What Your Website Needs to Stand Out
It's no secret that I'm passionate about website design and standing out online and I've learned a thing (or ten) along the way! It's also no secret that having a website serves as a portal for so many opportunities. Many of those opportunities are missed because important elements are missing. Since I'm also a photographer, I'm gearing this post toward photographers but the same concepts can also be applied to any website! I've been inspired to write this post after a season of tremendous learning and growth. I can't begin to tell you how many websites I have clicked on this year and quickly left because they were missing key components to keep me around.
So let's do this. I'm going to walk you through a few things you can do TODAY to get that photography website standing out online and be sure to stick around until the end to download a copy of my website checklist via my Free Resource Library!
SHOW THE WORLD WHO YOU ARE WITH A STRONG BIO AND GREAT HEAD SHOT.
Having not only a great bio, but image of yourself is crucial for that first impression. I'm sorry but if you are shopping for a photographer and you click on their about page and the image is terrible... I just don't think that sends the best message. Sure, it's not "your" photo, clearly you didn't take it BUT, having a beautiful image of yourself (or a few!) is never a bad idea. Potential clients want to know who it is they might be working with.
INSPIRE YOUR VIEWERS.
More than a strong bio, I want to FEEL you throughout your website. How is your voice? Cold? Dry? Robotic? Let's give not only your about me page more personality, but every other faucet of your website. Your homepage, your about page, your details page, your blog, and even your contact page.
UTILIZE YOUR FOOTER.
I truly believe that the footer is a completely overlooked element of most websites. The footer is a great place to add some color, extra navigation for easy browsing and SEO boosts. Below you will see my own footer from my photography site. I have an opt in to my newsletter, navigation back to my main landing page (because I have my site split off into two), social media links, SEO rich keywords with my business name, number, etc. , a link to my Instagram, and my logo again for a little something special. Footers are some of my favorite to design because they really do make a difference in helping you stand out online! I love when I'm able to scroll to the bottom of a website and get all the information I need in one place. My biggest pet peeve is being unable to find an actual email address.
KEEP THINGS FRESH AND UPDATED.
How often do you update your website? What is holding you back from making necessary updates? Do you even know HOW to use your own website? I think business owners neglect their websites because they simply don't know how to make changes themselves. I encourage you to LEARN, or hire someone who can help you regularly update your content. I'm constantly swapping things out and making changes to keep things fresh and up to date.
MAKE IT AS EASY AS POSSIBLE FOR YOUR VIEWERS.
I mentioned the email pet peeve above, but this can translate into so many other things when it comes to your site. Is your site mobile responsive? These days, majority of the population are browsing the web from cellular phones. Is yours easy to navigate from the phone? Run a little test and go through your entire site on your phone and make sure it flows and makes sense and is EASY. I can't leaves sites fast enough if they are hard to browse from my phone OR computer!
CLEAR CALL TO ACTIONS
Do you have a newsletter? If yes, great! What is the incentive to sign up with you? "Join the list for updates" or "Sign up here today!" While it's great you have a list, what does your reader GAIN by signing up with you? Have a clear call to action so they know exactly what they're getting. Mine says something like "Subscribe below to join the newsletter, access to the free resource library, and an invite to the Dream Chasers Facebook Community!" I customize this opt in based on what I have going on... for example, you will see one at the bottom of this post! I've included a free checklist to think about when looking over your current website or you are thinking about starting a website!
IMAGERY IS POWERFUL
Do you have a visual strategy with your website? Research by Stanford University shows that 46.1% of the people who view a website, the site's design quality is their top criteria for deciding if the company/brand are credible or not. It's safe to say through this study and so many others, that images are important. But with that being said, the WRONG kind of images can also hurt your brand and conversion rates. Do the images you use make sense for you and your brand? If the images used are not relevant to the information they accompany, they can really hurt your website. So when thinking about images, make sure they are beautiful AND brand appropriate. As photographers, composition and consistency is everything. Is your website consistent?
Grab a free copy of “What Your Website Need to Stand Out” by signing up with your email below!
I hope you found this article helpful when you start to look at your own website and what might be missing! For my full website checklist, please sign up below to the Resource Library packed with resources to help you grow your business! I'll see you in there!
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