A guide to the best free stock photography on the internet
One of the most important parts of any website is the visuals.
As the saying goes, "a picture says a thousand words" and this is especially true when it comes to presenting your business online.
A good website will have gorgeous typography and compelling web copy (i.e., text) but just as importantly, it will also include high-quality photography.
For many people who are starting out on their digital journey, they understand the need to include photography and images on their website but they are totally clueless on where to get those photos.
"Do I have to hire a photographer?" and "I suck at taking photos on my iPhone and I don't have a fancy camera" are things I hear every day as a web designer.
Fear not, my friend, let me introduce you to the world of stock photography. With a simple click of a button, you have access to literally thousands (millions?) of FREE high quality, high-resolution photos that you can use on your website, no strings attached.
Related: How do your website images stack up?
Stock Photography 101
Stock photography is the supply of photographs which are licensed for specific uses.
In today's article, I'm going to focus on public domain licensed stock photography, which is just a fancy way of saying photos that anyone can use for free. These photos can be used without purchase for both personal and commercial purposes. The exclusive intellectual property rights to these photos have either expired, been forfeited or are inapplicable, which is why they are free for you and I to use.
Stock photography is wonderful because everyone has access to photographs that they can use at the drop of a hat. Sounds awesome, right? How great is it that you can have a photo of anything at anytime and you don't have to pay for it?
Wellllllll this is true but navigating the realm of stock photography can be a total nightmare if you don't know where to look.
This is because there are a ton of stock photography databases out there that have low-quality photos and watermarks all over them. Another problem with stock photography is that the same photos tend to get used over and over again meaning the beautiful images on your website could be the same ones everyone else is using. This makes them basically useless, in my humble opinion.
Lucky for you, I've compiled a list of my favourite stock photography sites! Without further ado, let's take a look at the winners:
The Best Stock Photography Sites on the Internet
Unsplash
Unsplash is top on the list because I love how easy it is to search for photos and narrow down what I'm looking for. There are a ton of photos for almost any theme and there's enough variety that you won't see the same photos plastered all over the internet.
Death to the Stock Photo
Death to Stock Photo is another awesome collection of stock photography. Every month you'll receive a pack of free stock photos sent directly to your inbox. They also have paid & upgraded options if you want full access to their catalogue.
Jay Mantri
Jay Mantri's collection of stock photography is honestly so beautiful that it's easy to get sucked into the site for way longer than you planned. The photos are especially strong for nature and urban scenes but not so great for photos including an actual person. This works for me but if you're looking for a stock man/lady, keep that in mind.
Creative Convex
Creative Convex offers a beautiful free starter pack that includes landscape and portrait photos that are perfect for creatives. I absolutely love Creative Convex's clean and minimalist aesthetic. There are also plenty of paid photo packs, mockups and bundles as well.
StockSnap
StockSnap offers countless beautiful stock photographs and best of all, it's searchable! This is one of the best places on the internet to find stock photography and I love being able to filter by category and theme so effectively. New photos are added weekly so it's constantly being updated.
Gratisography
Gratisography is my go-to destination for often quirky stock photography. All photos are taken by Ryan McGuire and Gratisography is a really fun stock photography database. That being said, there are plenty of "normal" stock photos too but sometimes it's fun to have access to something a little freaky.
Final Thoughts
You know that your website needs photos and images but if you're ever at a loss of where to find them, take a look at the free options above. There's no need to filter through the horrible stock photo sites out there when databases like these exist.
Websites that include photos and high quality images perform better and help your business convey it's message in a more powerful way. You do not want to cut the corners on digital visuals for your site and these stock photography libraries can help you out when you're getting started.
While my list is by no means exhaustive, I hope it points you in the right direction on your quest for stock photography dominance.
Have any favourites that you swear by? Any other sites I didn't include but should have? Have you used these sites before to get awesome stock photography for your website? Leave me a note in the comments, I'd love to hear from you!
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News flash : there’s a global pandemic going on 😷
At this point, we’re several weeks in and the initial shock over COVID-19 has passed… but now we’re faced with this “new normal” situation and everyone’s doing their best to figure out how to make the most of it. We don’t want to just keep our heads above water - nope, we want to THRIVE during the madness!
This pandemic has brought about a total upheaval of day to day life, as well as business. Literally EVERYTHING has changed - we’re all staying at home, many people are working from home for the first time ever, social distancing is mandatory, and we likely haven’t seen our loved ones IRL in a long time.
Politicians are delivering daily updates that often make our heads spin. Breaking news from the WHO is now required reading. Government alerts are popping off. Our phones are blowing up with notifications of Insta Lives. It’s wild.
We’ve also seen a complete disruption of digital behaviour and the craziest thing is that it pretty much happened over night back in mid-March 2020! People are glued to their screens (phones, laptops, TVs, etc.) and we’re spending more time than ever online …. but not always in the ways that you might expect.
This situation means different things for different people, brands and businesses - and yes, that means your website and it’s traffic are going to look different from what you’re used to.
For some industries, this global pandemic has been a blessing and business is better than ever - Amazon, Netflix and Zoom are booming and stacking mad cash right now.
However, many other industries & niches have taken a major hit. A change in consumer habits has a direct impact on website traffic, organic online searches and even businesses’ bottom lines.
This is particularly true for North American or European-based websites, brands & businesses.
You might have unexpectedly found yourself in this unfortunate situation and maybe you’re freaking out that your website traffic has DROPPED and your business is suffering. If you have, that sucks and I’m truly sorry…. but rest assured that it’s not all doom and gloom! I’m here to help you out as best as I can and reassure you that it won’t be this way forever.
In this blog post, we’re going to go over what to do if your website’s traffic has dropped or taken a hit because of COVID-19.
Whether you’re an independent content creator/blogger, a small business or brand, or a bigger company, I want you to take a step back and look at this drop in traffic & business with clear eyes and your head on straight.
After you’ve read this post, I want you to feel like you have a plan and actionable steps that you can follow to improve your situation, and hopefully boost your website traffic and set your business up for future success.