Are you a professional photographer that wants to add clients through your website? An effective photography website design can be the key to getting new clients every day. But as a photographer, how do you know what makes an effective website? I would like to discuss some key aspects of website design that should be known to any business person on the internet. Choose a Good Domain Name: A proper domain name will greatly enhance your chances for high search engine rankings. On the other hand, a bad domain name can mean lost customers when your potential clients are unable to find your site. I have seven rules that I follow for effective domain names. They are:
Make it a .com. Avoid .org, .net or other extensions.
The only exception to Rule #1 is if you are outside the U.S. consider using a country specific extension such as .UK or .AU.
Avoid strange or difficult spellings.
Avoid using "The" or similar words in your domain.
Register your personal name in addition to your company name.
The shorter the better.
Hyphens are okay.Optimize your site for proper keywords: Now that you have the perfect domain name, you will want to optimize your webpage for the keywords for which you want to rank highly. How do you know which keywords you want to rank highly for? Well what search terms do you think your potential clients would use to find your service on the internet? For example, if you are a wedding photographer in Topeka your potential client might search for "Topeka Wedding Photographer". Once you have established a few of these keywords, you will want to make sure they are included in your website in as many of the following areas as possible:
Domain Name
Page Title
First paragraph of content
Header tags
Page URLsIncluding the keywords in these positions will give Google more confidence that your page is related to the keyword. This will increase your position in the search engines!
Ensure your site is professional in appearance. It is tempting to get a friend or relative to put up a generic, plain looking site but keep in mind that this is often the first impression a client will have of your business. A good looking, well designed site will ensure confidence in your client that you are up to the task. Thankfully this is not as hard as it may seem, even if you do not have experience in web design. It is not too hard to learn how to put up a website on your own with the modern tools out there such as Wordpress or you can hire a professional to do it for you. Expect to pay upwards of $1000 for a decent site. Get referrals and make sure they understand internet marketing before parting with your well earned money.
Make sure every page has a call to action. Every page on your site should have a purpose in mind. Perhaps it is to get them to call you, email you, join your mailing list, or download a price sheet. This action should be clear to the visitor and readily available. Don't be subtle in what you want the visitor to do. Most website visitors stay on a page for less than ten seconds so you can't expect them to hunt for a contact link or a phone number. Make it plainly visible!
These are just a few considerations for your photography business website. I encourage you to keep working on your site as it truly is a great way to get new customers and reach old ones. The cost is minimal compared to the rewards!
Kyle Brady is a photography enthusiast as well as a long time internet marketer and website builder. His newest project helps photographers with photography website design. Learn step-by-step how to establish your business on the web by visiting http://photographyinternetmarketing.com.
Edited: November 1st, 2009
