What a lovely idea. Getting your hands on lots of free images for social media and for use on your website.
Google Images is a great place to start your search for the perfect image. However, you can’t just take any image you find and use it on your website or social media platforms.
Not all images found online are free to use, and if you use one without the proper license or permission, you could be opening yourself up to a world of legal trouble.
This issue can land your business in hot water, or even force you to pay a hefty fine. It’s simply not worth the risk to use just any image you find online.
Of course, you can buy images.
High-quality images can be purchased through paid stock photo websites such as iStock and BigStock.
But did you know you can find amazing images online that are absolutely free to use?
Check out the ideas and websites below for some great options.
Create Your Own Free Images for Social Media
How?
With your phone!
Your phone can be the best source of images for your website or social media platforms.
Take advantage of the high-quality cameras in today’s smartphones and snap some pictures yourself.
And, if you’re not a great photographer, don’t worry. There are plenty of Apps and editing tools (like Snapseed) that can help you turn even the most average photo into a masterpiece.
Access Fantastic Free Images on the Web
If you want to increase the range of free images available to you to use on your website or your social media posts, never fear!
There is a wide variety of websites that provide beautiful images you can use, totally free of charge.
Just one proviso. Make sure you read each website’s Terms and Conditions and double check their usage rights.
Here are some great examples to get you started …
Pexels
With thousands of high-quality images, Pexels is a great resource for finding free photos to use on your website or social media platforms.
The images can be easily searched by keyword. You also have the option of saving them directly to your computer or downloading them as high-resolution images.
Pixabay
Like Pexels, Pixabay offers thousands of free and high-quality free images that can be used on websites or social media platforms without the need for attribution or permission from the original creator.
The Pixabay search feature is easy to use.
You can browse images based on their popularity and how recently they were downloaded by others.
This is a great feature as it will help ensure you’re not using the same image as lots of other people.
Unsplash
With a huge selection of beautiful photos, Unsplash is another great option for finding free images to use on your website or social media posts.
The Unsplash search features makes it easy to browse by image category and popularity.
Another great feature is that you can also save your favourite images directly to your computer or download them as full-resolution files.
Barnimages
The Barnimages website offers a wide variety of images, all of which are free to use. On this site you will find everything from scenic landscapes to urban cityscapes.
The website is updated regularly with new photos, so you will have lots of choice.
FreePik
FreePik is a great resource. You can use it to find free vector images and photos that you can use on your website or social media platforms.
The website has a search feature that makes it easy to find the type of image you’re looking for, and you can even filter results by popularity and category.
Flickr
The Flickr website is an oldie, but goldie!
It’s a long-established photo-sharing website, but did you know that it’s also a great place to find free images?
You can search for specific keywords or browse through the website’s vast collection of photos. Many of the images are available for use under Creative Commons licenses. This means, whether you’re looking for landscapes, portraits, or anything in between, there’s a good chance that you’ll find what you need on Flickr!
What’s Next?
If you’re looking for free images that are both high quality and unique, be sure to check out the websites listed above.
They will help you find amazing images that won’t land you in legal trouble. They will also provide you with tons of creative inspiration!
If you want to make your visual content stand out but aren’t sure how, why not book a Clarity Call and in 90-minutes we can work on your strategy and your know-how.
Let’s make your content look its best and differentiate it from the competition.