Do I really need a website?

Websites are understated in my opinion. Now don’t get me wrong, you can absolutely run a successful business without one (and I did for a couple of years) but I have realised that I really love having a website and how it’s almost like a team mate that works hard for me to achieve my dreams and connect to my perfect collaborators. It can also be quite a fun and creative endeavour as you curate your story and share the excitement of all that you do. Of course as a photographer, having a portfolio and clarity of the types of photography I do is really important and showing that niche is helpful. But I believe that the same principles are the same, whether you have a product, or shop or a service.

So the short answer is yes, you do need a website if you want to be taken seriously…

As a service provider and artist it seems obvious that I need a place to share my work and have my portfolio for all to see. But as much as my Instagram feed also achieves this but a website is a deeper and more considered curation and longer form writing offers more depth and scope. Products whether selling to individuals or wanting representation in larger stores need to show their worth in good images. We make huge judgements about a brand from their website. It’s where we make a call of whether we trust them or not and that in turn dictates whether we make a purchase.

Here’s the bottom line….

Your website is the shop window to you and your work. People make a judgment as soon as they see that first page and decide whether they want to look around a bit more, let alone buy anything. So it’s important to make it attractive, warm and inviting (to the right people of course!), where they can waste a few minutes getting lost in your world. Make them feel something so there is an emotional connection and more than anything don’t feel you have to fit into what your industry expects from you.

Stand out!

In fact this is the best advice I was given when first creating my website, look at others doing what you do and then do something different. Add your flavour and people will love the new taste! 😛

It’s important for me to say here that I am not a web-designer, so the advice and ideas laid out below are more strategic and content-based advice. As a storyteller and film buff, I can offer insight into emotional connection. At the bottom however I will lay out some suggestions of amazing web-designers, should you need one anytime soon. But without further ado, here are 7 things for you to think about when designing your website that I hope bring curiousity and joy to the process and breathe some of you into your digital shop front.

Strong home page

This is where most people land when they first come to your website and it really is the shop window. Is the glass clean? If you think of it like that then you can see why both content and aesthetic will help someone decide to step through the front door. It’s helpful to have some introduction or presence from you on here as the founder as well as clarity as to what you offer (especially if that is an array of different things which is completely normal).

You’ll want great eye-catching visuals and branding that is cohesive and shares something about your intention and persective. You might have links and buttons taking you to various pages to find out more and you may want your tagline or main message to be front and centre so that your tribe see and hear you loud and clear, like a pink neon flashing sign welcome and warm. Think about how you’re opening the door for the curious. This all should be really unique to you and feel like it summarises concisely all that you are about. Sometimes I see these pages fall a little flat and empty and it doesn’t make me want to click through to anywhere else. The next point leads on from this…

ASK YOURSELF: Who is my audience and what do I want them to do and feel when they land here? How can I make the journey interesting and how can I add intrigue?

2. Make it sticky!

This is by far the BEST advice I ever learnt when I was a paid blogger. It reminded me that a website is not just a place for information - it’s a place to journey through and have an interesting experience. They may land on the home page that curates the various things that you do but where do they go next? Is there a hero blog that encapsulates what you’re really about or what change you really want to see in the world? Or a deep insight into the way that you work or a case study so someone can get inside an idea or your process? Then where next? Can they find out about why you started your business (literal gold dust!) or how to buy your product or service? Then maybe they’d like to see your Frequently Asked Questions or go to a specific service page to find out the details or even costs (yes I believe they should be on your website so we don’t waste anyone’s time). Maybe you have a freebie and would like to invite people into your email community to keep in touch in a more intimate way than social media?

You want people to explore the website jumping from page to page, having a beautiful insightful experience. They might learn something new through a blog or just clarify the reason of why they came across you and might need you in the first place. Your potential client might go away feeling validated and understood from your deeper blogs or content. Do not underestimate the power of this! Have buttons dotted in the middle and at the end of your pages labeled clearly (and creatively!) of where you want them to go next.

Make it intentional.

And don’t be sparse on your pages and content. Be concise but also give detail. (An empty website is a real put off for me). Think about the conversations you get into when selling your candles at a local market or the things you say repeatedly on clairity calls or when customers are in your salon. Surveys and customer research here can be so so insightful. Use them wisely to help you with your blog! And as a side - YOUR CONTACT PAGE MUST BE CLEAR!

