In my line of work I often spend bloomin' hours searching for the right image for a website I'm working on. I have a selection of "go to" places but I started looking further afield in response to a client asking me about images for her rather niche blog.
It occured to me that I get asked this question alot - because my clients want to promote their site and write blogs and social media posts. Not everyone is in a position to have a photoshoot with a photographer (if you can, though, do it! It's brilliant and makes a huuuuuuge difference) - and often stock images are the right choice and a really helpful addition to your marketing tool kit.
These brilliant sources of amazing images are scattered all over the world and all over the internet AND there are now the AI image generators to add into the mix - and I had a really great session playing on those (see my Facebook post, below!!)
My digital adventures aside, I thought I would gather a big selection of free (and low cost) images sources together, with links and information on NOT getting caught out with royalty free/licenses etc etc and here it is!
"From Bland to Beautiful" - a free guide with lots of useful info on free stock images, image licenses and creating images using AI.
In today's digital age, visual content is an essential component of online marketing. Whether you're running a website or managing your social media channels, using high-quality images is critical to capturing your audience's attention and making a lasting impression.
There is nothing worse than badly sized (fuzzy), badly chosen images that do not match your brand or your message - it drags everything down, badly!
First impressions matter, and a website or social media page is often the first interaction a potential customer has with your brand. In fact, studies have shown that it takes less than a second for someone to form an impression of your website or social media page based on its appearance. This means that the images you use can have a significant impact on how your brand is perceived.
High-quality images convey professionalism and attention to detail, while low-quality images can make your brand appear unprofessional and untrustworthy.
Good quality images also help to enhance the user experience. High-quality images are more visually appealing and can help to engage users and encourage them to spend more time on your website or social media page. In addition, images can be used to break up text and make it easier to read, which can improve the overall user experience.
Nobody gets it right all the time, we're all human, but using these sites to find professionally created images will give you a fighting chance at punching above your weight on the appearance front.
Whilst you could just resort to a good old Google search you need to be really careful about using other people's images without permission - DON'T PINCH OTHER PEOPLE'S WORK!! This is where image licenses come in. There are different types and it can be confusing, and while I'm obviously not a legal brain - I've created a summary of what is out there and the different types of licenses you can utilise.
There are a wide range of suppliers of good quality stock images that are free or low costs and are also for commercial use. You can also create your own which will be copyrighted to you - if you take advantage of the easy to use (and play with) AI (Artificial Intellegence) systems.
Take a look at "From Bland to Beautiful - Quality Sources of Free Stock Images" - where I tell you about what's out there, the different types of licenses AND the very exciting opportunities that AI presents.