5 Reasons Home Décor Companies and Bloggers Should Use Stock Photos
Dive into why people should use stock photos. People often ignore the importance of photos when they are writing an article or publishing a blog post. When running a website that is related to home decor, it is important that a text-based post includes plenty of impressive visuals. And not everyone has time or the equipment to pull it off.
High-resolution photos, videos, or even memes (millennials are big with any type of visual) will keep the reader on the page longer or will have a higher rate of sharing.
Search engines like Google like pages with fewer bounce rates and relevant content. To keep your reader on the page longer you not only need good writing but good photos and graphics as well.
That’s where I come in!
When people think about home decor, they are usually thinking visually. They will have a much harder time reading an entire article if there are no interesting photos to complement all of the text. Moreover, stock photos are usually the best way of achieving this goal, especially if you have issues getting great custom photos of your own.
Stock photos are not only desk scenes and stationery items. All of the stock photos I offer have a rustic vibe and use everyday items. I incorporate items I have at home with bloggers and other business owners in mind. Very unique and different than most other stock photo sites.
In some of the photos, I leave white space to add your own work or text for Pinterest or social media graphics.
Using Stock Photos on Instagram
I know how hard it is to run an Instagram account and have good content to add. If you buy any of my stock photos you can easily use them in your feed because they are naturally staged and everyday items.
Adding the stock photos mixed in with your photos or photos of items you are selling is an easy way to be able to have content to posts. I post three times a day on weekdays and once on weekends.
Let me show a graphic I have from another blog post you can read in full here. The graphic shows how a feed is done with nothing but a cell phone can look. No bought images. This shows my clients before and after screenshot of her Instagram feed. She bought some of my stock photos to use and they turned her feed into one to follow.
Before I would normally just scroll through the images on the left but the images on the right catch my eye more. What do you think? Let me know in the comments below, I would love more feedback.
Ok got a bit off topic I just love helping other business owners. Now onto the post, I promised. Here are the five main reasons home décor companies and bloggers should use styled stock photos.
1. When You’re Short on Time
We all have those moments where we need to meet a deadline. A post has to get out by a certain time, and you are running a little behind on development. Other days you might just be rushing or have too many other items that are more important on your to-do list. This is where my stock photos can help you save time and energy.
You certainly cannot take a low light photograph and put it up on your blog and expect to do be pinned or shared on other sites like Google+. And having no picture is not a good look either. Actually, it is the worst look possible. Adding stock photos would save you in those moments.
There are some fantastic stock photos available online and that will work in a pinch, especially when the alternative is having no picture at all. And please do not just use your cell phone to take pictures and them over edit them. It does show and in my opinion make your site look less professional.
Remember I am here for you to help build your brand and name. I do not mean to come off a mean but I don’t want you to make the same mistakes I did and have heard thousands of others doing as well.
I understand that my photos might not be a good fit for your brand and aesthetic. Or you need a certain type of photo. I often use other stock photos for this reason. Not enough time to style, photograph, and edit a whole new set of images.
I ended up writing a blog post with my favorite free or almost free websites where you can download stock photos. Head over here to check them out.
Remember too, all of my photos can be used for mockups or you can add text overlays. Check out this photo with a graphic added. Took me 30 seconds to do it.
2. When Pictures are Not Readily Available
You may not have access to the exact picture that you think is the best fit for your home décor blog or website. Perhaps you are writing a home decor post or web page about a new style of a kitchen island. However, you do not have immediate access to a modeled kitchen for a custom photography session. Or it is not up to your standards.
You may just not have a clean kitchen to shoot the photos (that’s usually my case because I have two small kids). Instead of having a picture-less post, you can use a couple of stock photos to illustrate the point of your text. Adding photos to a blog post will catch your readers eye and keep them engaged longer.
According to Trap It
“Visitors spend 2.6 seconds skimming a website before focusing on a specific section. Let’s face it. Many readers won’t hang on our every word. Instead, many readers will skim our content until they notice something that stands out to them.”
