Think of your website as the online storefront for your business.
People are walking by, peering in through the windows, and showing interest.
But how many of them are walking inside and asking you for an inquiry?
Also, if some people are asking for inquiries, how many customers are walking by that you’re missing out on?
How many more inquiries could you get if your site told a more compelling story in a clear concise manner?
Most of the traffic that’s leaving your site without inquiring with you is doing so because they’re unclear about what you do and don’t know why they should work with you.
The only way to know how well your site is performing is by knowing your conversion rate of traffic to inquiries.
For example, if your website gets 100 visitors and 3 of them inquire then your conversion rate is 3%.
Now imagine by optimizing your site and adding some critical components you increase your inquiry rate to 10%.
This would instantly impact your business and reduce your ad spend.
For your website to be able to do this it’s a must that you hit the 15 points I make below or risk missing out on a ton of clients.
1. Have separate landing pages.
Each of your genres should have it’s own designated page on your site with a clear objective of what your visitor should do next.
Most photography websites drive traffic to a homepage that combines all of their work from multiple genres.
This often leaves your visitors questioning, what you’re specialty is, why they should work with you, and what the next steps are.
By having separate landing pages for each of your genres you’re giving yourself the opportunity to be specific about your work, how you’re going to meet their needs, and what to do next in order to hire you.
If you keep your genres together you’ll never be able to do this as well as your competitors who are either specializing in one genre or have their genres separated.
Your page should have all the info they need to both make a decision and book with you without having to click anywhere else on your site.
By having everything on one page you’re making their experience convenient and easy, making it more likely for them to inquire and book with you.
The following 14 tips are going to cover exactly what to have on your landing page and why it’s vital for your success.
2. Have a clear objective.
Your visitors should know exactly what the next steps are. In our case it’s asking for an inquiry.
As you create your page make sure you keep this in mind.
Every choice you make in your layout, copy, and images should be driving your visitors toward making an inquiry with you.
3. Make sure your site is mobile responsive.
Around 80% of web traffic is now on mobile.
So make sure that your page looks just as good on mobile as it does on desktop.
Check that you’re on a platform that does this well and take the time to make your mobile page look great.
If you want to learn more about making your site mobile responsive checkout our blog on how this can impact your SEO. The third heading discusses mobile responsiveness.
4. Have great copy.
You may think it’s tough to write good copy but here are some ways to make it easier:
- Write your copy like you’re talking to a friend.
- Make it conversational, easy to read and clear. Don’t get fancy with words, you’re not impressing anyone.
- Write with your customer’s benefits in mind.
- Don’t get hung up on your technical abilities, equipment, or what kind of certifications you have. Talk about how their experience is going to be out of this world by working with you.
- Use the word “you” a lot.
- By using the word you you’re reminding your customer that you have them in mind. You want them to have a great experience and you’ve created this business to improve their life. “You” can be super powerful to use so make sure you don’t let this tip go to waste.
If you want to learn more about how you can start getting more inquiries for your business apply to schedule a call with us here.
5. Have a contact form on each page.
This goes back to convenience and clarity on what step your visitor should take next.
By having a contact form on each page you’re making it easier for them to inquire with you.
Rather than having them click over to another page and risk them bouncing during the journey have your contact form on every page.
Every client we’ve worked with that has made this change has seen a bump in inquiries so make sure you do this.
6. Discuss the process.
Tell them what it’s going to look like to work with you.
What are they getting, what’s the experience going to be like and why is this going to be special.
The better job you do at this the more your customer is going to be able to visualize working with you.
The more ingrained you make this in your customer the more likely they’ll be to work with you than anyone else.
7. Spread out your images.
Your images should be displayed throughout your page. Don’t pack them all into one section and leave blocks of text consuming the rest of your page.
Your images should be mixed into your copy, keeping your visitors engaged and reminding them how good your work is.
Use at least 12 images throughout your page to get this done.
You can see what I’m talking about by taking a look at the portfolio of sites we’ve built recently by clicking the button below:
8. Have clear call-to-actions.
Your call-to-actions need to be clearly displayed and easily explain what your visitor should do next.
