Many a website could benefit from some professionally shot photographs. Humans visiting your website, whose business you might want, recognise AI generated imagery and generic stock photography in a microsecond. Photographs that do not seem genuine are a red flag.
How would you like it if you went on a car-dealership website browsing through their second hand offerings, choosing a fancy model, only finding out the images were AI generated upon visiting the premises? On the other hand, what about if the cars were shot in a dimly lit barn with a phone? Would you buy a car from them?
Small business photography
The most successful website I made until now, regarding conversion rate, considering the staggeringly low amount of visitors, is for an upholstery business. Feedback from actual paying clients is that the photography lured them in. I like to think that is because the photographs are unassuming but detailed and of actual work done on actual objects.
Therapy practice
Last year I shot some illustrative and portrait images of a newly established therapist, for their website (which I did not design), in their actual practice room. Look how this makes the person real and accessible. This was done with my simple setup consisting of a Sony A7 + Voigtländer 35mm, the kit zoom lens for some shots and a single flash on a stand with an umbrella. This is what I also use for the furniture now, you do not need heavy or expensive stuff for these shoots to get results that work well.
How to shoot
Even though modern phones have usable image quality and you can follow many hipsters online that shoot professional looking photographs with them, the work seems largely to be about gimmicks. A good thing is, the trendy videos often highlight the importance of light and of good preparation of the scene.
If you want to shoot your small business yourself with your phone, it may take some practice rounds and investment in (continuous) lighting equipment. You could even throw in a camera like the Sony A7, which consistently delivers better files than any phone, when used well.
Learning to shoot with a one light setup is quite easy, but if you want to use your time another way, it pays to hire a photographer for a couple of hours to get real images that foster trust by communicating your actual business.