Thinking of using stock photos on your restaurant website?
Think again.
One study found that people completely ignore stock images on websites.
The result is enough, but we always want to know why. Think of your own web browsing habits. When you go to a website and see stock images you probably glance over them because you know they’re faked. You know they’re not genuine.
Those fake smiles. Those staged settings. It’s just not real and people can pick up on that instantly.
Stock images might actually do more harm than good. If they’re too large on your page then it’s going to take a while for the page to load and you’ll frustrate your visitors. If it takes too long (more than 2-3 seconds) they’ll leave your site completely.
Say goodbye to that next sale.
Images are still a good thing for your website. You do have the option to use fewer images. This can increase the speed of your site. And think about your menu. Many restaurants don’t show food on their menu at all. They let the descriptions do the selling.
That can work online too. It’s hard to photograph food. If you publish photos of your food online you risk making the food look bad and turning away customers. Part of the intrigue is letting the text do the talking so your customers have to see what the dish looks like in person.
However, it’s still good to have branding on your site. Branding includes your logo, but it also includes having little illustrations and textures on your site. This can set the mood for your restaurant. You probably do this on your menu.
Some restaurants have a simple, clean menu while others have something more hearty and homey. Take the same approach with your website. Make it feel like part of your brand or make the customer feel like they’re sitting in your restaurant.
If you do want to use photos (and it can work really well) use real photos. And hire a professional photographer to help with the settings and shots.
You can try taking images of real food. It can work really well and get customers more interested in visiting your place after visiting your restaurant.
But also look at taking other photos. Your photographer can take photos of the inside and outside of your restaurant. They can take photos of your real workers doing what they do to create your wonderful dishes.
These photos make your restaurant seem real and people will be able to tell. They’ll look at your photos and they’ll recognize the people when they come in to eat. That connects your customers to your restaurant on a more personal level. It makes you more trustworthy and that’s a big part of the buying process.
Avoid the fake photos. You’re better off having real photos or nothing at all.
