Affiliate links // I’ve been using stock images more or less since I started blogging. I remember writing a post wayyy back in the day discussing whether I was a rubbish blogger for using stock images. Spoiler alert: No. I always got the sense that you shouldn’t really use them and always try and take your own.
But as time went on, the narrative around bloggers using stock images changed. Now you’ll find them on most blogs and there are countess stock image memberships sites available to get copyright free and high-quality stock images that you won’t find anywhere else for a monthly (or yearly fee).
As someone that HATES taking blog photos, I love using stock images. I’m very critical of my own photography and whilst I end up liking the photos in the end, I’ve always found the whole process of photo taking very stressful and draining.
So using someone else’s imagery, which is usually better and looks much more professional is okay with me!
I recently signed up to Styled Stock Society, which is an incredible stock image membership site providing you with thousands of feminine and beautiful stock images as well as templates for Instagram, eBooks, Pinterest and more.
I love to use Styled Stock Society images on most of my blog posts which don’t require photos taken by me. Of course if I’m working with brands or travelling then I’ll take my own photos. But for posts like this one and a lot of my self care and personal growth content, I’m happy to use stock images from Styled Stock Society.
I was hesitant to sign up for a stock library for some time but I really don’t know why I didn’t do it sooner. There are so many benefits of signing up to a membership library. It means you’ll have stock images that not every blogger is using – they’re much more exclusive. And they’re much more beneficial for using in your pins.
They’re also generally better and look much nicer. The photos on Styled Stock Society are absolutely stunning and you can find something that will fit with most content ideas. The additional templates are incredibly helpful too.
Stock images are a great tool to have to amplify your content. And there are SO MANY places that you can use them as well! There are of course plenty of free stock image sites you can use as well which provide pretty good stock images options too.
6 places to use stock images:
Your blog
Your blog is the most obvious place where you’ll think about using stock images. For feature images and throughout your content – like I’ve done in this post and do in most of my content where stock images are featured.
Pinterest pins
Pins are an important place to use stock images – particularly stock images from paid libraries (like Styled Stock Society). The way that Pinterest indexes images is that it matches an image with keywords, which is why it’s often suggested that you shouldn’t use free stock images for Pinterest.
For example some of the images on your pins about personal growth may not link to personal growth keywords because they’re not personal growth images. This is where Pinterest gets confused and doesn’t know where to index your pin!
eBooks, freebies and printables
If you’re creating products or freebies, you’ll want them to be high-quality and aesthetically pleasing. Stock images can do this and help you create some really lovely products!
You can use stock images for your cover and throughout your eBooks as well as in your freebies.
Instagram stories
If you’re big on Instagram and don’t have the time to constantly take photos just for your Instagram stories, you might want to use stock images to make your stories stand out. You can also get Instagram story templates where you can promote blog content or products with space for stock images.
Marketing graphics
As well as in your eBooks and freebies, you can also use stock images in the marketing graphics you create to promote them. It can also be a good idea to use the same or similar images, to keep your branding and message consistent.
Twitter and Facebook promotion
Similar to marketing graphics but you can also use stock images for your Twitter and Facebook promotion of your content. This can help make your posts – and tweets in particular – stand out. Which is important because the shelf life of a tweet is only 18 minutes.
Where else do you use stock images? Do you sign up for any stock libraries? Let me know!
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