If I only have 2.6 seconds I better have some eye-catching photos. If my photos catch the readers eye they may end up clicking on other links and checking out my other posts. Or maybe they will go ahead and pin the images or leave a comment.
Having readers stay on the page and click links is always good for SEO. As owners, we need to know what is working and what is not. For instance, if a blog post with more images and text spread out more increases your engagement then obviously you will need to continue it.
So I challenge you to write a new blog post with at least 500 words (1000 is better) and have at least 8 photos. They can be stock photos, videos, or graphics. After you are done please comment with the link below and I will check it out.
I bet you that the post will do better than others with fewer photos. Using stock photos just saves you time when you are adding more to each post.
If you are not sure how to tell which post is doing better please check your Google Analytics and Google Search console as well.
3. When You Need to Add Variety
It is common for home décor bloggers and companies to have multiple articles on similar topics. Perhaps you are approaching the same topic from a new angle. However, using the same photos you added to a blog two weeks ago is not a great look.
By using beautiful stock photos, you can avoid adding the same images to more than one blog post in a short space of time.
One of the great things about stock photos is you can buy them as single photos or bundles. By buying them in bulk you save money and you also get multiple photos that are the same themes, colors, and aesthetic.
For instance, if you bought this rustic stock photo bundle from my shop there are 23 photos included in the bundle and the photos include lifestyle images styled and ready to go. General home decor items like ladders and throw blankets. Photos have white space for tet or overlays too.
You can use 4 to 5 of the images for 6 or so total blog posts. Add in some text overlay graphics and you’ve got a killer visual post. Bonus use them and add your own text to Pinterest graphics. Staying on brand is huge on social media.
PRO TIP Use If This Than That and you can easily schedule all of your posts to be added to multiple platforms instantly. The best part is it’s completely free.
4. When Your Post is Coming Out Early to Beat the Season
Say you are planning a blog post about growing herbs in your indoor home garden. But it’s December and you can’t really plant anything yet to transfer in spring because it’s too early. But you want to get the post going and the graphics for SEO reasons. So what photos would you use?
Your blog post or web page includes the information about the plants, as well as how to start growing them inside but you have no photos of actual herbs or plants once they grow because it is still too early. Or you have one or two photos of the process but no finished photos to showcase your grown herbs or spices.
Enter in stock photos. Some people only think of desk spaces or Ipads when they think of stock images. Not mine. I offer a huge variety of items including herbs and baking items.
Another big thing that comes to mind is holidays. Home decor shops and bloggers always start posting about holidays early. They do this because they are influencers and people like to copy or purchase from some of their favorite accounts.
What if you are a wood sign shop? You want to start getting your fall line out early. Enter in my stock photos. You can use some of my photos with the white space to add your sign into. Then you have an early photo to use without waiting for customer’s photos or until your house is decorated.
5. When You are Simply Not the Best Photographer
We often underestimate the true impact of good vs. bad photos. When writing a blog about home decor, or interior design, people will judge your post on its photos whether you like it or not. Moreover, if the readers are not impressed, they will not take your suggestions or tips seriously, let alone visit your website or blog again. Which if you own a home décor shop you need repeat customers to keep your shop open.
By adding HD stock photos, you can overcome the issue of not being a professional photographer – or not have access to a great camera – before posting your next industry-changing blog or launching a website.
Again a cell phone photo does not count. Even the fancy new iPhones do not do what a larger megapixel or zoomed in lens can do. You cannot print and crop or enlarge cell phone photos.
Any of the photos I offer can be blown up for advertisements or signs as well as website banners or backgrounds without losing any clarity.
Shop Stock Photos
All five of these reasons why you should use stock photos for your home decor website or blog should make your overall appearance and growth that much easier. These styled stock photos can be easily implemented and can be reused over and over again.
If you have any questions or would like me to take photos of a certain set of items or have a color scheme in mind please comment below and let me know.
I do offer product photography as well just hit contact at the top of this page if you want photos of your own products.
Below is a video I thought was very helpful in using stock photos on Instagram. It relates to all social media platforms too.