The best way to do this is to have call-to-action buttons with contrasting colors that are personalized.
Here are some good examples:
Some other ways to personalize your buttons with copy are:
[Check Availability] [Can I Get More Info?] [Book My Newborn Session]
9. Put testimonials on your landing pages.
Testimonials are becoming more valuable every day, especially online.
You’re probably aware of how much easier it is to book a client coming from a referral because of the trust factor your client is coming in with.
Well having testimonials is the same idea.
By having your testimonials on each of your pages you’re giving your visitor the next best thing – social proof and more of a reason to trust you.
10. Have a small gallery.
Display your work in a small gallery on your page.
Have at least 15 photos condensed to one section so they can see your work and get an idea of what they’ll be getting.
Again this is about convenience and giving them everything they need on one page.
Rather than having them click to another tab to see your gallery and click back to the original page to learn more or contact you lets make it convenient.
11. Short about us section.
You probably already have an about page on your site. If you do don’t remove it.
The section you put on your landing pages is going to be shorter giving them a snippet into who you are.
12. What’s included.
Clearly let them know what they’re going to be receiving.
Some examples of what you can outline are:
- Professional hair & makeup
- 5 outfit changes
- Full retouching
- Access to a wardrobe of outfits
- Full guidance through the shoot
- Unveiling session
If you want to learn more about how you can start getting more inquiries for your business apply to schedule a call with us here.
13. FAQ.
Answer all the questions they may have with an FAQ section.
Use this section as an opportunity to overcome their concerns and objections.
You can also use this section to highlight some of your strong points like:
- How long have you been shooting (insert genre here) for?
- Why do you love photographing (insert genre here)?
- When can I expect my proofs?
- How long does a session take?
Add in other strong points or anything else you think they should know.
14. Have an exit intent pop-up.
Oh no! Your page visitor is about to leave!
Their mouse quickly moves up to the tab to exit out.
What can you do to save them?
Use an exit-intent pop up.
But use it wisely.
This is a pop-up that only occurs when your page senses the mouse leaving quickly.
As a last ditch effort it throws a pop-up out there with an offer they can’t refuse to get them to inquire or join your email list.
You can read more about these here: https://wisepops.com/how-to-create-the-best-exit-intent-popup-that-instantly-converts/
15. Use heatmaps to track and test.
Heatmaps are going to show you where your site is doing well and what can be improved.
The most important thing about having a heat map on your site is analyzing if your visitors are flowing to the actions you want them to take.
Are they stopping and reading the sections you find most important?
If not maybe you need to emphasize that section in a different way. Make the font larger or give it a contrasting background.
Are they clicking your call-to-actions more than anywhere else on your site?
There are tons of heatmap plug-ins you can choose from to put on your site, choose the best one for the site builder you’re using and start getting an idea of what behaviors your visitors are taking.
Bringing it together.
In conclusion if you want to significantly increase the amount of inquiries you’re getting from your site traffic you have to create genre specific landing pages giving your visitors as much information as possible.
Each of these pages is meant to build interest, overcome objections, and get them to inquire.
If your site isn’t setup this way right now then I wouldn’t drive any traffic to it – especially not paid campaigns.
16. Bonus.
Most photographers drive all their traffic to their home page.
The good ones design their home page as a navigator to drive visitors to their more specific landing pages like I’ve described above.
Instead of doing this what I suggest is driving all your paid traffic to your landing pages.
That way your site visitors get exactly what they need without having to search around in the easiest manner.
Now that you’ve read these 16 tips go execute them and get ready for lift off!
Thanks for reading the blog!
I hope it was helpful.
I’d love to learn more about you and your business.
If you’d like to schedule a call with my team to learn more about what we do and how we can help your business grow, book a call with us here.
Or use the button below:
Humberto Garcia is the world’s leading photography business growth expert.
Founder of Photography to Profits and high-performance coach to multiple 6-figure photography businesses. Humberto coaches photographers from his special operations military experience and photography sales and marketing experience. After years of high performance in Marine Special Operations and building businesses, he knows what works.
