Branding Your Boudoir Photography Blog
Photo by Jernej Graj on Unsplash
Earlier this week we published a new article on How To Design A Blog Post. While it’s important that your posts are interesting to your audience and grammatically correct, there’s another aspect of blogging that sometimes gets forgotten about.
The design.
In Tuesday’s post, we shared tips for making your content shine by applying some simple design concepts. And, of course, that got us thinking about our core client … the boudoir photographer. In today’s post, we’re going to share nine design tips specific to a boudoir photography blog.
1.) Coordinate your blog design with your website design.
Keeping in line with your brand is incredibly important. (FYI: This applies to everything you put out there, not just your blog.) The fonts. colors, and patterns that you use on your website should be incorporated into the design of your blog. Mismatched marketing leads to an audience disconnect and will ultimately stunt your brand recognition efforts. When visitors to your website hop over to your blog, or vice versa, they should feel like they’re still in the same space.
2.) Create a header.
According to the Brand Solopreneur:
“A header is the first thing a visitor sees when landing on your blog, so just like a bad piece of meat can ruin a dish, a poorly constructed header can squander a first impression.”
Your header should include your logo and also a clear, concise description of what your blog and brand are all about.
The Brand Solorpreneur also has this to say about creating a blog header:
“Be aware of what I call the ‘hotdog effect’ when designing your header. You do not want to put everything but the kitchen sink in there. Your header is a qualifier for visitors. It should tell them enough that they can make a quick determination if they want to learn more or leave.”
3.) Use pull quotes and big, bold headers to satisfy the skimmer.
Boudoir is a hot topic and there are many questions your future clients need answered. Make sure your blog posts are easy to skim. The main points of each article should stand out from the rest of the text, allowing the reader to get the gist of the post even if they don’t have time to read the entire thing.
In a study on how people read websites, the Nielsen Norman Group discovered that “79 percent of test users always scanned any new page they came across; only 16 percent read word-by-word.”
Needless to say, it’s important to highlight the main points of your post in order to keep people scrolling through the content!
4.) Use photography that identifies with your target client persona.
Your blog is the perfect place to attract new client leads. So make sure you’re doing what it takes to attract the right ones! People are visual by nature so imagery will play a key role in your blog design. While you’ll want to use photos that reasonably coordinate with the topics of each post, you’ll also want to consider whether or not the photos you select will resonate with the right people (a.k.a. your target client persona). Each time you go to select photos to use with your blog posts, keep your dream client in the back of your mind and ask yourself how each photo would make them feel. Would it appeal to them or be off-putting in some way? Again, your blog should be a lead generating tool. Get the right leads for your boudoir business by always keeping your target client persona at the forefront of your copywriting and design decisions!
5.) Promote your workbooks, guides, checklists, etc.
Do you offer a free guide, workbook or checklist to your website visitors or clients? Content offers like these should be promoted in every single one of your blog posts. Remember what we just talked about above. You need to treat your blog like a lead generating tool. If you’re not giving visitors an obvious way to opt-in to your content, you’re missing an enormous opportunity!
6.) Tell a story.
Boudoir photography is all about empowerment. Take a moment to think about just how many people’s lives you’ve touched. Just how many women you’ve made feel BEAUTIFUL. These stories are pure gold for your blog.
The art of boudoir photography is simply unknown to many people. Some might even think it’s scary or intimidating. However, seeing and reading about actual human beings who went through the experience can be a very powerful thing. Utilize your evangelists and ask to feature their stories and sessions on your blog!
7.) Include social sharing buttons!
If you’re a boudoir photographer, there’s a good chance you’re using various other social media platforms to promote your brand. Give your blog visitors an opportunity to easily share your fabulous content with their networks by including social sharing buttons within your blog posts.
8.) Be mindful of photo file sizes.
Like your website, your blog should feature high quality photos but be sure to keep each of them under 500KB. Filling your blog posts with extremely large photo files will seriously slow down page loading times. (And this is annoying 😩) Give your blog visitors a user-friendly experience so they stay around for a while!
9.) Make your content easy to search.
Whether you organize your posts by using categories and tags or simply offer search functionality within your blog, your content should be easy for visitors to sort through and navigate. (Pro Tip: Offering up a topic listing can definitely help lead people in the right direction!)
And there you have … nine tips for making your boudoir blog even more amazing than it already is!