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One of the first things you’ll realize when starting out with your blogging journey is that you absolutely need to be using professional images to use not only within your site, but on social media too. This is where stock photo sites really come in and save the day!
When I first started out with my blogging career, I was under the impression that I could simply go onto Google, search for an image, and hit the save button.
This is a massive NO-NO!
It is illegal and you could end up in a lot of trouble, so it’s best to follow the proper, legal route when it comes to stock photos.
What Is A Stock Photo?
Stock photos are basically photos that are allowed to be used by members of the public for commercial use.
The owners of these photos have released the rights to their images to be used by anyone that downloads them.
We must always make sure we are using legal photos when uploading images to our blogs!
What Do We Use Stock Photos For?
Stock photos can be used pretty much anywhere within your blog and its various social media accounts.
I personally sometimes use stock photos within articles, wherever it’s relevant.
Then also on my featured images for each individual post.
But most importantly, I use them on every single Pinterest pin that I design! This is where they really do save my life!
Best Stock Photo Sites Around
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Now knowing where exactly to find legal stock photos is often a bit confusing for new bloggers.
In this post I am going to share with you the best FREE and PAID stock photography sites that you can use!
The free options are actually always good enough for beginner bloggers.
Most bloggers only move onto the paid websites once they have an established blog and need higher quality images for a certain topic.
Free Stock Photo Sites
Unsplash
Unsplash really has beautiful photos.
I use them a lot, especially for when I require landscape photos or amazing travel photos.
Pixabay
Pixabay has a really large variety of images you can use!
They also have the option of using videos, which is really cool.
From travel, nature, food and fitness images, you’ll always find something you need here.
Pexels
Another useful free website to get high quality images from.
I personally probably use Pexels the least out of all of the free sites, but they do often have better fitness images.
Canva
If you don’t have a canva account yet, then you really should sign up.
It’s free and its what I use to design my pins and all of my blog post featured images.
They also have a certain amount of free stock photos which you can use on all of your pins, so make sure to check them out.
Paid Stock Photo Sites
Deposit Photos
Deposit Photos have a really cool flexible plan where you pay a monthly rate and get a certain amount of image downloads.
On top of that you can also purchase additional images.
AppSumo run an amazing special every few months with Deposit Photos, where you can get 150 images for as little as $49! So make sure to keep an eye out for those specials.
Getty Images
Getty Images is another really big brand in the stock photo world. I am sure you have seen their logo across numerous photos before.
They have a cool feature where you can create boards, and organize your images!
iStock Photos
You can get photos, videos, illustrations and audio with this website.
They also have really cool flexible plans.
Shutterstock
These guys are awesome, not only for stock photos, but also for music, videos and more!
Probably one of the biggest names in the business, Shutterstock are really good quality.
If you are starting out with your blog, or would like to get started, then stick to free stock photos!
They are all you need. Once you start to make money, you can move onto paid plans.
Cheers,
Richard-T
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