We were on a Winston-Salem law firm's website last week and noticed the same model appearing in three places: the "About Us" page, the "Our Team" page, and a featured testimonial. She was a stock photo. The actual attorneys at the firm were nowhere to be seen on the site. Visitors do not consciously notice this kind of thing, but trust quietly leaks out and conversion rates suffer for reasons no one can pin down.
Why Stock Photos Hurt Conversion
Stock photography signals two things to a savvy visitor in 2009: either you have something to hide or you did not care enough to invest in real photography. Both undermine trust. Worse, the same iStockphoto images are now used by thousands of businesses, so visitors increasingly recognize the same smiling executive on dozens of unrelated sites.
The Photos That Actually Convert for Triad Service Businesses
- →Headshots of every team member. Real names, real faces, real titles. Buyers want to see who they will be working with before they pick up the phone.
- →A photo of your physical building. Storefront, exterior signage, and the front door. Especially important for medical, legal, and financial services where prospects want to know you are a real local business.
- →Photos of your work in progress. A roofer mid-project. A dentist with a patient (with consent). A custom cabinet maker in the workshop. Process photos build confidence in craftsmanship.
- →Before-and-after photos. Especially for visual services: landscaping, painting, dental cosmetics, home remodeling. These are some of the highest-converting images you can put on a website.
- →Photos of real customers (with permission). Holding the keys to their new home, sitting in the dental chair smiling, standing next to the finished kitchen. Authentic over polished, every time.
How to Get Good Photos Without a $5,000 Photographer
- →Hire a local Triad photographer for one day. A solid commercial shoot covering team headshots, the building, and 20 to 30 work-in-progress photos runs $800 to $1,500 in Greensboro, Winston-Salem, and High Point. The asset lasts three to five years.
- →Use a good consumer DSLR for ongoing project photos. A $600 Canon Rebel or Nikon D90 in the hands of someone in the office who has 10 minutes of YouTube training will produce photos that beat any stock library.
- →Photograph every job site. Train field crews to take three photos at the start of every job and three at the end. Build a library month after month with no extra cost.
- →Avoid the worst pitfalls. No fluorescent overhead lighting (use window light when possible). No cluttered backgrounds. No team members caught mid-blink.
When Stock Photography Is Acceptable
Abstract concepts (a city skyline, a generic "growth" chart, a stylized Triad map) are fine in stock form because no visitor expects them to be original. People, faces, and team imagery are not. The line is whether the photo is meant to represent your business specifically. If yes, it must be real.
After we replaced every stock photo on the Winston-Salem law firm's site with real photos of the partners, the office building, and the courtroom, contact form submissions grew 41 percent in 60 days. Nothing else on the site changed.
Read the companion pieces on why brochure websites do not produce leads and headlines, offers, and calls to action above the fold, or have our digital marketing agency coordinate a real photography shoot for your website.