This is actually not something I've done very often, but it is a strategy I'd like to employ in the near future - Stock Photography. If the opportunity strikes itself to utilize your own photography, by all means do so. But in a lot of situations, web masters who concentrate on content don't have a lot of time to spend on the graphics surrounding their text.
Visitors expect pictures. Whether it's a simple comic-like gif or a photo, these things need to be present in articles.
One thing to keep an eye on is file size. Growing a page from a 8 second download to a 35 second download is not something that you want to do. Fortunately, many stock photo sites already pre-shrink their less expensive images for display on web sites. The full resolution images are as much as 30 times the cost of the compressed and smaller versions.
The following is a list of stock photography sites. Pictures can be had for as little as a dollar. If you are publishing an article daily, stock photos would cost you 30 dollars a month. Not too bad if you are trying to build an audience and add a touch of professionalism to your site. There are subscriptions available as well that provide a slightly better price point, but going that route can limit your selection and make you brand loyal in an arena where new comers pop up regularly.
This is by no means an exstensive list, just a few that have popped up in my own meanderings around the web. iStockPhoto is probably the best known of the group.
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