The Biggest Mistakes
Having a website is essential for any business who wants to be taken seriously!
Think of your website like a brick and mortar store. This is where past and future clients can visit, that provides a legitimate and professional atmosphere, where they can learn quality information about who you are, what you offer, where you’re located, and how to contact to book your services.
Sure, social media is where everyone hangs out, but when you want to book a service, social media won’t be able to provide you with the quality information and details you need to
Ensure that this business aligns with your needs
Review the different services offered
Connect with someone at the business
Schedule a date
Quality websites will guarantee you with quality clients. Your website has to communicate the level of professionalism and quality of work your business is proud to stand behind, otherwise, potential clients will quickly leave and find another business to give their money too.
These are 10 of the biggest mistakes I see on websites…
Slow loading times. If your website takes more than 8 seconds to load, your potential client is going to close the site and move on. Slow loading times are most likely the result from having high resolution images or videos. If possible, and without losing quality, adjust your images and videos to a smaller resolution to avoid any lag time. Pet peeve of mine… when I scroll on a website and have to wait for things to animate into place so I can read or view images. This creates a lag time before you can access that information, and as photographers - we need to put the emphasis on our images - not the animation of text.
Outdated websites. If your website looks like it’s from 2005, you need to updated it - TODAY! If you want to reflect a luxury and professional service, you need to position yourself in the market as a business that values quality and can deliver in a timely manner. An outdated website instantly makes me wonder if this business is still open… and if so… is the information outdated? Will someone even answer if I complete the contact form??
Non existent or confusing mobile experience. In the last 30 days, this website has received 60% of traffic from a mobile phone, and 40% of traffic from a desktop or tablet. This means that if my website design isn’t compatible, or becomes frustrating to navigate with a phone, I could easily lose 60% of potential clients. Read that again - 60% of potential clients could walk away before I could even tell them what my business offers. YIKES!
Difficult or confusing navigation. Your visitors want - and NEED - easy and straight forward navigation. All important information (who you are, where you’re located, what you offer, and how to book) needs to be easily accessed within 4-5 clicks. Anything more, the potential clients will get confused, lost, and because we have a shorter attention span than a gold fish, they will leave to find an easier business.
On the flip side, too few options could leave the clients feeling as though your business doesn’t have the depth and quality of a luxury service.Not having your location or what you offer listed on the home page of your website. Potential clients want to go to the website and immediately recognize that this business offers the service they need and at the location they can access.
IE: If I’m looking for a canine photographer in Muskegon Michigan, I want to open a website and immediately see they offer canine photography and are located in Muskegon - or nearby that I am willing to travel for it. I don’t want to spend 20 minutes digging through a website, only to find on a 3 year old blog that they no longer offer canine photography, and are actually located in Anchorage Alaska. Neither is helpful, and has left me with a bad experience related to that business.
Generic messaging. IE: “I like taking photos. I also like puppies. Hire me!” If you’re a canine photographer, it’s kind of a given that you like photographing puppies...
Potential clients want to know what makes you different from the other businesses, and why should they hire you. Your messaging needs to speak to your dream clients, sharing what makes you different, the perks to hiring you over anyone else, and how you can provide a professional, luxury, and quality experience that fulfills their individual needs. If your text could apply to any photographer in your field, than it needs to be rewritten and customized further to your business.Too much text. Your potential clients aren’t here to read a novel or hire a writer, they want simplified text with headlines, bold or underlined for the important text, bullet points or numbered lists, and/or expandable text blocks if they want more information. Your images should be front and center, and should out weight the amount of text.
Outdated examples of your services or end products. As artists, our work grows with us, and our styles - or services - may change overtime. Your website needs to reflect your current work, and requires updating regularly. Imagine if my storefront was decorated for Christmas… and then never updated. If you walked into it in April, would you question the integrity of the business? If you frequent that business, wouldn’t you want to see updated decorations when visiting? We cannot rely on social media providing the updated work, because if your work doesn’t match the quality or style that is presented on your website, your potential clients will follow you on social media, but never trust the business enough to book with you.
Not having a clear call to action. Your CTA’s are like cash registers, no matter where the potential client is on the website, there should be a clear way for them to say ‘YES’ to the service and hand you money instantly. Again - if it takes them more than 8 seconds or 4-5 clicks to figure out how to book the service as soon as they conclude they want it, you’re missing out on potential clients, and they’ll either get distracted or frustrated, leaving before you’re able to close the sale.
Non existent or lacking on SEO. Search Engine Optimization helps search engines understand your website’s content, and will recommend your website as options to potential clients inquiring about your services or expertise. You can integrate your SEO into the file names of your images and/or videos, use clear keywords throughout your website, publish relevant and authoritative content, have internal and external links, etc. A website that is updated and has regularly new content, will be recommended over stale or outdated websites, or websites that lack SEO. This is the long game, but just as important as social media, email blasts, and networking at events.
I hope this helps in providing an inside look on what is most important for your website! If you’re interested in learning more, check out the private mentorships, workshops and online downloadable courses I offer. Every day is a great day to invest in your education and elevate your own photography business and experience for clients!