Do you need attractive, high quality photos for your website? Want to know where you can find some completely free of charge?

Stock images should be used carefully to complement your website design, generic and impersonal doesn’t usually cut it online. Sometimes a stock photo can really help get your message across though, so where should you go if you don’t have the budget for paid images?

Entrepreneur compiled a list of free stock image sites in this article, and we gave it the infographic treatment below.

What are stock photos?

Stock photography is the provision of images that are licensed for specific uses, available to anyone, often for a small charge per image.

Stock photos are incredibly useful for designers, who, instead of hiring photographers, can pay a subscription service to access a database of millions of images for creative use.

It’s also a solid industry for photographers, who can earn a steady income from royalty payments.

The stock photo industry has a long history, dating back to the 1920s, when commercial outtakes were used as stock photos, available for an additional fee. Throughout the 80s, photographers began taking photos exclusively for stock houses.

With the internet revolution came a massive increase in the popularity and subsequent success of the stock photo industry. It’s also revolutionised how we access such images for different projects. By filtering searches by colour, theme, subject, and even date, designers and website owners alike are able to find the perfect image.

However amazing they are, huge stock companies like Shutterstock do charge a premium to access these databases, meaning costs can quickly add up if your budget cannot yet allow for it. Luckily, there are alternatives.

By using free stock photo sites, you can still get access to amazing images without damaging your books.

How Can Free Stock Photo Sites Benefit You?

Simple – cost.

Using free stock photo sites means one less cost for you and your business.

But the best thing of all, is that you can still access high-quality images without compromising on your website quality and credibility. As our infographic shows, amazing sites like Unsplash, IM Free, and Public Domain Archive have a collection of fabulous images that don’t require you to make a payment.

Using free stock photo websites is an invaluable tactic that you can start doing if you are in the early stages of your business and/or business website.

Have a look around those 12 amazing free stock photo websites, and see for yourself what a difference they can make to your website.