5 Boudoir Photography Website Mistakes to Avoid to Become Fully Booked Out in 2024

As a boudoir photography business coach, I’ve looked at a LOT of websites. And I see so many people make the same singular mistake. 

And it’s that their website feels more like a business card than a way for potential clients to get to know their business. 

Think about it…a business card website has minimal information and loads of beautiful pictures, but not a lot of information about why their ideal clients should book them. It’s the bare minimum.

Why does this matter? 

Because things are different now. The market is different; let’s be honest, the economy is different. Now you have to convince your ideal clients why you’re the photographer for them, and why you’re worth the prices you’re asking. That’s just how it is, unfortunately.

BUT there is a way you can do this without feeling too salesy. And that’s what I’m talking about in this episode.

Let’s get into a few boudoir photography website mistakes you should avoid. So you can stand out and book more clients in 2024!

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Photography Website Mistakes #1: Assuming Clients Will Book Based on Your Work

The hard truth to accept is that no, clients will not book solely based on seeing your work. It’s not 2016 anymore. There are a lot of photographers out there, meaning your work doesn’t speak for itself anymore, unfortunately.  

That doesn’t devalue your work, but it does mean you need to market yourself a little bit differently than you might have a few years ago. 

Putting yourself out there and booking clients always starts with your website. And a website that takes your clients on a journey and signals to your potential people that you’re the right fit is how you can make sure it’s successful. 

This leads me to my next point…

Photography Website Mistakes #2: You’re Leading With Pricing

Yes, you want people to be aware of what they could be paying before booking a session. It helps generate the right client bookings. But you don’t want to lead with pricing. 

Instead of talking about pricing immediately, I want you to start talking about how amazing sessions are with you and about how they’re going to leave with such confidence.

It’s important to shift the conversation to how they are getting so much more than just pretty photos out of this entire experience.

Let’s say you want to sell wall portraits, then you need to talk more about how important printing is. Or how confident it can make clients feel. Don’t just put the product out there. Appeal a little bit to the emotional side of things and SHOW people why they want it. 

This almost always piques people’s interest, sometimes without them even knowing it, and inevitably helps them build interest in working with you. 

Website Mistake #3: You’re Leaving Your Website With Unfinished Business

I know that building a website is a big undertaking, but something is better than nothing. Please, PLEASE don’t publish an unfinished website. 

Done is better than perfect. And you can always fix things and update them later, but if you just have a coming soon website for months to years, it’s not going to be very effective.

Or if tons of your pages, regardless of which, have zero information because you’re “still working on things.”

Websites are non-negotiable in 2023. People take them seriously, and you want to look professional. So at least get your website, where it’s user-facing, to a point where it can look like it. You can always work on the details later. 

Website Mistake #4: Your Website Doesn’t Have a Goal

Your website needs a goal. Because creating a strategic website is always going to be a good way to market yourself. 

As a boudoir photographer, you might have a goal of booking a consult knowing you can easily talk the client into booking the session. Or, you might be more like me and have a goal of booking an actual session and avoiding the consults entirely. 

Each of these goals would have a totally different strategy. And your website should reflect that. 

For example, let’s say you want to book sessions and avoid consults–which is my strategy. 

You’re gonna want to make sure they are extremely informed and comfortable with you in order to make this happen.

They need to know exactly how a session works–what happens at each phase, and exactly what they need to bring with them TO the session. 

Instead of talking about chatting at a consult, place Book Now buttons ALL over your website in the right places of course. 

I like to have Book Now buttons in the menu, the footer, and in specific places on the home page, about page, and investment page. 

Website Mistake #5: You’re Missing a Few Key Pages

When you’re a boudoir photographer, your website always needs a few key pages to make sure you’re telling the full story and strategically bringing in the right clients. 

YOUR HOME PAGE

Now, I know that if you have a website, you probably have this. It’s kind of obvious, right? Every website has one!

