Having a Website MOVES THE NEEDLE.

Today we’re back with another “things you should be doing in your photography business” post – but… this one applies to more than just photographers! Building a DIY website for your business is hard work, whether you’re a photographer or not. And at this point in my business, I absolutely outsource designing, maintaining, and making changes to my website. I’m the first to admit when something isn’t exactly my cup of tea, and building my own website definitely wasn’t. But… when I first started? You best BET I built my website myself! DIY was my best friend early on. 

I went and got myself an account on Squarespace, and made my site with my own hands. Now, if you can afford to outsource this… you absolutely should. Web designers are worth their weight in gold, and I regularly remind mine that her work to make sure my SEO is huge for my business! But I get that not every business owner is in a position to outsource yet, and that’s okay. If that’s you, and you’re building your site yourself, I think you should learn from my mistakes! So today, we’re going to talk about three things you absolutely need to put on your website. There are obviously more than three, but I’m breaking things into chunks so that they’re easily digestible!

Your DIY Site Needs Your Location on EVERY PAGE

The first thing yout business’ website needs, no matter what you do, is your location. Now, there’s a tiny little exception to that, which is if you’re someone who offers digital services or you’ve got an ecommerce shop that ships everywhere. In those cases… you can skip straight to number two.

But if you’re a local business, and you have a location or a service area, for the LOVE OF ALL THINGS HOLY, put your location on your website. On every page. Put it in the footer, AND make sure it’s above the fold too. Here’s the thing. You absolutely cannot confuse, annoy, or otherwise make your potential clients’ experiences on your website stressful. You just can’t. The experience they have is going to set the tone for all of their time working with you, and not being able to find where you are? That’s a massive road block!

I mean, if you’re a photographer, and you service a specific local area, you want to make sure that you’re getting inquiries from people who are actually close enough to come to you, right? Or for you to come to them? And if you own a yoga studio, you want people who visit your site to immediately know how to get there for classes, right? There’s really no excuse for not listing your location, assuming you do indeed have a location. So put it on your website, EVERYWHERE. No matter what page your customers land on, you want them to know where you are!!

A Blog

We’re getting into controversial territory here, but stay with me. Your website needs a blog. Even if you don’t post on it often. Even if you use AI to give you starting points (but not to write your full posts, but we’re going to talk about that later). Put. A blog. On your website.

I completely 100% understand not wanting to blog for your business, but my blog? The thing you’re reading right now? It helps me show up in Google searches. And showing up in Google searches means I don’t have to stress as much about social media.

So I’m not going to tell you that having a website isn’t worth it if you’re not going to blog on it, because a website without a blog is better than no website at all. But I promise that you can definitely come up with at LEAST two blog posts a month, and it’s going to help you a ton in the long term to set things up right, NOW. The best time to start blogging is two years ago. The second best time, is today.

Your DIY Website Needs Branded Photos!

Like I said at the beginning of this, there are a lot of things your business’ website needs. But I’m not going to talk about the pages you need, or the info you need to put on them today. What I am going to talk about though, is your images.

Images MAKE your website. Have you ever seen a before and after of a website that had random stock photos on it, and then those were replaced with brand images from a professional brand shoot? If not, you should go check it out on Pinterest, because the difference images make is WILD. If you think about it, it’s kind of like the difference between an Instagram account that doesn’t match their posts, and one that looks super professional and branded. It’s going to be more eye catching (for the right reasons!) if it’s all aligned to the business’ branding, right?

If You’re a Photographer, Adding Branded Images is Easy

That’s rhetorical, because like… obviously the answer is yes. So when it comes to putting together your website, you NEED to make sure that your pictures are branded! If you’re a photographer, this is going to be easier for you. First of all, you can take self portraits that are super branded, and use those as your images of you! And that makes a huge difference. It’s also going to mean that the other images on your pages are mostly your own work.

But for all you other business owners, that’s not as straightforward! And that’s okay. But that’s also why I exist! I offer branding photo packages that can solve that problem for you. We can capture all of the images you need for your website in one session, that way your site can start grabbing your clients’ eyes from the moment they land there!

(P.S. If you’re also looking to change the game for your client guides, check out my Etsy shop!) 

I can help!!

So, if it’s time to get your website branded… let’s talk!! We can find the right vibe, and put together a package that gets you everything you need to be set up for success on your website. And if you’re DIYing your content, the difference images will make is HUGE!

P.S. Wanna learn more about my mentorship options?