A tip for pro and emerging pro photographers, today.

Your web site is your store front. It is your chance to confirm that the good impression people have of you is justified. It is also the chance to lose that first good impression.

So for would-be pros here, today I have a few web site tips.

1. Avoid a front page with an “Enter this site” button. If the user is there, it is because he wants to be on your site, so that extra click starts them off annoyed.
2. Careful with Flash. It takes time to load, cannot be indexed by search engines,  needs software installed, and cannot be read on such platforms as the iPhone.
3. Ensure that your site works on Mac and PC, and on IE as well as Firefox and Safari.
4. It’s not about you – it’s about the customer. Not “I take nice pictures” but “have me make your pictures as eternal mementos”.
5. Make it easy to contact you.
6. Keep the design simple – white space is your friend.
7. Avoid “Under construction” pages at all cost. If a page is not ready, do not publish it.
8. Update the site often. Nothing worse than a site that has visibly been updated last two years ago for saying “this business is not active”.
9. Put a few of your best photos up; not many iffy photos.
10. And finally: Avoid thinking that the web site will bring in business all by itself. It supports – like a business card. That’s all.

And with that, I leave you to go redesign your site – or hopefully, I leave you nodding “yes, I know all that”.