The photos you use on your website offer a lot of advantages, both for your clients and for you as a company.
They are not only a great method to break up material, improving the flow and digestibility of your copy, but they also mix textual and visual communication, which strengthens the idea-transmission capacity of your content.
Additionally, a lot of consumers want to see a thing in person before making a purchase, so those images are important as well.
Finding the ideal high-quality photographs for your website isn’t as simple as it sounds, which is the issue.
Professional photos created especially for your website not only cost money and take time, but many of the other photos that are available online are either of poor quality or, even worse, are prohibited from being used.
And that’s precisely where websites with stock e-commerce images come in.
Companies realized the importance of having an internet presence for their companies, therefore they created an entire industry centered around “stock photos”.
Stock picture websites provide a variety of options for you to pick from when it comes to using photos, including free photos and ones that demand a monthly subscription. These options are specific, high-quality, and have millions to choose from.
Why Do Ecommerce Images Copyrights Matter?
You run the danger of being sued if you just download photographs from the internet, whether from stock photo websites or other websites.
Nearly all stock image websites demand licensing fees in order to safeguard the photographers’ creative output.
Additionally, you must obtain permission from the content owner before using any photographs you “found” online on your website or for business purposes (think social network profiles and email newsletters).
The purpose of copyrights, according to U.S. federal law, is to safeguard original works, such as photographs, drawings, and digitally produced images.
Contrary to popular belief, copyright law protects original work as soon as it is created. As a result, using a “random image” you found online and placing it on your website is just as unlawful as using an image that is “famous” or “well-known” and clearly identifying the author/creator.
Because copyright laws are strong, it is bad business practice for any company to ignore image copyrights.
Even if your company is small and comparatively unknown to the majority of people in the world, you should still get their permission before using their work.
(And It most certainly won’t shield you from a future lawsuit.)
Also keep in mind that just because you credit someone for their work (by placing an attribution on your website or using their hashtag on social media), it doesn’t mean you can use their image.
It is still technically illegal to distribute someone else’s creative work without that person’s express consent, even if some creatives will be fine with it (if not thrilled).
Again, this is why it’s important to be aware of picture copyrights in order to ensure that any image you utilize is appropriate and compliant.
What Are Royalty Free Images?
You’ll probably hear the phrase “royalty free” as you begin to look at your stock photo selections.
Even while the word “free” itself sounds nice, it’s still a good idea to understand what a royalty-free e-commerce image is and how it functions.
In general, royalty-free photos come with a special license that gives you the freedom to use the image however you want (within the restrictions outlined on the particular website).
This indicates that, unlike other photos for which you must only purchase a license to use once, royalty-free photographs can be used repeatedly without requiring further payments.
However, even when using royalty-free photos, you are not buying the copyright, therefore the original author is still theoretically the owner and guardian of the work.
Creatives are allowed to continue making money from the same image by maintaining the copyright (and not selling it, as you may discover on certain websites), selling the rights to use the image rather than the rights itself.
Where Do You Find Great Royalty Free Ecommerce Images?
You may obtain high-quality, royalty-free e-commerce photographs in many fantastic locations. You only need to know where to look, like with anything else online.
You may need to look about to discover the best stock E-commerce images website that matches your goals, brand, and general aesthetic depending on what your company produces and offers. Thankfully, there are many of solutions available right now.
Here are some of our top picks for royalty-free images for e-commerce who want to stand out online without spending a lot of money.
Getty Images
Unquestionably one of the websites with the highest-quality images; the images were actually taken by professional photographers, and as a result, the most of them are protected by copyright.
This indicates that many photos have usage restrictions and need to be licensed (for instance, using a royalty-free license).
The Getty Images logo and the author’s name will also be visible when using the “embed” function to use these photos for free, however keep in mind that this kind of image cannot be used for commercial reasons.
Shopify Burst
A free stock photo website especially targeted at business owners is called Shopify Burst. It is simple to obtain free high resolution photographs on the website because of its clear, contemporary style.
The ‘Business Ideas’ area of Shopify Burst is its best feature for e-commerce business owners.
You can explore categories of photographs in this section that are dedicated to particular kinds of e-commerce stores, such as yoga supplies or enamel pins.
You can find a ton of photographs relevant to your niche on this free stock image website, and it may even inspire you to create brand-new items.
Pexels
There are a ton of free stock images available on Pexels. You’re sure to find something relevant for your business among these given the wide range of topics they cover.
The search feature on Pexels is what really sets it apart from the competition. It’s easy to use and includes a variety of helpful parameters, making it one of the most user-friendly stock photography websites.
