Photographer website: what to put on it to get found and booked

What should a photographer website include?

A photographer website has two jobs: show your style and turn a visitor into an enquiry. The first is usually done well. The second is often forgotten. This guide helps with both. For basics shared by all small businesses (domain, hosting, tools), see also our small business website guide.

The page plan, and what each page is for

You do not need everything on day one. Suggested order: home, one specialism page, pricing, contact, privacy notice. The rest can follow over the next weeks.

The home page: understood in five seconds

Visitors decide very quickly whether to stay. Your home page should say at the top, without scrolling: what you photograph, where, and how to contact you.

Wedding and family photographer in [town]

Natural, unposed images to keep the moments that matter. Outdoor family sessions around [area] and wedding coverage across [region].

[Button: Check my availability] [Link: See prices]

• The main heading contains your specialism and town
• The first images show your main specialism, not everything you can do
• One main button, always the same, to the contact page
• The site works well on a phone: most visitors will be on one

Galleries: choose, order, lighten

The gallery is your main argument, but a long gallery tires people. Fifteen images that make people want to book beat a hundred and fifty that look alike.

Choosing

• Show the kind of shoot you want to sell, not the one you do by default
• Vary the shots: wide, close portrait, detail, emotional moment
• Start and end with your two best images
• Remove any image you hesitate over

Preparing the files

A photo of several dozen megabytes slows the site down, especially on mobile, and slow sites lose visitors. Export images at display size, as JPEG or WebP, rather than uploading the original.

Alt text describes the image for visually impaired visitors and helps Google understand what it shows. Write it as you would describe the photo over the phone.

Pricing and contact: where the enquiry is won

The pricing page is often the most visited after the home page. Show “from” prices and, for each package, the length, the number of photos delivered and the delivery time. Our photography pricing guide explains how to work them out.

The ideal contact form

• First name and email (phone optional)
• Type of shoot, as a drop-down
• Preferred date, or “not sure yet”
• Location or town
• An open field: “Tell me about your plans”
• A line saying how quickly you reply

Six fields at most: every extra field makes visitors give up. And add a warm confirmation message.

Thanks [First name]! Your message has arrived. I will reply before this evening with my availability and the package that suits you best. In the meantime, here is how a shoot works: [link]. Speak soon, [Photographer’s name]

Getting found on Google: specialism plus town

Future clients almost never type your name. They type “wedding photographer York” or “newborn photoshoot Leeds”. To appear for those searches, each specialism page should contain them naturally.

• One page per specialism with 300 words or more of real text (your approach, how it works, locations, FAQs)
• Towns and places you work named naturally, without a list of fifty villages
• A link to your Google profile, with the same name, address and phone everywhere
• Your Google reviews shown on the site (see display Google reviews on your website)
• One shoot story a month: a place, a season, a few images, with consent

Shoot stories are your best content: they are unique, they mention places people search for (“photoshoot at … park”), and they show your real work. One a month is enough to keep the site alive.

A text template for a specialism page

Many photographers freeze in front of a blank page. Here is an outline to fill in for a “family shoot” page. Keep the tone you use with clients: simple, warm, concrete.

Family photoshoot in [town]

Want natural family photos where everyone is really themselves? I meet you outdoors, somewhere you love or somewhere I suggest around [town]: [place 1], [place 2], [place 3].

How the shoot works. We first talk on the phone to choose the place, time and outfits. On the day, we walk, play and chat: I guide you when needed, with no stiff poses. The session lasts about [length].

What you receive. [Number] edited photos in a private online gallery within [time]. Prints and an album are available as extras.

Price. From £[price], travel included up to [distance] miles. Full details on the pricing page.

FAQs. What if it rains? We move the date at no charge. What if my child won’t pose? That is often when the best pictures happen.

[Button: Check my availability]

This outline naturally contains what Google looks for (the specialism, the town, places) and what the client wants to know (how it works, what they get, the price). Adapt it for each specialism and really change the content: a wedding page talks about getting ready, the ceremony and the evening, not a walk in the woods.

Consent, copyright and privacy

Your site publishes photos of people. Get written permission from each client for the images you show, saying where they will appear and for how long; for children, ask the parents. If a photo planned for the site later goes into an advert, ask again.

On copyright, GOV.UK explains that protection is automatic and covers photography. Say on your site that the images are yours and may not be reused without permission: it will not stop everything, but it sets the frame.

Your contact form collects personal data. The ICO explains that when you collect data directly from someone, you must give them privacy information at that moment: who you are and how to contact you, why you use the data and on what lawful basis, who you share it with, how long you keep it, their rights and their right to complain to the regulator. A short privacy notice linked under the form covers this.

• A signed permission for each published shoot
• A privacy notice linked from the form
• Your business details clearly shown on the site
• No client photo used on a medium they did not agree to

Common mistakes on photographer websites

• A home page with no text: Google cannot tell what you do, and neither can the visitor.
• No hint of price: visitors imagine a rate beyond their budget.
• Huge image files: the site takes several seconds to load on a phone.
• No town anywhere: you cannot appear in local searches.
• A fifteen-field form: visitors give up.
• A site never updated: the latest shoot is three years old, and visitors wonder whether you still work.

Checklist before going live

• Specialism and town in the home page title
• One page per specialism with gallery and text
• Pricing page with “from” prices
• Short form tested (you really receive the message)
• Reviews shown or a link to your Google profile
• Lightweight images with file names and alt text
• Privacy notice linked from the form
• Signed permissions filed for every photo of a person

The steps at a glance

The steps for a site that shows your work and brings enquiries.

1. Write the home page line. Specialism, town, contact button.
2. Build one gallery per specialism. Fifteen to twenty-five chosen, lightweight, described images.
3. Publish the pricing page. Packages, what is included, from prices.
4. Add a short form. Six fields at most, a quick reply promised.
5. Work on local SEO. Specialism and town in titles, linked Google profile, reviews.
6. Check the rules. Client permissions, privacy notice, business details.

This guide for your trade

• Shops and independents
• Tradespeople

Go further

• Build your small business website
• How to get photography clients
• Photography pricing
• Choose a domain name
• Display Google reviews on your website
• GDPR for small businesses