Why You Need Styled Stock Photos for Your Website
If you’re a photographer or creative, you know that using high-quality images is key to making a strong impression online. Whether you’re updating your Showit website, managing your blog, or posting on social media, having the right visuals is crucial for catching your audience’s eye and keeping a professional, cohesive look.
The Struggle with Finding the Right Stock Photos
Finding stock photos that match your website’s unique style and branding can be tough and time-consuming. You need images that not only fit your vision but also create a consistent look across your site. Free stock photo sites like Pexels and Unsplash offer plenty of options, but they often lack the curated, consistent aesthetic you need for a polished Showit site. While these platforms are useful, they may not always provide the specific style you’re looking for.
Why Styled Stock Photos Are a Smart Choice
Styled stock photos are a great solution because they offer images that are designed to fit specific styles and branding needs. These images are professionally curated to match various aesthetics, so you get high-quality visuals that enhance your Showit site and keep everything looking sharp and cohesive.
Time-Saving Benefits of Styled Stock Photos
Even if you have the skills to take and edit great photos, you might not have the time. Setting up photoshoots, taking pictures, and editing can be incredibly time-consuming. As a busy entrepreneur, you likely have a lot on your plate already. With styled stock photos, you can get professional-quality images for a small investment—sometimes as little as $10—saving you time and effort while still getting the high-impact visuals you need.
How to Use Styled Stock Photos for Your Projects
Styled stock photos are versatile and can be used in many ways. Add text to promote sales, showcase new products, update your website banner, and more. These images help you keep your content fresh and engaging without the hassle of managing your own photography. And once have used it on your website – consider using it in your guides and social media to round out to client experience with consistency.
Explore Curated Styled Stock Photo Resources
To make finding the right images easier, I’ve compiled a list of styled stock photo resources that can help you achieve a consistent and professional look. While Pexels and Unsplash are great for free options, this curated list includes images that are tailored for a more refined and cohesive style. Check out the resources below to find the perfect photos for your Showit site and elevate your creative projects today.
To make your search easier, I’ve put together a special collection of images just for you. At the bottom of this page, you’ll find a free selection of styled stock photos that are perfect for enhancing your Showit website and matching your brand’s look. These handpicked images are chosen for their quality and appeal.
Unsplash
Unsplash is an excellent resource for stock photography, offering over 3 million high-quality images from skilled photographers. All of these images are freely available for download and can be used for both commercial and non-commercial purposes without requiring any additional permissions.
Joining is also free, and if you have high-resolution images that might not be perfect for your own business but could benefit others, you can upload them for others to use.
Pexels
Just like Unsplash, Pexels offers a wide range of free stock photos and videos that you can download and use. While there are a few basic guidelines, you’re free to incorporate these images into your website, blog, and social media, making it a solid choice for most small businesses.
We all know that platforms like Instagram and Pinterest are increasingly favoring video content, inspired by the success of TikTok, but not everyone excels at creating videos. That’s why Pexels is a great resource. They often provide multiple images from the same shoot, giving you a cohesive set of photos that are perfect for maintaining a consistent brand look.
Styled Stock House
(formerly Kate Max Shop)
If you’re searching for high-quality styled stock images to enhance your creative projects,Styled Stock House (formerly Kate Max Shop) is a fantastic resource. This platform offers a diverse and meticulously curated collection of stock photos that cater to a range of visual needs. Currently, access to their extensive library of images is available through a membership purchase, allowing you to consistently enrich your content with new, exclusive photos. For those who prefer to buy individual images, Styled Stock House has made older images available on Creative Market, as their original Etsy shop and website have been retired.
To get started, consider signing up for their newsletter, which grants you 10 free stock images. This is a great opportunity to explore their offerings and see how their styled stock photos can enhance your brand’s visual presence. Visit Styled Stock House to explore membership options and claim your free images today. Transform your website, social media, and promotional materials with high-quality visuals that make a lasting impression.
Creative Market
so much better than Etsy
With nearly 4 million stock photographs, fonts, templates and more, Creative Market is a one-stop shop
I love the stock photography bundles you can find on Creative Market, allowing you to build a bank of cohesive photography for your small business, at a very reasonable price.
Moyo Studio
Moyo Studio provides a range of impeccably styled stock photos, scene creators, and mockups, making it an invaluable resource for small businesses. While it isn’t free, signing up for their mailing list grants you access to 50 free images.
At Studio Cotton, we frequently use Moyo Studio mockups to elegantly showcase our website design projects or feature impressive Instagram bios in our blog posts.
Haute Stock
Haute Stock offers a diverse collection of styled stock photos tailored specifically for women entrepreneurs, bloggers, and creative professionals.
This exceptional stock photo membership provides a wide variety of colors and themes. Within the membership, you’ll find images such as lifestyle shots, desktop setups, mockups, pre-designed social media graphics, and seasonal visuals.
It’s a one-stop resource for everything you need to craft a stunning brand for your website and social media.
Her Creative Studio
Her Creative Studio provides the tools you need to stand out online and aims to become a valuable resource for helping women achieve their business goals.
Each collection features images with negative white space, ideal for adding text overlays, and includes various orientations—portrait, landscape, and square. This allows you to choose the format that fits your needs without the hassle of cropping or resizing.
Additionally, all images are high-quality (300dpi), ensuring that even if you crop or zoom, you maintain excellent image clarity.
Ivory Mix
Ivory Mix offers a stunning variety of stock images designed to fit any brand and occasion. Their diverse categories include business, parenting, wellness, and more!
The stock library features images expertly cropped for social media platforms like Pinterest, providing ample space for your engaging headlines and pin-worthy content.
You can either buy image bundles directly from the shop or join the membership to gain instant access to over 5,000 stock images, with more than 100 new photos added each month.
Remember to Optimize Your Stock Photos
Once you’ve downloaded your images and before you upload them to your website, make sure they’re optimised for website use.
Unmanaged images can destroy your search engine optimization (SEO) and they’ll make your website run slow – we really don’t want that, as Google ranks fast websites way higher than those pesky slow ones.
