5 Things Every Photographer Needs On their Website
Here are a few crucial things to remember when building out your website. They are aspects that clients look for unknowingly and can greatly affect whether they reach out to you or not!
The first thing to consider when building out your website is to make sure everything translates well on mobile. As technology advances more and more people will use their phone over a desktop computer so be sure to keep this in mind when reading through these essential aspects of a website!
1. Who you are, what you do, and how to contact you
The first thing every photographer needs on their website; is who you are and what you do. When a client first lands on your website you want all the necessary information above the fold of your site. The “fold” of a website is everything you see on the homepage of a site before you start scrolling. It is also very important to consider your website fold on a mobile phone since most web traffic is through cell phones.
Who you are
This is typically completed with your logo. If your logo has your name or your business name this lets the client know they are in the right place. You can also find info on who you are in the first heading of your site (also known as an h1 in the web world.) While it is not necessary to have this information in both locations, it is helpful to have repetition so help your name stick in your clients head!
What you do
It can be as simple as having “Photographer” in the first heading of your site. You want a client to immediately know what you do. Without it it could be a potential for confusion. Maybe landing on your site thinking you are a wedding planner, rather than a photographer.
You can elevate this part by being very specific about your genre of photography and your location. (this also helps with organic rankings on google)
- San Francisco Wedding Photographer
- Denver Senior Portrait Photographer
- Travel Elopement Photographer
How To contact you
It is important to have multiple ways to contact you for clients of all types. Some may want to jump on a quick call where others will want to communicate primarily through email. You never want to leave your client having to search through your site on how to contact you. This can be done with a “contact” link or button in the navigation bar, It could be a button that links to a contact form, or it could be a button that anchor links to a form further down on your homepage. It is also common to have a button in the hero section of your site so it is one of the first things a potential client sees.
- Anchor links: are a button that links somewhere else on the current page, rather than to a different page
- Hero section: is the first row you will see on a site, It is called a hero section because it is the most important section to pull your client in. Think of it like a book cover, based on this section will determine if the client wants to continue learning more about you.
2. A Portfolio
In addition to having gorgeous images throughout your site, having a section that is purely images is important when it comes to photography. You want it to show a variety of your best work, meaning different poses, locations, and people. For this be sure to include images of your ideal clients, If you want to shoot primarily newborns, show images of primarily newborns and leave out the senior portraits you did once 6 months ago.
3. Links to your Social Media Accounts & Testimonials
While a client is on your site you want to give them multiple options to continue following you. You may be able to have someone land on your page from an image you shared on pinterest, now the goal is to have them become more interested in your services.
This can happen with social media accounts, so overtime they continue to see your posts. And down the line when they are needing a photographer they will think of you.
And for testimonials, you want to have a way to show what your past clients think of you and how you do business so future customers can have another way to build trust in your services.
4. A Blog
Having a blog on your site is a must to improve your SEO (Search Engine Optimization). SEO is what organically drives clients to your site. It is the content on your website that gets pinged by Google, so when someone searches for “Engagement photographer” Google can recognize your blog about “5 things to ask your Engagement photographer” and suggest that to potential clients.
This is also useful for posting on Pinterest. When you post an image on Pinterest you are required to link it somewhere. When you link an image to your blog it automatically will bring more customers to your site.
SEO is crucial especially when you are not paying for advertising, and a blog is the best way to consistently improve your rankings. It will take time to grow organically online, but is still very important
5. Information about yourself & who you are as a person
Clients and potential customers want to know more about who they are buying products and services from.
Include a Photo of yourself
Even more than just information about yourself, clients want to see who you are as a person. Whether it is to gauge how nice of a person you seem to be or to just know who they are looking for when they show up to a photoshoot.
Talk about things you love, be sure one of them is photography
As time goes on people are basing decisions off of their personal life. If you talk about your love for the outdoors, and traveling you will start to attract more clients who share similar interests. Customers typically want to know about your personality and interests to see how comfortable a session is with you and to know that you will most likely get along with them!
And make sure one of your loves is photography! This will show to clients that you are just as excited about doing a photoshoot with them as they are to receive the pictures!
Applying all of these practices on your website can help build trust with your clients, help your business look more professional, and most importantly help your business grow! Reach out to me if you have any questions or would like some additional advice on your photography website!