Where to get the best free images for your website
Nov 07, 2018
10 min read
With over 1.3 billion websites on the web, standing out from the crowd and making a name for yourself in the noise can be hard.
While every website or blog out there can publish content, what really separates the normal from the spectacular is how they make use of visual content.
Content is still king, no doubt about that, but powerful content combined with creative, quirky images can turn it into so much more.
Content creators throw a ton of stuff on the web every day to garner attention, including blogs, web content, social media content and what not. You’d be surprised to know that almost 6.7 million people publish on a blogging platform or website regularly and the number nearly doubles when it comes to people publishing their blogs on social media.
Now, that’s a lot of content! And your audience can only consume so much.
So, grabbing their attention and engaging them before anyone else becomes all the more important.
And apparently, adding high-quality images (and other visual content like videos) to your blog posts and other content (social media or other) is the best way to do it.
According to Forbes’, content with visual appeal gets 94% more views than textual content. And if a reader was to choose a single blog to read out of 6, he would read the blog with the best visual content that appeals to him.
So, yes, visuals are indeed important. That’s why we strive to mix our insightful content with creative imagery in all our digital marketing services. But before we tell you the amazing resources from where you can get your hands on the best free-stock photos out there that don’t require any license, let’s talk a bit more about the obvious benefits of adding images and other visual content to your website -
SEO & Social Media benefits
Social Media is all about visuals. If you want to stand out on social media, work on adding visual elements in every single one of your posts. Simple as that. Doesn’t matter the platform.
According to a Buzzsumo research, posts with attractive images on Facebook received 2.3x more engagement than posts containing just plain text. Buffer, on the other hand, experienced a 150% increase in retweets on their tweets with images compared to plain text tweets.
The story is the same for almost every other social media platform out there as well. Visuals are just great in capturing the attention of users and making an emotional connection with them.
Apart from the obvious benefits of adding visuals on social media, adding high-quality images to your blog posts and website can also help you rank better in search engines.
By adding proper alt-texts, titles, and tags to each and every image you upload on your website, you are letting search engine crawlers know exactly what your image is about and how it’s relevant to the corresponding content, which will obviously help your website and blog posts rank better in Google image search as well.
Lures readers
If you are looking to stand out from the crowd, have a unique identity that gets easily recognized by the masses and make a name for yourself, creating mesmerizing images and other visual elements that are relevant to what you do is your best bet.
While everyone and their grandmother can publish gibberish on the web, it’s the visual elements that can give you an edge in a space that is so crowded.
If your website or blog posts are void of any kind of images, readers will bounce from your website like grasshoppers.
Here’s a stat to prove it.
But if your website and blog posts are studded with aesthetically beautiful images, readers will click on it, emotionally connect with it, like it, comment on it, share it with their friends and keep coming back for more (they won’t do it all at once).
What else could you want from your audience?
If you haven’t already, try putting all your focus on the visual aesthetics of your website and blog posts and keep a close eye on those conversions. You’ll be surprised by the results!
But in order to do that, you’ll have to first find high-quality, beautiful images for your website and other marketing content. If you don’t have a photographer in-house (which most of us don’t), try making use of these free resources for all your visual needs.
The images resources I am about to mention are absolutely free to use and don’t require you to create an account or buy a license. You’ll just have to credit the author of the image you are taking on some of these sites, which I’ll mention.
So, let’s look at some of the best free, high-quality image resources out there-
1.Unsplash
3.Pixabay
4.Pexels
Pexels is our absolute favorite. Their gallery is just stunning. You’ll have to give credit to the authors if you take any picture from this website. The website also shows you an easy way to give credit to their lovely community of photographers when you download a pic from Pexels.
5.Freepik
Hope these resources will help you in finding the best images for your website and blog posts, doesn’t matter the industry niche you are in. If you have any other platform in your arsenal from where you fulfill all your stock photo requirements, do let us know in the comments.
