Ultimate SEO Guide to Free Stock Images and AI-Powered Image Tools for Content Creators (2024-09 Update)
This guide will teach you how to find free stock images. How to Use stock images and How To improve your content and help your SEO. We’ll also explore some tools for image tasks, like removing backgrounds, or shrinking image sizes.
I’ll also show you where you can create images and the importance of optimizing alt tags using Gemini or perplexity. Alt tags are crucial for SEO as they provide text descriptions of images, making your content more accessible and improving its search engine visibility. To be good at SEO, you’ve got to know and understand a lot about images. SEO-savvy creators and marketers will love the info below.
Table of contents:
- Why Free Stock Images for SEO
- My goal is to Sharing This List and Teaching Image SEO
- Top 50+ Free Stock Photo Websites for High-Quality Images
- Understanding Creative Commons and Public Domain Licensing
- Using AI for Image Creation
- Optimizing Images for SEO
- Types of Images and Their Best Uses
- Image Size, File Weight, and Format: Why They Matter for SEO
- Why Image Optimization is Essential for SEO
- Optimizing For SEO Alt Tags with AI
- How to Remove Backgrounds from Images (Free Tools and Tutorial Video)
- Additional Free Tools for Image Editing and Compression
- Tips for Selecting SEO-Friendly Images
- Summary: Maximizing SEO with Free Stock Images and AI Tools
(Updated Nov 9 2024)
Are you on the hunt for high-quality, free stock images? We’ve put together the ultimate resource of the best free image sites online so you can save time, money, and effort finding top-notch visuals for any project.
Why Free Stock Images Matter for SEO
Visuals can make your content sparkle. They are essential for creating good content online. They are the key to excellent SEO, and using them to their full potential can help you. This article will cover that. It will also show you the top 50+ websites for free stock images.
Images can convey messages that would require many words, so using them can help your users. Images can also inspire and motivate your audience, and they make the text easier to read. They boost engagement and rankings.
Matching images to keywords and user intent can boost CTR and page time.
We need to use free stock images from trusted sources. This will ensure your site’s visuals are high-quality and legal. You can’t just use any old image you like from the web.
My goal is to Sharing This List and Teaching Image SEO
This list aims to save you time. It helps you find SEO-friendly, free images for your content. Throughout my career, I’ve learned that selecting and optimizing visuals can significantly impact content performance.
If optimized, each image can drive organic traffic. So, I’ve included tips on image SEO to help you. Optimizing images means choosing high-quality visuals and focusing on descriptive alt tags, file names, and appropriate file sizes for web performance.
When adding images to your site, keep them under 120 KB (I’ll show you options for this). This improves page load speeds, which are vital for search rankings. Use a descriptive file name and alt tag with targeted keywords for each image to improve search visibility.
Gemini can help you name your alt tags if people are not in them.
This list offers a range of resources for free, high-quality visuals that can be optimized to boost your SEO.
I am hoping this list will be your go-to resource if you’re a content creator, blogger, or marketer looking for free stock photos to support your SEO efforts.
Please let me know if you know of any other valuable free image sites. I aim to help all of us find professional-quality visuals quickly, legally, and with SEO in mind.
Top 50+ Free Stock Photo Websites for High-Quality Images
Looking for free stock photos to help your content?
This list of top free image websites will provide you with high-resolution, royalty-free images that are perfect for website pages and blogs.
Each resource offers a wide range of free stock images that can be used for both personal and commercial projects.
Whether you’re a marketer, content creator, or small business owner, this comprehensive guide will save you hours of searching.
And if you know of any fantastic sites we may have missed, feel free to share!
In this list, I’ve included the best places to find free images online for every type of project.
And for those times when you need a quick photo without browsing through sites, I’ll also share tips on using advanced
SEO techniques for how to optimzie your images. Let’s dive in and explore the best resources for free stock images available online.
Unsplash
Unsplash is a, if not, the top source for free, high-quality stock photos, for me anyway. You can download and use the images freely. They are free for any use, including commercial. Unsplash generally requires attribution unless waived by the photographer. For the latest and complete details, always refer to the Unsplash License. Choose Unsplash if you’re looking for more artistic visuals or need advanced search features.