ASK YOURSELF: What page can I send people do at the bottom of each page of my website? What makes sense to a customer journey?

3. Don’t be afraid to Put people off!

This is a tough one, especially when we start out as we want any client we can get our hands on! But this cannot be a long term strategy. As I said in the introduction, you want to stand out from the crowd, not fade into oblivion. If you try to be everyone’s cup of tea you will be too weak! 😂 If you pop over to my website I am very clear who I am putting off. I love using colour so anyone looking for minimalist, desaturated images won’t contact me (no one ever has after 100s of enquiries). My images are quite feminine and also expressive and fun - so corporates wouldn’t have use for images like this. (I do work for some who want something different than the usual though)! I do work with men but it’s women’s stories that I am passionate about telling and so that’s why it’s mostly women on the website. I respond to this in my FAQs as I’ve been asked it a few times.

“The flip side to putting people off is that you are deliberately showcasing your favourite and best work to get more of that kind of work.”

This though begs the question then about what should I showing and the main message here is to be cohesive, clear and not confusing. It doesn’t matter if you have various income streams and products or services but you need to feel confident and communicate clearly the thread that hangs them altogether. The flip side to putting people off is that you are deliberately showcasing your favourite and best work to get more of that kind of work. Have strong images that tell the story clearly without ambiguity. This leads on to my next point which coming from a photographer is a bit of a given. So please indulge me for a paragraph or two..

ASK YOURSELF: Who am I putting off and how I am I showing this in my copy and images? Is is clear who I am for?

4. Great images!

Obviously I am going to say this and am terribly judgemental when I see a site littered with stock images or bad quality portraits taken on holiday. I’m sorry because I know in the beginning we may not have a cash injection that allows for photography at the start of our business venture. But when you can afford it, please do. Lots of photographer do short sessions (I have Power Portraits here and will always offer them for this reason) or if you know one well, suggest a skills swap. Though bear in mind that it really needs to be something that they want and need. More on choosing a photographer here.

I think we underestimate that by having high quality images (i.e. taken on a professional camera) that people take us more seriously. Whether friends, family or ex-colleagues that are watching from afar on social media or potential clients. The reason for this is that they subconsciously feel that we are taking ourselves seriously in our endeavours and in turn trust that we are professional and can deliver what we say we are going to. But besides that, you can create really unique and creative storytelling that married with the text and copy on the site will create a beautiful duet that sings with authenticity and clear intention.

“Photos are like the music playing in a film, guiding you how to feel about what’s being said...”

And please have some photos of you on there. Yes - even of you have a product! Humans are primed for intimacy. One of the only things babies recognise at birth is faces. There is a deep mystical connection that happens when we see faces and I promise you, we all love hearing the founders story and meeting them. Its pure magic! Don’t shy away. You got this!

ASK YOURSELF: How can I up my photography game and where I am putting images of me on the website?

5. A Great about me page

One of the first pages I ever visit on a website is the About Me page. It should ooze personality and give an insight into the real human behind the business. Because no one starts their project or designs their product without a whole heap of passion to get them over that start line. So when I head to that About Me page, I am so desperate to find out why you started your business. Who you are as a human. Your context in life and whether I can relate to that. Your cultural background. Anything that fills in the link between the thing being sold and the human behind it. You can use more fun and laid-back imagery here and tell people things maybe that they could tell if they bumped into you in the park or the pub. It should have a distinctively more relaxed feel to the rest of your site.

And I think this is even more important if you have a product. Your connection to what you make may seem so obvious to you but for a stranger, they are hearing it for the first time and if they don’t run their own business they have no idea of how long and passionate that journey can be. I once worked with a founder of natural vegan skincare products. As soon as we met I could smell a beautiful aroma, a combination of scents which as our conversation developed it emerged that she had created her own blend of essential oils to create a pulse point. During January 2021 which most of us can probably say has been the hardest January of our lives, it inspired her to create a special combination to help her feel grounded and calm and now wants to share this with others. This is the power of your story, it connects to someone else’s greatest needs and that connection means that they can trust that you can help them. Here is another brilliant example from period underwear designers, Nixi Body.

ASK YOURSELF: Make a conscious choice about how much you want to share about yourself. You don’t have to divulge where you live or how many kids you have unless you want too. What about your business solves the problem you wish someone had for you? Are you the paracetamol to someone’s headache? Can you tell a joke or share something surprising about yourself? You can check out mine here.

