Team photos on your website: what works and what does not

Key takeaways

Real team photos are one of the cheapest trust signals a business website can carry. Nielsen Norman Group found people pay attention to photos of real people and ignore generic stock images. The mistakes are using stock people, mismatched selfies, outdated photos of former staff and burying the team on one page nobody visits.

• Use real photos of real staff, never stock models.
• Keep a consistent style: same background, framing and light.
• Show people at work, not only headshots.
• Get written consent and update photos when staff change.

Why do team photos matter on a business website?

Buyers of services are choosing people. Seeing who will answer the phone, visit the house or handle the account reduces uncertainty. Nielsen Norman Group's research on photos as web content found users scrutinise images of real people and products, while generic, decorative images are ignored.

• The most common business website design mistakes
• Website trust signals that make visitors enquire

Mistake 1: stock photos of people

Smiling models in a stock office are instantly recognisable and suggest you have something to hide. Visitors who have seen the same face on another site lose trust. Even modest real photos beat polished stock.

• Stock photos on a business website: when they hurt

Mistake 2: mismatched photos

A team page made of holiday selfies, cropped group shots and one professional headshot looks disorganised. Shoot everyone on the same day, against the same background, with the same framing and light. If someone joins later, recreate the setup.

Mistake 3: out-of-date photos

Photos of people who left two years ago, or of the founder ten years younger, mislead visitors who then meet different people. Review the team page whenever staff change, at least once a year.

Mistake 4: headshots only

Headshots show faces; photos of people at work show what you do. A tradesperson fitting a boiler, a clinician with a patient (with consent), or a warehouse team loading a vehicle tells buyers far more. Use a mix on service pages and the homepage.

Mistake 5: hiding the team on one page

The About or Team page often gets few visits. Put a relevant photo of real people on service pages, near the contact form and on the homepage, where buyers are deciding. A face next to the form can make getting in touch feel less anonymous.

• Write an About page that builds trust

What about consent and privacy?

A photo of an identifiable person is personal data under UK GDPR. Get written consent from staff before publishing, explain where the photo will appear, and remove it promptly if they leave or ask. Take extra care with customers, patients and children in workplace photos.

• What a UK website privacy policy must include

What makes a good team photo?

Good team photos are well lit, sharp, consistently framed, and show people looking approachable rather than posed. Add each person's name and role, and alt text describing them. Natural light and a plain background work well; a professional photographer for a half day is often affordable and worth it.

• Blurry images on your website: causes and fixes
• Alt text for business website images: how to write it

What does this look like in practice?

A pattern we see: a service business uses a stock image of a call centre on its contact page. Replacing it with a photo of the actual small team who answer enquiries, with their names, makes the page feel like contacting people rather than a system.

• See client work
• Website Design & Development for UK businesses
• Website design review: score your own site in 30 minutes

Team photos checklist

• Replace stock people with real staff.
• Shoot everyone in one consistent style.
• Include photos of people at work.
• Add names, roles and alt text.
• Place photos on service and contact pages.
• Get written consent and update when staff change.

Next step

List every photo of a person on your site and mark which are stock, outdated or inconsistent.