“Is my photography website working for me?” Has this ever crossed your mind? Does it leave you wondering why you’re spending so much time convincing clients to work with you rather than getting swamped with clients who are already 100% sold on booking you? ”
It’s every photographer’s dream to easily book clients who hire them multiple times and refer their friends and family members. But that dream doesn’t always happen at the rate (and to the level) you might desire because potential clients just aren’t sold on working with you when they land on your website.
This can create one of two scenarios:
- When a visitor lands on your photography website and isn’t 100% sold, he or she bounces right off of your website and heads to your competitor’s.
OR - 2. A visitor lands on your website isn’t 100% sold but reaches out to you anyway. You then spend hours back-and-forth via emails and on the phone trying to overcome all of her objections, help her “catch the vision,” and see the value in booking you. Then, she either vanishes never to be heard from again or you’ve spent so much time convincing her to hire you that you’ve already lost your fee before you’ve started shooting or editing her photos.
By not having a clear website that works for you instead of forcing you to do all the heavy lifting, you waste a tremendous amount of time convincing clients to hire you rather than having them 100% sold before they even hit “contact.”
Here are some of the most common mistakes I see many creatives making on their photography websites that’s causing them to lose clients, time, and their sanity:
Watch the Real Talk Video Here:
Your Photography Website Doesn’t Connect
Many websites simply serve up information on a platter without truly connecting with the target audience. This means that your target audience never really makes an attachment to you or sees themselves as the type of person you serve.
From the brand colors you choose to the photos you showcase to the copy on your web pages, your potential client needs to be able to link themselves to you. Whether something you say on your website makes them laugh, a color you select makes them feel like you offer a luxe service, or they’re drawn into your brand photos because they’re a young, rural family who loves lifestyle photography and your shots show young, rural families on country roads or playing in overgrown fields, they need to see themselves and connect.
Your Website Doesn’t Provide the Right Information They Need
Your photography website may just list out your services without providing any information on the types of packages you provide and the investment for your services. It might also just list out your packages and prices without casting the vision for the type of photography experience you offer and what clients can expect when working with you.
You might not address some of the common questions they have. You might also forget to speak to their pain points or values, so they just see you as another “package with a price” rather than a talented photographer who sees them and what they want to see in their final photos.
On the same note, you might also overwhelm them with too much information. Meaning they’re confronted with walls of text and pages of information to scroll through or too many packages to choose from without clear differentiators.
Your Website Doesn’t Have a Clear Buyer’s Journey and a Clear Outcome
From the home page to the about page to the service page, gallery and contact page, your website has to lead buyers on a clear path that involves a final objective.
Visitors will often leave a website because they’re confused or aren’t guided towards the actions to take. For example, if you want visitors to move from your home page to your service page, direct them there and give them a call to action to check out your services. Once they’re on your services page and have seen what you offer, direct them to your contact page or to book a call on your calendar, depending on your objective.
Every page of your website must be a guided step towards hiring you.
When you don’t provide the journey or the necessary information and connection on your website, potential clients end up contacting you over and over again to ask questions or have you “help” them through making a decision. You should have already helped them through that process on your website. Otherwise, you end up wasting so much valuable time responding and that’s time you could devote to being fully present on your shoots or with your favorite people.
All of these items should be easily addressed in your client experience, so potential clients are already sold on working with you by the time they reach out.
If you want to create a completely branded client experience that does the selling, connecting and heavy lifting for you, saving you time and energy, reach out to me via the contact page to discover how I can help you create it.
You can read more on my brand experience packages here:
Hearts and Hoorays friends!