The majority of the beautiful landscape photos in Pexels’ image bank are quite aesthetically pleasant, making them perfect for your e-commerce store’s background.
Unsplash
Another crucial free stock photo website for e-commerce business owners is Unsplash. The website regularly adds 10 new royalty-free images to its database every ten days.
The photographs on the website are of the highest caliber and can be used in any area of an online store or in any marketing campaigns you design.
The disadvantage of Unsplash is that their search engine is somewhat constrained, making it occasionally challenging to find what you’re looking for.
StockSnap.io
StockSnap.io is among the greatest free stock image websites on our list if you’re an e-commerce business owner with a keen sense of design.
The content library at StockSnap.io has a huge collection of images that span the majority of design disciplines.
We especially recommend this free stock website for e-commerce images business owners that sell clothing since it has a lot of aspirational photos that will appeal to your target market. On StockSnap.io, you may also obtain cost-free stock photos for use in publications.
Adobe Stock
Of the websites that sell premium stock photos on our list, Adobe Stock (formerly Fotolia) boasts one of the most extensive content collections.
Millions of royalty-free photos are available to you, and access to them costs only a small amount of money.
The website is simple to use and has a straightforward layout. The ‘collections’ concept that Adobe Stock has added to their website is excellent for e-commerce business owners.
The available collections have the names core, endless, and immediate.
While the photographs in their instant collection are designed for mobile users, the images in their core and endless collections are optimized for desktop use.
This is a fantastic tool for e-commerce business owners who are mobile-optimizing their store.
Shutterstock
One of the most popular websites for premium stock photos is Shutterstock. Millions of royalty-free stock images, drawings, and graphics are available in their picture library.
They are always working to guarantee that the best possible content is available in their collection.
If you utilize Shutterstock, you’ll have a ton of options because it uploads 10,000 new high-resolution photos every day.
Images from Shutterstock can be pricey if you buy them separately, but they’re less expensive if you buy any of their bundles.
This premium stock photo website stands out from the competition because to its integrated photo editing tool.
Without leaving their website, you may buy an image, alter it, and resize it. This is ideal for online business owners who aren’t familiar with
EyeEm
A distinctive marketplace for premium stock photos, EyeEm has developed a vibrant community of buyers and sellers.
You can purchase photos that other users have uploaded on the EyeEm marketplace. If you come across an image that you’re interested in using, you can quickly purchase the full rights, making the image yours.
Once you have the rights, you are free to use the photographs however you see fit for your e-commerce firm.
Because it was created by business owners who are enthusiastic about design and is supported by a group of like-minded individuals working together, this premium stock picture website succeeds.
How to choose the right images for your e-commerce
After establishing the significance of employing stunning photographs for your online store, let’s assume that sellers who can afford to do so do so in order to set themselves apart from the competition and develop an original and unrepeatable product catalog.
But what should you do if you lack the resources—money, expertise, or equipment—to take high-quality pictures for your e-commerce? No issue, searching for free images online is the quickest and easiest answer.
The issue of copyright must be carefully considered before utilizing any online images (such as those from Google Images).
In fact, most of the images on the internet are subject to restrictions that, if disregarded, may result in legal issues for individuals who use them.
Since the terms of use on these sites are much more explicit than those on Google photographs, we advise you to use particular websites that let you download free or paid photographs.
The photos may actually be subject to a variety of licenses: in some cases, we may find free images with a Creative Commons license (which is one of the most flexible and permits you to use the images even for commercial purposes); in other cases, when using the images for free, we may need to credit the author; and in still other instances, we may need to pay for the use of the photos. In this scenario, royalty-free photos are available in exchange.
In summary, the issue can be rather complicated, so it’s critical to understand each site’s policies about the ability to download and use photographs in order to avoid copyright issues.
Conclusion
Anyone who chooses to launch an online business must make sure their eShop has a pleasing and orderly appearance that motivates customers to make as many purchases as they can.
To do this, it is crucial to employ high-quality, clear e-commerce images that highlight the products’ attractiveness in addition to a well-organized and simple-to-navigate online sales platform.
If you’ve made the decision to launch an online store but haven’t yet discovered an online sales platform that works for you, we advise you to check out Vetrina Live.
It is a user-friendly, comprehensive, and well-organized platform that works well for dropshipping sales and enables you to make a visually appealing product catalog that customers can quickly order and use.
Visit any of the more than 1000 e-commerce sites built with Vetrina Live by merchants from all backgrounds and industries to get a glimpse of what your online store would look like. If you want to see it for yourself.
You only need to use lovely images to showcase the things for sale in your online store to launch your e-commerce using Vetrina Live.
Look up the sites on the list where you may download free photographs to utilize in your online store.