Drive Exceptional Growth without an In-House Marketing Team
We drive business growth by optimizing every inbound channel to attract and convert high-quality clients for you
Share with Friends
Outshine Your Competition Faster
Drive measurable growth through comprehensive, data-driven digital marketing strategies.
Talk to Experts
How To Stand Out From The Noise On Instagram
Instagram is undoubtedly the most prominent social media platform out there and is on its way to close the gap with its parent company Facebook - which currently boasts 2.2 billion monthly active users. Instagram is huge! With 1 billion monthly active users and more than 8 million brands present on the platform collectively sharing more than 40 million pictures on an average day, standing out from the crowd can become a bit difficult if you are actively marketing yourself on the platform organically or inorganically. Yes, building a highly engaged following on the platform is hard but it’s certainly not impossible. If you are maintaining a presence on the platform and are seeing little to no results or are just starting out from scratch, the tips I’m about to tell you will help you stand out on Instagram and build a highly engaged following for your Instagram business or personal account - Create a profile and optimize Creating a profile on the platform is easy but you’ll have to choose if you want to create a personal profile or a business profile. The reason I’m mentioning it is that if you create a business profile, you’ll get additional analytics for your each and every post made on the platform. While you can choose to create a personal profile as well, going for a business profile will always be beneficial if you are looking to establish yourself strongly on the platform. Data always helps. Optimizing your business profile on the platform is easy! Just focus on providing as much information to your audience (in about 200 words) about yourself in your profile bio. And don’t forget to add your website link and contact information so users can easily give you a call when they feel like it! If you’re going for a personal profile, make sure it’s not set to private by checking it’s settings. The kind of images you upload matters Instagram is a highly visual image sharing platform in nature, so it makes sense to upload only your best on the platform. So, focus on uploading only high-quality images on Instagram that are high on aesthetics and visual appeal. You can also upload videos on the platform, they receive a ton of engagement as well. But, on Instagram, images are the king and receive the most engagement. Try keeping a unique theme in all your pics and keep it consistent to stand out. Don’t waste that caption space Talking about posting images, with each image you post, Instagram allows you to add a 2200 words caption than you can make use of to tell your audience a story to add more depth to your pictures, add relevant hashtags or tag other people, but do make good use of all that space. National Geographic, which is currently the most followed brand on the visual platform, does it perfectly by adding a lot of depth to all their images by adding heart-warming and witty captions that keep their ever-increasing fans wanting for more. Use stories, hashtags, and other Instagram marketing features Like Snapchat, you can create stories on Instagram to get in front of your audience with the help of a colorful circle which appears at the top of news feed. Also, you can make use of relevant #hashtags on the platform to get seen by an audience browsing through that specific hashtag and gain exposure. Or you can make use of Live Video on the platform for instant engagement as each time you start a LIve Video on your profile, all your followers will receive a push notification about it. You can use the platform to market yourself in various ways, make sure you know all about their nitty-gritty marketing features that let creators on the platform get really creative. I would suggest you to keep a close look at Instagram Press to stay abreast with all their upcoming features and latest updates. Keep your audience interested Keeping your audience interested on Instagram by uploading engaging posts every now and then is of utmost importance. Only when you are actively working on engaging your audience and post consistently, you’ll be able to pave way for new audiences to find and follow you. So, post consistently, engage with your audience by regularly replying to their comments, share their images and get involved in the community to build a solid fan base on the platform. Spend some money If you want to gain quick exposure and build a solid fan base on the platform, going the paid way is always an option. You can make use of Instagram’s in-feed ads to get your message across to a ton of targeted users depending on your budget. Instagram provides you the functionality of displaying photo, video, carousel, stories and collection ads to fulfill all kinds of your business objectives. While you get an option to promote your each and every post, you’ll have to use Facebook Ads Manager to set-up, optimize and target all your paid marketing campaigns on the platform. If you've never done paid marketing on the platform, don't worry we can help you with setting it all up. Use the above-mentioned methods to convert your Instagram presence from NOT to HOT!. While there are many other ways you can use to gain exposure on the platform, the ways I mentioned above will surely help you gain a lot of traction on the platform. If there are other great ways to build a solid fan base on Instagram that may have helped your or someone’s else business take off on the platform, do let us know in the comments. ...
