I recently submitted a survey to the over 900 members of Brand-ography.com regarding their photography business website. There were some very interesting results.  Below is a sampling of the answers I received…

What type of website do you have for your business?

30% = I have a Flash Website and a separate WordPress Blog
28% = I have a fancy Flash Website
16% = My Website is made with WordPress
10% = My Website is made from HTML Website
10% = I have a Website, but I don’t know how it is made!
4% = I have a HTML Website and a separate WordPress Blog
2% = Website? I don’t have a website!

It is interesting that the majority of the photographers I polled had either a flash website or a wordpress blog in conjunction with a flash website. I understand the attraction with a flash website as they are usually quite visually beautiful, however there are sever limitations as we shall see later…

Who created your website?

72% = I did it myself
21% = I hired a professional
5% = A family member or friend made it for me

No big surprise here, the majority of photographers created their website themselves. This seems to be a growing trend as the tools are easier to use and the cost of a professional web designer increases.

Are you satisfied with your website?

41% = It is just okay
33% = Yes I am completely satisfied
25% = No it needs an overhaul

The majority of photographers felt their site was ‘just okay’ or needed an overhaul.  Only 1/3 of those polled were completely satisfied with their website.  Even more interesting are the comments received when asked what they would change about their website.  Below are the responses…

What would you like to change about your website? (expense, time, results, etc)

• My wordpress needs some help looking more professional
• Just updated it and it will be going live within 2 weeks
• My wordpess needs some help looking more professional
• Copywriting
• Results and more engaging
• Needs to be updated
• Easier to update , etc…
• I would like to move away from flash and go with a CMS site where everything is neatly in one place.
• I need to add a proofing section but they are soooooooooooooooooo expensive!
• Client viewing area and testimonial page
• Nothing, I just wish I had the time to update it as much as I’d like.
• I need a cheap, easy to manage site that looks like a million bucks!
• Look more professional.
• I would like to customize it a bit more and make it look less like a blog… but would still like to include a blog. I also would like to learn to make it more effective!
• Results
• I would like to integrate a self hosted shopping cart that I can control the product offering (prints, gift certificate redemption, promos).
• Copywriting
• More flash, easier simple navigation. One that works on all browsers.
• Able to get it pinged on search engines.
• Better SEO for the flash part
• More interaction
• More traffic
• Increase the number of visitors, increase the conversion rate
• Colours, look, content
• I am not sure! But I haven’t improved due to $.
• Just created it but will be looking for a more professional option
• I am not completely satisfied but I don’t need a complete overhaul
• I like it but want more flexibility and options for layout and content
• A comprehensive CMS so I don’t have to do everything with XML, a bit less flash so it has better SEO.
• Actually I just personalized my smugmug site a little and that is all I have.
• Results
• Mix Flash with HTML
• Need to hire to set a website up for me personally
• The client galleries, the speed at which it loads

I found it interesting that there were many repeated themes in the comments to include : Getting results, more traffic, increasing conversions, more professional appearance.

I found it interesting that there were many repeated themes in the comments to include : Getting results, more traffic, increasing conversions, more professional appearance.

Based on this survey, it is apparent that the majority of photographers want a professional appearing website that gets results!

If you are looking for help in setting up your photography website, be sure to join Photowebsitetutorials.com and get a free website building checklist.  Click here to join.

WordPress users for a long time have utilized plug-ins to extend their blogging platform in numerous ways. However, where most plug-ins have only worked to protect your feed, a plug-in by Chetan Gole, WP-CopyProtect helps you by protecting your content from those that would misuse it by visiting your site directly.

The plug-in itself is very simple and user-friendly so you don’t need to be a techy person to learn how to use it.

Here is How it Works. WP-CopyProtect functions in two ways. First it disables the right click on the visitor’s mouse on your site and the second is it stops anyone from using text selection. To do this, it uses well-established JavaScripts that the plug-in itself will place into your site’s footer at the click of the mouse.

When you first install WP-CopyProtect, and visit the settings page, you’re given a screen with the option to enable or disable both right click text selection on your site. You can also select a specific warning that will appear when visitors try to right click on your site.

Now, here’s how to install Copyprotect on WordPress.

