Creative Business Website Must-Haves
A lot of the website clients that reach out to me happen to be other creatives - more specifically, photographers and! I’ve made quite a few photography websites over the years and have picked up a few little knowledge nuggets on what makes a KILLER photography (or more generally - a creative) website. Hopefully, these tips will help you in your ideation process and remember some of the important things we tend to leave out as visual creatives.
your service types
The basis of any photography site is actually pretty simple and sometimes we overcomplicate it. This of course should be the type of services you offer - I mean, DUH! If you are flexible when it comes to traveling, offer more than one type of session, shoot weddings AND elopements, lay it all out there. In that same realm, it’s important to keep your service page and overall website void of any services that you DO NOT want to attract. If families and newborns aren’t your bread and butter, leave them off your service page. POINT BLANK. That doesn’t mean you can’t accept those types of sessions if they inquire, but it just shows your audience what you LOVE and who you serve a little more clearly.
“STEPH BUT WHAT ABOUT PRICING? SHOULD I LIST IT?”
I am actually a firm believer in listing some sort of pricing on your website. For example on my services page, I have my “starting at” prices listed. I find that listing some sort of pricing on your services or rates page is key in qualifying your leads. You tend to weed out the window shoppers and you find your leads go from cold to warm if not scorching hot.
a showcase of your work
Without a doubt, choosing the right photographer is a massive decision. Your potential client is going to look at the quality of the work that you produce to determine if you are a good fit. Obviously, social media is a huge tool for showcasing your work but it’s also KEY to have your work on your website. Yes, your work will be sprinkled on every page of your site but I highly recommend having a page dedicated to showcasing your work - a portfolio page if you will! Make it easy to navigate and divide it up by shoot type and make sure the client experience isn’t overwhelming.
I personally recommend going the extra mile and blogging your all-time favorite weddings or sessions - this is actually how I showcase my work rather than a portfolio page. A blog is a great way to provide more context around a wedding day or session and allows potential clients how much you connect with your people on a personal level. Blogs are also a great place to add a client testimonial. Social proof and word of mouth are absolutely huge in the photography industry - it’s okay to brag about yourself a bit as long as you believe in what you’re putting out there!
who you are and why you do it
As photographers, sometimes we get so caught up in telling our clients’ stories that we forget to let people in on who we are! An about page (or section at minimum) is an absolute MUST have these days. Outside of your work, your about page is how you show your audience how you differ from other photographers out there! Dig deeper here and go past the “I graduated from blah blah school with a marketing degree.” Sounds harsh, but your clients care more about why you chose this path and how you are going to serve them during their session or on their wedding day.
Your about me page should not only showcase who you are as a photographer but the type of connection you want to make with your clients or even a sneak peek into your process or what it’s like to work with you. Long gone are the days of dumping your full life story and accolades on the about page. People want to work with people, not businesses. Show them that you are HUMAN and make a connection.
a place for them to contact you
So you’ve told your clients about you, you’ve listed out how you can serve them, and you’ve given examples of your work - along with a few testimonials here and there. Now what? Having some sort of contact page or form on your website guides your audience to take that next action step in booking you! I highly recommend an entire page, or in my case pages, dedicated to your contact form. If you look at my contact page, I break out my lead generation forms into 3 different categories based on the services I offer. I do this because I have different questions I need to ask those specific buckets so that I can provide them with the most value when we start communicating! This isn’t always necessary, but having a good contact form not only gives your audience a way to get in touch but it qualifies your leads before you start chatting away! Fun Fact: If you are utilizing a CRM like Dubsado or Honeybook in your business, you can actually create a contact form that lives on your website but creates projects or leads within your CRM - talk about systemizing and organization!
If you’re interested in trying out Dubsado, click HERE! They have completely revolutionized my business and made client organization so much easier. I also LOVE their free trial because it isn’t time-based but project-based, meaning, you can essentially set up your entire back end on Dubsado and then trial it out for a select group of clients. So freaking cool.
I hope that this helps you feel a bit more confident when it comes to putting together ideas for your photography site! Even if you aren’t a fellow photographer, these tips definitely still apply to you! Until next time, friends!
