I’ve been more than 2 months since I switched to this new, more modern newsletter format (with multiple different sections, tips, examples, etc). Hope you’re enjoying the ride.

Don’t forget you can always email me (by just replying to any email) with your specific website-related questions. I’m all ears.

Let’s dive in!

QUICK TIPS

1. HOW mobile-friendly is your website?

I think most photographers reading this know websites should be mobile-friendly.

If people check their traffic in Google Analytics, I think many of them will find that mobile plus tablet traffic already outgrows the desktop traffic. So it's really important to cover that.

So, obviously, everyone should choose a template that's responsive, at a minimum. I think there are different levels of mobile-friendliness. I mean, it's not enough just to pass Google's mobile-friendly tests, so you're in the green. Okay. You got the checkmark, but is the experience on the website actually good?

There are templates and templates. Some of them just have some breakpoints. They kind of adapt, but others are responsive, they're fluid, they really flow well on a mobile device. So make sure whatever you choose, you've tested thoroughly on your device, and ask some friends to do it as well. It's really important these days.

2. Don’t forget about repeat visitors

As I’ve mentioned in previous emails, first-time visitors to your site make up 90%+ of your traffic.

But let’s now talk about those users that already know your website, and come back again at a later time.

What makes a returning visitor different?

• They already trust your site (at least a little, otherwise they wouldn’t be coming back)

• They’re probably looking for something in particular, just trying to find it as quickly as possible

• They expect the website to look/function as they saw it the last time

Familiarity is very important in web design.

It’s OK to change your site’s design (it’s important to keep it fresh).

But there are certain elements that should “look familiar” to returning visitors: the navigation menu and how your image galleries are structured.

In most cases, they’re probably just looking for some specific images. So they need to be able to navigate to them as easily as possible, using the same path they used last time. Maybe they last chose a specific portfolio from your navigation menu, or they browsed through your collection thumbnails into a specific gallery until they saw some images that sparked their interest. Or they used your site’s search functionality.

The menu and the options you have on the homepage represent a map that returning visitors can use to get to the content they’re looking for.