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Buying images for your small business

Make your small business stand out with an awesome looking website, a well written blog and entertaining social media posts. The one thing all of these have in common 鈥 they all need great images to gain as much engagement as possible. shows that using images increases engagement on a page by 94%. So, using images is a no brainer but what type of images and where should you get them from? We鈥檝e put together a short guide to give you all the answers you need.

1. Where to find the image?

It鈥檚 best to stick to reliable sources. Although you might be able to 鈥榮ource鈥 images for free online, they鈥檙e not always what they seem. And if you鈥檙e using the image without the right permissions, not only could you find yourself facing legal issues but your business could look very unprofessional!

The best option is to pay for the image and get the security of having the right permission and the guarantee you鈥檙e using high quality images. After all, everything that is associated with you brand and business will be making an impression on your customers.

There are loads of different sources for stock images, some where you need subscriptions and credits and some where you need an account. With 64体育you can pay as you go, there is no need to set up an account and you don鈥檛 need to buy any credits or get tied in with any subscriptions. You just buy what you need, when you need it. If you are feeling unsure, or have any questions about what images you need then give us a call. We have a whole team dedicated to helping you out.

2. Picking your image

Although images in general boost engagement on a page, you still need to make sure you pick the right image.

Keep it relevant 鈥 think about your company, and how you want customers to see you and use that as a guide when you鈥檙e picking your image. Don鈥檛 pick something corporate if you want your brand to come across as cool and fun, equally don鈥檛 pick a silly illustration if you want to be seen as a serious company.

Make sure it鈥檚 realistic 鈥 Don鈥檛 pick an image showing people that don鈥檛 work for you, or equipment you don鈥檛 use. It is misleading and could result in an upset customer. If you want to represent your team then take a photo of them instead.

Avoid Cliches 鈥 they can come across as lazy. You might need to dig a bit deeper in the search results for the perfect image but if you pick something that鈥檚 a bit more unique the reader will engage with it much more.

Use infographics to display info 鈥 images don鈥檛 just have to be photographs, use vector files as a base for some info graphics, tables or graphs. Laying information out in a simple format can help make it more digestible.

3. Buying the image

Make sure you have the right license to avoid any legal issues down the line. If you鈥檙e buying stock you can buy either a royalty-free (RF) or a rights-managed (RM) license. RF images are great if you鈥檙e planning to use your image across various things for example your website, social media and emails because you will pay a one off fee for unlimited use. RM images allow you to be more specific about your image use using details including size, print run and duration 鈥 if you鈥檙e only planning on using the image on your blog for 1 month, this could work out as a much cheaper option.

Find out more about the license types and how to get the right license at the best price in our blog 鈥new to buying images? Make your budget go further with these top tips.鈥

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