Pexels
Pexels is another super free image popular website. It has a huge library of high-quality, free stock photos and videos. Attribution is optional but appreciated, and as it supports the creators. why not try to leave their names on the images. Choose Pexels if you need videos, custom image sizes, or prefer not having to worry about attribution.
Pixabay
Pixabay Pixabay stands out for its diverse range of media types. It has photos, vectors, illustrations, videos, music, sound effects, and GIFs. All are royalty-free and usable without attribution. Pixabay has advanced search filters for orientation, size, and colour, making it easy to find specific images. Pixabay License to see full details.
Gratisography
Gratisography is ideal for quirky, creative projects with a smaller but distinct collection. Ryan McGuire photographer started this website. You can use them on personal and commercial projects without needing to give him attribution. You should visit his website and see what he has to offer. You might even subscribe to his newsletter.
Albumarium
Albumarium provides an outstanding selection of images across a pretty decent range of categories including animals, nature, and buildings (and yes, there is a section for redheads- we get our very own section). Photos are sourced from the site’s community. They are published under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 license, which lets you modify and share images as long as you provide attribution to the creator. I give this site a 5 star just for that part :).
Bucketlisty
Travel photos that anyone can use. If you need images for a traveling theme, this is an excellent site for you. They have categorized high-res images by country. Super cool. You can even peruse these if you like to dream of traveling (I love traveling, so this one is a fave.) And check out the incredible types of photos.
Bucketlistly
Ancestry
They offer a free image archive of historical prints, maps, and artifact photos, like this print of Charing Cross C. 1837. Ok wait a second, I am not sure if you might have to pay for these. Okay, moving on…
Ancestry Images (not allowed for commercial use see copywrite)
Creative Market
This website has a lot going on. This is more of a paid resource but you can find some things for free. You have to go to the free ad at the top of the page (right in the middle). It might not seem like much as there are probably only six free things. But download one and see what you get. Yup, you get a whole package of things you can edit and use. They even give you the photoshop files. Now, I promise you, you can get lost on this site as they offer graphics, templates, and other super cool stuff. You can lose yourself here and spend time (and some money). I am in love with this site!
Creative Market
Death to Stock
Sign up. You will love it, but remember to resize all these photos. You can’t search, but you can sign up, and if you sign up every month, you’ll receive amazing photos in your inbox every month. And there is a money-back guarantee if the photos don’t float your boat. I am on the free plan, and I get some amazing things monthly. I would use the paid variety though I just haven’t had time to do everything I want.
Death to Stock
Deposit Photos
Depositphotos is the right spot for authors to look for high quality licensed stock photos, vectors, graphics, and videos. All these are shared by the most generous and talented artists across the world.
This site exposes the users to 210 million content. That is mind-blowing! All of them are royalty-free and high-quality, stock content.
They also have a thematic stock photography collection for your convenience. This will help you find the right content for your context.
Depositphotos is a highly reliable platform for audio and visual content and trusted by leading international companies.
Deposit Photos
Fotolia
It looks like Adobe owns this one. This library includes millions of royalty-free images, vectors, illustrations, and video footage clips. You can download several items each week, but you have to purchase credits to do this, so if your budget is 0, you might not go here first. As I am still on a tight budget, I only mention this one as the pictures are great, but I didn’t buy credits, so I can’t show you more.
Fotolia
FreeImages
You have to sign up. There are free downloads and paid ones. The cool thing is that it is super easy to find free photos, and they group them in a way that seems quite intuitive. Plus, it looks like you can follow people you like. There are some restrictions. So check the image part where it talks about the license Agreement: a pretty cool site and one to keep in your back pocket.
Free Images
Freepik
Freepik is a glorious library of free, high-quality vectors and other visual content. It has many different types of free images, including icons, vector graphics, illustrations, and photos. On Freepik, you’ll find all the files you need for your next project.
Freepik
Getty Images
Getty also claims to be the largest repository of high-quality photographs in the world. The quality is usually always excellent, but prices can be high if you aren’t using the free ones.
A Getty image can now be used legally for free, but you must embed the code to the photo in an iframe (includes the Getty logo and links). If you don’t know, an iframe is a type of code that takes a piece of content that lives on another website and puts it on your site – think of youtube and how you sometimes use that snippet of code.