Your homepage is basically an overview of your business, what you stand for, and who you are, plus a quick overview of booking. You don’t need to weigh it down with a ton of information, just make it easy for people to know where to find what they need. 

Think of it like a summary of your business. What are the highlights? What makes you stand out? You could even think of it like a cover letter because you want your home page to grab attention/generate interest, since it’s the first thing people see. 

YOUR ABOUT PAGE

Your about page is NOT about you, contrary to what you may have been told in the past. Instead, it’s a page letting them know more about the actual session and what they can expect while working with you.

So focus on your client experience and how you bring value to your clients beyond the finished product. How does a session with you differ from another photographer?

That’s not to say you can’t talk about yourself. You definitely want to let people know who you are and what you’re about. Just don’t forget to tie it into why the client should care. 

YOUR INVESTMENT PAGE

Now, this may not be one you have yet, but it’s one that SUPER important. Because one — people need to know your pricing list/guide. 

But past that, it’s not just about the monetary investment they’re making. It’s also the investment they’re making to have a good experience. The investment they’re making to feel confident.

It’s the same thing I said earlier about not leading with pricing. Well, it’s even more important on this investment page. The first thing you want to do is talk about how important the session is, and how great it will make them feel. 

 You need to start with how important the session is–how great it will make them feel. 

Then, focus on the actual process–how the session works, your approach to posing, focusing on albums and the ordering session process–how they will feel when they have this beautiful album in their hands. 

This is also where I like to add the Frequently Asked Questions–Don’t make the FAQ page  a page by itself. 

Add it to your investment page instead. 

YOUR GALLERY PAGE

Of course, you want to have a gallery page. But you do not want it to be just a page with your favorites and absolutely zero context OR strategy. 

For example, my goal is to sell albums as a boudoir photographer. Most photographers listening to this podcast also want to sell albums. So if you want to sell albums, you should SHOW albums.

And that’s what I want you to do here. Have several albums so your audience starts THINKING about albums.

It also takes the hard work out of the selling sessions because your audience is already positioned towards what you’re selling. Instead of the selling sessions being mostly explaining what you offer. 

You’re able to spend more time on creating a great experience and communicating value — something that’s SO important in this industry!

YOUR CONTACT PAGE

Another obvious page, right? But seriously, make it easy for people to contact you. And book sessions with you, too! Don’t just put your email on there and call it a day. 

On my Boudoir by Tracy Lynn site, I have a SMALL questionnaire for people to fill out. But having this information because contacting them back really helps me and my team point them in the right direction (and know whether or not they would be a good fit). 

YOUR BLOG

This is quite possibly the most important thing you could have on your website! So if you don’t have one yet or have been putting it on the back burner, I want you to listen closely. 

Your blog helps you rank on Google. Which the large majority of the time, is how clients find you (aside from referrals). If you want to learn more about HOW that happens, check out this post here with tons more information! 

 A blog also helps you show off your expertise. You can prove to clients that you know what you’re doing, and that you’re truly an expert in your field. I have all sorts of info on my photography blog (not just my coaching one) — what to wear, how to prep, what to bring, etc.

Most importantly, I was answering their questions and maybe didn’t even know they had — and I know for a fact this is why I could stay so booked out. 

Get More Traffic in 2024!

All in all, you want your website to bring in new potential clients, keep them interested, and show them value. And then, make it easy for them to book you because of how you’ll make them feel, instead of just leading with pricing.

But while creating that experience is half the battle, the other half is getting found. Maybe you aren’t at a place yet where you have enough client referrals to sustain you, and that’s okay.

You just need to make sure you know how to get yourself FOUND so you can start becoming fully booked out. 

If that’s something you want to learn more about in the coming year, go ahead and check out the Fully Booked Without Burnout Course!

This is an in-depth SEO program designed specifically for boudoir photographers to use SEO best practices to get found. Learn everything you need to know about keyword research, optimizing your website, blogging for SEO, using Google tools for a more impactful strategy, and more!

Learn more (and then grab the course) here!