The visual appearance of your website is the first thing visitors will notice. Whether it’s professional and sleek or amateur and boring, site visitors will see it right away.

People only remember 20% of what they read but retain 80% of what they see. That’s why the images you choose are so important.

Striking images that grab viewers’ attention will keep them on your website for longer than cheesy stock photos. When they think back, they’ll remember the impressive visuals of your site.

You have other options besides online images. Get creative and consider these five alternatives to website images.

1. Incredible Infographics

If you have a business or science-related website, you can seriously benefit from using infographics. Any website that makes a claim should back it up with facts from a source. These facts can be put together in an interesting image.

Plain text isn’t as bold and won’t catch a viewer’s eye as images do. Not only do infographics show statistics and facts, but they usually take complex information or a more complex idea and break it up. This makes it easier for the reader to understand the concept – and they’ll probably remember it.

Websites that use infographics enjoy more frequent traffic. Their brand grows an average of 12% more than brands who don’t have infographics on their websites.

There are many free online tools you can use to make infographics, such as Adobe Spark, Canva, and Piktochart. You could also hire someone to design infographics for you if you’re willing to pay the money.

2. Appealing Videos

One-third of everyone who has access to the internet watches video content. Most of these people watch YouTube videos – over a billion people. A fast way to bring more visitors to your website is to embed videos in your website.

Try adding a video to your homepage. Many people may skim through the words on your site, but the majority will stop to watch the videos.

People love videos because it’s easy for them to take in the information. You can show much more in a single video than you can in a photo. They also bring another element to your web design, creating a more dynamic experience for visitors.

The videos don’t have to be fancy or expensive either. You can piece together your homepage or blog post video, add music, and apply effects with free video editing software. To name a few, there’s Blender, Shotcut, and Lightworks.

Windows 10 owners can try out the video editing application. It only has basic functions like trimming.

If you’re feeling confident in your editing skills and want the full range of editing options, you can purchase Adobe Premiere Pro. However, it’s definitely not a necessity.

You can always hire an editor to make videos for you. Student editors will save you some money.

Videos that already exist online eliminate the need for editing. As long as you credit the source, you can embed these videos.

Other videos you should consider uploading to your site are testimonial videos, a company or team video, and a video for your product.

3. Hire an Illustrator

Change it up with an illustration. Stock images and free online photos are there for anyone to use.

An illustration is the best choice if you want something original for your brand. Plus, you’ll stand out among the crowd of websites who pick basic images.

An illustrator can give you stylized images that fit perfectly with your brand. Of course, they come at a price, but student creators will cost you less.

Perhaps you’re skilled at drawing and would rather do it yourself to save money. This gives you complete control over what images go on your site. You have the freedom to put some personality into the drawings and there’s no need to worry about the content being off-brand.

Scan your drawings and clean them up a little using Photoshop for a professional feel.

4. Free Image Websites

Are you tired of paying for stock photos? Try searching through free image websites. These libraries provide a variety of options. If you can’t find the right image on one website you can always go to another.

Your options may be limited compared to photos that cost money, but there’s still enough to choose from. The images in these libraries aren’t copyrighted, so they’re free to use as much as you want and you don’t have to credit the owner.

Some free image websites include Pexels, Unsplash, Pixabay, Kaboompics, and Burst.

Adobe Spark lets you do more with your chosen free image. After finding the image you want (or uploaingd your own), you can select a template to create a graphic. You can change the effects and easily add text. The text comes in different fonts and colors.

Adobe Spark is great for making a homepage header. A stunning header is a homepage design element you should consider.

5. Creative Commons

Creative Commons is the place where all free photos go. They are free to use, but you have to credit whoever owns the photo.

There may be other restrictions involved. This goes for images on free photo libraries so make sure you check each image’s description for usage information.

This website has millions of free photos to sift through, which is a lot more than a free image library.

You can go to the Creative Commons website or select the Creative Commons options on sites such as Wikimedia, Google Images, and Flickr.

Consider These Alternatives to Website Images

With a wide array of free and cheap alternatives, why continue paying for bland stock photos? There are websites full of free photos and you can find the perfect one if you take the time to look for it.

Improve traffic and engagement on your website by using your creative side. Add in videos and infographics. Use an original illustration to make your brand unique.

If you’re confident about your talents, take control of your site’s content and make your own videos, slideshows, photos, and illustrations.

Images and other visuals are an essential part of your website. Stand out and try these alternatives to website images.

Contact us today to see how we can help you!