First of all, your photography is beautiful and I really like your new site. Congratulations. I know it's a lot of hard work putting a website together. For google purposes, you did the right thing by having lots of text on your pages. The more keywords you place in your text the better.
I used to be a web manager (marketing, online communications, content management, etc.)for large high tech companies and I had to keep up with studies about how users interact with sites, how to design navigation, etc. Your navigation is great and I think your site is really well thought out. The only thing I would suggest is to maybe change the font to something that's more Sans Serif. An arial font or tahoma, etc., will be easier for peopel to read. Studies have been done that show Sans Serif fonts like Arial are far easier to read on a computer monitor while other fonts like Times New Roman are easier to read on paper (that's why almost all novels are in Times New Roman).
Once your site is where you want it, here are some things you can do to increase your google ranking:
1) Register it on google: http://www.google.com/addurl/
2) Make sure relevant keywords are on your site (I think you've done this well)
3) Register your site with photography directories like PhotographyPros.com etc... you can do a google search for photography directories.
4) Google's search ranking is based on a very complex algorhythm that mixes keywords and links to your site. It's been called a "link democracy" however some links are worth more than others. The more sites you can get to link to yours from high ranked google sites the better. When you do a search for photographers/photography in google - the sites you see first are the ones that you want to link to you. The same is true for keywords like "wolf photography" etc... if you can get people who score high on "wolf photography" or "wedding photography" etc. to link to you it will improve your ranking.
4) When you do suggest someone link to your site, make sure the link includes the keywords you want to score high on google. For instance, I have a busienss named "Christian Craft Photography." But no one will look for that on google. Instead, they will look for "Nature Photographer Victoria B.C." or "Wedding photographer Victoria B.C." etc... so any time I ask someone to link to me I ask them to link around the words <a href="http://www.christinacraft.com">Nature PHotography Victoria B.C.</A>. This helps to increase your google ranking for those particular keywords.
Hope this info helps. Congrats again on the great site!
Before going on, let me point out that the link to it on your NPN signature doesn't work. Typing in the address did, so there's some problem with the way your signature is set up.
Consider this a dinosaur review- I feel like I'm one of the last people on earth cursed with a slow dial-up connection.
I like the way your slide shows are set up. The thumbnails load relatively quickly, giving me a chance to skim through your site for an overview, while only loading very specific large files.
Those files are however, painfully slow to load, which tells me that they are quite large. Do you really need them to be larger than, say, the posting limits here at NPN? Without the slide show layout you have, I'd have been off your site in under 30 seconds. My problem, I know, but maybe a larger issue if you think I'm not the last dinosaur in your potential market.
Where's Wrightwood? I can't find it on my atlas, so anyone interested in the wolves might have trouble finding it if they didn't already know. Just a few lines would help- "near Yellow Brick Road, CA" or perhaps "only an hours drive from_______ (some other well-known landmark)."
That's also a relevant question for your photo services. We're out in the middle of nowhere too, but that can be an advantage for you. We garner significant business each year from companies needing photos, but find it more convenient to hire us than absorb the cost of sending and supporting another contract photographer to our region.
I'm kinda surprised by your service rates, especially considering you're in CA. They're so low I'm afraid you may be undervaluing your work and scaring off potential commercial clients who will wonder if your working methods are up to snuff compared to others that charge lots more, rather than seeing them for the stone bargain they are on scales outside your immediate region. I'd do some price shopping in nearby major metro areas and weigh those rates against your own.
BTW- Don't overlook listing your business in the Yellow Pages, especially due to your remote location. That's still a very viable tool for businesses and individual far from you. We have kept track of how new clients found us (advertising, word of mouth, yellow pages, etc) and the good old YP's rank very high on the list, both for local clients and distant ones. That's significant because the distant ones are often the most lucrative.
I'd develop a day rate to go with your listing of services and fees. Commercial clients from mags to ad agencies work on day rates.
I'd also suggest listing PA services (photo assistant) on behalf of visiting commercial photogs and agencies. Looks like you live in a great area, and they'll be interested in local help while shooting there. I pick off three or four of these contracts a year, and they can go on for days on big shoots. We price our PA services at 2/3 of our hourly and day rates, if that helps you decide on your own.