Same thing here. The site that hosts the code has complete control over what is displayed. They control the iframe code. Think data tracking here without getting into your server data. I have an acquaintance photographer with a gallery in New York who uses Getty to host his pictures.
They are amazing, but because I’m unsure how to utilize the free resources here, I wanted to list them, but I usually steer clear because it seems cumbersome and they really want you to pay for images.
Getty Images
Google Advanced Image Search
Have you ever needed an image for your blog post? Have you used Google Advanced Search to find one? If so, then you’re not alone. It’s a fast way to find images that are legal to use. If you don’t know anything about blogging, you may not realize that simply finding an image on Google and using it on your blog is a no-no. But Google Advanced Search enables you to search only for images that are legal to use.
Google Advanced Image Search
Simple steps to find royalty-free images using Google Images advanced search:
- Enter a search term in Google Images search.
- Click the Gear icon, then select Advanced search.
- Scroll down and use the usage rights drop-down menu to select free to use or share, even commercially.
Goodfreephotos
These high-res photos are free to use for any purpose. However, make sure you’re aware of the size of these pictures. They’re huge, so if you plan to use them on your website, be ready to resize them.
Goodfreephotos
Haute Stock
It’s safe to say that Rachel is one of the best stock photographers I have ever come across. I don’t know her personally, but I know that she has made some of the most incredible photos I have ever seen. The best thing about her site is that you can sign up (for free) and receive a month’s worth of stock photos. You can purchase any photo from her site or even have custom ones made.
If you are fortunate enough to get her monthly free images before you put them on your website, make sure that they are the correct size. If they are large files, they may make your site slow. You might have to resize the file before uploading it. Large file size usually means high-quality images — just download, resize, and upload.
Haute Stock
HiClipArt
HiClipArt is the best place for any transparent PNG artwork. For designers, it is a space for sharing their artwork and downloading necessary PNG clips. HiClipArt strictly enforces copyright law. So make sure you read the terms and conditions of the site before uploading your content.
HiClipart
HighResolution.Photography
All of the gorgeous photos on this site are licensed with a Creative Commons, which means you can use them on anything. You just need to credit the photographer. That’s not too heavy of a lift! You’re not going to regret it, as these pictures are perfect.
HighResolution.Photography
Image Base
Imagebase.net provides free graphics for personal or commercial use. You can edit the images however you want, but please don’t sell them.
Image Base
ISO Republic
For creative professionals, Tom Eversley’s website may be just what the doctor ordered. Tom is a designer and photographer from England and his website has published over 1000 high-resolution images so far. All of the images are free to download and use. New ones are added daily so you’re never out of stock.
ISO Republic
Jay Mantri
I came across this one and I am happy to have done so. I would definitely follow this guy on Instagram, as his creativity is evident in the few posts I have seen. The site is not very elaborate, but you can tell he knows what he is doing. You can do whatever you please on his website. If you want to look at some high-quality photos, go here.
Jay Mantri
Kaboompics
If you’re looking for pictures that are free and breathtaking, then this is the place to be. Picture-perfect free pictures for your personal or business needs.
Kaboompics
Life of Pix
Free high-resolution photos and video clips! These guys have partnered with an amazing company—Adobe. They also come with the Leeroy agency, full of professionals who take great pictures. Check out their about page for one of their latest animated graphics
Life of Pix
Little Visuals
This is a special site, run differently than most stock photo sites. Small and mighty!
Little Visuals
FOCA Stock
All photos and video clips are listed under CC0. That means they can be copied, modified, distributed, and even used commercially without asking for permission first. Super amazing! This site is a keeper!
FOCA Stock
MorgueFile
This is an excellent repository of high res images, and the best part is that they’re all completely free. You can sign up for monthly packs of Morguefile’s hand-picked “best of” collections of images. This means that every month you get to download a free collection of images right away! No waiting, just pure inspiration.
MorgueFile
Negative Space
Great name, right? Here is another one that is a great resource. Beautiful hi-res photos, all free stock photos, and distributed under the CC0 license. I know by now you probably think that is enough websites. But is it? Don’t you want the only resources you’ll ever need to find photos?