1. First, extract and upload only WP-PreventCopyBlogs.php to the /wp-content/plugins/directory
2. Activate the plug-in through the ‘Plug-ins’ menu in WordPress
3. Go to Settings and then WP-CopyProtect to configure it to whatever suits you.
4. You have to provide your database details. For this, You have to create a mysql database under a user and all information in the settings page. If you don’t provide them, the plug-in will work but it won’t be able to track the information of your visitors who tried to copy your contents.
5. If you need to track the visitors, you can either open your database from console or from the admin page itself.

Once you’ve finished, the plug-in will work great. Blocking any fraudulent visitors, securing your contents and even tracking your visitors down.

If you are a professional photographer with a staff of one person, it can be quite overwhelming to handle all of the marketing tasks in addition to your photography work.  More often than not, this leads to no marketing happening at all.  One solution to this problem is to purchase photography marketing templates rather than attempt to make them yourself.  It is too easy to believe that just because you have Photoshop you have to do all of your design materials. This is not true. There is a wealth of marketing materials out there that are available for use.  Some of it is even available for free.

If you are a baby photographer, then I highly suggest that you look at the free “Bella Baby Marketing System” created by Sandy Schurz.  She has graciously made this complete marketing system available to anyone for no cost.  It includes over 2 gigabytes of files with business cards, gift certificates, ads, promotional materials, punch cards, stickers and more.

The complete system is available for download at brand-ography.com.

In addition to the “Bella Baby Marketing System” there are also available complete branding packages.  These branding packages contain everything you need to establish a distinct look for you business.  Each branding package contains full PSD files for logos, banners, business cars, thank you cards, flyers, brochures and more.  There are a variety of colors and styles.  Each package can also be easily modified to fit your particular style.

There is also another free item at Brand-ography.com.  It is a complete Portrait Experience that you can offer to your clients to help prepare them for their sessions.  I highly suggest you take a look at this download.  Again it is offered with all of the high resolution PSD files that can easily be modified.

One other item available at Brand-ography.com (albeit for a nominal fee) is a complete marketing system called the “Fabulous Ten”.  This product shows you step by step how to establish you own marketing network among fellow small business owners in your town.  This network will provide discounts and specials to their clients for your business.   This is a great way to tap into the clientele of targeted business that match your target demographic. If all this sounds difficult to you, don’t worry as it is all spelled out completely in the “Fabulous Ten” guide.  As with all the products on this site, the full resolution PSD files are included to provide easy customization and modification.

So if you are looking for marketing templates for your photography business, I highly suggest that you checkout Brand-ography.com.  The free items are well worth the visit!

Are you a professional photographer looking for help on marketing online?  If you are, then a complete step by step photography website how to manual can be a welcome alternative to spending hundreds of hours learning how to build a website on your own.

There are many things to consider when setting up your business website.  Key factors include the choice of domain name, webhost, type of website, and design considerations.   I have been building websites for a long time and the internet has undergone some drastic changes in the past few years.  Not long ago it required thousands of dollars to hire a webmaster or hundreds of hours of dedicated study time to learn how to do a website yourself in order to get an effective website.  However, that is no longer the case.

With the advent of Content Management Systems, and in particular WordPress, it has become much easier for non-webmasters to build their own websites.  Unfortunately this ease of use can also lead to a false sense of capability.  This is because despite the apparent simplicity, there are many techniques and secrets that will greatly increase the effectiveness of your website.

After viewing many photographer websites I came to the realization that some education would be very helpful in creating more effective websites that would be ranked well in the search engines.  As a result I constructed the Photography Internet Marketing How-to manual which would provide the education I gleaned over thousands of hours online.

Some of the items that are covered include the following:

-Keywords:  What are keywords and why selecting the proper keywords is one of the most important actions you can take.

-Domain Names: What are the best domain names for your business?  How long is too long? Are extensions other than .com okay to use?  Where should you register your domains?

-Webhosting: Which webhost to use?  What features are important?  How much should you pay?

-Site construction: What type of website is best? (Flash, HTML, WordPress etc.)

-Design:  How to have a professionally designed website without hiring a professional designer.

-Traffic: What Plugins should you include to get your website ranked higher in the search engines.

These are just some of the subjects that are covered in the how-to manual.  It is not necessary to be fluent in HTML or PHP or any other programming language in order to create your own website.  In fact, it is often better to build the website yourself for a number of reasons to include the fact that no one knows your business better than you.  Not to mention the fact that you will save a lot of money.  However, this would not be possible without a complete guide that would show you exactly what you need to do in a step-by-step fashion to establish your website online.  Once established, this website will bring new clients to your business every day with no additional cost or time commitment to you.  That is the magic of the internet!s.