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If you’re just starting with a new photography business, creating a great website is a MUST for anyone serious about bringing in business and attracting new customers. A website is not only your virtual storefront, it will also include important information and images that will be a key deciding factor for a progressively digital world of potential customers to hire you.
Your website is not just a great way to get leads. Its also one of the cheapest ways to market your photography business and is very easily edited when you want to refresh your content and/or portfolio.
So what do you need to include in your photography website to ensure its professional and brings in LOTS OF BUSINESS?
This is essential and is the virtual address for your photography business. Choose a domain that is not only simple for potential clients to remember and spell, but also works well to showcase your business. Be aware, if you are looking for a dot.com domain you might need to be a little more creative or look for alternative domain options such as .co or .net.
Your hosting can also be set up using simple and affordable online hosting companies such as SiteGround or any other online hosting group that is cost effective and reliable.
In this step, you can also run a keyword search in Google Keyword Planner to find suitable keywords for your photography business and figure out which words rank higher than others. When you write the text for your website, make sure to include those relevant keywords.
Once you have your domain and hosting sorted, it’s time to choose the type of website you are going to create, and the options are all based on your budget.
If you’re looking to avoid expensive outsourcing of your website and create something that is professional without the hefty price tag, look at options such as Wordpress, Wix or Squarespace. Each of the sites have great themes available for photography businesses which can be easily tweaked to suit your needs.
If money and cost are no object, you can get a beautiful, custom made website for around $3000 or more. While you can fully customize your site this way, if you are just starting out, your marketing budget can probably be better used elsewhere.
Now is the time to choose your theme and make your website look professional. There are plenty of great themes available that you can purchase rather than creating your site from the ground up. The theme includes the design and visuals that allow you to have a pre-determined look and feel but can be tweaked to suit your branding and photography business.
Next, you need to flesh out the content for your website and add information about your services and portfolio. These pages should be mandatory on your photography website:
You can also include a Shop page if you have an e-commerce store or have a payment gateway. If you are a great writer, you can write your own content or consider hiring a freelance copywriter to help you craft the copy to ensure it includes a great CALL TO ACTION that sets your business apart from the competition.
Once you have set up your content and imagery it’s time to add your meta descriptions, title tags and run a quick check to ensure you have the right keywords included within the text on your website.
You should also make sure to clearly outline the locations, including cities and suburbs to which you will provide service so that your website shows up when individuals are searching for photography services in those areas.
Many people forget to do this, but make sure to proofread your website and ensure that your contact details are crystal clear and easy to understand. This is essential. Do you want people to contact you via email, phone or an online form? Make sure this information is extremely clear and test that everything is working properly. Send your website to friends and ask them for their feedback too.
Your photography website will continue to evolve and grow over time, however, these are the essential elements that you need to be aware of and complete during the set up phase. Also, make sure to include a portfolio of your best photos so your target audience feel compelled to book with you and lots of photography work heads your way.
Do you have any questions or comments about Creating a Photography Website? Leave us a comment below - we would LOVE to hear from you! And PLEASE SHARE our tutorial using the social sharing buttons (we really appreciate it)!
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