Negative Space
New Old Stock
This collection of vintage photos from the public archives will make you feel the nostalgia. Free of known copyright restrictions.
New Old Stock
Oliur Rahman
A small collection of CC0 licensed photography by Oliur Rahman, including technology and landscapes.
Oliur Rahman
Vecteezy
This uses the Flickr API. They search through so many photos. Try typing anything into the search bar; it is fantastic. The interface is excellent. Clean & easy to navigate. Plus, you will know what you need to do with each photo regarding using the images as what to do is printed right beside the download options. So for a novice, this is a great tool. You don’t have to search for what the user rights are, no confusion here.
Vecteezy
Picjumbo
These guys rock. Viktor Hanacek, the site’s founder, had images rejected from other photo hosting sites because of their size or quality. He remembers photographers’ obsession with size and quality. When you browse through his website, you’ll be thankful for his work. The images are amazing. You can even search for textures (scroll to the bottom of the page, and click “Abstract”). I mean, who doesn’t need a texture photo here and there. All photos here are free for commercial use. I signed up for their emails, did you?
Picjumbo
Picography
Crafted Ireland by Dave Meier, David is a designer. I have a good mind to reach out to him and ask how much it costs him to design a website. All photos on Picography are provided free of charge and under the CC0 license.
Picography
RGBStock
RGBStock has a massive selection of high-quality free stock photos, free wallpapers, illustrations, and backgrounds. You do have to sign up, so that might stop some people. I did sign up because I love love love the backgrounds you can find. Sexy right?
RGBStock
Snapwiresnaps
All photos are listed under the CC0 license. The Url says Tumblr in it, so that is a bit confusing. Also confusing is; you have to click and then right-click to download. You might think you are doing something wrong; I did. The images are ‘snaps,’ or they are called that when you click on the above link. Super amazing photos. Some may seem too dreamy to be real, but they are —a real place in time and a real moment.
Snapwiresnaps
Splitshire
This is next on my alphabetical list of free pic websites. This site is excellent. There is a lot to look at and everything is categorized for you. You can do whatever you want with the photos. I will say downloading an image can be confusing because of ‘God, where do you click, there are so many buttons. Click right below the photos as all the green download buttons will start you downloading.
Splitshire
Startup Stock Photos
This site is just okay. Yup, I said it. It has some good images so I wouldn’t discount it. It was created because of a want and a need to keep photos they were taking anyway. It is nice to put them up and out there to share for free with no licensing or sign up. That part I like. The photos are good shots for blog posts and work-type depictions. All pictures are published under the CC0 license.
Startup Stock Photos
StockSnap.io
StockSnap is a helpful tool for finding photos to use. No more hassle searching for the original photo credit. It has a lot of great images. Sign up for free, and you get five images every month to download. The Photos from Stock Snap are wicked. Don’t forget to give proper credit.
StockSnap.io
Stockvault
The first thing you will notice about this site is registration. But don’t let that stop you from using it. Especially if you are looking for a free image. If you try to download a photo, you will be prompted for registration information. You can still browse the images and see which are free and which are paid. I like that there are beautiful big images here to use for personal or non-commercial design work.
Stockvault
Stokpic
Photographer Ed Gregory runs this site. I think he likes butts, lol. I say this as I saw a lot of beach butt shots. The photos are great, and I signed up to get free images sent to me every two weeks (I must remember to drag them into my inbox from the promotions or update tab in Google). All photos are under the CC0 license, meaning they are public domain, and anyone can use them for any reason they please.
Stokpic
Travel Coffee Book
An extensive collection of beautiful travel moments available as CC0 photos.
Travel Coffee Book
UHD Wallpapers
Lots of creative commons and public domain CC0 images here.
UHD Wallpapers
Unprofound.com
The images on this site are free for anyone to use in just about any way they’d like. The site owner states that you cannot redistribute them or sell them.
Unprofound.com
unDraw
This is an interesting one. When you go to search for images, you can set the colours so that they match your brand requirement. Not only that, but you can download those pictures yourself and use them for your own commercial or personal use. But be sure to follow the privacy policy, of course.
unDraw
Visual Hunt
Search through over 60,000 public domain photos, and search millions of more CC-licensed photos with the ability to filter them for commercial use. You can refine your search by colour and download in 6 different sizes without needing an account.
