You’ve realized it’s time for a new website design. And part of designing a new website to promote your business is sourcing high-quality photos. But where does one go for high-quality photos?

In this article, we’ll discuss the two main ways you can source high-quality imagery for youir website so that it captures the eye of your ideal clients upon first impression.

Option 1: Free Stock Photography Websites

Thankfully, in 2023, there are plenty of websites that offer free stock photography to suit almost any need. Below are a few of my personal favorites.

Unsplash

Unsplash revolutionized the stock photography game by being one of the first websites to offer hundreds of thousands of high-quality, professional photos. In 2023, they introduced Unsplash+, which gives you access to even more custom images for a small monthly price.

Pexels

Pexels is a close runner-up to Unsplash with regards to their quality of photography and the sheer volume of free images available.

Vecteezy

In addition to high-quality photography, Vecteezy also has free downloadable vectors and videos.

Option 2: Invest in Custom Photos

If you are tired of not seeing the marketing OR website results you are aiming for, then it’s time to consider custom-branded images.

Custom branded images are photos that are unique and one of a kind that you can use in your marketing materials, graphics, social media, and website.

Just like there are photographers who specialize in wedding or food photography, there are also talented photographers who specialize in capturing the essence of your brand and translating that into high-quality and UNIQUE images that are totally exclusive to your company, your website, and your marketing materials. Pretty cool, right?

It’s time to hire a brand photographer if:

1) People are not taking you or your business seriously. Professional photos of your product and/or brand will portray you as the professional you are.

2) You are focusing on building relationships and trust with your website visitors and social media followers. I can’t stress this enough, especially if you are in the business of offering services: people need to see YOUR face. You’re asking people to trust you, but you won’t even show up in your own marketing? I understand the insecurity of splashing your face all over social, but if your friend can market her MLM nail stickers, then you can talk about your design business or brand-new product that will help people. Plus, working with a professional branding photographer makes this all super easy.

Investing in custom-branded images for my website and marketing has been one of the best decisions I made for my business this year.

Before working with my photographer, I had a lot that I wanted to talk about on my social media when it came to web design, but I had no quality images to go along with the posts, which led to me not posting as much as I wanted to be. It was hindering my marketing efforts.

Another problem was that I had absolutely no images of me working. As a person who works from home 100% remotely, it is important to me to show my face and make connections with clients even before they become clients. Working remotely does not mean a lack of connection or understanding. I wanted to show up in my marketing, and that meant posting photos of myself.

The photographer I worked with knew how to coach me through all of my awkwardness and really brought the best out of me. I was 100% happy with how the photos turned out, and I’m so glad that I chose to be vulnerable and schedule a branding photoshoot for my business!

Final Thoughts

With two great options available to you for sourcing high-quality photos and images for your website design, there really is no wrong way to go!