The short verdict
- Images on a marketing site have one job: help the visitor believe what the words say.
- Real screenshots and real photos usually do that better than anything invented.
- Illustration works for ideas that cannot be photographed, and works best when it is clearly yours.
01What generated sites tend to use
Ask a builder for a landing page and the images are usually one of three things: abstract shapes and gradient blobs, a mock interface with made-up charts, or stock photos of people smiling at laptops. All three fill space. None of them shows the visitor anything true about your company.
02The three kinds, compared
| Factor | Product screenshots | Photography | Illustration |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best at | Showing how it works | Showing who and where | Explaining ideas |
| Trust | High, if real | High if real, low if stock | Neutral |
| Effort | Low, but needs care | A shoot, or real snaps | A good illustrator |
| Risk | Cluttered, unreadable crops | Generic stock look | Generic style, says nothing |
03Product screenshots
For software, the product is the most persuasive image you have. The mistake is showing all of it. A full dashboard at hero size, with tiny text, tells the visitor “this is complicated”. Crop to the one part that proves the point of the section. Remove sidebars and clutter. Use realistic, not personal, sample data. Make sure the text in the screenshot is readable at the size it is shown, including on mobile.
04Photography
For services, local businesses and anything with people at its heart, real photos win. Your team, your workspace, your work in progress, your customers with permission. They do not need to be glossy. Well-lit phone photos of real things beat polished stock, because visitors can tell the difference.
Stock photos are fine for texture, like a landscape or a material, but not to stand in for your people or your customers.
05Illustration
Illustration is good for things a camera cannot capture: a process, an abstract benefit, how data moves. It works when it has a clear style tied to the brand and is used consistently. It fails when it is the same flat-people style every startup used, or decorative shapes with nothing to say.
Diagrams count here too, and are often the most useful kind: a simple drawing of how your product fits between two others can do more than a page of text.
“Every image should answer a question the visitor has. If it answers nothing, it is decoration.”
06Choosing per section
- Hero: the product working, or the people behind the service.
- Features: cropped screenshots, one per feature.
- How it works: a diagram or simple illustration.
- About: real photos of the team.
- Proof: real results, real customer photos or logos with permission.
07The technical side
Whatever you choose, export at the size it is displayed, about twice for sharp screens, in WebP or AVIF. Lazy load anything below the first screen. Write alt text that says what the image shows. Screenshots with text in them need especially good alt text, since that text is invisible to screen readers.
08Questions people ask
Can I use AI-generated images?
For abstract textures and backgrounds, often yes. For people, products or places presented as real, no. Visitors increasingly spot them, and they undermine everything else.
My product is not built yet. What do I show?
A clear diagram of how it will work, or a labelled design preview. Do not present a mockup as a live product.
Is it worth paying for a photo shoot?
For service businesses, usually yes. Half a day can produce enough for the whole site and a year of social posts.
Can you tell me which images to replace?
Yes. Send us the link and we will mark the ones doing the least work.