Visual Hunt
Wikimedia Commons
This is a great website for pictures, video and sound. You can post your own files or search for them. This is a must-have for teachers and students. To sign up, you just need an email address.
Wikimedia Commons
Wunderstock
This has more than three million free images ready for you to download and use. With such a massive range of photos, the site covers diverse categories, and you’ll easily be able to find any kind of pictures you need.
Wunderstruck
Understanding Creative Commons and Public Domain Licensing
Understanding licensing is essential when using free stock images. Here’s a quick breakdown of common licenses:
- Creative Commons (CC0): Free for personal and commercial use without any attribution.
- Attribution Required (CC BY): Free to use but requires credit to the original creator.
- Non-Commercial Use (CC BY-NC): Free for personal use but not for commercial projects.
Always verify the licensing terms of each image to ensure you’re in compliance. This is really important so you don’t have to pay a lot out of pocket because you messed up.
Using AI for Image Creation:
AI tools like ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Flux, and Adobe Firefly are transforming how we create images by generating high-quality visuals based on simple text prompts. Here’s how each tool works:
- ChatGPT with DALL-E: ChatGPT now has integrated DALL-E for generating images based on detailed prompts. Ideal for creating unique images that are copyright-safe, it allows you to customize visuals to match your content’s theme, enhancing your brand’s aesthetic and uniqueness.
- Google Gemini: Gemini AI offers advanced image generation with tailored style preferences, suitable for social media, branding, and content customization. This tool also features fine-tuning options to match specific keywords and themes.
- Adobe Firefly: Adobe’s Firefly allows for image creation with exceptional detail, enabling designers to control the look, feel, and size of images. Firefly is also useful for creating background-free images, making it easier to layer visuals on brand assets.
- Perplexity uses flux:
Pro Tip: Use AI-generated images for unique visual appeal, especially for content that requires specific imagery that’s hard to find in free stock image libraries.
Optimizing Images for SEO
Using the right types of images on your website is crucial for SEO and overall user engagement. Each image type serves a distinct purpose, and optimizing your visuals can boost content quality, page speed, and search engine visibility. It’s important to note that while free stock photos are invaluable for many content needs, Google Business Profiles require original images for better credibility and authenticity in search rankings.
Types of Images and Their Best Uses
- Photos and Stock Images
- Best for: Blog posts, product pages, social media, and landing pages (not for Google Business Profile).
- Purpose: High-quality photos enhance visual appeal, build brand trust, and boost engagement. Platforms like Unsplash, Pexels, and Pixabay offer a wide selection of free stock photos for general content and social media.
- SEO Benefits: Optimized photos with relevant alt tags and descriptive filenames can attract organic traffic through image search.
- Note: Avoid using stock photos for Google Business Profile listings, as Google prefers authentic, original photos that accurately represent your business.
- Illustrations and Vectors
- Best for: Guides, infographics, and educational content.
- Purpose: Illustrations simplify complex ideas and make content visually appealing, often increasing dwell time and comprehension.
- SEO Benefits: Well-designed illustrations can increase user interaction, which positively impacts SEO by improving dwell time and reducing bounce rates.
- Icons and Graphics
- Best for: Navigation elements, CTAs, and visual labels.
- Purpose: Icons improve navigation and help users find what they’re looking for quickly, boosting site usability.
- SEO Benefits: User-friendly navigation encourages visitors to explore more pages, which can reduce bounce rates—a positive factor for SEO.
- GIFs and Animations
- Best for: Tutorials, product demos, and social media.
- Purpose: GIFs and animations add movement to content, making it more engaging, especially for instructional material.
- SEO Considerations: Compress GIFs to maintain page speed, as large files can slow down your site and negatively impact SEO.
Image Size, File Weight, and Format: Why They Matter for SEO
1. Image Size and Pixel Dimensions
- Optimal Sizes: Ensure images are large enough for clarity but not larger than needed. For example, blog feature images typically work well at 1200 x 630 pixels, while icons should be smaller.
- SEO Impact: Oversized images can slow down page load times, hurting SEO. Use appropriately sized images to enhance page speed.
