Real photos beat stock every time
A stock photo of a smiling stranger in a hard hat says nothing about your business. Your own photos — your shop, your food, your hands at work — are unique, honest, and impossible for a competitor to copy. Search engines increasingly favor original images, and customers always have.
The move
Replace one stock photo with a real one this week. Start with the most important page.
Do it step by step
- Open your most important page and spot the stock photos.
- Pick the most obvious fake — the stranger who isn't you.
- Take a real photo: your shop, your work, your hands, your team.
- Shoot in good light, hold the phone steady, get in close.
- Compress it before uploading so it doesn't slow the page.
- Swap it in, and write honest alt text describing what’s there.
- Replace one more next week. Real beats perfect.