Given that websites are no longer optional and many (most?) photographers are generating a majority of their business via their website and online marketing, let’s take a look at six mistakes that can drive away potential clients or cause them to move along to a competitor:
- Abandon your blog. Make sure that when someone hits your site, the newest blog post is at least four or six months ago. The fix: blog frequently… at least once a month. Once a week is even better.
- Hide your contact information. Give the client all sorts of images to look at and text to read about how you’ll capture their special day so that the memory lives forever but make them work really hard to find any way to reach you. The fix: make it really easy. At a minimum, there should be a contact link from every page on your website. Even better, put your email and phone number on every page as part of the header or footer.
- Don’t give out any pricing information. Leave your visitors wondering if you’re a $500 shooter or a $5000 shooter. After all, every future bride or corporate event planner has nothing better to do than make lots of calls just to find out someone’s ballpark pricing. The fix: give some pricing information even if it’s just a ballpark or a range. Simple statements like “Wedding packages begin at $1500″ or “Event coverage pricing starts at $1000″ will help ensure you’re prequalifying your leads.
- Don’t worry about spelling or grammar. Nobody kares if you can right good as long as you’ve gots good pictures right? The fix: use a spell check on your website text. If your grammar skills aren’t as good as your photography skills, have someone else read through your writing to catch mistakes. Many potential clients will shy away from a photographer who can’t communicate clearly on his or her website.
- Run AdSense advertisements on your site. Hey, blogs (like this one) run ads, so you should too, right? It’s totally worth the $3.47 per month you’ll make. The fix: no ads. Your photography website is to sell you, not an advertiser. While it’s okay to potentially mention vendor partners on your site, it should be part of your promotional copy and not a banner ad.
- Have some loud music start playing as soon as someone lands on your website. In your studio’s presentation room you might have some music in the background. When future brides are browsing your website from their office? They don’t want your soundtrack to start up unexpectedly. The fix: get rid of the tunes, or if you really want to have them, make sure that they only start after the website visitor clicks a link to turn them on.
What other website mistakes might keep potential business away?
