Large corporations with huge budgets have the same problem as you – a lack of original photos for their websites.  

Luckily there’s an effortless way to find photos for your website that you don’t have to take yourself.

If you’re writing needs a photo for embellishment or to make what you’re writing stronger, simply ask your SEO agency to use stock photos for you.  

Most agencies subscribe to Canva or Shutterstock. Both offer weirdly specific images. In fact, you can often find a photo that looks like you hired someone to take the picture just for you.

And if you do your writing without an SEO agency’s help, you can get free stock photos via the free version of the app Canva. Booyah!

How precise will the photo be if it’s a stock photo?  

Let’s do a search on Canva.com and see what comes up:

You’re able to search Shutterstock without a membership. Once you find an image you like, note the photo’s number.

Your own photos DON’T have to be perfect. “Good enough” is just fine!

Most of us have professional cameras built into our smartphones.

And since most readers want authentic photos from a small or local business, readers are very forgiving if the pictures you have are less than perfect. 

If you need a photo of a person, consider using “Portrait Mode” to blur the background. 

Portrait Mode is so exceptional that some runway models are now taking their own headshots using this setting and skipping professional photographers altogether.

People read the photo’s captions:

Make sure you’re adding captions to your photos because people often won’t read any of the articles, but will read the captions on the photos.

Don’t forget to add “Alt Text:”

I know this sounds like you’d need to know to code, but Alt-Text is simply a photo description for someone who has trouble seeing. When describing the photo, use as many details as possible – something like “Goldendoodle dog in a dark green sweater” would work just fine.

What if I STILL don’t have a photo I like

If you can’t find a photo you like, simply publish the article without a photo. You’ll still get Google credit, and you can always go back in and add an image later on.

If photos are holding you back from publishing to your small business website, don’t let them. Publish posts with less-than-ideal photos or with none at all.

This is the fourth post in my series, “Simplifying SEO for Small Businesses.”

Read my other “SEO for Rookies” posts here.

---

Subscribe to Paige’s Page to get all future posts emailed.