7 Tips for Finding Great Images at BigStockPhoto for Your Coaching Website

I love using BigStockPhoto for images for my websites, client websites, blogs, ebooks, downloads, etc. They’ve got a huge collection of images, inexpensive and they satisfy all visual image needs.

Here are 7 tips to find great images for your coaching website.

I’ve also run across a bunch of others sweet paid-for and free stock photos and image sources over the years you may want to check out later along with my favorite 11.

1. BigStockPhoto has Great Images, Not Just Cheesy Faces

Overused images (a woman with a headset and perfect teeth) can be lame.

At BigStockPhoto, there’s a lot more than simple images. There’s also:

• banner images
• landscape (wide) images for headers, banners, and hero images
• concept images for neat visuals (search on a word like “concept eternity” to see some creative visuals)
• patterns and textures which are great for backgrounds
• silhouettes (shapes of people and things) for logos
• icons which are small images used near buttons or for features
• and more

When doing a search at BigStockPhoto, try adding in words like “silhouette” or “concept” to see what you get.

Here’s a search on “concept eternity”.

2. For Blogs, Choose Images that Obviously Relate to the Title

Using an image to support the title of your blog is a great move.

In my earlier days of blogging, I too would over 10 minutes, easily, even up to 30 minutes seeking a great image. I’d get frustrated as I kept seeking a “better” visual.

Then, I’d get upset with myself for wasting so much time.

I see this happen to many others as well. Especially when they are new to blogging and want to impress their readers.

From over 10 years in blogging, coaching others, and reviewing stats, I’ve found that readers love images when the connection to the title is immediately obvious.

For example, here’s a blog post I wrote a while back. Take note of the title and visual.

To get the image, I simply searched on the word “conversation”. I spent all of 20-30 seconds to find this one.

As you can see, it fits nicely.

Keep it simple.

3. Add Humor

Remember, from #2, do not overthink it but keep it simple and relevant. It’s worth repeating. 

Now, if you want to add humor, a great way to do that is to add the word “animal” to your search.

Here’s another blog post I wrote on headings.

To get a good image, I simply searched on “news and animal”.

4. Buy Credits Not a Subscription

For most coaches who blog, perhaps weekly, you’ll only need four images per month.

Thus, buying credits (click Plans & Pricing, then scroll down to See All Plans) is the move to make to save some $$.

Buying a subscription is overkill.

5. For Ebooks or PDFs, One Good Image Will Do the Trick

When creating an ebook or other downloadable product, one good image to support the book title works great. Just make sure the image readily reflects the title. Simple. Here are three examples.

6. Base Your Website on One Good Image

Just like blogs and ebooks, one image can serve as the design basis for your website. For example, you could use a picture of lime for a health coaching website and simply sample colors from the lime — various greens and yellows. The lime’s surface can serve as a texture used in the background.

If you’re working with women seeking to realize their potential in their life, a good image of a woman transforming and full of life would be great. The third image in the previous tip above is an example of such a woman.

As you can see below, Shaunna’s website colors are based on the food image that sweeps through the banner – the beat root red/browns serving as the main color.

7. You Only Need the Smallest Version (Lowest Resolution) for Your Website

When using images for print, you will need a high resolution.

When using images on websites, you only need low resolutions – usually the lowest they sell.

The below image of the monkey with a laptop can be purchased at various sizes.

The small size is 650 x 900 pixels is almost as big as my entire website that you’re viewing. It will do just fine within the body content. 

Here, you can see that the small resolution is just 1 credit.

At the time of this blog, you’ll pay $1.50 for it if you buy a 25 pack of images for $50, which is a great place to start.

Great images coupled with compelling copy makes visitors want to contact you for coaching! Learn how in The Coaching Website Guide.

Got a great resource for images? If so, share it here and let me know what you like about it.

As you can see, I love BigStockPhoto for finding great images for coaching websites, blogging and creating digital products.

Here’s another sweet list of paid-for and free stock photos and image sources I’ve run across over the years.

Do you have any favorite resources or tips to share? Please comment below.

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