Ever see a stunning Instagram profile and wonder how they are able to take such beautiful pictures? They probably hired some magnificent photographer to come and take some beautiful flat lays and product shots. Or they searched online at some free stock sites and posted them in seconds straight from their phone. Either way, the feeds look AMAZING, right??!!
Instagram, or any social media platform for that matter, is all about aesthetics. Crisp, clean, eye catching feeds. And now more than ever, due to the latest algorithms, its crucial to have an appealing social media presence in order to stand out. For some businesses, they have the financial means to hire someone to curate, photograph and probably even run their social media accounts for them. However, if you are a smaller businesses that‘s just starting out, you may not always have that option. Luckily for you, there are ways to help you get started. I’ve come across some great sites that I will share with you, that have absolutely stunning stock photos for FREE.
One thing you should always keep in mind when searching for stock photos is the rights to use them. Everything you find on the internet most likely belongs to someone and you should always make sure that you are legally allowed to use them....ESPECIALLY on social media. Some stock photo sites offer free stock photos for personal use but require a fee if you want to use them commercially. Quick lesson for those who don't know the difference between personal and commercial use. Personal Use is giving you the right to use an the item as long as you don't make money of it while using it. Commercial Use is the right to use something for profit, such as making a logo, posting on a business page, blog, social platform...if you will be making money in the end whether as a product or to promote a product, then you need to have commercial rights to use it. Most stock photo sites will provide you with that information in the image details. If you come to a site that does not provide those details, you may want to find another site. The fines for copyright infringement are pretty hefty so always do your homework before posting anything!
I know that all seems like a lot of work just to for a small post that probably will never be seen by the original artist, but why take that chance. Besides, how would feel if you worked so hard on a piece of artwork that someone else decided to use and claim as their own? Always give credit where credit is due. And if you don't want to have to deal with the headache of making sure everything is legal, I‘ve come across a few sites that actually have FREE stock photos that are 100% commercial free! Awesome, right?
One of my go-to sites is Unsplash.com. I absolutely LOVE the images on this site. They're crisp and clean and always so beautiful. They have a search tool that makes it easy to look up what you need. It definitely helps if you have a social media theme and want to maintain a cohesive web presence. All of the images shown in this blog are from that site. I made these images specifically for this blog all under 15 minutes. Imagine finding enough content to create posts for a week at a time or even a month! This is definitely a plus when you're pressed for time but NEED to post something ASAP! I'd love to see an app for Unsplash in the near future since I'm not always in front of my PC to create and modify images, but it‘s still one the main sites I use for stock photos.
The second site I use is Pixabay.com. I love this site because it has different types of images available for search. They have a ton of photos, but they also have illustrations, vectors and pngs which comes in handy for the design aspect of my business. I'll talk more about those different types of graphics in another blog post but for now I'll talk about why this site is awesome for social media post. Like unsplash.com it also has free stock photos with commercial use. I've noticed that some of the same artists are on this site, as well. What I love most about this site is that is has an app. Sometimes when I'm traveling and I don't always have the time to search on my phone for images through a search engine, I just pop open the app and search for what I'm looking for and BAM images galore. Its just a handy tool to have when on the go!
There are a ton of sites out there that offer free stock photos that are beautiful and stunning but these are the only sites that I've found where it takes the work and worry out of legal rights and usage or doesn't cost a fortune for just one stock image. Investing in yourself and your web presence is never a bad idea but it doesn't always have to break your budget.
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