There is a crucial website element that many clients often fail to account for, that being the images and graphics which will be used on your business website.
A visually appealing website will always, always showcase stunning images. Great design and images always go hand in hand.
NEVER use images from Search Engines Image results
Why? They don’t belong to you, and most images being returned are copyrighted. You will probably get sued if you use them!
Never get your images from a google image search result, ever. The same goes for any search engine. As stated above most of the images being returned are copyrighted and not permissible for use, you are literally playing in a mine field. These search results always contain stock images, and though very tempting, using stock images without the proper permission will result in fees of at least $600, per image. You could be sued and be forced to payout a far greater sum. It’s not worth it, never use search engines for image use.
Creative Commons
There are several websites that offer image use under a ‘Creative Commons’ license. All this means is that images labeled creative commons may be used with proper attribution to the author and source of the image. This is why you’ll often see images with captions outlining the source and author.
A few websites that offer such images: Flickr, Free Digital Photos, Unplash.
If you decide to engage those websites insure the images being offered fall under creative commons license, to follow any regulations that the website may have, and attribute the author and source where needed.
The downside: Creative Commons at times is a good fit, yet as a business owner, having to attribute each image on your websites distracts your web visitor from the product or service being sold, and honestly comes off as cheap.
The My Website Created solution
We purchase and use high quality stock images on our client websites. This insures two things; our websites look stunning while avoiding any possible legal disputes. These are stock images that clients purchase through us often for a few dollars.