We all want our websites to be professional and appealing to visitors, right?

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The quickest way to make your website attractive is to use great images from stock photo resources.  Amazing images help set your site’s tone, grab visitors’ attention, emphasize your points, and do so much more.

While there are many sites where you can purchase great professional stock photos for a fee, the costs can add up if you need to buy many images. Also,  it can be confusing as to what the terms of usage are when you find an image from a stock photo site that you want to use on your own website. (Always remember to check the terms of any website to see how they allow you to use the images provided)

Thankfully, there are many free stock photo services available. Below, I’ve listed my top 7 FREE stock photo resources with easy-to-understand terms of use. I hope this list will help you find the perfect images for your website!

My Top 7 Stock Photo Resources:

1. Pixabay (https://pixabay.com)

Pixabay is my go-to place for stock images.  They have a huge library, and they have illustrations as well as photos.  Simple terms make it easy to download the images.  You don’t have to think hard about whether you can use an image.

2. Unsplash (https://unsplash.com)

If you want a designer look to your website, Unsplash has gorgeous, professional photos that will make you look like a designer.  All photos are in high resolution. All public domain images. Their terms are very simple.

3. Morguefile (https://www.morguefile.com)

   

 

Morguefile’s photo collection is quite large, and I also like the easy search function. When you click on a photo, the terms of use are clearly displayed.

4. Pexels (https://www.pexels.com)

This site doesn’t seem to supply its own photos but pulls in various free photos from various sites. Each photo clearly shows the original source and the usage term, which is very handy.

5. Wikimedia Commons (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page)

Did you mention a celebrity in your post? It’s normally very difficult to find an image of a famous person or celebrity that is not tightly protected by copyright. Wikimedia Commons is a great place to go to find such an image that you can use (often with attribution).

6. Stocksnap (https://stocksnap.io)

Easy to search, and when there are many images that fit your search criteria, you can use the handy sort tools they provide. All public domain images. Their usage terms are simple to understand.

7.  Canva (https://www.Canva.com/photos/)

Canva has free and paid images. Canva also lets you create your own graphics in all kinds of shapes and sizes.

If you would like to learn more about using Canva and more about graphics for your website, check out my Graphics Creation Workshop program!

Please feel free to share your favorite resources in the comment section below!

Here’s to your creativity!

(First published in March 2015)