If you’re looking around and thinking, “something’s different here…” you are absolutely correct! I’ve been spending many, many, many (too many?) hours preparing my website for its launch. The past few months have been filled with late nights, eye strain from computer marathons, and a combo of country music and podcasts to keep me from pulling my hair out. But, it has been so worth it to finally hit the “publish” button and watch all the old broken links go away!

To be honest, I don’t think I’ve ever felt solid on my website until now, and I am so excited to see how the new hallpotvinphoto.com performs! Here are a few things that I really like about the new website:

• “The Four P’s.” Philosophy, process, pricing, portfolio. My clients can see that information right on the website.
• Design. I’m a sucker for teal and gray, and I really like the modern appearance.
• Navigation. It is so much easier to find the information you need!
• Responsive design and mobile-friendly. Give it a try!

What did this web project entail?

It’s kind of a long story! During my time at Champlain College, I was set to be a double major in Business Administration and Accounting. But, I was intrigued by some of my marketing courses and decided to add a minor in Digital Marketing. For my senior year, almost every class I took had a semester-long project that I could center around my business or use it as a case study. One of my courses actually allowed me and three classmates to take a deep dive into my social media and website. My web design course allowed me to have a classroom full of students offer me suggestions on how I can make my website better. I am so thankful for all of my classmates and professors for helping me to learn best practices and help give me a kick in the rear-end to make this website what it is today.

Here are just some of the things I had to worry about…

• Looking through years of photos in order to determine my portfolio. Plus some re-editing for consistency.
• Optimizing over 1,000 photos for the website.
• Developing a survey that went to many peers, friends, and family members to critique my brand.
• Re-working the “HP” logo, color scheme, and font set to be simpler and more modern.
• Creating a “voice” for the website, as well as design rules to stick with.
• Determining what information a client for my services would want, and the easiest way to get it to them.
• Choosing a website vendor.
• Simplifying the navigation process, while still featuring a captivating and unique user experience.
• Building the website (both desktop and mobile versions)
• SEO titling and tagging for all static images.
• Double, triple, and quadruple checking everything to make sure there weren’t errors!

The website is live, but are you REALLY done?

Heck no! Maintaining a website is a LOT of work. I’ll constantly be analyzing the performance of my website with Google Analytics. There is still more I’d like to do with my website, such as working in call-to-action buttons and someday adding a newsletter that folks can subscribe to! I’m sure I’ll think of other projects along the way, but for now, I’m going to see how this version of my website performs. After all, data-driven decisions are the way to go!

If you’re a photographer who’s wanting to launch a new website, the biggest piece of advice I can give you is to sit down and plan before you build. Think about the journey your ideal client takes from finding you on Google, all the way until they send you an email. What information are they looking for? What actions would you like your ideal client to take while visiting your website? What is the ultimate goal of your website? There’s so much to think about besides making a website that looks nice.

How can you help me with this website?

Spend some time on it! Dive through as many pages as you’d like and see how accessible the information is for services you’d be interested in. And then, sound off in the comment section or on social media! Thanks so much for your patience.