The first thing that comes to mind when someone offers you a picture from a photo stock is that it has to be boring, stereotyped, or staged. Meanwhile, creating your own images is costly and time-consuming. If you have a limited budget and time for developing a landing page, you can use inexpensive or free stock images. How to do it correctly? The below tips will help you to figure it out.
How to Use Stock Images?
Stock photos can save you a lot of money in the long run if you use them legally. It can be tricky to figure out the licensing terms for free stock images but it’s certainly worth learning the legal aspects before using a photo on a commercial website. Each stock has its own rules for distributing photos. Some require the author to be credited, others only allow images to be used for personal, non-commercial projects. Besides the license, you have to follow the below recommendations.
1) Follow the Color Theme of the Site
When choosing stock photos for a website, it’s important to select pictures with relevant colors and check if they match the website’s theme. More importantly, the entire color scheme should reflect your product’s identity and mission. For example, if you’re developing a website for a mountain spa resort, choose cooler colors that symbolize relaxation. If the stock photo matches the color scheme of the website layout, it will look more professional.
2) Be Careful With Humor
Most of us will like the pics of a funny celebrity or cat meme, but not everyone has the same sense of humor. Choosing too clever stock photos can alienate your audience. When advertising a commercial website, give your preference to timeless free images that are not related to pop culture or Internet slang. Firstly, such images will become outdated in a few months, and secondly, you will alienate people who are “out of the box” and will not understand the joke.
3) People and Pets Are an Optimal Choice
Consumers can be hooked on what they can sympathize with on an emotional level. Usually, stock photos of people and animals are more responsive than landscapes and objects. This is especially important when the topic is serious, such as a banking website. People will want to relate to your products, so choose a stock photo that allows them to do it. It is important to have people in natural positions – this is more credible.
In Conclusion
If there is no money or time for professional photos, choose an image that better reflects the purpose of the product. Stock photos are not necessarily standard or boring photographs that do not grab the reader’s attention. If you try, you can find a treasure. The main thing is to search on different resources and always adapt the images taking into account the brand, target audience, and project objectives.
