When the internet now contains around 1 billion websites, getting seen can be one of the hardest things to do. How would you like to DOUBLE your traffic? Well, according to Jeff Bullas – content with images get 94% more views! Yet less than a third of businesses have set up processes for making the most of images.
The biggest issue that many businesses have started facing when it comes to visual content, is the belief that it takes too much time and too much of a financial investment to be able to do it. Well, those businesses are wrong. Having original images for all of your content would be fantastic, but likely is too challenging to do. Instead we recommend taking photos of everything you can around your business and when possible use it, but otherwise – it’s time to use stock images!
But Stock Images Are Cheesy?
Stock images have gotten a bad wrap over the years for being super cheesy, which usually, I would agree with (especially when you see some of the crap out there). But basic images of a person in a suit staring off into the distance isn’t the only image out there. Thankfully there are millions of photographers out there who offer their images royalty-free and without attribution. Those are the people we LOVE. They provide high quality images like the one above, all for us to use.
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Where To Find These Special Photos?
Finding these beautiful free images seems like a challenge but here are a few of my favourite resources for getting visual content that matters!
Pixabay
Pixabay has many commercial images like those aforementioned people in suits at a meeting, but if you search with the right tools you can also find the beautiful scenic images. I am yet to find an image that requires attribution or can’t be used commercially.
Unsplash
Unsplash has some of the prettiest photos you will ever find for your content or social. Amateur photographers from all over the world upload photos into the system and ask for nothing in return. It is a beautiful site with beautiful images. You might struggle to find certain “commercial” style images but if you want pretty – they have it!
Gratisography
Gratisography are totally free images that require no attribution and the database is updated every week. All of the images are from Ryan McGuire and are fantastic quality. The downside is that aside from a set of categories the site does not have a search feature so it is more of a place to go get cool photos when you find them and then later on find the post they should be paired with.
Size Them Up
So now you have images, what should you do with them? Well first and foremost you need to ensure you have the right size. Here is a quick infographic that should help with knowing the size of images for different social media sites:
To actually change the size, we usually use Photoshop for this otherwise if you are on a Mac you can also resize using the preview menu.
Final Touches
Next up you need to ensure that Google will like your image as much as your visitors will. Read our quick guide on exactly how to do this here. Now you are all done!
The Biggest Step Is To Start
Using visual content is so important in the modern marketing world so getting started is the best starting point. After trying out different resources and kinds of images, you will find what works for you and your business’ voice. Start today and you will only get better at it!
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