Posts Tagged: .com

A Personalized Domain Name Can Help Grow a Photographer’s Business

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Growing a successful photography business requires a lot more than just skill. In fact, you can probably think of several examples of busy professional photographers who are not as talented as some of their less successful contemporaries. This can be attributed to business acumen and an understanding of how vital it is to use branding techniques, such as a personalized domain name, so customers can easily find you online.

How Does Branding Make a Difference?

People want to work with professionals they can trust, and this goes much further than simply seeing quality work. Branding can be one of the top ways to legitimize any business since it helps you appear more credible – after all, you’ve invested the time to define what your business is all about. Whether you’re a professional or a hobbyist who aspires to a career in photography, it is absolutely critical to begin branding yourself and your business. A website or online portfolio with your own personalized domain name, also known as a web address, can play a major role in any company’s branding efforts. Your domain name can act as your online identity, and can help prospective customers find you online. Your domain name can also serve as a professional-looking email address that can reinforce your brand.

The domain name you select can be your photography business name (JessicaFunkPhotography.com) or describe your type of photography (WeddingPhotographyinVirginia.com). You should select a domain name extension (i.e., the part after the “dot”) that is well recognized, like .com or .net.

How a Domain Name Can Help Your Business

Having a 500px portfolio is a wonderful tool to showcase your photography. But a personalized, BRANDED web address that you can easily promote and share can help you reach more prospective customers and increase your network. A .com or .net domain name can allow you to market and build a name for yourself as a photographer. Otherwise, how will people find you outside of the 500px community?

By connecting your domain name to your 500px portfolio, you can get the word out by:

  • Sharing your web address on your social media account(s) for easy access to your entire gallery
  • Including your web address on all marketing materials, such as business cards and brochures
  • Placing ads (both online and offline) that can drive traffic to your online portfolio
  • Using a branded business email instead of a free email account
  • Improving your ability to be found in search engine results
  • Increasing your reach and marketing potential when you upgrade to a full-fledged website (Tip: you can still use the same domain name)

To begin, search for your .com domain name on domainsmart.net/500px. With a few clicks, you can redirect your new domain name to an existing online portfolio that is hosted by a photography site like www.500px.com . Either way, a personalized domain name can be one of the best ways to attract the attention of future clients.

 

Sponsored Content produced by DomainSmart.net for Verisign.

5 Tips to Help Get More Visitors to Your 500px Portfolio

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Due to the visual nature of photography, it can be absolutely vital to have a website or online portfolio. Getting visitors to your website is half the battle. The rest will rely on your ability to showcase high quality images in an easily accessible format. Utilizing a few proven techniques can also help to capture the attention of your audience.

1. Secure a Personal Domain Name

It’s all about controlling your online identity, showcasing your work, and marketing your business. A personal domain name can be used as a web address for your social media or 500px online portfolio page or as a web address for your own website, and as your professional email address.

Without a memorable domain name, it can be much harder for potential clients to find your website. Start your domain name search now and secure your personalized web address for less than $10. Even if you’re not ready to design and host your own website yet, it’s easy to connect your domain name to your existing 500px online portfolio, allowing it to act as your website. Now when a customer types in your web address, it seamlessly redirects them to your online portfolio.

Then, when you’re ready to develop your own website, customers already know where to find you and there’s no need to update your marketing materials like business cards or brochures.

2. Utilize Social Media

With millions of potential customers already on social media, building social media accounts for your photography business can be a great way to increase your business’ exposure and help drive traffic to your portfolio. Social media also can be a great way to showcase some of your best work, and your client experiences. Focus on one or two key social media platforms and be sure to include your web address on each of these profiles. To encourage activity on your social media page, try posting engaging content that links to your portfolio, and encourage existing clients to like or post positive reviews.

3.  Proper Keyword Tagging is Essential

Keywords can be one of the most important components of SEO, so you should use them appropriately on each image within your online portfolio. Doing this can help improve your search engine ranking, and it can also make it easier for people to find images that are relevant to their needs. For example, if you are a wedding photographer, you may want to tag each image with “wedding photography.” You may also want to add geographic keywords and anything else that helps distinguish each image such as “New York wedding” or “rustic wedding” or “winter wedding.”

