In-depth guide: You need a photography business plan, not just a website
Start thinking like a business owner and let go of the "build it and they will come" mentality. You need to work hard on all aspects of your photography business to differentiate yourself.
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Q&A #10: Portfolio tools SEO, domain name tips, blog vs portfolio pages
Answering your questions about SEO-shortcomings of portfolio tools, tips for choosing your domain name, differences between blog & portfolio pages.
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Optimize your photography website for repeat visitors to convert them into clients
After you've clarified your site for first-time visitors, make sure that repeat visitors have good reasons to come back to the site. And when they do, that they can find what they're looking for very quickly.
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Website makeover case study: using the power of CSS to improve an existing PhotoShelter site
You can bring new life into your existing photography website by adding custom CSS code and doing minor template tweaks. An improved online presence will grow your business as a result.
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In-depth guide: Clarify your photography website for first-time visitors to help drive more business
Most of your website visitors are there for the first time. They're probably a bit confused and they need your guidance. Optimize your website to turn them into repeat visitors (and eventually into clients).
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Curated links #2
This is a curated collection of interesting articles I've seen online in the past few months, covering SEO, WordPress & more. Time to start reading!
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Q&A #9: how to get stated, slideshows & galleries, child themes, photography website services
Answering your questions about getting started with your first photography website, WP child themes, slideshows, etc. Plus: a chat about comparing photo website services.
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Using call-to-action buttons to guide people through your photography website
One of the most under-utilized ways of improving your photography website, call-to-action buttons can encourage visitors to perform the actions you want them to take on your site (whether that's contacting you, booking a photo shoot, viewing your portfolio, etc.)
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Find more clients with Agency Access: full-service marketing & consulting for photographers
Agency Access is my go-to recommendation for photographers needing advanced marketing services or portfolio building and editing. They have experienced consultants and marketing pros that can help you build your portfolio and grow your photography career.
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Keeping your online portfolio fresh
Stop your photography portfolio from collecting dust by regularly adding new projects, rotating some of your past galleries and scheduling portfolio clean-ups.
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12 ways to make your photography website more trustworthy
Follow these user-experience guidelines to differentiate your photography website, attract more clients, and show that you truly care about your work.
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Q&A #8: domain names, images sizes, SEO and keyword research tools
Answering your questions about changing domain names, on-page SEO for blog posts, image sizes and keyword suggestion tools.
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Exciting changes to the ForegroundWeb site (access the new Subscriber Area)
The relaunch of foregroundweb.com comes with many design improvements and, most importantly, with many more web-design articles and resources.
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The 4 types of thumbnail grids: what’s the best way to display thumbs on your photography website?
A comparison of the most common ways to display photo thumbnails (along with examples and recommended plugins).
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Q&A #7: building a new site, image sizes, newsletter automation and optin plugins
This Q&A covers structuring and building a new site, recommended image sizes, newsletter automation and optin plugins.
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In-depth guide: 60+ photography website mistakes – the complete guide to finding and fixing your website problems
With straight-forward ideas and many examples & resources, this guide will get your site on the right track. Fix as many mistakes as possible to achieve photo website mastery! All ideas are short and come with their own resources and solutions to help you eliminate any website problems.
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Backing up your photography website – guidelines & resources
Essential guidelines for doing a proper backup of your photo website, with instructions for WP, Squarespace & more.
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Q&A #6: WP themes, PhotoShelter integrations, SEO, copywriters
This Q&A covers WordPress themes, tips & integrations with PhotoShelter, SEO thoughts and a curated list of copywriters.
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A quick overview of integrating a blog into your photography website
Your options for integrating a blog into your existing site and combining different platforms into a hybrid photo website.
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In-depth guide: The process of selecting images for a strong & coherent portfolio
Properly choosing your portfolio images is important, but also very difficult. This article includes guidelines for building a better (online & offline) photography portfolio, and a curated selection of resources to learn more.
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Common web-design worries expressed by photographers
A round-up of answers given by photographers (looking to build a website) when asked what they're worried about.
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In-depth guide: Having separate photography websites or merging them?
Understanding the compromises you have to make when promoting multiple photography specialties on the same website. It's a game of compromises, and sometimes, the benefits outweigh the problems.
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In-depth guide: Information architecture for photographers: how to structure your site for optimal user experience & conversions
Organizing your content is a highly important process and should come before any design and technical considerations, before SEO. Don't let your site theme/template dictate how you structure your website. You need to decide that first, and then customize the site to meet your needs.
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Q&A #5: On-site vs off-site SEO, PhotoShelter vs WP, finding sites in your niche
In April's Q&A we cover on-site vs off-site SEO, PhotoShelter vs WordPress, and how to find other websites in your niche.
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