The 4 levels of website mobile-friendliness
Even if you pass Google's test, there are different levels of mobile friendliness, which all come down to offering a good user-experience (UX).
Read articleWeb design resources & articles for photographers.
Let’s build amazing photo websites!
Hierarchy of website priorities: Do you have an unreasonable obsession with SEO?
Focusing on SEO can help you grow your business, but not at the expense of huge user-experience mistakes. Let's define your website priorities and set the in the right order.
Read articleHow to modernize your photography website and adapt it to recent industry changes
Browsing habits, in particular, are changing over time; and without revamping your photography website based on recent industry standards, you're leaving money on the table (low traffic, poor conversion rates, fewer leads and sales)
Read articleCurated reading material for the summer 👓📚
These are 50+ hand-picked articles that I enjoyed since the beginning of 2018, on topics like business / industry news, web-design, SEO & WordPress.
Read articleFinal steps to successfully launching your WordPress site
If you feel you're ready to launch a new WP photography website, take some time to go through this list of small tasks to make sure everything is ready to go live.
Read articleInterview on the PhotoBizX Podcast: “Everything you need for a successful photography website”
I'm back on the PhotoBizX podcast with a really long and detailed conversation (with host Andrew Hellmich) about user experience in photography websites. Andrew and I cover (almost) everything you need to know for building a great photography website.
Read articleCurated list of the best WordPress plugins for photographers
Collection of recommended WordPress plugins (that I'm often using when building photography websites). Almost all plugins below have excellent reviews & a rating of at least 4 out of 5 stars, and have been thoroughly revised and tested.
Read articleWordPress themes for photographers: how to find and buy the best WP themes for your photography website
WordPress themes have come a long way in recent years. Premium WP themes are now incredibly flexible and powerful, they're mobile-friendly and SEO-friendly, and they often include a slew of powerful plugins that extend their functionality even further. Here are my recommendations.
Read articleWordPress vs. photography-specific & other platforms: deciding where you should build your photo website
How do you decide what platform to build your photography website on? WordPress has become very popular, but photographer-specific tools have their own strong features. This article will help you decide which best fits your needs.
Read articleDon’t obsess over SEO: 10 things you should be taking care of on your photography site before doing advanced SEO work
SEO procrastination is too common among photographers, often times actually damaging their business. There's a time for SEO work, of course, but other website changes should be taken care of first. Make sure your website completely nails these issues before worrying about traffic and SEO.
Read articlePhotography website user experience [video]
I was recently invited for a live Facebook event (hosted by Julie Christie from Togs in Business) where I shared some insights into what photographers like you should be thinking about when it comes to photography website user experience.
Read articleThe importance of WordPress maintenance: what types of problems you can have if you don’t care for your WP site
WordPress' popularity leads to complexity as well. Combining this with poor hosting services, improper management, security attacks and negligence, and you get a slew of possible errors. The solution is prevention: properly manage your WordPress site to avoid security and functionality problems down the line.
Read articleIn-depth guide: Photography website planning guide: find the clarity you need before building a strong online business
It's important to dedicate some time to do research and to strategize before building a new photo website. Follow these guidelines to gain more clarity.
Read articleOrganizing your images into galleries & collections to help people navigate your archive
How you structure your galleries will help users navigate your site more easily. For a small portfolio site, just a few galleries and you're done. But with a large image archive, creating (nested) collections is important.
Read articleDPI & PPI are irrelevant, only pixel dimensions matter on your website
With everything related to your photography website, only image pixel dimensions matter. You can ignore DPI/PPI, that's just a piece of metadata, only relevant for printing and scanning.
Read articleCustom website case-study: unique WordPress design for award-winning photographer Chris Dei
See what website design you can achieve if you use the right WP theme and if you let yourself be creative along the way. When the type of photography you shoot demands something special, it's OK to step outside of the norm and creating something unique to showcase it online.
Read articleIn-depth guide: Image SEO essentials: How to optimize for Google Image search to drive more traffic to your photography website
Image SEO guidelines for ranking in Google Image search, along with explanations of why you'd want to rank in Google Image search, how it different from regular SEO, how to track your image SEO results and what the future brings.
Read articleQ&A #11: website caching, WordPress hosting, paid links and image sizes
Answering your questions about website caching, good WP hosting providers, paid/affiliate links and how to size images on your site (for good performance).
Read articleGoogle Chrome to show security warnings on your site if you don’t have a SSL certificate
Google is really making a push towards HTTPS recently, and this is just the next step. You should really take some time to get an SSL certificate and move your site to HTTPS.
Read articleSingle-page websites: when are they a good idea for your photography business?
If you just want an "online business" card (a bio, a short portfolio, some info about your services, and your contact info), then a single-page website might be a great fit for you. But you have to learn their pros and cons first.
Read articleIn-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.
Read articleQ&A #10: Portfolio tools SEO, domain name tips, blog vs portfolio pages, WP plugin performance
Answering your questions about SEO-shortcomings of portfolio tools, tips for choosing your domain name, differences between blog & portfolio pages, and how WordPress plugins don't slow down your site.
Read articleOptimize 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.
Read articleWebsite 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.
Read article