Same for location scouting. Movie and ad types feed on the service and pay amazingly well for them. There are companies in particularly scenic areas that make comfortable livings doing nothing else. On a still ad shoot for one major company, I once garnered a two week scouting contract which led into a one week PA contract. And yes, they found us in the YPs.
I've zeroed in on the services aspect of your site, because that's where I think I have the most to contribute. Hopefully others can fill in blanks between what Christina and I have had to say, so far.
Thank you Hank and Christina for your wonderful comments and tips... I have been told my work is priced too low but am not sure how to price it. I have only sold WOLF prints and a percentage goes to the sanctuary.
Not sure on the link, but I'd review the instructions. Now I get a link right back to this page when I click on your address, but a dead page when I click on your x's.
I'd include your references to Rancho C and Victorville on your site, just to help people find the wolves and have an idea about your regional connection for contract work.
As for setting your day rate, it depends on the region. Ours is basically our hourly rate x 10 hours. That's pretty much what the local market will bear, but even that's low compared to some of the major metro areas. We did work for one of ESPN's ad agencies a number of years ago, and they started the conversation (not very smart!) by asking if we'd do the work for their normal day rate-- $2400! Well, okay. I guess. If I have to..... And the job took us 3 hours rather than a full day. The check was still $2400.
I'm wandering now, so to refocus--- I'd be devious and call some of the photo outfits in your adjacent metro areas, pretending to be a rep for a potential client and asking about day rates.
BTW- Your day rate should have some exclusion terms in it. By that I mean it should specify one photographer, no light kits, whatever suits your specific skill and equipment list. We charge extra when a light kit and a second photog or PA are required. For model shoots, discussions need to transpire about other technical assistance- everything from hair and makeup to wardrobe and catering. Unless you want to try and provide those, better to exclude them or be prepared to hire it out (for a fee of course.)
That's all way more complicated than you need to be at this point, but especially when dealing with major ad agencies the questions are going to come up. It's okay to tell them that you don't provide a particular service and discuss alternate arrangements, rather than have them expect more than you can provide.
Please check my services page and see what you think. I have added some of the things you mentions and a few others.... I have been working on this non-stop. I researched some photographers in Cali to see the rates....
I've got a full slate today, so will have to get back to your site later this afternoon or evening. Those look like the right directories. The NPN site didn't pick it up your link, but I think I see why. The URLs in brackets should not be capitalized.
Looking forward to seeing the results of your web work!
Your efforts were well invested, Danna. It looks great. Your rates still seem very low compared to ours, especially so close to major metros, but that may reflect restrictions put on you by local economy and traditions. We get 3x your hourly rate, with adjustments based on that.
Probably reflecting a different business model, we don't ever turn loose CD/DVD's of hi res images at any price. There has been previous discussion on the why's and why not's here on the business threads.
Good work! I'm betting you're going to be busy.
This is the overlap of senior pic/holiday/event seasons up here right now, and my wife (the studio guru in our business) is busier than busy. We're a long-standing business with lots of repeat clients, but a surprising number of them started with us on senior pics and event photography like santa pics and school dances. Once people know you and like your work, they keep coming back for weddings, family photos, and even business and ad photos.
If you're working with a pro lab, inquire about their promo packages to use for event photography. It's a cheap way to get photos from special events for sale in packages at cheap prices. It is a great way to promote yourself and start building that client base.
Event photography can be really frantic at times, but lucrative in its own right without regard for the bonus of building your client base. My wife tries to average one a month, but due to slow periods over the calendar year, she sometimes has to do several in quick succession to get the 12 a year average. As a perfect illustration, she's doing three this weekend- one for santa, one for the annual Nutcracker production by a dance studio, and one for a community theater production. Yeah, this is her busy season! But in addition to selling 400-500 photo packages (average $30-$40 each) between them, she's going to be seen taking pictures by a whole lot more people. Talk about good advertising of your business!
I am going to AZ the week of Xmas to visit Grand Canyon, Sedona and Flagstaff. Hopefully I will get some good stuff. Hopefully there will be snow in the GC and I plan on getting a sunrise in Sedona... I used to live there so know the area well....
