Good quality website imagery has the ability to grab attention, trigger emotion and even compel website visitors to take action.
Unique, well shot “real” images of you, your team and your business are the key to adding that “WOW” factor to your website. But when it comes to the “filler” images you use, these can either make or break your sparkly new website.
Time and time again, we see clients spend a pretty penny on a top notch photoshoot but then use cringe worthy stock images or free photos (like below) to fill in the gaps.
Please – for the love of your new website and the sanity of our designers who pour their heart and soul into your website design – use stock images or royalty free photos which are somewhat unique. Below are a free few sites we recommend. And let’s just say the following sites are well “stocked.” 🙂
BUT FIRST, LET’S TALK LICENSES
Stock images always carry a license. You may have seen terms like Public Domain and Creative Commons.
Some licenses are completely free to use, while others require credit to the site or prevent you from using the imagery commercially. The websites we have listed below offer free media to use as you see fit, but it is good practice to always check the license before you download it.
In other words, for the sake of preventing a slap on the wrist in the future, the sites below at the time of publishing this blog post allow you to use their images free of charge for commercial purposes (like on your website). But please double check the license at time of use.
1. CANVA
Canva have put together an extensive collection of high-quality photos and images to help both designers and non-designers with their designs. Some images are for purchase yes, but many are free to download and use as you desire.
2. UNSPLASH
With over 200,000 free (do whatever you want) high-resolution photos brought to you by the world’s most generous community of photographers, Unsplash is likely to have those images that will work well alongside your “real” images.
3. PEXELS
Pexels provides high quality and completely free stock photos licensed under the Creative Commons Zero license. All photos are well tagged, searchable and also easy to discover through their discover pages.
4. GRATISOGRAPHY
Gratisography is definitely not your average stock image site. If your brand demands a more quirky, funky tone, then look no further. All images are high-resolution and free to use on your personal and commercial projects.
5. FREEPHOTOS.CC
FreePhotos.cc is another free resource where you can find creative photos for your website that work well as blog feature images or on social media. FreePhotos.cc is one of the easier libraries to navigate using either their search box or ‘categories’ page.
