On average, Facebook posts with images receive 37% more engagement than without. Tweets with images receive a 35% boost in retweets. Overall, social media posts with visuals tend to receive more engagement than those without.
It can be hard to keep up with adding images to posts. Depending on your business, there aren’t always photogenic moments to capture and share. Even if you do have a consistent stream of these opportunities, it can be hard to keep the content constantly fresh and varied to keep followers engaged. On top of that, it can also be difficult to get high-quality and social media worthy photos.
For an endless stream of ready-to-use photos in a variety of sizes, colors, perspectives, and varieties, we turn to stock photos. Stock photos can be expensive and when it comes to usage and copyright issues, they can be confusing. That’s why I’ve dedicated this blog to sharing my favorite free and copyright-free stock photo resources.
Pixabay offers free photos, illustrations, vectors, videos, and music to download. Simply type in what you’re looking for in the search bar, select what medium you need in the drop down, and press enter. When asked how the images can be used, Pixabay’s FAQ says, “You can copy, modify, distribute, and use the images, even for commercial purposes, all without asking for permission or giving credits to the artist.” For more guidelines on what is and isn’t accepted with their content, they’ve put together a great reference guide here.
When you search for an image and click on one you like, you’ll see the name of the contributor in the upper right. Click on their name to easily see other content they’ve created that might be of interest to you. You’ll also see a button that says, “Coffee” – consider sending them a few dollars so they can buy themselves a cup of coffee and you can show your appreciation for their generosity.
Another great and easy-to-use resource is Pexels. They offer free photos and videos that can be downloaded and used for free (here is more licensing information). To search for what you need, simple go to the homepage, type in what you’re looking for, and click enter to search. Similar to Pixabay, you can see and donate to individual contributors, as well as follow them to receive updates on their contributions.
Remember that by using these free resources, it will be hard to find very specific images, so keep your searches wide. For example, when possible search for simple things like, “cat” instead of, “orange cat with white whiskers and brown boots on.” You will have much better luck finding things that work if you can make different images work instead of having a very specific vision.
If you still can’t find what you’re looking for, there are plenty of other resources to try or you may have to consider paid stock or in-house photography and graphic design services.