If your photography website isn’t performing for you, you might be missing one of these ten vital elements that every website needs to be competitive. 


Your potography website should be a reflection of your personality. The text you’ve written, the images you display, the way you bring it all together to reflect your unique worldview - it should all be distinguishably you.  By being yourself, you’ll attract the kind of customers that you’re looking for. 


But being unique doesn’t mean ignoring the basics. There are certain elements of a modern website that you should consider non-negotiable. How you incorporate them is your business, but make sure that each one is present as you build your new photography website. 

 

10 Vital Elements Every Photography Website Needs

1. A Great First Impression 


Once you’ve gotten a visitor to your website, your first goal is to keep them there. The way to do this is with an impactful feature image. Think long and hard about what image you’re using as your feature image for your website. You’ll also want to take time to think through the exact words that will appeal to first-time visitors and how to guide people further into your site to find what they’re looking for (your portfolio, more information about you, and of course, pricing).

2. Brilliant Portfolio of Work


Ensure you have a simple and logical way of organizing your portfolio with your best shots displayed prominently. Make sure that your images display at the highest-quality possible. It almost goes without saying that your portfolio is going to do 90% of the heavy lifting on your website. That’s where decisions are made and no amount of SEO will save you if your images are not up to scratch!

3. About Me Page


Often overlooked, the About Me page is where people get to know more about you and what makes you unique. Remember that business is all about relationships. People like to do business with other people, not companies. That’s even more true when it comes to photographers. This page is your chance to tell your story, reveal your passion and ultimately let potential clients know what to expect when they work with you. 


4. A Pricing List


There are two schools of thought when it comes to your pricing. One camp believes that you should display your pricing for every type of photography you do. Even if this is just a starting rate (you can always increase your price from there), some people think it’s best to get the pricing conversation out of the way as early as possible. This can help give your potential clients an idea of what they can expect when they decide to hire you.


The other camp believes that you should keep your pricing behind a contact form. That is, make your clients look through your website and fall in love with your work first. After that, they can reach out to you directly for more information about pricing and your availability. The benefit here is that you won’t immediately “lose” potential clients on just price alone. 

 

5. Locations You Can Cover


Make it clear where you are operating and how far you are prepared to travel for work. For your clients, it’s a real drag to do the painstaking work of choosing a photographer, only to find out that they charge more to travel to your location.


Hint: Add travel fee information on the pricing page of your website. Let clients know how far you’re willing to travel and how much your travel fee is per mile.


6. Social Media Links


Make sure that your Facebook, Instagram and other social links are easy to find on your site. Sometimes people visit your site when they are not yet ready to hire you, but they still want to keep tabs on you and your work for future projects. That’s more common than you’d think, so make sure that your social media links are up to date and easily accessible. 


7. Contact Page


It stands to reason that you want to make it easy for people to get in touch, so keep it simple on your contact page. Email, phone number, Google Map, business address… Whatever it is that gets the conversation going, should be included in your contact form.


Remember, the more fields you have on your contact form, the less likely someone will complete it. Therefore, we recommend keeping the number of fields/questions to 3-5 at the most. You’ll have a chance to get to know them more once they fill out the form! 


8. A Clear, Effective, and Visual Style


No-one is saying you need to be a design guru but, as a photographer, the look and feel of your website matters. You really do need to have a visual style on your site that’s appealing, in line with your style, and easy to navigate. Remember, your clients are hiring you because they love your style of photography. Let that same style shine through in your website.


9. Testimonials


Client testimonials are gold on your website! People trust other people’s recommendations and they will always look at what others have said about working with you. Think about it, would you spend big bucks at a nice restaurant if you didn’t hear that from someone that the food was incredible?

Including a few real testimonials can go a long way towards landing a client and sealing the deal.


10. Branded Delivery Options


One of the joys of the internet is the ability to send large files to multiple people, with relative ease. Make use of it.  There are plenty of third party delivery options out there like WeTransfer, Dropbox, or even using an FTP server. However, you can end up paying extra for these services and at the end of the day, your brand won’t be reflected in the last touch point with your clients, delivering their photos.

 


Folio offers a branded delivery platform that’s built right into your website. Deliver your images with your logo, a brief message, and even add terms and conditions to each set of photos.


Folio also gives you the ability to add payment options to your delivery, making sure you get paid before your clients download your images. No more tracking down payment from clients that received your images three months ago!  


These are ten very important elements of any photography website, but this doesn’t mean your site needs to look like everyone else’s. Not at all. Your website needs to be uniquely you.


Fill out this short questionnaire to have Folio’s team of amazing designers create a website that has all the tools you need to take your photography business to the next level.