There is an event for photographers about using website and email strategies for business success. This is run by Sam and Gillian Devine on the 27th November 2024.

You can get more details and book a free place by clicking here.

Sam and Marcus say that some photographers websites have no writing at all, which is terrible for SEO and getting business. Some things to think about before writing your website are:

• Make sure you know your target audience – See this show for details.
• What your call to actions are –see this show for details.
• Plan your site – see this show for details.

Once you have all of those things done you can start the writing.

While you are writing think constantly about your ideal client. What are their problems, why are they coming to you?

If your writing is too generic it doesn’t engage anyone.
Be concise. We all know our businesses too well and can give far too much detail. Avoid this. Be clear and concise. Too many options causes confusion.

When writing a page be very concise at the top of a page. So the first 5 sentences at the top of the page should cover everything needed for the page. But then further down the page go back to the different topics and dig into more detail. Then even further down the page circle back and give even more details about the same topics.
You need to think about keywords. You can listen to the SEO shows here about keywords. It’s important to use the keyword / phrase enough on a page, but without going mad and including it in every sentence.

Focus on feelings, outcomes and results. Don’t focus on the nuts and bolts of what is included in a package. Focus on what you will gain from working with you in a big picture way. How will they feel working with you? People buy with feelings and then justify their purchase with logic.Testimonials can help with this. Ask clients to mention feelings in testimonials.
Remember that no one will browse your website for no reason. They are coming to your website because they have a problem and they are wondering if you can solve it for them.
Sam does not recommend a testimonial pages. He recommends spreading testimonials across all of your pages, not all of them in one page.

Know what you readers care about.

About pages. Sam says please don’t tell the story of how you got a camera when you were 12 and fell in love with photography. Every photographers site says this. Remember that people care about themselves, and the problem they are trying to solve. So an about page works best if it’s about how you have helped people in the past with your photography. Some small snippets about your life is great, but that’s not the aim of the about page.
Structuring your pages using bullet points, numbers lists, sub-headings really helps make it easy to follow.

Marcus asks about the use of AI. Sam says AI is great for helping but not creating. So give it your writing and ask for ideas. But don’t use AI to create content.

Repetition. People do not read your website like a book. They jump from place to place and so you need to repeat lots to ensure all visitors get your key messages.