read more
Tips on How to Improve Quality Score
The playing field of Google advertising is a dynamic one, where data accessibility is decreasing, and the importance of Quality Score Improvement in PPC optimization cannot be underestimated. Understanding what exactly Quality Score entails and implementing strategies to enhance it can have significant implications on your cost-per-clicks. In this article, we will delve into the concept of Quality Score and provide you with actionable steps to improve it. By implementing these strategies, you can maximize the effectiveness of your Google advertising campaigns and achieve better results. What is Google’s Quality Score? The Quality Score serves as a crucial indicator of the overall relevance of keywords, ads, and landing pages in the world of online advertising. Ranked on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being the lowest and 10 being the highest, the Quality Score assesses the effectiveness and usefulness of an advertiser's ads. By evaluating various factors such as keyword relevance, ad quality, and landing page experience, it provides valuable insights into the perceived relevance and usefulness of an ad according to Google's standards. A higher Quality Score signifies that an ad is deemed more relevant and valuable to users, while a lower score indicates room for improvement in terms of relevance and user experience. Understanding the significance of Quality Score and its impact on the success of your advertising campaigns is essential. In the following sections, we will explore actionable strategies to improve keyword quality score, helping you maximize your ad's effectiveness and optimize your advertising investment. The Importance of Quality Score It is crucial to understand that Quality Score should be used as a tool for optimization rather than a primary performance metric. So, how to improve the quality score of keywords? Instead of optimizing specifically for Quality Score, it is more effective to leverage it as a guide to identify areas that require improvement. The importance of Quality Score stems from two key reasons: Relevance to Google: Quality Score serves as an indicator of how relevant your ad is to Google. If your ad lacks perceived relevance, it may not be displayed to users at all. Google prioritizes delivering relevant search results and uses Quality Score to ensure that ads meet this criterion, thereby enhancing the overall search experience for users. Account Success for Advertisers: Quality Score plays a pivotal role in determining the success of your advertising account. It is a crucial factor in calculating Ad Rank, along with your bid. Ad Rank determines your ad's position on Google's search engine results page. It is important to note that achieving the highest ad position and visibility is not solely dependent on having the highest bid or the largest budget. Advertisers need to focus on delivering relevant ads and providing a positive user experience in order to compete effectively and secure the number one position. This explains why branded Google Search campaigns often exhibit lower average costs per click (CPC) compared to generic search campaigns while still achieving high ad rank and position. Bidding on your own brand name allows for maximum relevance, and competitors find it challenging to surpass the relevance of such branded terms. Tips to Boost Your Google Quality Score It can be a challenge to improve Google Ads Quality Score when one is handling a lot of other things. Here is a quick guide on how to improve quality score of Google ads: 1. Structure your campaigns, ad groups, and keywords Create a granular structure with multiple ad groups, ensuring closely related keywords are included within each group. This allows for better ad customization and improves ad relevance and click-through rates (CTR). Use tools like DataFeedWatch's feed-driven solution to generate keywords based on product features, creating a mix of specific long-tail and broader keywords. 2. Write relevant and compelling ad copy Incorporate best-performing keywords from each ad group into ad headlines, descriptions, and URL slugs. This increases the likelihood of searchers clicking on your ads and improves ad relevance. Avoid sounding robotic and aim for compelling ad copy that stands out. 3 .Utilize ad formats and dynamic headlines Include both expanded text ads and responsive search ads in your ad groups for maximum CTR. Responsive search ads offer higher optimization scores and allow for dynamic headlines. Dynamic headlines, such as keyword insertion, location insertion, and countdowns, increase ad relevance and urgency. 