Five Places To Find Free Website Content
Mary Lanphier
August 24, 2006
When describing the important components of a well laid out website, content is king. How many times have you heard this statement? Ten times? A hundred times? A thousand times? More?
The hardest part in building and maintaining a website lies neither in the design process nor in the required mastery of programming languages,nore in the tapping of visitors for your pages nor the establishment of measures to transform them into profit.
The most difficult undertaking in website construction and upkeep is in its content.
You’ve heard about it a lot because it’s true. The internet is fueled by information, hence its label as the information superhighway. And information is conveyed through content. People use the internet to find the information they need, and if your content carries such information, they’ll naturally seek you out.
But preparing content requires a lot of effort, a lot of skill, and a lot of time. And though a lot of us may possess the first two, not all of us can spare the third requisite.
Thankfully, there are some great places in the World Wide Web where you can find free content. Here are five of them:
1. Public domain information. A discussion about the intricacies of public domain information will be very comprehensive and will require the use of some jargons and a review of history. For our purpose, it is sufficient to say that public domain information embodies all the works that have been made in 1922 or earlier, or works the authors of which have passed away 70 years or more ago. This includes a lot of creative undertakings that are waiting to be utilized the right way. A classic piece of literature, for example, can be transformed into an eBook which you can sell or give away for free. You can even post the same on your website without any legal hitch. There are a lot of public domain works that have already been converted in digital form. Try to visit www.gutenberg.org for the best online repository of these converted works.
2. Creative commons. Creative commons is a novel licensing method that allows creators to initiate a certain project, with the permission that other knowledgeable parties can join the undertaking at any time and they can contribute what they know to the same. Indeed, creative common involves a form of co-creatorship, an idea which many believe, is perfect for the digital age. An example of creative commons in action are the databases of www.wikipedia.org , a user-driven online encyclopedia, and www.tv.com , a user-driven tome for television shows. You can use works that are under a creative commons license. You can find some existing works with the creative commons license by checking out www.creativecommons.org .
3. Government websites. Basically, content published in government websites cannot be copyrighted. It is assumed that the government has prepared such content for the benefit of its people, hence it can be used freely on your website.
4. Images make great content as well. They enhance the text of your pages, as well as help set up the mood you wish to establish for your website as a whole. But you can’t use just about every image in the web. And those that are being sold often carry a high price. Thankfully, you can seek out images that are royalty and restrictions free. These are images you are free to use for your website. A lot of them can be found in www.sxc.hu.
5. Article directories. Of course, the content you need may have already been written by someone else and approaching such a person would be burdensome. You’d have to write a request, send the same and wait for an answer. Article directories offer many, many informative articles which you can readily use for your website. The only catch is that you are not allowed to modify the said articles, and this includes retaining the resource boxes (containing links to the authors’ websites) during reproduction. This is a small price to pay for instant content, however.
The bottom line is this: give your viewership great material and they'll come back. "Build it, they'll come" happens in the movies, not on the internet.
The hardest part in building and maintaining a website lies neither in the design process nor in the required mastery of programming languages,nore in the tapping of visitors for your pages nor the establishment of measures to transform them into profit.
The most difficult undertaking in website construction and upkeep is in its content.
You’ve heard about it a lot because it’s true. The internet is fueled by information, hence its label as the information superhighway. And information is conveyed through content. People use the internet to find the information they need, and if your content carries such information, they’ll naturally seek you out.
But preparing content requires a lot of effort, a lot of skill, and a lot of time. And though a lot of us may possess the first two, not all of us can spare the third requisite.
Thankfully, there are some great places in the World Wide Web where you can find free content. Here are five of them:
1. Public domain information. A discussion about the intricacies of public domain information will be very comprehensive and will require the use of some jargons and a review of history. For our purpose, it is sufficient to say that public domain information embodies all the works that have been made in 1922 or earlier, or works the authors of which have passed away 70 years or more ago. This includes a lot of creative undertakings that are waiting to be utilized the right way. A classic piece of literature, for example, can be transformed into an eBook which you can sell or give away for free. You can even post the same on your website without any legal hitch. There are a lot of public domain works that have already been converted in digital form. Try to visit www.gutenberg.org for the best online repository of these converted works.
2. Creative commons. Creative commons is a novel licensing method that allows creators to initiate a certain project, with the permission that other knowledgeable parties can join the undertaking at any time and they can contribute what they know to the same. Indeed, creative common involves a form of co-creatorship, an idea which many believe, is perfect for the digital age. An example of creative commons in action are the databases of www.wikipedia.org , a user-driven online encyclopedia, and www.tv.com , a user-driven tome for television shows. You can use works that are under a creative commons license. You can find some existing works with the creative commons license by checking out www.creativecommons.org .
3. Government websites. Basically, content published in government websites cannot be copyrighted. It is assumed that the government has prepared such content for the benefit of its people, hence it can be used freely on your website.
4. Images make great content as well. They enhance the text of your pages, as well as help set up the mood you wish to establish for your website as a whole. But you can’t use just about every image in the web. And those that are being sold often carry a high price. Thankfully, you can seek out images that are royalty and restrictions free. These are images you are free to use for your website. A lot of them can be found in www.sxc.hu.
5. Article directories. Of course, the content you need may have already been written by someone else and approaching such a person would be burdensome. You’d have to write a request, send the same and wait for an answer. Article directories offer many, many informative articles which you can readily use for your website. The only catch is that you are not allowed to modify the said articles, and this includes retaining the resource boxes (containing links to the authors’ websites) during reproduction. This is a small price to pay for instant content, however.
The bottom line is this: give your viewership great material and they'll come back. "Build it, they'll come" happens in the movies, not on the internet.
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