My business website

[Ruth Mills]

Just one final question - do you have permission to use the images that you have on your site? I'm not sure what the rules are about that ...

You need to be really careful about using stock images on your website! Simply "borrowing" pics from someone else's site that you like (or from Google Image Search) can get you into serious trouble, particularly if the image is owned by a big stock photo company like Corbis or Getty.

At least two geeks on here received demands for hundreds of pounds last year because their web designers had used stock images without paying for a licence.

There are also search "bots", e.g. PicScout, which crawl the Web looking for unlicensed images on behalf of companies like Getty and Corbis, PicScout, Getty Images and Goodbye iStockPhoto..! - so it's not a question of hoping that no-one will notice that you've used that image without permission - as it's probably just a matter of time before bots like that will find your site (although there are steps you can take to reduce the risk of that happening, like blocking known IP addresses for PicScout from being able to access your website - which can be done in your server's firewall configuration or - if your website is hosted using the Apache webserver - within an Apache .htaccess file).

 

[Ruth Mills]

Of course, it's possible to legally buy stock photos that you can use on your website from places like istockphoto and fotolia - but do check the licence terms carefully just to be on the safe side - and keep a copy of proof of purchase of the images just in case.

That would be my recommended way of getting stock photos for your website - and far safer than risking heavy-handed legal action!

Better still would be to take your own photos - then you can absolutely guarantee that the copyright is yours - and it will also give your website a more individual touch too!

 

[persianista]

You should give yourself a big pat on the back. I think it is a really good website, and doesnt look like a diy job at all.

 

[Luscious85]

Hi I can't believe your website was free! You have completely changed my mind about free websites.

I think the look and feel of the site is brilliant - love the photos of your treatments rooms, they look very welcoming and professional. Well done! :o)

 

[nickij]

thanks for your comments everyone... :hug:

to ruth,
i used to have "borrowed images" on my website but i had read one of your posts on getty & co sueing people in another thread and it scared me witless... so i changed my pictures... i got the ones i have on there now on a disc from my AHAVA rep, so i gather as I am an official Ahava stockist i am able to use them. I hope I'm right... i just really think professional photography makes all the difference to a website and also the Ahava model is far more photogenic than anybody i can rope in to model in my salon haha.
do you think i am ok to continue using these images??? x xx

 

[KristaBurgess]

Looks good well done. Ive seen worse professional ones!