Discussion
11 repliesI have a website and if anyone can give it a look I would appreciate any input.
I am trying to figure out how to market it to get some sales....
I have a few published pieces and a cd cover....
All of your sites that I have looked at are great!
Thanks and Happy Thanksgiving!
Danna
www.digitalsbydanna.com
First of all, your photography is beautiful and I really like your new site. Congratulations. I know it's a lot of hard work putting a website together. For google purposes, you did the right thing by having lots of text on your pages. The more keywords you place in your text the better.
I used to be a web manager (marketing, online communications, content management, etc.)for large high tech companies and I had to keep up with studies about how users interact with sites, how to design navigation, etc. Your navigation is great and I think your site is really well thought out. The only thing I would suggest is to maybe change the font to something that's more Sans Serif. An arial font or tahoma, etc., will be easier for peopel to read. Studies have been done that show Sans Serif fonts like Arial are far easier to read on a computer monitor while other fonts like Times New Roman are easier to read on paper (that's why almost all novels are in Times New Roman).
Once your site is where you want it, here are some things you can do to increase your google ranking:
1) Register it on google: http://www.google.com/addurl/
2) Make sure relevant keywords are on your site (I think you've done this well)
3) Register your site with photography directories like PhotographyPros.com etc... you can do a google search for photography directories.
4) Google's search ranking is based on a very complex algorhythm that mixes keywords and links to your site. It's been called a "link democracy" however some links are worth more than others. The more sites you can get to link to yours from high ranked google sites the better. When you do a search for photographers/photography in google - the sites you see first are the ones that you want to link to you. The same is true for keywords like "wolf photography" etc... if you can get people who score high on "wolf photography" or "wedding photography" etc. to link to you it will improve your ranking.
4) When you do suggest someone link to your site, make sure the link includes the keywords you want to score high on google. For instance, I have a busienss named "Christian Craft Photography." But no one will look for that on google. Instead, they will look for "Nature Photographer Victoria B.C." or "Wedding photographer Victoria B.C." etc... so any time I ask someone to link to me I ask them to link around the words <a href="http://www.christinacraft.com">Nature PHotography Victoria B.C.</A>. This helps to increase your google ranking for those particular keywords.
Hope this info helps. Congrats again on the great site!
Before going on, let me point out that the link to it on your NPN signature doesn't work. Typing in the address did, so there's some problem with the way your signature is set up.
Consider this a dinosaur review- I feel like I'm one of the last people on earth cursed with a slow dial-up connection.
I like the way your slide shows are set up. The thumbnails load relatively quickly, giving me a chance to skim through your site for an overview, while only loading very specific large files.
Those files are however, painfully slow to load, which tells me that they are quite large. Do you really need them to be larger than, say, the posting limits here at NPN? Without the slide show layout you have, I'd have been off your site in under 30 seconds. My problem, I know, but maybe a larger issue if you think I'm not the last dinosaur in your potential market.
Where's Wrightwood? I can't find it on my atlas, so anyone interested in the wolves might have trouble finding it if they didn't already know. Just a few lines would help- "near Yellow Brick Road, CA" or perhaps "only an hours drive from_______ (some other well-known landmark)."
That's also a relevant question for your photo services. We're out in the middle of nowhere too, but that can be an advantage for you. We garner significant business each year from companies needing photos, but find it more convenient to hire us than absorb the cost of sending and supporting another contract photographer to our region.
I'm kinda surprised by your service rates, especially considering you're in CA. They're so low I'm afraid you may be undervaluing your work and scaring off potential commercial clients who will wonder if your working methods are up to snuff compared to others that charge lots more, rather than seeing them for the stone bargain they are on scales outside your immediate region. I'd do some price shopping in nearby major metro areas and weigh those rates against your own.
BTW- Don't overlook listing your business in the Yellow Pages, especially due to your remote location. That's still a very viable tool for businesses and individual far from you. We have kept track of how new clients found us (advertising, word of mouth, yellow pages, etc) and the good old YP's rank very high on the list, both for local clients and distant ones. That's significant because the distant ones are often the most lucrative.
