Welcome back to the Cameron & Tia show, it’s Tia! Today, we are going into 3 photography website must haves. There may be something special at the end of the video if you stick around! Let’s do it!

Now, here’s the deal. A lot of these are going to be DUH and you’re going to be like, “Are you kidding, Tia? Obviously…” And then there’s going to be one in here that is going to be “Oh my goodness, I don’t have that..” and it could be a red flag moment. So that’s what we’re doing today! Double check these, they’re going to be quick and fast. Let’s do this!

Number 1

Number 1 on the list of our 3 photography website must haves. You need to have this on literally the first canvas on your home page – where you’re located. Now, here’s the thing, here’s why I’m including this.

Whenever I’m traveling, I think to myself, “Oh my gosh, we are going to Maui, how fun would that be to have a photo session?” And I go to search all these photographers and I’ll find them on Instagram and it will say they’re a Hawaii photographer. Then, I’ll go to their website, it will say nothing about location and I don’t know whether that means they’re on Oahu or on Maui. Or, I don’t whether when I’m traveling to Portland if they’re actually in Portland or on the Oregon cost. No clue.

Of course, then I’ll reach out and ask. It’s just taking this extra step. Often, that is going to be a barrier of entry when I’m trying to be a client. If it doesn’t say, “Oh my gosh, I’m on Maui.” Or “I am a Maui photographer” I’m likely going to find someone that says they are a Maui photographer. That way, I can reach out and say, “Hey, I’m interested. What are the next steps?” versus having to reach out and say, “Hey, are you on Maui?”

So location is number 1.

Number 2

Next on the list of our 3 photography website must haves is what type of photos you take. Now likely, the photos are going to tell their own stories and people will be able to figure that out. Sometimes, that’s not going to be the case.

Sometimes, you might do something very specialized, like brand photography. Families might come to your website and see two people sitting at a table enjoying a coffee together and think, “Perfect, they do family photos!” When actually, that is two website designers that you are doing brand photography for.

So the first point is that you want to clear up any confusion. Second, is SEO.

So your photos might do the trick on your website and very clearly communicate that you are a senior photographer. However, if you don’t have that writeen places, that is not going to be doing you any favors for you with SEO. So make sure that you have it written everywhere, what type of photography you do, and front and center on your home page.

Number 3

Number 3 on the list of photography website must haves is a photo of you looking at the camera.

Now, I know that some of you are going to be like, “That is not my brand, my brand is that I’m looking away. I’m moody, I’m wearing a hat and you can’t quite see my face.” Okay, great. But I think that there are other ways to have a photo of you looking directly at the camera and still communicate that with your brand. You looking at the camera builds instant connection.

If I, as the consumer, am scrolling through a website and see a photo of someone looking directly at me, there is this instantaneous human connection. “Wow, I feel like I know this person.”

There is also this element of if someone goes to try to book you and they are meeting you for a client consultation at a coffee shop. You have no photos of you that clearly have your full face looking straight at the camera, they don’t quite know what you look like. There is this unknown of them coming to the consultation and be like, “Shoot, am I going to be able to find them? Like will I know what they look like when I get there?” You never want someone going into a buying experience feeling unknowns.

So those are my 3 photography website must haves, BUT I do have a bonus!

Bonus Tip!

On your contact form, instead of just having a contact form, you must put on your contact form also your email address.

For example, “If you would rather reach me at email” go ahead and put that there. Reason being, you are going to have people reach out to you, and there could be a lot of different scenarios, in which the contact form does not apply.

Maybe they want to send you something with an attachment, as in a proposal. Maybe they want to send you something with images, like “Hey, I’m really excited about this! Is this something you do?” And a contact form just doesn’t make sense.

It is going to open you up, by having your email there, for bigger and better opportunities. For example, brand partnerships or awesome things you never dreamed you could photograph. So make sure you have your email there.

If you just did not have your email there, you might have 20 wedding clients go through and fill it out, and you don’t get any of those. Or they fill it out and they get an error message, they can’t do anything about it so they move on to the next person. You never want a barrier to entry to be there – so add your email address to your contact form.

If you are watching this live, BOY OH BOY, do I have a treat for you! We have a FREE, brand new, live training that is just for you. It is just like this video – we are walking through the nitty gritty of all things photography business and we would love to have you join.

You can sign up, there are whole bunch of times available and we would love to see you live and chat! Ugh, it’s going to be so much fun!

Until next time, BYE!