Images play a big role in your online home. From your website to social media posts it’s important to have good quality images that you have the legal rights to use. Finding affordable stock images is possible, however you do need to be prepared to sort through many of the cheesy images to find the gold.
There are many free stock image sites and these are getting better and better, then there are affordable stock image sites where you can pay for a subscription to access the images or a number of credits to make the images more affordable.
What you definitely don’t want to do is just download an image that you find on Google!!
Note: It’s important to check the licenses for any of the images that you are using even on the free websites to make sure that you have the access for commercial use. Always double check to be sure!
Free Stock Image Sites
Unsplash
All the photos here can be used for free for commercial or non-commercial use. It is always a good idea to credit the photographer. Create an account and you can like photos and create collections around different topics or styles. Your Collections can be public or private and you can also browse collections that others have collated.
There are always new photos being added so it’s worth checking in often to see if there is something new that you can use.
Pexels
Another site with free photos that you can use and modify. Again you can create collections for future reference. There is also a WordPress plugin that you can add to your website to help find images for blog posts and pages all in one place.
Pixabay
Another free stock image site with images that you can use for commercial use. You can also specify to search for vector images and videos.
One thing to check on the results there are also sponsored images that often appear from some of the other providers – make sure that you double check the the link you end up on when you click on the images themselves.
Affordable Stock Image Sites
Desygner
An easy to use website with unlimited access to 125 million Shuttershock images and videos, ready to be used however you would like. It is great for filtering your searches to find images best suited to you in the library, you can then organise them into folders so they aren’t difficult to find again.
Stocksy
The images here are not free but there is a simple to understand price list. The images are unique and very professional. If you are looking for something with a little more diversity and interest and not something that is seen everywhere on the Internet this could be the place to look.
Depositphotos
I first came across Depositphotos from a deal on AppSumo for credits and use it all the time. That deal is always worth looking out for – but even if it’s not available you can buy a Subscription Plan for ongoing access or credits. It can take a bit of time to sort through to find images here but I have found some great images along the way.
Creative Market
Creative Market is just what the name suggest a market for a huge number of creative businesses to sell their products. It includes more than just photos with lots of fonts, templates and other graphics. It’s definitely worth checking out the photos. Sign up for their weekly newsletter too! And you have access to download 6 free items each week and more if you make a purchase.
Wellness Focused Stock Images
Ivory Mix
Ivory Mix is a great resource for unique and tailored images. You can search by Colour, By Collection (and there are great ones that are specific for Health & Wellness). Sign up to the newsletter for some free images and the yearly VIP membership brings loads of great resources including a Facebook group where you can request photos to be added to the collection.
Wellness Stock Shop
This site is fantastic to find affordable stock images for your wellness site. It’s completely focused on the wellness market.
You can purchase images individually or sign up for one of the affordable membership plans. Look out for the freebies that are also on offer when you sign up for the newsletter.
Other Resources
Canva
https://www.canva.com/photos/free/
Canva is more than photos – it is a great online graphics program that is really easy to use. Canva has recently purchased Pixabay and Pexels and are now also offering a monthly plan for access to unlimited photos. I’ll be writing more about Canva and some other tools like this and how you can use them for your therapy business.
Have a particular request for a tutorial? Pop me an email here and I’ll add it to my list