How to find great images for websites

Can be obvious, but images are the most important element of a website, specially nowadays when  2015 modern style of web design is focused in big images. This image has to impact.

So, where do you get images for your website?  How do you know if it is free to use and copyright free?  How do you avoid infringing on photo copyrights?

There are a handful of ways to find great images and photos for your website:

  1. Buy from a stock photography database
  2. Search Google for copyright free images
  3. Hire a professional photographer
  4. Get a decent camera and take it yourself
  5. Hold a photography contest

Stock photography databases

There are several that immediately come to mind including iStockPhoto, Shutterstock, and Getty images.  However, the problem with stock photography is that people tend to use and reuse the same images over and over and over until they become trite.  It drives me absolutely nuts when I see this same stupid guy in a photo on every website I see:

Avoid Cheesy Stock Photos

Team of business people working together on a laptop Avoid using cheesy stock photos that include the same old guy again and again

So, try to find something that is unique and hasn’t been downloaded a billion times.

Images from Google and Bing

When you search for images on Google and Bing, be sure to click the search tools and find a link called, “Usage Rights” or “License” and be sure that you specify that it is labeled for reuse or free to share.  If it is copyrighted then avoid reusing those photos or find out who owns the copyright and approach them about licensing the copyright or using the image.

WordPress as a Service

When you use our WordPress as a Service platform, we provide a stock photography database of images that are licensed for reuse.  That is one of the benefits of our platform and we try to make it easy for you to find great images and have a positive impact on your web visitors.


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