4. Make use of relevant ad extensions Ad extensions, while not directly impacting Quality Score, can significantly increase CTR. Include extensions like site links, callouts, and structured snippets to provide additional information about your business. Consider using other relevant extensions like promotions, location, and app extensions to further enhance your ads. 5. Implement negative keywords and regularly review campaigns Use a robust list of negative keywords, particularly when using the phrase and broad match types. Exclude non-relevant search queries to maintain ad relevance and CTR. Review search queries regularly, adding non-relevant queries as negative keywords and creating new ad groups for relevant but low CTR queries. 6. Optimize your landing pages Ensure messaging consistency from keyword to ad copy to landing page. Incorporate keywords on the landing page and provide a landing page that matches search intent. Aim for a clear and simple user journey to minimize bounce rates and improve relevance. Ensure your website is mobile-friendly to provide a positive user experience for mobile users. 7. Improve site speed Site speed is crucial for a good user experience and can impact Quality Score. Use tools like Google's PageSpeed Insights to analyze and improve your site speed. A faster-loading website reduces disruptions, improves performance, and enhances user experience, leading to better Quality Scores in Adwords. In Conclusion Mastering the art of optimizing your Quality Score on Google Ads is essential for improving the performance and effectiveness of your campaigns. By implementing the strategies outlined in this article on "How to Increase Quality Score," you can significantly enhance the relevance and impact of your ads. You can guarantee your success by partnering with Saffron Edge, a leading digital marketing firm with a specialization in handling paid ads. Contact us today! ...
read more
The Ultimate Guide to HubSpot Email Marketing Automation To Maximize Business Growth
The Ultimate Guide to HubSpot Email Marketing Automation To Maximize Business Growth As the market evolves, so do the marketing processes. Manually executing marketing operations is exhausting and prone to errors. Fortunately, marketing automation services have simplified marketers' jobs. A study by Oracle reveals that marketing automation can elevate lead generation by up to 80% and increase sales productivity by 14%. In this blog, we’ll explore how HubSpot’s email marketing automation works, its features, and its benefits. What is HubSpot email marketing automation? HubSpot Email Marketing Automation is a feature within HubSpot’s marketing platform that allows businesses to create, schedule, and manage email campaigns with ease. It combines automation and personalization to streamline marketing efforts and enhance customer engagement. With HubSpot’s email marketing automation, users can: Create personalized email sequences triggered by user actions, such as signing up for a newsletter or downloading a resource. Use drag-and-drop tools to design professional emails without coding skills. Leverage workflows to nurture leads through the buyer's journey automatically. Analyze campaign performance with detailed analytics, optimizing emails for better open rates and conversions. Integrate with other HubSpot tools for a seamless marketing, sales, and customer service experience. This tool is ideal for businesses looking to save time, improve email targeting, and foster stronger customer relationships. Why should you use HubSpot for email marketing automation? Here are some reasons why HubSpot is ideal for email marketing automation: Seamless Integration with CRM: HubSpot allows you to use the data from its CRM to create targeted, personalized emails. This ensures that relevant content reaches the right audience at the right time. Powerful Workflow Automation: HubSpot’s visual editor lets you build workflows that automate actions based on specific triggers, such as a form submission or website visit. You can create complex workflows without any coding knowledge, making it accessible to both marketers and developers. Detailed Analytics: HubSpot gives detailed reports on email performance, user engagement, and conversion rates. You can consistently improve your email campaigns by using open rates, click-through rates, and other metrics. Key features of HubSpot email marketing automation HubSpot provides a variety of features that simplify and enhance email marketing automation. Let’s look at the key features you can leverage: 1. Workflows to Automate Campaigns Workflows in HubSpot allow you to set up conditions and actions for different customer journey stages. For example, if a lead signs up for a webinar, HubSpot can automatically trigger follow-up emails based on their engagement. Workflows help you engage prospects at various touchpoints, nurturing them until they’re ready to convert. 