I'd develop a day rate to go with your listing of services and fees. Commercial clients from mags to ad agencies work on day rates.
I'd also suggest listing PA services (photo assistant) on behalf of visiting commercial photogs and agencies. Looks like you live in a great area, and they'll be interested in local help while shooting there. I pick off three or four of these contracts a year, and they can go on for days on big shoots. We price our PA services at 2/3 of our hourly and day rates, if that helps you decide on your own.
Same for location scouting. Movie and ad types feed on the service and pay amazingly well for them. There are companies in particularly scenic areas that make comfortable livings doing nothing else. On a still ad shoot for one major company, I once garnered a two week scouting contract which led into a one week PA contract. And yes, they found us in the YPs.
I've zeroed in on the services aspect of your site, because that's where I think I have the most to contribute. Hopefully others can fill in blanks between what Christina and I have had to say, so far.
Nice site, and nice work!
What is a typical day rate?
How do I get the link to work? I have a xxxxx ...
I am 30 minutes from Rancho Cucamonga and Victorville so I'm not that far in the sticks.. :)
I'd include your references to Rancho C and Victorville on your site, just to help people find the wolves and have an idea about your regional connection for contract work.
As for setting your day rate, it depends on the region. Ours is basically our hourly rate x 10 hours. That's pretty much what the local market will bear, but even that's low compared to some of the major metro areas. We did work for one of ESPN's ad agencies a number of years ago, and they started the conversation (not very smart!) by asking if we'd do the work for their normal day rate-- $2400! Well, okay. I guess. If I have to..... And the job took us 3 hours rather than a full day. The check was still $2400.
I'm wandering now, so to refocus--- I'd be devious and call some of the photo outfits in your adjacent metro areas, pretending to be a rep for a potential client and asking about day rates.
BTW- Your day rate should have some exclusion terms in it. By that I mean it should specify one photographer, no light kits, whatever suits your specific skill and equipment list. We charge extra when a light kit and a second photog or PA are required. For model shoots, discussions need to transpire about other technical assistance- everything from hair and makeup to wardrobe and catering. Unless you want to try and provide those, better to exclude them or be prepared to hire it out (for a fee of course.)
That's all way more complicated than you need to be at this point, but especially when dealing with major ad agencies the questions are going to come up. It's okay to tell them that you don't provide a particular service and discuss alternate arrangements, rather than have them expect more than you can provide.
Thanks so much!
http://www.digitalsbydanna.com/-/digitalsbydanna/wildcard.asp
I hope this link works, I put in the front and at the end...
:)
Danna
www.prophotos.com
http://www.photographydirectory.org/
http://www.profotos.com/cgi-bin/gosslinks/search.cgi?query=Digitals%20by%20Danna
I've got a full slate today, so will have to get back to your site later this afternoon or evening. Those look like the right directories. The NPN site didn't pick it up your link, but I think I see why. The URLs in brackets should not be capitalized.
Looking forward to seeing the results of your web work!
Probably reflecting a different business model, we don't ever turn loose CD/DVD's of hi res images at any price. There has been previous discussion on the why's and why not's here on the business threads.
Good work! I'm betting you're going to be busy.
This is the overlap of senior pic/holiday/event seasons up here right now, and my wife (the studio guru in our business) is busier than busy. We're a long-standing business with lots of repeat clients, but a surprising number of them started with us on senior pics and event photography like santa pics and school dances. Once people know you and like your work, they keep coming back for weddings, family photos, and even business and ad photos.
If you're working with a pro lab, inquire about their promo packages to use for event photography. It's a cheap way to get photos from special events for sale in packages at cheap prices. It is a great way to promote yourself and start building that client base.
Event photography can be really frantic at times, but lucrative in its own right without regard for the bonus of building your client base. My wife tries to average one a month, but due to slow periods over the calendar year, she sometimes has to do several in quick succession to get the 12 a year average. As a perfect illustration, she's doing three this weekend- one for santa, one for the annual Nutcracker production by a dance studio, and one for a community theater production. Yeah, this is her busy season! But in addition to selling 400-500 photo packages (average $30-$40 each) between them, she's going to be seen taking pictures by a whole lot more people. Talk about good advertising of your business!
Thanks again!