Websites are easy to set up in this day and age, with WordPress websites created by novice and experienced web designers. Whether you hire a professional to design your new website, or choose to design your own website, images are a very large part of website readership. Unique images and photos will make your website more professional and authentic than a template with unrelated product images.
Where do you find great images for a website.
Designers know where to find images, but do you? Taking on your website as a project is can be intimidating but the end result is rewarding. When you know where to find great images half the battle is over. Stock photography is the go to place to find, download and pay for inexpensive images that you can use on your website. Photographers from all over the world take photos of everything and anything so that designers and website developers can find and purchase photo licenses without having to leave their desks.
Are stock photos for web design expensive?
Stock photos when purchased with royalty free licenses, are an inexpensive alternative to photo and image buying. Stock photography works like this. Photographers upload their photos to a stock photo agency. Their photos are licensed for use under certain terms and agreements, and buyers can purchase the right to use the photos according to the terms of agreement. Stock photo users when purchasing a photo with royalty free licenses are not purchasing the photo outright, they are purchasing the right to use the photos under certain conditions.
This is what makes stock photography so economical and easy. If you wanted to have the exclusive right to a photo, you can purchase this right but the expense is far greater than a royalty free license. When you balance out the cost of hiring a photographer to produce your photos (very expensive) versus searching through an inventory of already created photos, the second option is more affordable than the first, much more affordable. You also have thousands of photos to choose from, which have been created from thousands of different photographers. Stock photos can start at pennies per photo and increase in price up to 10 USD per photo. This is every designers secret and it is a great option when you are building your website.
What type of licensing is required for photos on a website
If you are creating a business website, a blog or landing page, royalty free licenses are sufficient as long as you do not use celebrity or well known people to endorse your product without prior written permission. For example. If you are writing an article about Robert Redford you can purchase celebrity photo of Robert Redford to support your article.
If you want Robert Redford to endorse your product, you can not buy a stock photo of Robert Redford and quote his as saying that he likes or uses your product unless you have written permission from him. Most websites use generic stock photos to tell a story, place their product or create an emotion. Product endorsement photos, product photos need to be owned by the company. The terms and conditions for stock photo licensing clearly outlines the do’s and don’t s of stock photo use.
Websites are best when they tell a story or provoke an emotion
The best websites are ones that tell a story through images or provoke an emotion in the reader. Using images to get the initial attention of a customer is the best way to draw them into your company online. With mobile sites becoming the most important part of a business, images are seen first with most mobile sites now leading with images. Check out how others are producing and designing their mobile sites and you will be amazed at the unique and compelling use of images on mobile and desktop websites.
Now that you know where to find images for your website and know that image licenses can be purchased cheaply, half of your web design is done. Search through some of the popular stock photography websites like iStockphoto, Shutterstock , Thinkstock or the new Stocksy to find the best image for your website. The options are endless, the photography amazing and the final results for website, better than ever imagined.
Find out more about stock photo agencies and why you should use them for your website. Royalty free licenses are mostly used but you may want to invest a little more into your stock photo licenses and gain more advantages.