Sources of Great Images for Your Posts, Ads and Articles
Image is everything. (And we don’t mean that on the shallowest of levels.)
In order to capture attention, engage or draw potential customers to your website – thereby increasing your conversion rates – you’re going to have to find the “perfect” image. To make it easier to find stock images that catch attention, create emotional resonance, or illustrate problem-solution scenarios, we’ve compiled a quick-hits list of terrific places to find images, illustrations, and videos, free and otherwise.
Have a great time perusing these perfect pics. We know you’ll find the ideal image in this batch of great sources.
Pay-for-Use Stock Images
These sites offer a wide variety of professional stock photos, videos, illustrations, templates, 3-D models, audio tracks, and more, in a vast range of formats, sizes, times, and styles. With a free or paid account, you can save images to folders and share them with others. You can also download watermarked samples before purchase. Most offer annual or monthly subscriptions or one time purchases with varying usage options.
Free Stock Images
These sites offer a surprising array of free images. Some require you to see lots of ads. Others require free registration or upsell. Still a wide variety of options that can be useful when budget and quick access are your top priorities.
Stock Images Within Platforms
To bridge the gap between campaign set-up and design execution, many platforms, now include free stock images right in the app. You can still upload your own images but having image options provided at your fingertips is very convenient. Try a mix of both; or try testing images for your ads without leaving the ad platform.
Custom Images
If you want to create a truly custom look or develop a unique concept, call upon your favorite designer. Don’t have one? Have a look at Fiverr or 99Designs who will match you with a design freelancer who will create custom graphics and illustrations according to your brand’s specs.
Tips on Using Images
- Stock photos can be very “canned” looking. Be sure to be selective about your choices and how you use them.
- Don’t use the “most popular” as it might be an over-used image. Nothing worse than seeing your featured image everywhere else after you launch your campaign.
- Customize your images to make them different, livelier, or to fit with your brand. Apply borders, filters, crop or rotate them, add backgrounds, etc. Creativity is limitless.
- Honor copyrights and pay attention to usage rights. These are outlined in the agreements on each website so be sure to follow those giving credit where it’s due.
- Be sure to optimize your images for search. You’ll be surprised to see how much visibility a well-designed and optimized image can get.
Summing up
Photos, illustrations, and videos are in the toolkit of every successful digital marketer. Along with well-written text, images tell your story, engage users and, improve advertising click-through and landing page conversion rates. Designers and marketers alike need an array of sources for both quick-use and custom designs available to them. They can be the end-product or the building blocks of a multimedia asset. Having your handy hit list ready to go keeps your marketing fresh and your brand engaging.
Where do you get your images?
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