2. Personalization at Scale One of the most important advantages of HubSpot automation services is the capability to personalize emails for large audiences. Using CRM data, you can dynamically insert contact information, send personalized offers, and tailor content based on user preferences and behavior. This leads to higher open rates and more meaningful engagement with your audience. 3. Lead Scoring and Segmentation HubSpot’s lead scoring allows you to prioritize leads based on their actions. For example, a lead that downloads multiple resources from your website or opens several emails might receive a higher score, indicating they’re ready for sales outreach. Segmentation helps you categorize your contacts based on demographics, behavior, or engagement level, ensuring your emails are highly targeted. 4. Automated Drip Campaigns Drip campaigns are essential for nurturing leads and pushing them further down the sales funnel. With HubSpot, you can automate these campaigns based on triggers such as form submissions, page visits, or interactions with previous emails. By keeping your brand top-of-mind, you can build trust with your leads over time and guide them toward conversion. 5. Advanced Reporting and Analytics HubSpot’s robust reporting capabilities give you insights into your email marketing performance. You can measure key metrics like open, click-through, and conversion rates. The platform also facilitates A/B testing of subject lines, call-to-actions, and content, helping you to identify what works best with your audience. Let’s break through your revenue hurdles We find your primary growth blockers, build expert-led strategies, and provide custom data-driven solutions to help you hit your revenue goals. Set up a 1:1 strategy call How does HubSpot email marketing automation work? HubSpot email marketing automation is based on workflows, enabling you to set up automated sequences of tasks triggered by user actions. Here’s a step-by-step breakdown of how it works: 1. Create and Customize Workflows The HubSpot visual editor allows easy workflow creation by dragging and dropping elements like triggers, conditions, and actions. You can build simple follow-up sequences or complex campaigns with multiple branches, ensuring that each contact receives relevant content based on their behavior. 2. Set Up Triggers and Actions Triggers are events that initiate a workflow, including a user completing a form or clicking on a particular email link. Once a trigger is activated, you can set up actions such as sending an email, updating a lead score, or assigning a contact to a sales rep. 3. Utilize CRM Data Integrating your CRM data with your email campaigns ensures that your messages are highly personalized and relevant. For example, if a contact’s status changes from “lead” to “customer,” HubSpot can automatically enroll them in a new workflow to deliver onboarding content. 4. Track and Optimize Performance HubSpot’s automation tools allow you to track the performance of your workflows in real time. You can see how many contacts are moving through each stage of the funnel, which emails drive the most engagement, and where there might be drop-offs. This helps you optimize your strategy for better results. Advantages of using HubSpot for email marketing automation HubSpot provides several key benefits that can help you scale your marketing efforts: Improved Efficiency: Automating tasks like sending follow-up emails, segmenting leads, and scoring prospects allows your team to spend more time on important tasks. Enhanced Personalization: Personalizing emails using CRM data makes messaging more relevant and effective, leading to better engagement and higher conversion rates. Seamless Integration: HubSpot’s all-in-one platform integrates with your CRM, simplifying tracking customer journeys, engaging leads, and guiding them through the sales funnel. Data-Driven Insights: The platform’s advanced analytics allow you to enhance your campaigns based on real-time data, guaranteeing continuous improvement in your efforts. Conclusion HubSpot's email marketing automation provides an effective option for companies seeking to simplify their marketing strategies, cultivate leads, and increase interaction. By leveraging its robust features, such as automated workflows, lead scoring, and advanced segmentation, you can create personalized email campaigns that drive results while saving time and resources. At Saffron Edge, we specialize in HubSpot automation services to optimize your marketing strategies. Our dedicated teams ensure the seamless setup of your email campaigns, from crafting personalized workflows to optimizing automation strategies for outstanding results. ...
read more
Subscribe to our newsletter
Get fresh stories, case studies, and
advice
from successful creators and industry experts.
Subscribe now
Outshine Your Competition Faster
Drive measurable growth through comprehensive, data-driven digital marketing strategies.
Talk to Experts