4.  Choose the Highest Quality Images

The old saying is true; you really do have only one chance to make a good first impression. Therefore, professional photographers should carefully select only their very best images for their portfolio. There is no need to keep older images online unless you feel that they truly represent your best work.

The best approach is to refresh the images regularly with your latest and greatest work. After all, you want potential clients to experience the wow factor when they look at your photos. This won’t happen if you keep old imagery around from when you were less skilled, nor will it occur if you post everything. Although you want enough samples to draw people in and make them feel confident about your skill set, you also don’t want to overwhelm them with hundreds of images.

5.  Make Your Contact Information Easy to Find

You should make it extremely easy for website visitors to find your contact information. Provide highly visual options for reaching out, including a contact form.

Additionally, you may want to use a branded email address that uses your domain name. If you have a studio clients can visit, a map on your website can be helpful.

The first step to help get more visitors to your online portfolio starts with securing your personalized domain name. Get started for just $8.99 today!

 

Sponsored Content produced by DomainSmart.net for Verisign.

5 Tips to Help Get More Visitors to Your Online Portfolio

Photographers, , ,

Due to the visual nature of photography, it can be absolutely vital to have a website or online portfolio. Getting visitors to your website is half the battle. The rest will rely on your ability to showcase high quality images in an easily accessible format. Utilizing a few proven techniques can also help to capture the attention of your audience.

1. Secure a Personal Domain Name

It’s all about controlling your online identity, showcasing your work, and marketing your business. A personal domain name can be used as a web address for your social media or online photography portfolio page or as a web address for your own website, and as your professional email address.

Without a memorable domain name, it can be much harder for potential clients to find your website. Start your domain name search now and secure your personalized web address for less than $10. Even if you’re not ready to design and host your own website yet, it’s easy to connect your domain name to your existing online photography portfolio, allowing it to act as your website. Now when a customer types in your web address, it seamlessly redirects them to your online portfolio.

Then, when you’re ready to develop your own website, customers already know where to find you and there’s no need to update your marketing materials like business cards or brochures.

2. Utilize Social Media

With millions of potential customers already on social media, building social media accounts for your photography business can be a great way to increase your business’ exposure and help drive traffic to your portfolio. Social media also can be a great way to showcase some of your best work, and your client experiences. Focus on one or two key social media platforms and be sure to include your web address on each of these profiles. To encourage activity on your social media page, try posting engaging content that links to your portfolio, and encourage existing clients to like or post positive reviews.

3.  Proper Keyword Tagging is Essential

Keywords can be one of the most important components of SEO, so you should use them appropriately on each image within your online portfolio. Doing this can help improve your search engine ranking, and it can also make it easier for people to find images that are relevant to their needs. For example, if you are a wedding photographer, you may want to tag each image with “wedding photography.” You may also want to add geographic keywords and anything else that helps distinguish each image such as “New York wedding” or “rustic wedding” or “winter wedding.”

4.  Choose the Highest Quality Images

The old saying is true; you really do have only one chance to make a good first impression. Therefore, professional photographers should carefully select only their very best images for their portfolio. There is no need to keep older images online unless you feel that they truly represent your best work.

The best approach is to refresh the images regularly with your latest and greatest work. After all, you want potential clients to experience the wow factor when they look at your photos. This won’t happen if you keep old imagery around from when you were less skilled, nor will it occur if you post everything. Although you want enough samples to draw people in and make them feel confident about your skill set, you also don’t want to overwhelm them with hundreds of images.

5.  Make Your Contact Information Easy to Find

You should make it extremely easy for website visitors to find your contact information. Provide highly visual options for reaching out, including a contact form.

Additionally, you may want to use a branded email address that uses your domain name. If you have a studio clients can visit, a map on your website can be helpful.

The first step to help get more visitors to your online portfolio starts with securing your personalized domain name. Get started for just $8.99 today!

Sponsored content produced by DomainSmart.net for Verisign.

DomainSmart.net