In this video, I look at some of the dos and don'ts of photography websites. Although there are many ways to skin a cat, there are some things that are real turn-offs for potential photography clients. Here are my top five tips.
Websites come in many shapes and sizes, but in this video, my main advice is to keep them as simple as possible. Look at how few clicks it takes to get to certain key areas of the site and make sure that it follows a generic format so as not to confuse potential clients. I touch on how to make your portfolio stand out, how to stop potential clients from closing your tab, how to write your about section, as well as look at which contact details to include and how to show your blog.
Although websites don't hold the weight that they used to in the pre-Instagram days, they are still a staple part of your brand identity. In the earlier web days, the website was king, but now, it is used more as a permanent reference from a social media link or an email to prove that you are legitimate and that you do have taste. Making sure that your persona from Instagram carries through to your website is also very important.
You can spend a small fortune on websites, but thanks to Wordpress, Squarespace, and companies like Format, there are so many easy ways to create something simple. In the video, I do not cover SEO, as for a lot of photographers, it has lost its weight and meaning. However, if you do high-volume work, it is certainly something to consider when deciding the format in which you build your website and blog.
Show me your website in the comments.
Contactable: able to be communicated with, especially by phone or email:
As we speak I'm working on building my website so nothing to show yet.
Scott, as usual, great video! It is amazing how many photographers give the appearance they don't want to be contacted except through email or their website. They don't want to hand out phone numbers. Reminds me of all the geekdom in the world of technology. Company after company refuse to have telephone numbers for support issues. C'mon guys... I'll pay for a support call. Please don't let me waste half my day, or more, trying to figure out something that is related to your product.
I find your info one against other , having portfolio in first page and at same time loading fast is very hard to do.i choise to have some photo on my first page and then link to portfolio.... so web site open "fast" , and people when they open portfolio it will be long.... duno if its alowed but i put link here to my website https://www.nada-photo.fr feel free to comment it here on send me pm ...
I followed the link to your website, thank you for sharing! so clear what you do, with easy access to everything. A good format for me as I contemplate building own site.
Right off the bat your site wants me to accept cookies. Not going to happen. Not sure why your site server is asking this but this will turn away a LOT of people.
Because it might be a legal requirement in some countries? I'm not sure.
it law here , we must inform visitor about cokies , and make them accept cookie ( or not) before going to website.so nowday , evryone here is use to click first popup that say cookie not reading anything , making it that many people abuse it to puch visitor to agree on shit stuff.... so , i dont have choise , i must have that cookie page :(
A lesson I learned some time ago when applying for a business loan was that the reviewer isn't impressed with graphs and pie charts in nice colors. The reviewer wants to know how you plan to repay the loan. All the added stuff is fluff.
My website is simple and very easy to navigate. My contact page is simple and it works. I don't have a lot of pictures per category. People have short attention spans. Get your best 10 or 15 shots to them quickly or lose their focus.
Some good advice from this video.
DPI doesn't matter for web.
I agree with not having too many clicks to actually get to see images, but disagree about trying to use your portfolio as your home page. Much better, IMHO, to have a landing page with a strong image or two. Here's what I've done (so far) . . . www.photoreporters.com
grey and black , classic but work good with photo. i just think you should take care about small screen size.seems to not work good for smatphone.
Cheers, (and sorry for the delayed response). Think website has been fixed for small screens.
thanks for the article! what do you think about my site? trying to make it easy to sell my prints - thanks! www.espetersen.com
for the easy sale , i must say it looks good , really easy.about color i just dont like that website is wite on first page and black in sale part .for me it looks like i got somewhere else when i cliked.maybe work on keeping things same color.
seems you changed your website... and for me it looks better now , more logic... how it is for your customers ?
Thanks Scott, an interesting, informative and straight to the point discussion. Will be looking at my sight this morning to reinvent www.aboriginal.photography
Well, for the homepage the speeding load is a problem but may have seen a way. I come late to this post, but I am happy I watched the video. To put my whole portfolio on the homepage is impossible, as I sell prints and stock images. https://anettemossbacher.com/portfolio/ I have seen a way, I will test it a bit. Thanks so much for all the info. Cheers Anette