With roughly 3 websites created each second, there is no shortage of websites featuring blogs, online stores, business, and personal. Each website is created with stunning stock photos and high-quality and visually appealing images and they cost a lot of money. Every web designer is seeking cheesy stock images that can be used in homepage sliders, landing pages, and featured blog posts. The demand for stock photos has been increasing substantially, and so have amazing websites offering free stock photos. Check out Creative Fabrica to obtain incredible stockphotos!
How do images affect SEO?
Images not only make your website more pleasing to browse but also play a significant role in SEO, boosting your website's visibility and search engine ranking in several ways:
1. Attracting Users and Clicks
Relevant images that complement your content break up text and make your content more visually appealing, grabbing user attention and encouraging them to stay longer. Search engines often display image snippets in SERPs, and having optimized images increases your chances of ranking higher and attracting more clicks.
2. Improved User Engagement and Time Spent
A picture is worth a thousand words. Images can illustrate complex concepts easier for users to understand, and make your visitors engaged. Users who find your content visually engaging are more likely to spend more time on your page, which is a positive signal for search engines.
3. On-page SEO Optimization
Adding relevant keywords in image filenames and alt text descriptions helps search engines understand the context of your images and associate them with relevant searches. Submitting an image sitemap to search engines provides them with a clear index of all the images on your website, improving crawlability and discoverability.
4. Image Search Traffic
Optimizing your images for relevant keywords can bring you traffic directly from image search results, expanding your reach beyond text-based searches. If your images are unique and appealing, they might be used by other websites, potentially linking back to your site through reverse image search.
Key Takeaways
Finding visually appealing images is a crucial aspect of engaging your audience. Fortunately, there's a plethora of free stock photo websites that provide access to stunning visuals without breaking the bank. Let's delve into some of the most popular ones, examining the number of images they offer and their licensing terms.
| Website | # of Images | License |
|---|---|---|
| Pexels | Over 2M | Free to use witout permission or attribution. |
| Unsplash | Over 1M | Free to use witout permission or attribution. |
| Pixabay | Over 4.3M | Free to use witout permission or attribution. |
| Freepik | Over 13M | Free plan requires attribution, but the premium plan does not require attribution. |
| Burst | Thousands | Free to use witout permission or attribution. |
| PicJumbo | Thousands | Free to use witout permission or attribution. |
| StockSnap | Thousands | Free to use witout permission or attribution. |
| Reshot | Thousands | Free to use witout permission or attribution. |
| Kaboompics | Thousands | Free to use witout permission or attribution. |
| SplitShire | Thousands | Free to use witout permission or attribution. |
1. Pexels
Pexels provides high-quality and completely free stock photos licensed under the CC0 license. Users may use the images for free for personal and commercial purposes without attribution. All photos are nicely tagged, searchable, and also easy to discover.
2. Unsplash
Unsplash offers a large collection of free high-resolution photos and has become one of the best sources for stock images. All photos published on Unsplash can be used for free. You can use them for commercial and noncommercial purposes without permission or attribution. However, it's always a good practice to give credit to the photographers when possible.
3. Pixabay
Pixabay is a vibrant community of creatives, who share royalty-free images, videos, audio, and other media. All content is released by the Creative Commons Zero (CC0) license. Users can use the images for free for commercial and non-commercial purposes without attribution. The license also allows users to modify and distribute the images.
4. Freepik
Freepik offers a combination of free and premium content. While the free content can be used for both personal and commercial projects with attribution, the premium content requires a subscription. It is advised to check the specific licensing terms for each image.
5. Burst by Shopify
Burst is powered by Shopify and provides high-quality images that are free to use for commercial purposes without attribution. The images are under the CC0 license and are specifically geared toward entrepreneurs and business owners.
6. PicJumbo
PicJumbo offers both free and premium images. Free images can be used for commercial and personal purposes with no attribution required. Free images are under the CC0 license. The premium membership provides additional benefits.
7. StockSnap.io
StockSnap provides a large selection of beautiful free stock photos and high-resolution images. StockSnap offers images under the CC0 license, allowing for free use in commercial and non-commercial projects without attribution. Users can also modify and distribute the photos.
8. Reshot
Reshot provides high-quality, handpicked images that are free to use for commercial and editorial purposes without attribution. The images are under the CC0 license. The emphasis is on unique and authentic visuals.
9. Kaboompics
Kaboompics offers a variety of images for free use in commercial and personal projects without attribution. The images are under the CC0 license. The site also provides color palettes for each photo.
10. SplitShire
SplitShire offers free high-resolution images for commercial and personal use with no attribution required. The images are under the CC0 license. The site has a unique collection of diverse and visually striking photos.
Conclusion
Free stock photo websites provide a treasure trove of visuals for content creators, designers, and businesses at free of charge. While the number of images available varies, it is important to adhere to the licensing terms associated with each site. Always check the specific requirements for attribution, modifications, and usage restrictions to ensure compliance and ethical use of the provided resources.
As you embark on your creative journey, leverage these platforms to enhance your projects with captivating images while respecting the contributions of the talented photographers who make these resources available.
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