--- title: Why Too Much Stock Photography on Your Site Can Be a Trust Killer description: Too much stock photography can make a website visitor wonder who you really are, and what you really look like. That's a sure way to lose their trust. image: https://www.trustsignals.com/hubfs/stock%20photography%20sends%20a%20bad%20trust%20signal.jpg --- [![Trust Signals Trademark](https://www.trustsignals.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Trust%20Signals%20Trademark.png?width=300&height=82&name=Trust%20Signals%20Trademark.png) ](https://www.trustsignals.com/) - [About](https://www.trustsignals.com/about) - [Book](https://book.trustsignals.com) - [Blog](https://www.trustsignals.com/blog) - [Rankings](https://www.trustsignals.com/blog/tag/rankings) - [Contact](https://www.trustsignals.com/contact) [ << Back to Blog ](https://www.trustsignals.com/blog) [Website Design & Experience](https://www.trustsignals.com/blog/tag/website-design-experience) # Why Too Much Stock Photography on Your Site Can Be a Trust Killer ![Image of Scott Baradell](https://www.trustsignals.com/hubfs/Images/scott-banner.jpeg) ###### Scott Baradell **Published:** Jul 16, 2020 ###### Share [mailto:?subject=Check%20out%20https://www.trustsignals.com/blog/why-too-much-stock-photography-on-your-site-can-be-a-trust-killer%20&body=Check%20out%20https://www.trustsignals.com/blog/why-too-much-stock-photography-on-your-site-can-be-a-trust-killer&media=https://f.hubspotusercontent30.net/hubfs/7507638/stock%20photography%20sends%20a%20bad%20trust%20signal.jpg](mailto:?subject=Check%20out%20https://www.trustsignals.com/blog/why-too-much-stock-photography-on-your-site-can-be-a-trust-killer%20&body=Check%20out%20https://www.trustsignals.com/blog/why-too-much-stock-photography-on-your-site-can-be-a-trust-killer&media=https://f.hubspotusercontent30.net/hubfs/7507638/stock%20photography%20sends%20a%20bad%20trust%20signal.jpg) Have you ever visited the website for a physician's practice or healthtech company and come face to face with a homepage hero image that looks like this? ![stock photo as trust killer nurse](https://www.trustsignals.com/hs-fs/hubfs/stock%20photo%20as%20trust%20killer%20nurse.jpg?width=600&name=stock%20photo%20as%20trust%20killer%20nurse.jpg) What exactly have we learned from this image -- arguably the *single most viewed element* of your entire website? Nada. Zip. Zilch. Diddly-squat. Why on earth would you waste the most important real estate on your website on a generic stock image that literally any other healthcare company could also download from Shutterstock and use on their site as well? It's the worst possible way to set yourself apart -- and also the worst way to establish trust. When people come to your website, they want to learn about you -- in words *and* pictures: - They want to see photos of your team. - They want to see videos of your product or service in action. - The want to see your offices and facilities. - They want to see detailed testimonials accompanied by the smiling faces of actual happy customers.  All of this imagery helps to tell your unique story. It also communicates that your visitors are not just coming to a nameless, faceless website. They are visiting your online home to learn who you are. Authentic imagery also improves e-commerce sales. A [2019 Cornell Tech study](https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2019/01/seeing-believing-depends-photo-quality-study-says) found that on secondhand marketplaces like eBay, sellers who post their own high-quality images of products are trusted far more than those who post either stock photos of those same products or poor-quality photos. Because online visitors can’t see and touch your product in the real world, custom imagery fills a critical gap in building trust.  That’s not to say that stock photos don’t serve a purpose. It makes sense to use them when it would be simply too difficult or expensive to use custom photography.  A frequently updated blog, for example, will typically need to rely on stock photography. Even some of the most popular news sites in the world use stock photography to illustrate their content for this very reason. But the most important images on your site -- those on your homepage, your ["About Us" ](https://www.trustsignals.com/blog/tell-your-superhero-story-on-your-about-us-page)page, your ["Team"](https://www.trustsignals.com/blog/want-your-website-visitors-to-trust-you-show-them-your-team) page and your product pages -- should focus on you, not the latest pics on Shutterstock. [![Ready to make your brand more visible and trustworthy to both human buyers and AI systems?](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/7507638/interactive-153859540751.png) ](https://cta-service-cms2.hubspot.com/web-interactives/public/v1/track/redirect?encryptedPayload=AVxigLLICw8PcBcsYLk6IU86PbUJVD4ht0ARlOHe5qwlBTbNVhg9HY8LTg8DdECQ2XlW4vycH4chdyZQHjjTFKxXdLRTxZWpkBLwu6RN4A9rVuBksXRMsSWl26aqBL6a%2FT8%2F3AroNkKaaV8J1AL2s7ePK%2BVQSZkEI4r7aWgaRKnv56Au6GqVfN5Vbw%3D%3D&webInteractiveContentId=153859540751&portalId=7507638) ![Image