A good picture on a photography website is worth a thousand dollars.
Sorry for the cheesy analogy, but I couldn’t help it.
Today’s video is for photographers who don’t just use their cameras for more than just a fun hobby… they use them to make a living. You know, to do things like pay the mortgage and put food on the table.
For you, making money from your skill is a very big deal, and unless you’re a wedding photographer smack in the middle of wedding season, you’re probably looking for more ways to book out your calendar for more cash to make it through the not-so-busy times.
In this video, I’ll show you how to do just that.
I know your pictures are already stellar, so we’re going to look at how to use the wording on your website to make you absolutely irresistible to your target market… whatever that market may be.
I’ll live-edit two different websites to give you some ideas on how to optimize your own on-site copywriting for your photography business, prompting more people to get in touch about getting on your calendar.
Copywriting for Photographers
Hey everyone… and a special hello to all you photographers out there watching this video. 😀
Today we’re talking about professional copywriting for photographers, which will work hand-in-hand with that killer on-site portfolio you’ve got to actually propel prospects checking out your site to go ahead and get in touch with you to book a session.
Again, I’ve chosen two photographer websites at random from the Asheville Creative League’s directory page.
But honestly? I had to wade through A LOT of sites before I got to these two.
By finding websites for this video (and with general photography shopping before), I can see that SO MANY photographers commit the cardinal sin on their websites of every having any REAL call to action aside from the “contact” tab in their menu bar.
Or any amount of text whatsoever, for that matter.
I get that your business is all about your photography and that it should be what’s front and center on your website.
And yes, a picture IS worth a thousand words… but when you’ve got only pictures, you’re leaving it 100% up to your visitors to decide for themselves what those 1,000 words are.
And I’m not suggesting you slam your pages with 1,000 words of text, but I am saying that you DO NEED something to prompt your site visitor towards the action you want them to take… and you can do that by crafting small bits of text that are authentic and resonate on a high level with your site visitor and the reason they’re visiting your site in the first place… which would be to potentially hire you and put money into your bank account.
Today we’re looking at wedding photography and real estate photography.
So let’s get started, shall we?
- Ok, so this first one we’re looking at is a page for wedding photography.
So instead of labeling this generic “Photography Home” , why not turn it into something emotion-invoking that’s more specific.
“Your wedding.
The best photos.”
This does two things: 1) it gets more specific, and 2) it gives the site visitor confidence that they’re in the right place… because they DO want the best photos of their wedding day.
The sub-heading, which is where the eye naturally falls next after taking in the hero image (which is a beautiful one) and it’s accompanying text, which is also quite generic.
“The story you’ll still be telling in 60 years”
“The story of a wedding day is a timeless reminder of the beginning of a couple’s life journey together.
It’s sweet, precious, and breathtaking. But it’s also immensely fun, packed with some of the most entertaining moments you’ll remember forever. (Like that best man’s speech you just KNOW is going to be full of hilarious jabs.)
Remember it for all it’s worth without panicking over the details. Let us capture every building block of the story… no matter how large or small. No matter how overlooked it seems while you’re caught up in the frenzy of the moment.
We love telling the story of a wedding day with our custom wedding day packages. They tend to book quickly, so get in touch with us today so we can reserve your spot and talk about how we can help capture your most perfect moments.”
Do you see how this kind of copywriting creates an emotional connection that makes you WANT to get in touch with this photographer team, like, right now?
And the cool thing is, it doesn’t take much.
The photography is the clearly the main visual priority, which is what you want. The words just add that one-two punch that makes you irresistible.
- Open Door is a real estate photography business in my area… and they’ve probably got one of the best/cutest logos I’ve even seen.
Really, how cute & relevant is this? It’s perfect.
As you can see, he has amazing photography, but what I want to talk about today is his “Why Choose Us” page.
Not so much to critique him, but to show you what awesome photographer copy looks like.
He’s serving the real estate market and he knows it, so he’s not playing around talking about his photography skills in general.
And while his first paragraph does a good job of establishing credibility, I’d actually put the second paragraph first.
I’ll read it and you’ll see what. (Just pardon the editor in me that can’t help but make the grammar a little more punchy and concise.)
“As an agent, how many times have you gotten that call from a frantic buyer who has to see that one house right now?
But you know that one house they have to see is not what it appears to be online. Hesitantly, you agree to show it to them anyway.
But when you show up to the property, you hear them say “Oh, but the pictures made it look so much better online! I don’t think this is the one for us.”
Irritated, you drive off thinking “if only they would have listened to me…” while the listing agent continues to be praised by their seller for the outrageous amount of showings they are getting, thanks to those beautiful pictures.”
Yes, I love his copy.
But you see what a difference this white space makes?
Pay attention photographers: this is another cardinal sin you like to commit… which is putting all your text into one big block.
I can commend you for at least getting some information out there, but if all that information is a wall of text, no one’s going to read it.
The brain craves white space and resting places… and spacing apart your on-page text like this does two things: 1) it makes your information more digestible because it gives the brain physical space to process what it just read before it reads the next thing. And 2) because of this, it keeps people reading about you, investing more “time” with you, and becoming more emotionally attached to the offering you’re talking about.
So, photographers. Your copywriting takeaways are this:
- Use text to sell
- Be specific
- Use emotions
- Add white space between your text
- Have a call to action.
I hope the examples of these two sites gave you some ideas on how to optimize the copywriting on your own website to generate more leads and conversions to book out your calendar.
If you liked this video, it’d be great if you could share it on LinkedIn or Twitter.
You also want to make sure to hit “subscribe” because even though this video is for photographers, I’ll have other videos coming out that will help you with more specific things for your website and online presence—no matter what your type of business is.
And if you want even more tips on how to improve your on-site conversions now, I’ve got a link to my free e-book in the description below. It talks about five hacks I use on the landing pages I write to decrease bounce rates and increase conversion rates, which I think is something we all want from our websites.
So thank you for watching! See you around!
I find it really helpful. Thanks!