QUICK TIPS

1. 🎯 Small UX tweaks can unlock more inquiries

You don’t always need a full redesign to get better results.

In this review, conversions were blocked by tiny (but costly) UX decisions:

• CTAs going straight to the contact page

• No call scheduler = friction and hesitation

• Testimonials styled like headings, confusing Google and users

Simple changes:

• Homepage → Service page → Contact page (in that order)

• Add a “Book a call” scheduler to reduce back-and-forth

• Clean up headings so your content hierarchy makes sense

This is the stuff DIY builders rarely catch.

And it directly affects trust and action.

Organic traffic is shifting as AI overviews and chatbots answer more questions directly, creating a "zero-click marketing" era. If you're still chasing raw page views, you're swimming upstream.

The role of your photography website is changing. It's no longer just about being number one on Google—it's about becoming the answer. You need to move from getting clicks to getting on the shortlist.

This means prioritizing authority, trust, and, most importantly, inquiries and sales.

To start, clearly define your entity: make sure your homepage and About page plainly state your profession, location, and specialty. This clarity helps AI models understand and recommend you to potential clients.

Traffic only matters if it’s the right traffic. If your site tries to appeal to everyone, you end up converting no one.

Clarify exactly who you serve and how you’re different. Then reflect that message clearly across your homepage, bio, and service pages.

For example: Instead of “Photography for all occasions” (too vague), say: “Emotive, documentary-style wedding photography for adventurous couples in Colorado.”

Once your positioning is clear:

• Google knows what to rank you for

• Visitors quickly know they’re in the right place

• You stand out from the sea of generalists

This shift alone can improve both traffic and conversion. The tighter your focus, the easier it is for the right clients to say: yep, this is the photographer I’ve been looking for.

DEEP DIVE

Raising your prices as a positioning tactic

“How much do you cost?”

Is this how clients judge you?

It’s what Seth Godin calls “the race to the bottom” – the situation where competitors or trying to out-price the competition.

But as a photographer, you can’t win that “race” because you end up selling $1 images, which is completely unsustainable if you’re a solo photographer. You can’t command the required selling volume like a big micro-stock company.

So get out of the “race to the bottom” because you might win! Or, as Seth says, you might come in second, which is even worse.

Maybe it doesn’t feel like that because you’re actively trying to raise your prices. But it’s like climbing a mountain when the whole mountain is sinking in the sea.

“What about increasing my prices as a way to position myself to premium clients?”

Yes, PRICE is a differentiator too.

And not in the way of underpricing your competition. As Seth Godin famously put it, that’s a race to the bottom. And you don’t want to be in that race, because you might win. Or even worse, you might come in second (which means stress and bankruptcy).

I’m talking about over-pricing your competition, as a sign that you have something special to offer.

An interesting anecdote comes to mind:

According to marketing folklore, the Chivas Regal brand of scotch whisky was struggling to gain market share and its sales were low. Its owners doubled its price — without changing the whisky — and saw unit sales double. Consumers saw the increased price as evidence that this must be a quality brand.

Or as the old joke often mentioned by pricing expert Jonathan Stark:

“I told my barber he should double his prices and he exclaimed: “Double my prices?! I’d lose half my clients!!!” :-) Precisely.”

Of course, higher prices have to be substantiated by quality work as well, otherwise, it will all backfire.

So how do you know that you can “afford” to ask for higher prices?

1. How many of your quotes get immediately accepted by your clients with no sign of any negotiation intent? If that number is higher than 50%, it means your prices are too low.

Raise your prices until a larger majority of your leads have “price shock” or try to negotiate. To what degree? It depends on your appetite for risk, your acute need for money, and the number of leads knocking on your door on a recurring basis. Once you have a steady stream of interested potential clients, you’ll be more likely say “no” when the wrong client comes to you. And with a differentiated business, you’ll be attracting better clients right from the start.

2. Study your competition

Sometimes, photographers are surprised to see how other “worse” photographers in the same market have higher prices. Life isn’t fair. And sometimes the solution is just a bit of extra courage and self-confidence.

3. Ask your past clients

What was your hesitation when initially looking for a [specialty] photographer, and what ultimately made you work with me?

Based on those answers, you’ll get a sense of how impressed people were with your work and your marketing efforts BEFORE working with you, which in turn will tell you if your corner of the market has more flexibility in terms of price.

Need even more of a nudge? Read these excellent notes by marketing consultant Kai Davis:

“I have a reminder for you.

If you’re in demand…

If you’re booked solid…

If you’re solving expensive problems for your clients…

Charge more. You deserve to charge more. You deserve to make more money.

If you’re waiting for permission to raise your rates or charge more, ✨, I’ve now given you permission.

Your homework? Take a look at your rates and bump them up by 10%, 25%, or 30% for new projects and clients. (Raising your rates on existing clients is an advanced approach that we’ll cover in a future letter.)”

SEO TIP

🧪 Your analytics are lying to you — here’s what photographers miss

If you obsess over attribution (“Where did this lead come from?”), you’re fighting the wrong battle.

Today’s clients discover you across dozens of invisible touchpoints — AI tools, podcasts, mentions, DMs, group chats, social swipes — none of which show up cleanly in Google Analytics.

When you rely only on what’s trackable, you end up over-investing in whatever gets credit (usually paid ads or branded search)… and under-investing in what actually builds demand:

• Your brand presence

• Your website experience

• Your niche clarity

• Your authority signals

• Your client transformation story

This is why my audits look at real behavior — not just analytics dashboards.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK