You’re putting together your website and you need a photo for the home page. You search for stock photos, find a nice shot of a smiling team in a bright office, and drop it in. Job done.
Except that team isn’t yours, that office isn’t yours, and there’s a fair chance another business is using the very same photo. Stock images have their place, but your website deserves better than standing in for someone else.
Stock photos aren’t the enemy
Let’s be fair to stock photos. They’re quick, affordable and often technically excellent. When you’re starting out with no budget, or you need an image for an abstract idea, they can do the job.
Stock images also work well for some background textures, general blog illustrations or concepts that are hard to photograph. Using a few isn’t a crime.
The problem comes when stock photos are doing the most important job on your website: showing people who you are.
Real photos build trust and help you stand out
Customers want to see who they’re dealing with
People buy from people, especially from small, local businesses. Before they call a plumber, book a massage or visit a café, they want a sense of who they’ll be dealing with.
Real photos answer the questions customers are asking:
- Who will turn up at my house?
- What does the shop or clinic look like inside?
- Is this a real local business, or a website that could be anywhere?
- What does their work actually look like?
Stock photos can’t answer any of those. And many people can spot a stock photo instantly. That polished, slightly too perfect look can make a genuine business feel less genuine.
Standing out instead of blending in
Stock libraries are used by a huge number of businesses. The most popular images get used again and again, sometimes by competitors in the same town.
Imagine a customer comparing three local businesses and seeing the same handshake photo on two of them. It doesn’t help either business. Neither one looks memorable.
Your real photos are yours alone. Nobody else has your team, your premises, your products or your finished jobs. That makes them one of the simplest ways to look different from everyone else in your field.
Consistency across your website, socials and Google
Your customers see you in more places than just your website. They see your Google Business Profile, your Facebook page, your Instagram, maybe your LinkedIn. Ideally, all of those should feel like the same business.
When you have a set of real brand photos, you can use them everywhere:
- Your website home page, about page and service pages.
- Your Google Business Profile, so people recognise you when they arrive.
- Your social media profile and cover images.
- Printed material like flyers and brochures.
The result is a business that looks the same wherever people find it. That kind of consistency builds recognition, and recognition builds trust. Stock images, on the other hand, are hard to keep consistent, because each one was shot by a different photographer in a different style.
Real local photos also make sense for Google. A profile with clear, recent photos of your actual business looks active and helps customers know what to expect.
What makes good brand photos
Brand photography isn’t about stiff, formal portraits. It’s about capturing your business as it really is, at its best. Good brand photos often include:
- Your team: relaxed, friendly headshots and shots of people at work.
- Your space: your shopfront, workshop, clinic or office.
- Your products: clean, well-lit shots that show the detail.
- Your work in action: tools, hands, customers being served, jobs in progress.
It also helps if your photos match the look of your brand, with colours and moods that suit your logo and website. That’s much easier when the photographer and the web designer work together.
Brand photography through Inversit
At Inversit, brand photography is handled by Bella, our photographer and graphic designer, in collaboration with The Bella Rose Collective. She photographs businesses, teams and products so your website can use real images instead of stock.
Because Bella works alongside Carrie, our web designer, the photos are taken with your website in mind. We know which shots the home page needs, which crops work on a phone and which images will suit your Google profile and socials. You can find out more on our photography page.
It also ties in with your branding. If we’ve designed your logo or brand identity, your photos can be planned to suit the same colours and feel. And when it’s time for a new site, our custom WordPress websites are built to show those photos at their best.
When stock is still okay
We’re not saying you should never use a stock image again. If you need a picture for a blog post about a general topic, or you’re waiting on a photo shoot, stock can fill a gap.
The key is to keep your most important spots for real images: your home page, your about page, your team section and your Google profile. Those are the places where customers decide whether they trust you.
Ready to show customers the real you?
If your website relies on stock photos and you’d like it to feel more like your business, we’d love to help. Book a free consultation, or ask for a free website health check and we’ll give you honest, plain-English feedback. Call us on 02 6610 9202, Monday to Friday, 9:30am to 4:30pm.
