How to choose royalty-free photos for your website

When building your website, choosing royalty-free photos is a crucial first step. But don’t just turn to the first photos you find. It’s important to make sure the photos you choose align with your brand and make your website look professional. Picking the right images can really set your website apart and help connect with your audience.

Here are a few tips on choosing royalty-free photos, as well as common mistakes to avoid.

Tips to choose royalty-free photos

1. Fit your brand

Your website is a reflection of your brand, so your images should support the personality and style of your business.

• is your brand formal and professional, or are you going for a more laid-back, approachable feel?
• if your business is on the more polished side, opt for clean, sleek images. For example, if you’re offering financial or legal services, photos of well-dressed professionals, tidy workspaces, or minimalist designs might suit you best.
• if you run a creative or informal business, like a café or boutique, choose bright, colourful, or relaxed photos that showcase a fun, friendly vibe.

Fiona Humberstone, aka The Brand Stylist, has a great free mini course to help you find your brand voice, if you’re just starting out.

2. Think about where your photos will go

Before you start downloading images, have a clear idea of where each photo will go on your website. Some areas, like your Hero Image (the large banner at the top of your homepage), need to be visually striking, high-resolution, and ideally in landscape format. These should grab attention right away.

If you’re adding text over the image on your website, make sure there’s enough empty space in the photo so the text stands out and remains readable. The way you place your images is just as important as the images themselves.

3. Be consistent

A consistent look across your site makes it feel professional and well thought out.

Stick to images that share a similar style, tone, or colour scheme. For instance, if you’ve chosen bright, high-contrast images for one page, don’t mix in muted, soft-focus photos elsewhere.

A fun photo of food would be great for a nutritionist website specialising in helping children – not so good for adults with chronic conditions

4. Quality not quantity

Focus on images that really add value to your website.

Put your time into finding a handful of great images, rather than a large quantity of ordinary ones. Take time to look beyond the obvious photos on royalty-free websites, and search out more specific images that really add value to where they appear on your website.

Common mistakes to avoid

While it’s tempting to grab the first appealing image you find, here are a few common pitfalls to avoid:

1. Overly generic stock photos

Some stock images are so overused that they’ve become meaningless. Try to avoid clichéd photos like the stereotypical handshake or the group of smiling business people.

A generic photo of three women drinking coffee will have little impact on your website

Always ask yourself: does this image really reflect my business and what I’m offering?

2. Ignoring image size

High-quality images are great, but large file sizes can slow down your website, frustrating visitors and affecting your search engine ranking. Make sure you compress your images before uploading them to your site, so they look good but load quickly.

Read my blog explaining how to make any image the right size for the right place on your website.

3. Forgetting to check the license

Even if the images are from free royalty-free sites, always double-check the license to make sure they’re suitable for commercial use. Some photos might be free to use, but still require attribution, so it’s worth knowing the terms before you download.

Further help and inspiration

Choosing the right images for your website can take some time, but it’s worth the effort. The photos you pick will help communicate your brand, set the tone for your site, and keep visitors engaged. Check out Kathryn Mitchell’s coaching website (using The Espresso package) to see a few stock photos used brilliantly to create her individual brand.

Happy image hunting!