This week, we’ll be looking at Kathryn Edwards Photography based… somewhere in England. Let’s find out where…

OK so there’s the first problem. Your potential clients don’t know where you’re located. I would fix that right away. That should be on your home page most definitely.

So getting back to the site… Design wise, it definitely has a stark, out of date feel to it. Kinda like it was built with Apple’s iWeb. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. It just feels a bit dated and too much with the black. The social icons are large and a bit out of place. And I wouldn’t have the Pin button show up on your logo.

I have never been a fan of side scrolling for any kind of site (I think carousels are ok, but not side scrolling). Side scrolling pretty much throws a monkey wrench in the way people are used to using websites. And you want to guide people comfortably through the process of hiring you, not adding to the friction of the process.
Remember, people don’t tend to hire photographers. So they’re already in a state of friction, having to research and compare different packages and figure out who they’re going to like, etc. Why complicate that whole process by having a website design that works totally different than 99% of the websites out there?

Getting into the information you have on your site…
Again, thinking about Friction for your clients, you have way too much going on here. If you think about what your clients really need from a website, they really only need a few things: Information on your product/service, some info about you as the photographer, a way to contact you, and maybe some social proof/testimonials.
Now a lot of this can be incorporated into one page. I call them Service pages. You can have one for each service you provide: Weddings, Families, Headshots. And you can have pricing, testimonials, galleries, and the related info for each one.
So then you only need Contact, About You, and your Blog. That simplifies so much! And it gives your clients a much easier way to find out if they can hire you.

In all the website stats I’ve looked at, the majority of visitors only look at 1 or 2 pages when visiting at a website. So why not make those 1 or 2 pages really count, and get those people the info that they need right away from 1 place, rather than making them look 4 different places.

So, looking at your website, I think spending some time thinking about the structure of it would help. And while you may be looking for a fashion looking website, I’d consider looking at redesigning your site, or finding a theme that is a little bit more friendly for your target market.