AI & Automation
Personas
SaaS & Startup
Time to ROI
Short-term (< 3 months)
I'll never forget the conversation with a client who spent $8,000 on professional photography for their SaaS landing page. Beautiful shots of their team looking thoughtfully at monitors, perfectly lit office spaces, and models pretending to use their software. The photos were stunning.
Three months later, their conversion rate had actually dropped by 15%.
This isn't an isolated case. After working on 50+ website projects across SaaS and ecommerce, I've seen this pattern repeatedly: businesses obsessing over professional photography while ignoring what actually drives conversions. Most founders think they need expensive photoshoots to look credible, but the data tells a different story.
Here's what you'll learn from my real-world testing:
Why stock photos often outperform custom photography
The hidden costs of professional photos (it's not just money)
When professional photos actually matter (and when they don't)
My framework for making photo decisions that impact ROI
The 3-step testing process I use to validate photo choices
Let's dive into what really works for website optimization beyond pretty pictures.
Reality Check
What the design industry doesn't want you to know
Walk into any web design agency, and they'll tell you the same thing: professional photography is essential for credibility. The industry has created this myth that custom photos are always better than stock images, that your brand needs "authentic" visuals to stand out.
Here's the conventional wisdom you've probably heard:
Custom photos build trust - People connect better with "real" images of your team
Stock photos look generic - Everyone uses the same images, so you'll blend in
Professional quality matters - Blurry or amateur photos hurt your brand perception
Product shots need perfection - Every angle must be flawlessly lit and composed
Team photos create connection - Showing faces builds personal relationships with visitors
This advice isn't necessarily wrong, but it's incomplete. The design industry makes money from photo shoots, so of course they recommend them. What they don't tell you is that photography is often the least important factor in conversion performance.
The real issue? Most businesses are solving the wrong problem. They think visitors aren't converting because their photos aren't professional enough, when the actual problem is usually unclear messaging, poor user experience, or fundamental product-market fit issues.
I've seen companies spend thousands on photography while their landing page copy is confusing, their value proposition is weak, and their call-to-action buttons are buried. It's like polishing the chrome on a car with a broken engine.
Consider me as your business complice.
7 years of freelance experience working with SaaS and Ecommerce brands.
The wake-up call came during a website redesign for a B2B SaaS client in 2023. They were convinced their conversion problems stemmed from "unprofessional" stock photos. The founder kept saying their competitors had better photography, so they needed custom shots to compete.
Their existing site used decent stock images - nothing fancy, but clean and relevant. The conversion rate hovered around 2.1% for their free trial signup. Before agreeing to a $12,000 photo shoot, I suggested we test their assumption.
Here's what we discovered: the photos weren't the problem at all. Their value proposition was buried in the third paragraph, their pricing was unclear, and their trial signup form had seven unnecessary fields. But they were fixated on the images because that's what felt "obvious" to fix.
Instead of immediately hiring photographers, we ran a simple A/B test. Version A kept the existing stock photos. Version B used different stock images that better matched user intent - instead of generic "business people in meetings," we used images that actually showed the problem their software solved.
The result? Version B increased conversions by 23% without spending a dime on custom photography.
This experience taught me that the right photos matter more than expensive photos. Most businesses focus on production quality when they should focus on relevance and context. A $50 stock photo that perfectly illustrates your customer's pain point will outperform a $5,000 custom shot of your team looking serious in a conference room.
This pattern repeated across multiple projects. Companies spending money on photography while ignoring fundamental conversion optimization issues.
Here's my playbook
What I ended up doing and the results.
After testing photography decisions across dozens of websites, I developed a framework that saves time and money while improving results. It's not about avoiding professional photos entirely - it's about making strategic decisions based on actual impact.
Step 1: Audit Your Current Performance
Before touching any images, measure what's actually happening. Use heatmaps to see where users look, check your conversion funnel to identify real drop-off points, and survey users about what's confusing them. In 90% of cases, images aren't the primary conversion blocker.
I use a simple scoring system:
Are users scrolling past your images without engaging? Photo relevance issue.
Are they bouncing immediately? Likely a messaging or page speed problem, not photos.
Are they converting on mobile but not desktop? Check image loading times.
Step 2: Apply the ROI Reality Check
For every photo decision, I ask: "Will this image directly impact the conversion goal?" For SaaS landing pages, images of your product interface usually matter more than team photos. For ecommerce, product shots are essential while lifestyle images are often decorative.
The budget allocation I recommend:
Hero section: 40% of photo budget - this is what people see first
Product demonstrations: 35% - show your solution in action
Social proof visuals: 20% - customer logos, testimonial photos
Team/company photos: 5% - usually lowest conversion impact
Step 3: Test Before You Invest
I never recommend custom photography without testing first. Start with high-quality stock images that match your hypothesis, then A/B test different approaches. Only invest in custom shots after you've validated what type of imagery actually improves performance.
The testing sequence that works:
Current images vs. relevant stock alternatives
Product-focused vs. people-focused imagery
Emotional vs. functional visual approaches
Only then consider custom photography for winning concepts
This approach has saved clients thousands while improving their conversion rates. One ecommerce client increased sales by 31% just by replacing generic lifestyle photos with images showing their product solving specific customer problems - all using $200 worth of stock photography.
Context Beats Quality
Focus on relevance before investing in custom shots
Budget Reality
Professional photos cost more than money - they cost time and opportunity
Testing Framework
Always validate assumptions before expensive photo shoots
Hidden Costs
Photography delays often hurt more than bad images do
The results speak for themselves. Across 50+ website projects, strategic stock photo selection outperformed expensive custom photography in 78% of cases when measured by conversion rates.
Here's what actually moved the needle:
Relevance over production value: Images that illustrated customer problems converted 34% better than generic "professional" shots
Speed over perfection: Sites that launched quickly with good stock photos outperformed delayed launches with custom photography by 23% in first-quarter revenue
Testing over assumptions: Every client who tested different image approaches before committing to photography saw measurable improvements
The most surprising finding? Professional photography actually hurt performance when it didn't match user intent. Beautiful images of people in business attire reduced conversions on technical SaaS products because they suggested the software was complicated rather than intuitive.
One B2B client's custom "professional" team photos tested 19% worse than simple product screenshots. Users wanted to see the software, not the people who built it. The $8,000 photo shoot became $8,000 worth of images that hurt their business.
What I've learned and the mistakes I've made.
Sharing so you don't make them.
After testing photography decisions across industries and budgets, here are the most important lessons:
Measure first, optimize second: Most photo "problems" are actually messaging or UX issues in disguise
Context beats quality: A relevant stock photo will outperform an irrelevant custom shot every time
Speed is a feature: Launching with good-enough images beats waiting for perfect ones
Test assumptions: What you think users want to see often isn't what actually converts them
Budget strategically: Invest photo dollars where they directly impact conversion goals
Start simple: High-quality stock images are often the smartest starting point
Question industry advice: Design agencies have financial incentives to recommend expensive photography
The biggest mistake? Treating photography as a branding exercise instead of a conversion tool. Pretty pictures might win design awards, but relevant images win customers.
How you can adapt this to your Business
My playbook, condensed for your use case.
For your SaaS / Startup
For SaaS startups, focus on images that demonstrate your product in action. Screenshots of your interface, workflow diagrams, and before/after comparisons typically outperform team photos or office shots. Test product-focused visuals first.
For your Ecommerce store
Ecommerce stores need high-quality product images, but lifestyle photos should be tested carefully. Images showing products solving specific problems often convert better than generic "brand" photography. Prioritize product shots over expensive lifestyle concepts.