I think I’ve mentioned before that I worked for a website hosting company for nine years. During that time I saw hundreds of thousands of websites and each time a creative’s website crossed my path, I spent a few extra minutes checking it out. I’ve seen some really common mistakes and wanted to highlight them here so that you can properly avoid them!

1. Not specializing: Curate curate curate! You are a ____ photographer specializing in _____. Each and every single image should reflect that exact statement. I’m not gonna lie, this is hard to do! When you really want to put that amazing shot of that wild horse in your portfolio because it’s an amazing shot but you’re supposed to be focusing on Wedding Photos… you have to cut out the horse pic. 🙁
2. Difficult navigation: I get sleek, and I get minimalism, but when your whole menu is completely hidden behind a teeny cream colored heart in the way upper right of your site, it might be hard to find, and more people than you think might be giving up and bouncing. Have a friend try to navigate your website and see where they get stuck. I had a website a few years ago where my friend couldn’t figure out how to scroll through my gallery… when I realized she probably wasn’t the only one who got stuck there, I changed it right away.
3. No call to action: Every person looking through your site will choose to book you at a completely different time. For one person it might be on your ABOUT page, and for another person it might be on the DETAILS page. Each and every page should have some kind of option to direct them to book you, or at least enough so that it’s easy to find!
4. No contact information: I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gone to someone’s website looking for their email and I can’t find it anywhere on their site. Get your email on your site ASAP!
5. Not saying what you do or what area you serve: Simple… so often we assume people will get what it is we do, but sometimes people really need a specific. “Arizona Wedding Photographer” “Los Angeles Photographer Specializing in Family Portraiture.”

I’d also love to encourage you to go visit fifty websites… or a hundred. Sites of other photographers, huge sites, small sites, successful sites, and sites that are just getting started. Notice the navigation, the verbiage… can you tell right away what it is they do? Can you tell who they serve? How would you describe their ideal client? What mistakes can you see that you want to stay away from? What can you adopt that would elevate your site? Get online and research!

Day 98 is currently reserved for any questions you have throughout the 100 days. To submit a question, please click here!  If you’re interested in supporting this project, please share, PIN and comment! Any other questions, comments or ideas, please feel free to email me at denise(at)denisekaris(dot)com

Denise Karis is an Arizona photographer who enjoys musicals, Doctor Who and breakfast burritos. IG @denisekaris