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The Dos and Don’ts of Using Stock Photos in Your Inbound Marketing

by Article by Remington Begg Remington Begg | July 24, 2015 at 10:48 AM

Stock_photography.jpgStock photography gets a lot of hate, and to some extent, it’s justified. Stock photos can be expensive, awkward, and downright cheesy. And sometimes, people randomly throw them into their content for no reason at all or use an image that isn’t related to their content.

At the same time, stock photos aren’t completely terrible - especially if you use them the right way. Stock photos add a visual element to blocks of text and add context. They’re often cheaper than hiring a photographer to take photos for you. They’re perfect for businesses on a budget, and most of the time, they get the job done.

Unfortunately, there’s a lot of misconceptions out there about how to properly use stock photos. So we decided to help. Here are some dos and don’ts for using stock photography in your inbound marketing efforts.

Do Give Credit When Credit is Due

Sites like Shutterstock and iStockPhoto don’t typically make you give credit when you use one of their photos - unless it says “editorial use only.” Images marked with “editorial use only” have not been released for commercial use, meaning the images have been taken without the consent of the people in the photo. These photos can be used but only in certain instances. And when you do use them, you need to give credit to the photographer. Additionally, if you go onto Google and take an image from someone else’s website, it’s polite to give them credit and link back to their site.

Want to learn more about how to use “editorial use only” images in your content? Check out our blog post about it here.

Don’t Add Images Just to Add Images

Depending on what site you’re browsing through, you may have a difficult time finding the perfect photo for your content. This is especially true when you’re trying to use free stock photography sites. Adding in random images for the sake of having a picture in your post isn’t just ineffective, it can also be distracting. Instead, focus on adding images to your posts that complement your content and visually explain what you’re writing about.

Do Modify Images to Fit Your Content

Say you find this awesome image of a diver jumping into the water and you think, “man, this would be perfect for my post about inbound marketing because it talks about the impact inbound can make.” If you’re worried that your audience just won’t get it, add text on top of the image that better explains the image, such as “make an impact with inbound marketing.” You don’t have to do this all the time, but if you think it may be valuable to your audience, go ahead and add it in.

Don’t overcomplicate the process, though. You don’t need fancy programs to edit your photos. If you aren’t already savvy with Photoshop, skip it and opt for tools like PowerPoint or Canva to edit your images.

Don’t Forget to Add Alt Tags to Your Images

Forgetting to add alt text to your images is a common mistake among inbound marketers. Alt text (also called “alt tags”) is essentially a small bite of text that describes an image that appears online. Alt tags help users know what the image represents and provides a written description of the image for search engines. This attracts additional traffic through Google and has a positive impact on your SEO.

Do Use Other Sources for Your Photos

It’s okay to use stock photos, but don’t think you have to use them for every photo. Instead, pull images from your Instagram account or go out and take some photos on your phone. These photos add a more personal touch to your content, and it adds some variety to your content. Plus, it can help make sure that your photos are always relevant to your content since you have a wider pool of images to pull from.

There’s nothing wrong with using stock photos. Heck - we’re using one in this post! But how you use it is what’s really important. Before signing up on a stock photography site, take some time to research proper use. And whatever you do, please avoid those cheesy, cliche images. The Internet will thank you.