2. File Weight (KB)
- Ideal File Weight: Aim for images under 100-120 KB to maintain a fast page load speed.
- SEO Impact: Page speed is a direct ranking factor, and smaller images improve load times, which can boost SEO performance.
3. File Format (JPEG, PNG, WebP)
- JPEG: Ideal for photos, offering good quality with smaller file sizes.
- PNG: Best for icons and graphics with transparent backgrounds but generally larger in size.
- WebP: Google’s preferred format for balancing quality and reduced file size, optimizing both quality and speed.
- SEO Impact: Choosing the right file format balances quality and file size, directly impacting site speed, a crucial SEO factor.
Why Image Optimization is Essential for SEO
Optimizing images enhances SEO by improving page load speed, user engagement, and accessibility. Properly sized, compressed images load faster, which reduces bounce rates and enhances user experience—both of which positively affect SEO.
For business listings, avoid using stock photos on Google Business Profiles as Google values authenticity and rewards original photos with better local search visibility.
Adding descriptive file names and alt text with relevant keywords improves search visibility, making it easier for search engines to index your images and drive organic traffic to your site.
Optimizing For SEO Alt Tags with AI:
Accurate and descriptive alt tags improve SEO and accessibility. AI tools like Gemini and perplexity help automate alt text generation by analyzing the image’s main features. Here’s how to leverage these tools:
Google Gemini: Gemini’s latest model can auto-generate contextually appropriate alt text that aligns with surrounding content. It identifies primary elements, making it ideal for SEO-specific alt tags on e-commerce or blog images. Gemini’s feature for omitting people in alt descriptions ensures keyword-focused alt tags without unnecessary details.
Perplexity: Perplexity AI can assist in SEO optimization by helping users generate high-quality content, while image alt tags play a crucial role in SEO by providing search engines with descriptive text about images, enhancing accessibility and improving the webpage’s relevance in search results
How to Remove Backgrounds from Images (Free Tools and Tutorial Video)
For polished visuals, removing backgrounds from images can improve aesthetic appeal and brand consistency. Here are some free tools for background removal, along with a video tutorial on how to use them:
- Remove.bg: A free, one-click background removal tool that’s perfect for beginners. Simply upload your image, and it removes the background instantly.
- Canva: Canva offers a background remover in its free version, and it’s great for quick edits with extra customization options.
- PhotoScissors: A simple background removal tool that offers drag-and-drop ease.
- Photopea: we see ads because that is how we get it for free. It is a lot like photoshop
(Embed a tutorial video on using these tools for best results.)
Additional Free Tools for Image Editing and Compression
Optimizing images for web use improves page load speed, which is a ranking factor. Here are top tools for editing and compressing images:
- Photopea: This Photoshop alternative offers advanced editing features, all online.
- TinyPNG: A top choice for image compression, ideal for both PNG and JPEG files.
- Figma: Excellent for collaborative design and resizing images to fit SEO requirements.
- CloudConvert: is amazing!
Tips for Selecting SEO-Friendly Images
Choosing SEO-friendly images can boost your content’s visibility. Here are a few tips:
- Relevance: Use images that reflect your keywords and align with the content topic.
- Quality: High-resolution images improve user experience and engagement.
- Descriptive Filenames: Name images with keyword-rich descriptions, e.g., “best-free-stock-images-website.jpg” instead of generic names.
- Alt Text: Use keyword-focused alt tags that describe the image concisely.
Summary: Maximizing SEO with Free Stock Images and AI Tools
Leveraging free stock images, AI-generated visuals, and optimized alt tags can greatly enhance your content’s SEO impact. By combining high-quality visuals from trusted free image sites with cutting-edge AI tools like ChatGPT, Flux, and Gemini, you can create visually compelling and SEO-friendly content that captures audience attention and drives organic traffic.
Optimized images improve page load speed, engagement, and accessibility—three key factors that boost search engine rankings. Whether you’re a content creator, blogger, marketer, or business owner this guide provides essential resources and strategies for building a more engaging, visually appealing, and SEO-optimized site. If you know of any other valuable free image sources or have questions, feel free to reach out to us for all your marketing needs.
Let me know if I have missed any good ones? Want to get in touch? Contact Us for all your marketing needs.
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