/ Web design
How many photos should my website have — and should they be stock?
Enough to show real work and real people. Use your own photos wherever possible; stock is a last resort.
/ 01
The short version
Photography is the fastest way to make a small site feel like a real business.
/ 02
What actually matters
- • Homepage: one strong hero, plus real work or team shots.
- • Service pages: two or three images of that specific service.
- • About: real faces, not silhouettes.
- • Before/after shots outperform almost everything for trades.
- • Compress everything to WebP before upload.
/ 03
The bit most people get wrong
A slightly imperfect real photo builds more trust than a flawless stock image everyone's seen before.
/ 04
What to do next
Spend an hour with a decent phone camera and natural light photographing your actual work. It'll beat what you have.
/ 05
Where RIOT fits in
We're a small Colchester studio helping UK SMBs get website imagery right without agency waste or freelancer flake. If you've read this far and you want a second opinion on your specific setup, book a 20-minute call and we'll tell you honestly whether it's worth doing anything at all.
We work with clients across Essex, Suffolk, London and the wider UK — and remotely with brands abroad. No lock-in, no monthly retainer minimums, no pretending your problem is bigger than it is.
/ FAQs
Common questions
Is stock photography ever OK?
For abstract concepts and backgrounds, yes.
Do I need a photographer?
It's a worthwhile one-off spend for most local businesses.
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