Welcome to part two of our website series! Today we’ll be discussing how to build an effective website. What should you have on your website? What are the best practices for building your website? How can you use your website as a marketing tool? All that and more coming up next!

So in the last episode, we discussed the techy side of your website. We talked about SSL, TLD, Hosting, and applications for building your website. But today we’ll be diving into building your website and what you need to do to have a successful website. So TJ, what do you think is the most important thing to have on your website?

Intro thoughts:

What is the most important thing to have on your website?

5 Things That Every Photography Website Needs

1. Your Work As Your Style - Show what you want to shoot, you can only sell what you show.
   
   1. What does your website convey
      
   2. What look is on brand for you?
      
   3. Layout, colors, fonts
      
   4. Customer experience (Simple and Easy Navigation)
      

Contact Page - This is the Key to Local SEO (https://neilpatel.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/intro-optimal-local-landing-page-layout.pdf)

1. Map
   
2. Contact Form
   
3. Hours of Operation
   
4. Social media links
   
5. Call to action
   

About Me Page - Short, the story is about them not you. Remember they are the hero, you are their guide

Blog -

• Traffic driver
  
• Great place for education
  
• Where to photograph your engagement shoots in your town
  
• http://www.coffycreations.com/9-great-photo-spots-ashland-ohio/
  
• Answerthepublic.com
  
• Consistency
  
• SEO
  
• Tells the Algorithm that your page is up to date
  
• Showcase events you shoot in real time (pros and cons)
  
• The Most Important? A CALL TO ACTION!
  

Action Items

• Create a file on your computer and segment your best portfolio images
  
• Find a topic you feel confident about and write out your first blog post
  
• Start to think about your workflow. What are you going to do when you get that first contact form submitted? If you aint first, your last
  
• Answer Who, What, Where, and How?
  
  • Who You Are.
    
  • What you shoot.
    
  • Where you are located.
    
  • How do you do business?
    
• https://neilpatel.com/training/
  

Recommended Reading:

• Crushing It - https://amzn.to/3dKBRYA
  
• Youtility - https://amzn.to/2y2pPuk
  
• Content Inc. - https://amzn.to/3bSN2xJ