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These days, nearly every business has a website. While this is by and large a good thing, it does mean the competition to win the hearts of online audiences is more steep than ever before.

But how do you go about that? What will make your website stand out, generate leads and satisfy customers?

No need to fret. Here are a handful of factors you can focus on that will help you go from being just another one, to being the one your ideal customers will gravitate to time and time again.

Quality Imagery

Have you been using photographs from 5 or 10 years ago? Or are you relying on traditional clip-art as your graphics?

If you’re going to get serious about your website, the visuals need to show it. One way to ensure you have a set of quality images to use for your website is to hire a branding or commercial photographer, alongside a graphic designer.

And if you already have high quality images, take it up a notch by making videos! All of the biggest names in marketing are talking about how fast video content is trending on every digital platform, which means that adding videos to your website can be a way to stand out from those stuck in the past.

Top-Notch Content

The phrase “content is king” has become a popular phrase to describe just how important text is for your website. And in more ways than one!

Every word you include on your website has the ability to either have an impact on your ideal audience . . . or lose them altogether. Make them count by being informative, engaging and valuable.

You’ll also find that the more high-quality content you have on your website, the better your chances of ranking well on search engines.

Blogs

Having a website these days simply isn’t enough to be found on Google.

Utilize a company blog to increase your ranking while also providing useful information to your audience. Although many business owners don’t think their industry or company could reap benefits from having a blog, it’s often more doubt than fact.

Company blogs today don’t have to fit the traditional idea of a personal blog. Think of any hot topic or debate in your industry. Think of your previous clients and the specific ways you’ve made a difference.

A blog can easily be used as a portfolio, compilation of case studies, a journal of industry insight and experience, and a whole lot more. Go outside of the box!

Social Media Links

Your website can be the “hub” that all of your other marketing efforts are connected to. While some clients or customers may find you on social media first, others may find your website and be interested to see your social media content afterwards.

Be sure to include links to your social media accounts on your website, either on your website’s footer, contact page, or about page.

Mobile Optimization

Within the last year, search engines have started to adjust their algorithms to place more weight on websites that are optimized for mobile devices.

What does this mean for you? If your website is responsive for a wide range of devices, you will win out against those that aren’t.

Create a Beautiful Website Today

liveBooks offers stunning, customizable website templates for wedding industry professionals and creatives.

Impress your potential clients with a visually stunning website that is ready for search engines and looks great on any mobile device!

We’ve also got a top-notch support team who’s here to help you every step of the way. Start for free today!

Howie Lee Weiss is a professional studio artist and also professor of fine arts. Known for stylized, precise, graphic imagery, Howie Lee Weiss’s artworks have been reviewed in such publications as Art in America, The Boston Globe, The Philadelphia Inquirer and The Baltimore Sun.

Weiss’s iconic drawings have been exhibited in galleries in New York, Philadelphia, Boston, and Washington, DC. His artwork has also appeared in venues throughout Italy. In Japan, Weiss lectured with the Keisho Art Association in conjunction with an exhibit that featured his extensive, free-style sketchbook practice.

He has been teaching at MICA – Maryland Institute College of Art since 1979. At MICA, he oversees the Senior Thesis Program for the 2-D Fine Arts, as well as having taught all level of classes within the college. As a child, Howie Lee Weiss loved drawing pictures which led to art college for his BFA and eventually to Yale School of Art & Architecture where he received his MFA.

Search – 49 x 44 Humankind’s ongoing continuum of curiosity is at the core of these narratives. Drawn pictures with titles such as Wonder, Quest and Search describe the types of universal pursuits that seem central to all people.

Q&A with Howie Lee Weiss

Q1: How would you describe the aesthetic of your website in three words?

HLW: Elegant, clean, informative.

Q2: How often do you typically update your website?

HLW: As new drawings are produced, they may fit into existing categories or require a new category in itself. This varies with time. Additionally some drawings may be edited out of the website, therefore not only adding is important but subtracting becomes essential also.

Ensemble – 8 x 7 Minor but multiple variations based on simple shapes assemble together to form large collections. Each small drawing shares wall space with its numerous, almost identical partners; thus the individual becomes part of the larger population.

Q3: How do you choose the photos that you display on your homepage?

HLW: I put 6 drawings together in one j-peg so viewers could see all 6 works at once – giving somewhat of a mini overview. I plan to change the home page from time to time.

Global – 52 x 45

Q4: What is your favorite feature of liveBooks?

HLW: Ease of navigation.

Q5: What’s one piece of advice you’d offer to someone designing their website?

HLW: Balance – not too much – not to little – and organize.

See more from Howie Lee Weiss here: www.howieleeweiss.com

Song – 56 x 47

If online visibility for your website is what you want, proper SEO is what you need

Your website is relevant, your portfolios are updated, your photography is flawless; so how come so few come to visit? It all comes down to that super popular fellow who only listens to bits of your story, but is excited to share all info it has on you to whomever will ask – the search engine.

Yes, it’s definitely your friend, as long as it gets to know you. Introducing SEO, the one thing every photography website owner knows they need, but not too many actually accommodate it. SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is the information laid out for the algorithms that skim through each published page, indexing them. They go from link to link and figure out what each website is about, how reliable it is and thus, how relevant it is for the online seeker.