6. Use your real tone of voice

Don’t be overly formal in your copy across your website unless that’s a really important aspect of your brand. Strike the right balance between sounding professional but not so much that it lacks personality. You make the rules. Is that not the reason that you gave up your job to go freelance or run your own business? You definitely don’t need to use academic language like you were taught at school or university. You can have jokes or colloquialisms that make you you.

However don’t waste people’s time. You still want to get to the point and describe exactly what you do and what problems you solve for people without reams and reams of paragraphs. This is a balance (Libra’s will find this easy!) and if you are doing your website yourself then get something else to cast their eyes over it to see what could be left out to make the impact of what you are saying even stronger. Editing is always about what you are choosing to leave out to have a more potent and cohesive message. I learnt that years ago when I read Essentialism!

ASK YOURSELF: Ask friends or business buddies to describe your personality or ask them for a saying you have or even things you say because of your accent or where you grew up! When people meet you it creates a trust that your nuances are really part of you and your personality. It’s very subconscious but a way that we build meaningful relationships.

7. Testimonials are gold dust!

These are a no-brainer. Create a system of gaining testimonials and reflections after someone has bought your product or worked with you. They are so powerful. Ask yourself - how many times have you bought something after identifying with the person who wrote a testimonial? Even my kids look at the reviews before buying something on amazon.

Testimonials are a powerful way to help prospective customers or clients relate to the type of person you have already worked with and whether whatever you sell could be the right thing for them for them. The power of testimonials also shapes your brand as when you start to hear the same things over and over again from many different people, you realise that your magic is so obvious to you that sometimes you forget to tell people about it! The other thing is that it’s also great to have a little encouragement on the hard road of entrepreneurship. It’s hard being a business owner and a compliment can shift the mood of a whole day!

ASK YOURSELF: What system can you create to collect some testimonials/feedback and also be decisive which ones you will share that really talk about the transformation you offer. Can you offer an incentive or make it as easy as possible such as offer a Linked In link or the option to respond in a quick voice note?

Before I go it’s important to remember that a website will also help build trust for your brand and people will be subconsciously thrown off and repelled if there are broken links, random changing colours across pages or image/colours that don’t sit together. If you’re not using a professional web designer, a friend will do. Someone that has a brilliant at spotting typos or a good creative eye. People need to feel safe and trust that they are in good hands. Missing images or long copy will make people lose interest and move on. Random fonts and mismatched colours will make the site look amateur. I’m not saying that good branding will sort everything out but without it you just won’t gain that brand trust that effortlessly turns browsers into clients.

Also, keep your website fresh with any new developments or products, new blogs, new dates or products or fresh testimonials. Maybe you’ve even won an award or had a magazine feature that you want to shout about! (Remember it’s not bragging, it’s showing your authority in the industry). A website that looks forgotten also doesn’t inspire anyone to buy, it’s like browsing in a shop that’s full of cobwebs and a grumpy unfriendly shop assistant who can’t be bothered to help you.

And there you have it! Not an extensive list but definitely a few things that I know will help you up your website game so that people won’t forget you and help create real and meaningful connections and an emotional journey. I’ve dotted images I’ve created with my amazing clients throughout the blog but here are some links to some of my favourite websites that offer so much inspiration.

Jess really packs a punch with her website. There is lots of colour and personality which is exactly what it’s like to be part of her community and to work with her.

My brand shoot with Nevita was a dream. We shot over two days in two locations to firstly show the unique classes she offers and then really bring her incredible story alive. Her website oozes this calm and purpose.

Luxley Communications work with incredible clients in the wellness industry and their website needs to look professional and trustworthy as well as really appeal to luxury brands and clients.

I love Bry’s website and how uniquely she positions herself as a photographer.

And finally, Jaz who knows what she’s doing and who it’s for. She is a incredible presence and has a really unique approach to coaching.

And here are some of my favoured female web designers - Dominique, Klioh, Rhea and Jo. Oh and nearly forgot - Rosh and Viran!

I’d absolutely love to know your thoughts on all this and if you have any other tips for building a website that makes you want to come inside and put your feet up next to the fire. Let me know if you have any other thoughts or questions. Following on from this you can check out some of my thoughts on confidence here or read about The Female Gaze over here.