Where to Find Graphics for Your Website Design

Oftentimes, clients want to help their web designer find beautiful, pertinent graphics for the client’s business web site.  But where do you go to find images you can use on your pages?  And how much will it cost?  Let’s take a look at how you can easily find royalty free photos for your website.

Depending on the company you choose to design your website, you may be left to fend for yourself when it comes to finding your own photos.  (As a side note, at iElectrify, I work alongside my clients and offer samples from my vast stock photo library collection as well as show them where to find more images if they need to - that way you get the best of both worlds!)

Stock photos are royalty free images you can use on your website for a one-time fee.  Some stock photo sites charge as little as $1 per photo - which puts great photography into the reach of any business startup or personal website.

Rather than actually paying $1 to use a photo however, many stock photo sites use a credits system.  You can pre-pay and get a discount when you buy credits in bulk, and then use those credits to purchase stock photos at different sizes and resolutions (for use on the web and in print, for example).

Here are a few of the best stock photo sites with the largest variety of royalty free photos for your website:

iStockPhoto - A hardworking community of expert photographers, designers and videographers come together to make this site one of the best stock photography sites online.  You can also purchase professional video, vector illustrations and flash presentations here as well. 

Dreamstime - Another well-stocked photo site.  Like iStockPhoto, the more credits you buy, the less you pay “per image” you download. 

BigStockPhoto - For when web resolution images alone won’t do, use BigStockPhoto to get large, high resolution images that you can use for your website and in print.

Comstock Complete - Offers a monthly or yearly subscription service that lets you download up to 50 royalty free images per day. Quality varies but many hard-to-find images can be had here.  Membership in Comstock Complete lets you download photo collections from many different studios with many different types of “styles” to choose from.

By searching these royalty free photo sites, you’re sure to find the perfect photo (or photos) for your website without breaking the bank.  Enjoy!

Written by Sherice Jacob. Sherice holds an M.A. in Media Studies and has played an integral role in creating several successful web businesses - for herself and others.  She currently manages a full service web design and internet marketing firm at http://www.ielectrify.com

iElectrify specializes in creating professional, affordable and creative websites that get results.  With a strong background in internet marketing and niche marketing, iElectrify.com works with small to medium-sized businesses to help them easily create and manage their own websites.