According to what keywords you’ve used in the SEO fields, it will determine a ranking for your website. You already have a great photography website, but does the SEO formula agree? There are a few things you can do to put your foot in google search’s door and say “Alright, I’m here!”

It’s SEO Everything™ time!

The liveBooks websites are all about ease of access to your content, and SEO fits right in the whole scenario. It’s a platform used mainly by photography professionals, a career that stresses on the visual advantage over linguistics, which usually makes indexing a little harder, but we have many ways to go around that. It’s called SEO Everything and it truly is everything you need to get your photography website running at the speed of SEO. (There’s no such measurement unit, but we figure it’s fast. Superfast.)

First things first: check that your website will be indexed by search engines. This feature is automatically turned on, but we’ll go ahead and double-check just in case.

1. Go to settings, then click on the SEO tab.
2. While we’re here, let’s make sure that your website title and description are filled in. We’re determined to make the title visible for search engines, so our advice is to make it easy to read: business name + the keyword that describes your field of work (“Lara Croft: Tomb Raider” is a great example, even though we’re positive it wasn’t intentional). What you write in the description is up to you. This is the place where keywords are not important and it’s the only place where you don’t need to worry about google’s piercing scanners. The description appears under your website name in search results. (http://goo.gl/3HBg5R)
3. We can now proceed to the reason why we’re here: the first field in the search settings field. You want your website to be found, so the first option should be turned on. (http://goo.gl/cENHbu)
4. Finally, scroll down to the last field, Schema.org, and choose the appropriate organization type to be featured by this tool in indexing your website. (http://goo.gl/HkQJAU)

SEO for your pages

Now we’re ready to take on the great adventure of page and image SEO. This is an important journey to make, since we’re dealing with a photography website where written content is usually scarce. To give an overall perspective, the SEO algorithms behave best in a page containing around 600 words, so we’ll have to make up for it if you choose to let your photography do the talking without inserting text blocks to your galleries. Still, a few words are in order here, a few well written and descriptive words which will serve as your copy-paste material for the keywords field and will never again be seen on your website.

Before you move any further, get writing! Remember, capitalization is unimportant here, but spacing and spelling is. The recipe for a proper keyword sequence is keyword comma space keyword comma space and so on. (ex. wedding photography, engagement photography, ceremony photography in AZ, etc.)

In your content area click on a page and you’ll see a SEO & Settings dropdown field on the right side. This is where you stunning copy-paste skills will come in handy. Fill in these blocks with the keywords and description you’ve set. Do this for all pages. It’s tedious, we know, but you only do it once. Okay, you do it every time you create a new page or item, but trust us, it matters.

SEO for your photos

Now, we’ve said SEO Everything and we mean it! Don’t think we forgot the most important actors in your show: the photographs. In your image library click on the eye icon that appears when you hover over with your mouse and you’ll see a pop-up with the image info. We’ll focus on the first two fields: the title and the description. liveBooks allows google to index this info even if you choose not to show it on your website with the image info on hover option. This is a great feature that not all photography platforms can take pride in having, so we’re boosting over here.

1. Fill in the title first; it should be descriptive (sunset wedding on Cape cod, floral arrangement at reception, newly weds take wows, etc.).
   Notice how the examples we’ve given contain more words connected to your business, not just photography. That’s because as much as you want people to find you for their specific need, you also wouldn’t mind to have a prospective client bump into your work while googling for a flower arrangement and finding a great photographer to capture the spirit of their big event. and coming back to our buddy google and its power to validate your website, this is a great way to convince it that you are a proper professional who understands the entire ensemble of your work field.
2. The description, on the other hand, can differ from image to image and it is up to you to make it as detailed as you want to give an even bigger picture.

Extra tips

• You should have one website for your business so that google doesn’t get mislead
• If you’re doing a blog, use your website as the platform for it instead of an external page. Feel free to use outside links to projects.
• Keeping track of your ranking and optimal keywords is a must when reaching for a greater audience. The liveBooks professional plan includes real-time analytics, so you won’t have to bother with 3rd party tools.
• Changes won’t happen straight away, it takes time for the algorithms to find your updates and index them.

Erin Derby discovered photography in high school, and the second she walked out of the darkroom with her first GOOD photo, she was hooked. Derby knew it’s what she would do with her life. In college, she was the photo editor of the daily university paper, and after college she moved to NY where she pursued both art and commercial photography.

Erin Derby feels lucky to be able to shoot various subjects that really interest her, rather than being forced to only pick one genre.

Q&A with Erin Derby

Q1: How would you describe the aesthetic of your website in three words?

ED: Modern, bright, dynamic.

Q2: How often do you typically update your website?

ED: I do a major update every year, which involves a total overhaul. And then throughout the year I do mini-updates…Approximately every month or so. Depends on what new work I want to share.

Q3: How do you choose the photos that you display on your homepage?

ED: I pick something that is new and that I’m personally really excited about, and can’t wait to share. It also needs to be big and bold and striking. It needs to really set the tone for the site. And it needs to be NEW!

Q4: What is your favorite feature of liveBooks?

ED: My TWO favorite things are that the site looks so professional and polished without any effort, and updating it is extremely easy and immediate.

Q5. What’s one piece of advice you’d offer to someone designing their website?

ED: Don’t overthink it. Don’t spend months debating and delaying it. Just get it up there. You can always make changes.

Erin Derby has been with liveBooks since 2007! See more of her work here: www.erinderby.com