📸 "AI disruption" for headshot photographers

This is the newly revamped ForegroundWeb Newsletter format. Are you excited about what's to come? Reply and share your thoughts, any feedback is appreciated.

Let’s dive in!

QUICK TIPS

1. Don't force visitors to view your galleries as slideshows

On a gallery or portfolio page, the default should be to show a grid of image thumbnails, so visitors can pick and choose the photo they want to expand.

And once they do, they should get a full-screen lightbox mode which is basically a distraction-free slideshow.

But only if and when they want to do that. Give visitors more control!

2. It’s fine to use secondary navigation menus

Some photography websites use secondary navigation menus or “sections” to include links and organize items into “groups.” A few essential menu items stand alone, while many others are sometimes hidden behind hamburger icons or placed in less-prominent locations.

Here are a few examples of secondary menus used by famous photographers:

For a full guide on how to improve your site’s menu, check out: Navigation menu best‑practices for photography websites

3. Google Analytics users: have you upgraded to GA4?

On July 1st, Google Analytics switched to a new way of collecting data (labeled GA4), replacing the old Universal Analytics method.

For most users (tracking a single website), the entire transition can be accomplished easily from the Google Analytics dashboard using the GA4 Setup Assistant. (instructions here)

Here’s what you need to know:

• if you were using the old universal analytics method (UA-########## codes), you need to add a new tracking code to your site

• in the admin area, GA4 doesn’t have Views, just Account and Property, but introduced the concept of “data streams”

• bounce rates are measured differently: in the old UA method, the bounce rate was the percentage of users that didn’t view more than one page on the site. In GA4, the bounce rate is the inverse of a new “engagement rate”, which tracks users that stayed on the site at least 10 seconds, had at least 1 conversion, or had 2+ page views.

• for goal tracking (e.g. “how many people visited the Thank-you page”), you now need to use Google Tag Manager, which is now more powerful than ever

• GA4 brings a more powerful search feature (you can use natural language to ask complex queries about your traffic)

• for advanced users (with multiple sites, custom goals, Google Ads, etc.), explore the instructions here.

• in general, GA4 has a steeper learning curve and is NOT as user-friendly

• In GA4, most of the reports have been replaced or renamed