Top 3 stock image and video resources for your website
A common problem when building a website is not having images, or the right type of images for your website. Not everyone wants to, or can afford to do brand photoshoots, and as good as phone cameras are now days, the quality just isn’t good enough for use on a website.
So, where do we find free stock photos and videos to use on your Squarespace website?
There are now some fantastic websites containing thousands upon thousands of professional images and videos, of every description available to download for free. That’s right! They won’t cost you a penny! Plus, the license covers both personal and commercial use. #Winning
My top three websites for stock images, videos and illustrations are…
Unsplash
The Unsplash library of free stock images is accessible directly on Squarespace. Use the website to save images, collections or authors.
Pexels
Pexels is my go-to for short video snippets, but they also have a great range of stock photos - completely free to use.
Pixabay
Not only does Pixabay have a great selection of free to use images and video, they also have a range of illustrations and music.
I use all three of these resources regularly, so have complete confidence in recommending them to you.
You’ll click on these links and think ‘what’s Ruth talking about? They’re the same site?!’ I agree! They look pretty similar, but don’t worry I’m not losing it (yet)! Yes, they have some of the same images, but they also have lots of different ones, so if you can’t find what you’re looking for on one, try the other. They also each have unique features, for example Unsplash is already integrated with Squarespace, Pexels has a stock video library which can be really useful for creating some movement on your website, and Pixabay has a range of illustrations and music.
Stock images aren’t only useful for your website, they can also be used for presentations, marketing materials and social media - keeping your content varied, but still looking professional.
Top Tip for uploading photos to your Squarespace website:
Download your images directly from the source website and then use a tool such as tinypng.com to reduce the file size prior to uploading to your Squarespace website (under 500kb is recommended per image).
This will help increase your page load speed, and contribute towards your website SEO.
