5 Reasons Why Your Website Might Lose you Visitors

Have you recently revamped your your website, yet you still are not able to increase the traffic to your website? A beautiful website as a photographer is essential. It is after all your shopfront, a place where potential couples can view your beautiful weddings and get a glimpse into what it would be like for you to photographer your wedding. It is absolutely essential, yet it is only half the story.

The other half of the story is more strategic than beautiful design. Yet it is also something that can save you hours of struggle trying to figure out why your ideal clients are not contacting you! After all if your potential couples dont get in touch, then you are going to have a very quiet wedding season!

Over the years I have worked hard at combining both beautiful design with strategic thinking where my website is concerned. It is not always easy, especially as Google constantly keep changing the rules. But with a little dedication and consideration of what you want your couples to experience when they come to your website, it can be done!

And here is how!!

1. Take your couples on a journey through your website

It is so important that your website is as interactive as possible. What you want is to always give your visitors somewhere to go next. We all know by now that people online have become quite lazy. We expect everything instantly and want easy answers. If your visitors are not encouraged and even explicitly directed around your website then you will lose them quickly. Stand back and look at what stands out on your website. It will stand out for your visitors too. If this is not what you want people to notice first then change it – you call the shots here! Take a look at your menu and have it clearly laid out that visitors will see what you want them to see and then they “click” accordingly. This also applies to the content on each page. Make sure when they finish with the content on your page, they go where you want them to go next and ultimately you want them on your Contact page, so that they get in touch and say hi!

2. Make your website mobile friendly

Tablets and mobile phones are used most frequently for searches online. Take the time to explore your website on your mobile phone and see how it looks and more importantly how it flows. If you are not the best at working at the back end of your website, there are some great themes out there like Flothemes, the Design Space and ProPhoto that will take care of all of that for you. They are often really easy to set up and are a very reasonable option instead of having a website custom designed for you.

3. Make it easy to contact you

This sounds obvious but it is also something that can be easily missed when there is so much to do in managing your online presence! If your enquiries have gone quiet, it is worth investigating that your contact form is working properly. When I first started my photography business, I designed my own website using ProPhoto. I neglected to check that my Contact form was working properly until a friend of mine tried to contact me without success. It is hard enough when you start a new business to attract your first client but if they cannot even get in touch then you are making it even harder for yourself! I periodically check my spam folder and also regularly check that my Contact form is working, as website updates can sometimes have a bad effect on your form without evening realising it.

4. Let people know where you are located

Have you noticed that you are getting visitors from far flung places? This is always encouraging as it shows that your website and as a result your work is reaching an international audience! But what if they are looking to book a local photographer in their area and they are searching your website without realising you live on the other side of the world. Or what if you have a potential client that lives in your city but leaves your website because they dont know where you are located. Remember those lazy internet users that want all the information they need instantly? Well, you are going to lose them if they cannot see quickly where you are based!

You don’t have to give your exact address but the neighbourhood, city or the areas where you want to take photographs is essential and can be easily overlooked if you dont have your own studio. You need to include it on your About page, your Contact page, the title of your website and anywhere else where you would like it to be seen.

5. Start a newsletter so that future clients keep you in mind

After a wedding or event lots of potential clients will visit your website. They may not be looking for a family photographer or a wedding photographer right now but if they can sign up for your newsletter than your emails straight to their inbox will keep you top of mind when they do need a photographer. Use your newsletter to reach this audience and become a resource to them. Offer them tips on taking family photographs at home, things a bride should know for her wedding day or how to photograph naturally. These are all useful tips that will help you also when you come to photograph these potential clients!

So there you have it. If you take action of each of these steps you will be working your way towards keeping your potential clients interested and more likely to contact you. It can take time of course but with these few actions your website will be more responsive for your ideal clients and should keep your inbox busy with lots of queries from the clients you want to work with.

Warmly,

Tanya

Ps. For more useful photography tips you can sign up for my newsletter for helpful tips straight to your inbox. Just sign up in the sidebar to the right!