Add watermarks to your images
Watermarks are one of the best and easiest ways to protect your images. Watermarks can include website URLs, company/author names, or a logo. Any website owner can create a watermark through their CMS.
However, keep in mind that adding a watermark may affect the creative quality of your images.
Fortunately, there are a few options Add watermarks skillfully So that they don’t disturb the images and leave a great impression on your visitors.
(Image source: Greengeeks.com)
2. Use low resolution images
Uploading low-resolution images may seem counterproductive, but bear with me. If you upload low-resolution images online, they will still look good, especially if you use them as thumbnails or smaller images. However, they are pixelated when downloaded.
At the same time, low-resolution images take up less space, so you don’t have to worry about storage. These images load faster and you get the website speed that gives you an amazing experience.
3. Protect your images by copyright
When you take your original photos and edit them so you can post them on your website, you automatically receive copyright because they are your work. This gives you the opportunity to control how your images are distributed and used.
However, obtaining an official copyright gives you additional protection. You can include your work in independent databases to verify your ownership, cover legal costs, and claim damages for unauthorized use of your images.
Each country has its own copyright process. Therefore, get additional information.
4. Add a copyright notice
A copyright notice is a message like “© All Rights Reserved” that you can add next to or below your images.
In some countries, such as the US, adding a copyright notice is required as it identifies the copyright holder and reduces the chances of someone using your images without notifying you first.
Your copyright notice should include the following:
- “Copyright” or “©”
- “All rights reserved” (Rights Statement)
- Author/creator name
- Author contact information (optional)
- Creation date (optional)
You can also license images using the Creative Commons License. If you do this, add the CC license in the “Statement of Rights”.
5. Get DMCA protected
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act is a US law protecting online services, technologies, products and assets.
Being DMCA protected means you get verified and trusted online copyright protection. The images are indexed, added to your list and protected with an official badge.
DMCA provides you with various protection services such as providing protection tools, detecting copied or stolen images, removing copied images, and imposing penalties for thefts. Of course, this type of protection comes at a price, but DMCA offers various plans to find something affordable to suit your needs.
Protect your website with a free DMCA.Com badge
6. Disable hotlinking
Hotlinking is a popular method of stealing content and user resources. Online thieves embed images from websites into their content without saving them. This means that they are illegally using other people’s images while putting a strain on their servers.
They use your images and slow down your website, impact user experience and increase your website maintenance costs.
Disabling hotlinking requires editing the code in the .htaccess file, or you can do this install a plugin and do this without coding.
7. Disable right clicks on images
Most Internet users download images from websites using the simplest method: right-click on the images and select “Save Image As.” This option allows you to quickly save images locally and most users will not try to download images using any other method.
In other words, disabling right-clicking on images greatly reduces the chances of someone downloading them.
You can disable this using JavaScript or HTML if you have basic programming skills. If not, many WordPress plugins make the process even easier.
8. Do a reverse image search
One way to find out if someone has stolen your images is to find a reliable reverse image search tool. These tools use complex algorithms, search engines, crawlers, and APIs to discover images.
Remember that you have to search manually by uploading your images or pasting URLs. Once you’ve done that, just start searching and the platform will do its magic. You will be happy to know that these tools are completely free and you can use them as long as you want without any hidden costs.
Start monitoring your images with Pixsy
9. Prevent screenshots on your website
Screenshots are common and taken all the time. In most cases, they are not malicious because people are used to conveying information visually and want to inform their friends, partners or family members about something.
However, many online thieves effectively use screenshots to steal images. You can use different ones Plugins that prevent Users can take screenshots of pages in different ways. Some interrupt the process, others block screenshots, and others make it impossible to take a high-quality screenshot.
Diploma
If you use these methods, you won’t have to worry about someone stealing your images. Of course, you should occasionally do a reverse image search and report if someone has used or copied your images without your permission.