There is an old saying that “a picture is worth a thousand words”. Images online these days can be worth far more than that, due to the great demand for high–quality digital content, and digital products to purchase.
Studies have shown that content such as blog posts, social media posts and so on, which have an image are 75% more likely to be read than those which do not. The question is, where can you get attractive images for all of your content?
1. Do It Yourself
The most obvious way is with your own camera. Almost every phone these days is equipped with a camera. Therefore it is a snap to take your own photos. They don’t have to be works of art, but they do have to be related to what you are talking about in your content.
If you want higher quality images, buy a reasonably-priced digital camera. Look for one that will take good videos as well. Since this will fill your memory card very quickly, make sure to have a couple of extras on hand, when you give your creativity free reign for a day.
2. Paid Stock Photo Sites
Paid stock photo sites give you access to the skills of professional photographers, who spend time setting up photoshoots for a range of popular topics. You can search these sites using keywords to see what is available. to suit your project.
The photos will usually come in a variety of sizes, as well as in different resolutions. In most case you will pay per download, or you can pay for a monthly membership, which allows you a certain number of downloads.
In other cases, you would buy a license to one particular image. This will usually be the case if you want to use a photo for specific commercial purposes, such as the cover of a book or CD.
In your particular case, the image is being used for a specific marketing project or campaign, which is associated with your product or post. You have to be aware that others might use that same image as well. Therefore, it is important to be clear about the terms of what you are buying, and the terms of commercial use.
Top paid stock photo sites include:
- Shutterstock
- iStock
- Getty Images
- 123RF
- DreamsTime
- Alamy
- among many others
3. Free Stock Image Sites
There are free stock photo sites available as well. They don’t charge for the photos but will have certain terms and conditions. Most will carry the Creative Commons license that will allow you a range of uses. Some will ask for credit to be given to the photographer, and perhaps a link to the original page of the image or the person’s website.
Free stock photography can be very high quality, but the disadvantage is it will be a lot less exclusive than paid stock photos.
Top free sites include:
4. Wikimedia Commons
Wikimedia Commons is a division of Wikipedia that allows you to search through their photographs to see what is available by topic, and what the terms of use of the images are. As with free stock photos, most will be Creative Commons.
Use high quality images in all your digital content, to wow your audience, and see your how your customer list will grow.
