Generic stock photography undermines credibility on service business websites. When images show static, posed, or unrealistic scenes (a person sitting on a roof with no socks, a worker with a clipboard doing nothing visible), they signal inauthenticity to prospective clients. The principle established during [1]'s website redesign: prefer images that show real work in progress over polished but hollow stock photos.
This is especially important for trades and field-service businesses, where the work itself is the proof of competence.
"Show action" — not someone posing near a job site, but someone actively doing the job.
Authentic action photography serves two purposes:
1. Credibility — it signals that the business actually does the work shown
2. Differentiation — most competitors use the same stock photo libraries; real photos stand out
These patterns came up directly in the Seamless review and generalize broadly:
| Failure Mode | Example | Problem |
|---|---|---|
| The Clipboard Pose | Inspector standing on roof holding clipboard | Doesn't show what an inspection actually involves |
| The Idle Sitter | Worker sitting on roof ridge, no tools, no socks | Looks staged; no work is happening |
| The Obscured Process | Restoration photo cropped to show buckets | Shows equipment associated with low-quality work; hides the actual process |
| The Generic Worker | Any roofer from a stock library | Indistinguishable from every competitor's site |
If the client has real job-site photography, use it — even if technically imperfect. A slightly grainy photo of an actual crew member doing actual work beats a crisp stock image every time. Caveats:
When authentic photos aren't available, look for stock images that depict the process rather than a person near the process:
Specific to restoration/coating work: buckets in frame signal manual application and low-tech process. If client photos include buckets, crop or replace. Spray application imagery is preferred — it looks professional and represents the actual method.
Replacing stock photos isn't just a visual decision — it has SEO implications. Every image should be tagged with descriptive alt text that includes relevant location and service keywords (e.g., "commercial roof spray restoration Milwaukee"). This allows images to surface in search results independently of page copy.
See also: [2]
| Owner | Action |
|---|---|
| Melissa / design team | Find replacement for roof inspection image — show active inspection, not clipboard pose |
| Melissa / design team | Find photo of someone actively spraying a roof (restoration page) |
| Melissa / design team | Find photo showing active roofing work (Contact Us page) |
| Brandon (Seamless) | Search for authentic team photos for Roof Repair & Maintenance page |
This strategy was developed and documented during the [3]. The specific image decisions made in that meeting are the source examples above.