of Scott Baradell](https://www.trustsignals.com/hubfs/Images/scott-banner.jpeg) #### Scott Baradell Scott is founder and CEO of Idea Grove, one of the most forward-looking public relations agencies in the United States. Idea Grove focuses on helping technology companies reach media and buyers, with clients ranging from venture-backed startups to Fortune 100 companies. ###### Blog posts ## Related Articles [Reputation Management](https://www.trustsignals.com/blog/tag/reputation-management) ![Image of Scott Baradell](https://www.trustsignals.com/hubfs/Images/scott-banner.jpeg) ##### Scott Baradell ### [How to Prevent Losing Trust Online in 2025: Top Strategies & Tips](https://www.trustsignals.com/blog/how-to-prevent-losing-trust-online-top-strategies-tips) Why do businesses lose trust online, and what can be done to stop it? Trust is the foundation of... [ Read more ](https://www.trustsignals.com/blog/how-to-prevent-losing-trust-online-top-strategies-tips) [Website Design & Experience](https://www.trustsignals.com/blog/tag/website-design-experience) ![Image of Scott Baradell](https://www.trustsignals.com/hubfs/Images/scott-banner.jpeg) ##### Scott Baradell ### [Spam Signals: What Your Moz Spam Score Says About Your Website's Trustworthiness](https://www.trustsignals.com/blog/what-your-moz-spam-score-says-about-your-website-trust-signals) Does Google consider your website trustworthy or spammy? For most sites, the answer is somewhere in... [ Read more ](https://www.trustsignals.com/blog/what-your-moz-spam-score-says-about-your-website-trust-signals) [![Trust Signals, a Registered Trademark of Idea Grove LLC](https://www.trustsignals.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Trust%20Signals%2c%20a%20Registered%20Trademark%20of%20Idea%20Grove%20LLC.png?width=300&height=82&name=Trust%20Signals%2c%20a%20Registered%20Trademark%20of%20Idea%20Grove%20LLC.png) ](https://www.trustsignals.com/?hsLang=en) - [Latest Articles](https://www.trustsignals.com/blog) - [Must-Reads](https://www.trustsignals.com/must-reads) - [Contact](https://www.trustsignals.com/contact) [Privacy Policy](https://www.ideagrove.com/privacy-policy/)  |  [Terms of Use](https://www.ideagrove.com/terms-of-use)  |  All Rights Reserved. © 2024 Idea Grove LLC [Follow us on LinkedIn ](https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/trust-signals) [Follow us on Twitter ](https://twitter.com/Trust_Signals) [Follow us on Instagram ](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAZE-jawJu0kizmRKCb7A0w) [Follow us on Quora ](https://www.quora.com/profile/Scott-Baradell) [Idea Grove Website ](https://www.ideagrove.com/) [Follow us on Facebook ](https://www.facebook.com/DallasSEO/) ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Scott Baradell", "url" : "https://www.trustsignals.com/blog/author/scott-baradell" }, "dateModified" : "2020-07-16T17:55:12.557Z", "datePublished" : "2020-07-16T16:23:25.000Z", "headline" : "Why Too Much Stock Photography on Your Site Can Be a Trust Killer", "image" : [ "https://www.trustsignals.com/hubfs/stock%20photography%20sends%20a%20bad%20trust%20signal.jpg" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://www.trustsignals.com/blog/why-too-much-stock-photography-on-your-site-can-be-a-trust-killer", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://www.trustsignals.com/hubfs/Trust%20Signals%20-%20Phase%201%20Redesign/trust-signals-logo-1.svg" }, "name" : "Media Orchard LLC" } } ``` ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "Organization", "address" : { "@type" : "PostalAddress", "addressCountry" : "US", "addressLocality" : "Dallas", "addressRegion" : "TX" }, "alternateName" : [ "TrustSignals", "Trust Signals Marketing" ], "description" : "Trust Signals is a B2B PR and AI visibility agency founded by Scott Baradell, creator of the Trust Signals® framework. Idea Grove helps B2B brands build authority and get recommended by AI through its LLM Visibility Services.", "founder" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Scott Baradell", "sameAs" : [ "https://www.linkedin.com/in/baradell", "https://x.com/DallasInbound" ], "url" : "https://www.trustsignals.com/about" }, "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://www.trustsignals.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Images/trust-signals-logo-small.jpg?width=275&name=trust-signals-logo-small.jpg", "width" : 275 }, "name" : "Trust Signals", "parentOrganization" : { "@type" : "Organization", "name" : "Idea Grove", "url" : "https://www.ideagrove.com" }, "sameAs" : [ "https://www.linkedin.com/company/trust-signals/" ], "url" : "https://www.trustsignals.com" } ```