When you’re building your first website or prepping to revamp the design and layout, it can be difficult to know where to start. There’s so much you want to convey, but you also want the experience to be easy and seamless for potential clients. Our templates take a lot of that guesswork and “blank page syndrome” out of the equation, because we build them with strategy in mind. There are five specific pages every photographer website needs — and we intentionally include them in every template to create a clear and complete experience for visitors to your online home.
Pages Every Photographer Website Needs
1. Home
As we’d say in the early 2000s, “duh doy!” A homepage is kind of the bare minimum for a website, right? But that doesn’t mean you can just let this one slide and send people to other pages on your website. This is like your Visitor Center, serving to both draw people in and start to answer the questions they came to ask. (Do they offer the kind of photography I need? Is their style aligned with my vision? Are they trustworthy? What will my experience with them look like?)
Within seconds of landing on your homepage, people should know who you are, what you do, and have a general feel for the vibe of your work. They should be able to get all of that without scrolling, but as they scroll, they should start getting their questions answered and feel clear on where to go next. A few must-haves on your homepage:
- A clear statement of what you offer and for whom (we love a fancy, whimsical copy blurb, but this is the place to keep it simple and understandable)
- A few details about your services
- Testimonials to immediately start building trust
- Clear next steps (also called Calls to Action or CTAs), usually in the form of buttons or links
Grab a copy of our FREE Homepage Copywriting Guide here!
2. About
An About page is important on any website, but for photographers, it’s essential. When people book a photographer, they usually aren’t just booking a service — they are booking you. Your unique skillset, your point of view, your personality. Photographers play a highly interactive role, especially on wedding days, so clients want to know if they’ll vibe with you. And this can also help weed out people who aren’t ideal clients for you.
Your About page should include:
- Language and tone that’s true to you and your brand
- A photo of you
- The story behind your photography or why you do what you do
- Some fun tidbits that breathe life into the page. Small, specific things help visitors relate to you and remember you.
- Any awards, credentials, or features
3. Experience
This is one page that is unique to photographers and creatives vs other types of businesses. An Experience page is where you help a potential client understand and envision what it’s like to work with you. This should be equal parts “setting expectations” and “setting the scene.” In other words, you’ll get tactical and explain your process so that everyone is clear on the steps. But you’re also creating the road map that helps a client imagine themself working with you.
This page should include:
- A blurb about your work style – do you hang back and document the candid moments? Do editorial style posing? Help potential clients understand how you’ll interact with their day.
- Information about your process, from inquiring to booking to prepping, the day of, and edits
- Testimonials
- FAQs
- A clear call to action
4. Portfolio or Blog
While social media is a great spot to post your work, we cannot stress the importance of a blog enough! When it comes to sharing your photography, a website is a better place to tell the full story, on a platform you own, where you can optimize for SEO to drive organic traffic for the long haul. We recommend using your blog to:
- Share sneak peeks, galleries, and recaps of shoots. (Be sure to optimize for search engines and link out to vendors!)
- Share your expertise on photography, your local area, your niche, etc.
- Provide tips and tricks that will be valuable for clients
- Build credibility and boost your search rankings
If you want to learn more about getting started with blogging, check out our FREE downloadable guide, Blogging for Photographers.
5. Contact
Again, this feels like a no-brainer, but still an absolute must! Make it easy for people to get in touch with you so there’s no friction in the inquiry or booking process. Depending on your preferences, you can offer multiple contact options, such as a contact form, email address, or phone number. We always recommend a contact form, which can be integrated with other software so that you have a seamless process for following up.
Other pages to consider
Whether you offer digital products, education, or work with very different types of clients, sometimes you need to structure your website a bit differently. Here are some other pages photography websites need that you might consider for your business.
- Investment: If you intend to share in-depth information about pricing or packages on your website, you may want to include a separate page. While you can absolutely include this in an Experience page, it will depend on how much information you’d like to share and how long your page is getting as a result. Some photographers simply have clients inquire for pricing or using a “starting at $” number, which are great options if you don’t plan to have an Investment page.
- For Couples/For Brands: If you’re finding it’s difficult to speak to two very different audiences on your website, you might need to split out your offerings into separate pages. For example, if you do brand photography and weddings, you’ll want to speak to very different needs, showcase different work, and share very different information. Creating separate pages, like we showcase on the Winston Template, can help make this process easier.
- Education: If you offer mentorship or education resources for other photographers, you’ll definitely want at least one additional page to describe these offerings and your unique approach. Again, anytime you need to speak to a very different audience (like other photographers), it likely makes sense to add a new page.
- Shop or Sales Pages: Do you sell presets, downloadable guides, physical products, or merch? You need a Sales Page! These can be added onto any of our templates and have purchase capability built in for a seamless customer experience with the rest of your website.