The other day I was talking to someone about my lack of photos and how I have not had a branded photo shoot in years.

The truth is I am a little bit afraid as my weight has fluctuated as it did with my last sweet baby, and I find it hard to want to take pictures of myself. I really wish I had kept all the beautiful pictures from my last shoot, but alas, they are lost in space somewhere.

Now I don’t know if you are like me and just don’t have the heart for a photo shoot, or maybe you can’t afford the pictures you deserve right now. As a photographer friend of mine said recently, “quality photos have become a luxury in this economy..”

Perhaps you just don’t even have the time for a photo session right now (because you also have three semi-feral children?..ok moving on)

With this on my heart, I set down to write you a few tips for because two things I know are true:

1. While you don’t always NEED tons of super fancy photos of yourself for your website OR in your social media, people want to see that you are a REAL person, now more than ever before

2. You can get by with just a few photos, and some really great design tricks on your website. That’s where I come in..

So without further ado, I give you my inside tricks from a website designer’s point of view, on how to make your website stand out even with no fancy branded photos on your website.

1) Use Paid Stock Images

Full disclosure, I purchased the photos on my site several years ago, I believe on Etsy. You can also use Etsy, or another platform to buy a collection of matching stock images for very inexpensive.

Try googling “stock image collections (insert your niche)” and scroll to get ideas. Additionally, you can type “branded stock photos,” in the etsy search bar. There are still many small business owners who use Etsy which is why I like to use it whenever I can.

2) Use Cohesive Free Stock Images

Pixabay, PicMonkey, and Canva all offer free stock images, though I use a paid Canva account and have for years. The trick is to try to use images from the same photographer, or that have similar colors and looks.

For example, since I have a professional Canva account, I can click on an image I like, and choose “View More by (the creator).” Thus taking me to see if the same photographer has a series of similar photos.

When working on a Squarespace website, you can pull beautiful stock photos from Unsplash right to your website page, it is very convenient. Additionally, you can pay for premium images from there as well.

3) Use Unique Backgrounds

Squarespace has an awesome feature for backgrounds, and as with most Squarespace custom features, requires NO coding or hiring a developer 🙌

When in a section of Squarespace, you can go to Edit Section> Background, and choose "Art." From there you can create several really cool backgrounds using your website or branding colors.

You can also use the logos and fonts in your branding to create a background. Here is one that I created for MPLS Yoga a few years back while helping on one of Pixality Design’s websites. I took their logo and created several different background images.

4) Use Your Branding As Much as Possible

In addition to using the logo in your background per the previous tip, you can also place versions of your logo throughout your website as an image. Elissa Nagle of Flourish Online even has an animated logo on her home page.

Don’t forget to play with your branding colors, possibly using them as an image cover over a less-than perfect photo. This is similar to the filters people use on Instagram photos and more!

5) Make Your Text Pop-Out

Making your text a form of art in of itself, not only allows you to take away from the need for lots of photos, but it is also visually appealing.

You can start by making your headline(s) all caps, a completely different font or color, or even have it scroll or have a type-writer effect (check out my home page to see this in action)

Squarespace allows you to do some really cool effects with your text as well, including animating it. When I work with clients, I use both the Squarespace customized options, and special code when needed to do things such as highlight text, have it arranged vertically, and more.

Conclusion

I hope you enjoyed these 5 tips for supplementing branded photos on your website!

Perhaps you just had a killer new photo session for your business and are looking to have a professional website to match? Or maybe you’re like me and something is holding you back from getting those photos BUT nothing should hold you back from a website you adore.

Let me help you bring the website of your dreams to life - click here to schedule your free website design consult now.

5 Genius Ways to Make Your Website Stand Out (without Branded Photos)