Stock images.  Why is it important to include them on your website?  What will you gain?  Picture this, you have a website with stellar writing, quotes from the most respected in your field.  Your mom has read it, she’s excited!  Even Dad gives you the thumbs up.  But when you put it on the web it looks drab, just black text on a plain white page.  No matter how good the information is that you’re sharing with your audience if it looks boring you’ll lose readers.  And who wants to lose readers?

What to do?  Here’s where stock images from online websites come in.  Stock images are photographs, including cartoon pictures, film clips and illustrations sold to the consumer for their own use.  Many stock images are used commercially.

There are many stock image companies on the web.  Some are small mom-and-pop type businesses while others are huge selling millions of images.  In fact, Bill Gates owns one of the biggest sites.  He’s been buying collections for years.  Some are delicate and valuable.  He houses those in Iron Mountain near Pennsylvania in a cave 200 ft. underground in a refrigerated area.

There are many types of images:  editorial, documentary, historic, etc.  In order to find just what you’re looking for, just what can enhance your site, stock image sites offer an easy to use search tool.  You can input date photographed, location, photographer, orientation like horizontal, panorama or vertical, point of view like aerial, from space, below or above.

There are all types of images to choose, from the most obscure to the plain.  For instance on one online stock image site there is a silly picture of dancing pink pigs.  You can also find there a woman in a mink posing at the front door of a rehab center.  Or you can find plain ol’ pictures of cars and lollipops and false teeth.

Images can be cheap to buy or very expensive.

So remember, if you are creating your own website, adding stock images just might be the way to go.  Have fun stocking up on those images!