5 Must-Have Elements For A Fabulous Boudoir Photography Website
Fun Fact: More than half of the clients we serve are in the business of boudoir photography. I guess you can call it our niche! In working with boudoir photographers, we’ve learned a lot about what it takes to attract clients … a fabulous website, of course, being one of the things. In this blog post, I’m going to share five must-have elements for a boudoir photography website.
#1. A portfolio that resonates with your ideal client.
If you follow our blog then you know that every successful marketing project begins with a deep understanding of your ideal buyer persona. With a photography website, it’s critical that your portfolio pieces speak to the type of client you’re looking to attract.
If you’ve never written a profile for your target buyer persona, I strongly suggest taking the time to do so. To start the process, just think about the most amazing client you’ve ever worked with. From there, craft their story. If you get stuck, HubSpot has some pretty neat tools for creating buyer personas:
Once you’ve completed the exercise and you have your profile pretty well fleshed out, perform an in-depth review of your portfolio pieces. Do they accurately represent that amazing client who you based your buyer persona profile on? If not, it’s time to refresh those portfolio pieces with photos that will better resonate with the type of client you love working with the most.
#2. Helpful insights into your process.
The thought of doing a boudoir photography session can be intimidating to someone who is brand new to the experience. By sharing detailed insights into your process and setting clear expectations up front, you can help ease some of these anxieties and better guide the prospective client through their sales journey.
Again, let’s think about your favorite clients. What were their initial hesitations and how did you help resolve them? Sharing this type of information will establish a level of trust and hopefully prompt prospective clients to take the next step toward contacting you.
#3. A blog.
Blogging is a highly effective way to not only showcase your special projects and serve as a resource to site visitors, but to improve your SEO as well! Yes, we know that writing blog posts is probably buried on your To-Do List. (Pretty much every boudoir photographer we work with juggles an incredibly hectic schedule most days.) However, blogging is an investment that will pay dividends down the road.
I recommend creating a content calendar. Take a day to plot out all of your blog posts for the month. (Don’t hate me but I’d love to see you shoot for one post per week 😧). Based on that, you can then organize social media posts and email marketing campaigns that will tie in.
Need some help launching your blog? Read this blog post we recently published: How To Start A Business Blog
#4. A prominent opt-in gift.
As a boudoir photographer, you probably view your email subscribers as gold. They’re the people who are very interested in what you have going on and are probably following you on social media as well. These are the people you need to stay in front of.
So how do you grow that golden list of subscribers? With a free opt-in gift, of course. The truth is, when people visit your website, they’re visiting for a reason. Most likely, they’re interested in the services you provide. However, the people who are very interested in your services are the people who are willing to give you their email address. It’s their way of raising their hand and shouting, “Yes! I’m interested in what you have to say.”
Unfortunately, I’m here to tell you that a boring old subscribe button is probably not enough. People are hesitant about signing up for emails these days. If someone is already interested in your service (which is evidenced by them being on your website to begin with), they’ll be more inclined to download a guide or checklist from you. Yes, these downloadable freebies are what we refer to as opt-in gifts!
When coming up with your opt-in gift, try and think about something that would be especially helpful to a potential client. Maybe it’s a checklist of 10 Things To Do Before Your Boudoir Photography Session. Or perhaps it’s a Guide To Getting Ready For Your First Boudoir Shoot. Whatever you decide, be sure the value of the free gift is enough to make them enter their email address in order to access it.
Last but not least, your opt-in gift should be prominent on your homepage. If one of your main website goals is to increase your subscriber list, I would recommend placing your opt-in gift within the footer as well so it ends up on every page. You can also promote it in your blog posts and on your top performing web pages to really ensure it gets noticed!
#5. A descriptive bio and testimonials.
Booking a boudoir photography session is obviously an intimate and personal experience for many clients. Knowing they’ll be exposed and vulnerable in front of a photographer they’ve never met before can be very frightening! You can ease some of these fears by designing a highly personalized bio on your website. Share your background and also some of the things you like to do outside of work. Incorporate photos of yourself and some behind the scenes shots, too. This type of content works incredibly well in a bio.
Testimonials are another great way to increase trust. According to a 2018 Local Consumer Review Survey conducted by Bright Local:
91 percent of people regularly or occasionally read online reviews, and 84 percent trust online reviews as much as a personal recommendation.
It goes without saying, showcasing testimonials is another key to establishing trust with potential new clients. Whether you dedicate an entire web page to testimonials or creatively display them on your homepage, it’s important to highlight what happy clients are saying about you!
Is your boudoir photography website generating qualified new leads for you?
If the answer is no, book a free 15-minute consult with us! We’d love to take a peek at what you’re doing and give you some feedback!