William Bay

This is the third guest post by William Bay, in a short series about customizing your website. Here are part 1 and part 2 of the series. You might want to read those first before jumping into this last part of the series. Thank you!

Even though developers and photographers get paid to do something artistic and technical, there can be communication pitfalls along the way. You can learn all about it in my new book entitled: Photographers are from Venus and Developers are from Mars. Just kidding. But in all seriousness, language-wise, photographers tend to be more on the artistic side of the spectrum, and developers tend to be on the technical end of things.

Another important aspect is that most designers and developers just want be in front of their computer coding, and not dealing with clients and business issues.

Does that sound familiar, photographers? Yep, you just want to do what makes you happy: photograph, and not deal with clients either.

The reason I’m telling you this is so you can remember these pointers when you feel some level of frustration coming on. All you need to remember is that you’re talking two different languages. The best way to communicate is to use a common language. So, be clear in your speaking and writing. Think before you send a set of instructions. A good thing to ask is “would a 10-year-old understand what I’m asking?” Use diagrams or screenshots if necessary.

Remember, this is your future website. It’s your responsibility to ensure that it turns out the way you want it to. A web developer is your facilitator to help make your dreams come into being, not your punching bag when you can’t understand each other. You’re on the same team.

Whatever you do, don’t “try” to speak the developer’s language. Mistakes will be made, and you’ll look silly. You know when Uncle Bob comes up to you at a wedding and tries to get into a technical conversation with you? Yeah, it’s kinda like that.

The Process

There are different phases to building your custom website. Below is a list of the phases that work for Flaunt Your Site. These are not hard-and-fast rules, and not every developer will go through all these steps. But I’ve found that, for me, utilizing these steps encourages more communication along the way, and minimizes the amount of errors that pop up.

* Wireframe: This is a very simple line drawing of the layout: what content will be on the page, and where it will go i.e. slideshows, content, videos, etc.

* Design Comp or Mock-up: An JPG or PNG image file of what the site will look like. This is usually done in Fireworks or Photoshop, so you can see what the site will look like before the building process starts.

* Scope: The mock up is then looked at very carefully and each element is examined to see if there is a function that it's supposed to perform, like what element links where, are pictures static or part of a slideshow, what things have rollover behaviors, etc.

* Development Site (the Building Process): Usually performed on the developer’s computer, offline. This is where the design comp is turned into an actual website. It’s best to build this offline so clients don’t see “how the sausage is made.” It’s not as disturbing as a slaughterhouse, but you don’t need to see the build process. It’s actually boring and slow.

* Staging Site: When the site is finished and you can actually see it up and running, we put it on a staging server. Many developers have their own server that they’ll use (e.g. client1.flauntyoursite.com). It’s online, so the owner can see the actual site in use. Final changes and bugs are found and fixed. This is also a good opportunity to import any existing content that you have on your site or blog.

* Soft Launch: I like to include what’s called a soft launch phase (not everyone does this, though). This is when the site is pushed onto your server in place of your old site. I know you’re really excited to have everyone come look at your new site, but before you invite the masses, it’s good to test everything in its final live environment. It’s a good practice to have just a couple friends with keen eyes look for mistakes, typos, and any final web gremlins that need to get squashed.

* Hard Launch: The pièce de résistance! All the hard work and months of waiting come to this point where you can blast the whole world, Facebook, and your email list that your new website is open for business. This is when you pop the bubbly.

A Word On When Design Happens, And When Design Changes

Design happens during the design phase. To drive the point home: Design does not happen during the build process or after the Soft Launch.

If you want to change the design that you’ve approved, we will charge you for going back and changing it (frequently called a Change Order). A small tweak might not be a problem, but don’t be surprised if we tell you that you’ll be billed for the change, or that you have to wait till after the site is completed and initiate a Phase 2 on the site. So if you’re on the fence about something in the design, get it resolved right away during the design phase. You can even ask for an extra week to sit with the design to see if you’re 100% happy with the design, or if additional tweaks need to be made.

Again, I’ll remind you that it’s your responsibility for the project turning out the way you want it. But if you’re looking for a quick way to make a developer go from an overweight nerd into a full-on, enormous green rage monster, just tell them that you’d like a design change while they’re in the middle of actually building the site.

Payments

What I’ve found that really works for my clients and myself is to base the payment structure on certain phases from the above list. This is how I typically work (again, all developers are different):

* Initial 1/3 payment: Upon signing contract. (This pays for my time to design a concept).

* Second 1/3 payment: Upon client approval of Design Comp. (This mean that the client likes what they see and they’re committing to building the site).

* Final 1/3 payment: Upon completion of website and prior to Soft-Launch. (This indicates that the developer has done his job and it’s ready to go live).

I do ask for final payment before launch. It’s just the preferred method of ensuring final payment for many developers. It’s our version of “delivery on payment.”

When Problems Arise

Yes, there will be problems. We’re not launching a rocket, but there are still a lot of things to juggle in launching a website. Web developers are people, and occasionally, we make mistakes, so try to be understanding. We’re on your side, and mistakes are just that: mistakes. We’re not intentionally trying to screw up your day.

If multiple mistakes are happening, and it becomes a competency issue, the developer isn’t willing to be open about the cause, or you’re just getting excuse after excuse, then you do have cause for concern. If you’re not sure what you’re dealing with, please feel free to call me. I have no problem helping disputes so feelings don’t get hurt, or people have to revert to legal actions (which is the absolute worst for both parties involved).

Life After Launch

This is not the time to make design changes! Okay, just checking to see if you were paying attention.

I say that tongue-in-cheek, but there is the occasional client that waits until after the launch to raise design issues or concerns they’ve had. And while it’s a rather frustrating phenomenon for developers, it’s really just going to end up being costly to you – not to mention, you’ll probably end up at the back of the line of the developer’s client list, since they have promises to other clients. So, again, get your design done during the design phase.

Once you’ve launched, your focus should be on the content – this usually means blog posts and/or photo galleries. If you have existing posts, you may think about going back and figuring out what the best keywords for each post are, and re-optimizing them for search engines. If you have questions on that, Flaunt Your Site offers one-on-one SEO training and we can teach you.

For new content, I would suggest a regular schedule. Every week or every other week depending on how much you shoot. Again, you’ll want to focus on the right keywords for your blog posts (And I guarantee you, it’s not “Your City Wedding Photographer”).

Here Are Some More Tips On How To Take Care Of Your Site:

* Keep WordPress and your plugins updated! Part of the reason WordPress releases updates is because they increase the security measures constantly. Don’t lose all that hard work because you’re running an old version of WordPress.

* Keep the plugins to a minimum. Plugins are really great, but too many will bog down your site. And the wrong ones will open up your site for vulnerabilities.

* Use Google Analytics to track the effectiveness of your site. This includes things like:

o How many visitors do you get?
o What content is the most popular?
o What is your bounce rate for important pages?
o Where are most of your visitors coming from?

* Use the information from Google Analytics to make decisions about the content on your site.

* Visit Google Webmaster Tools every two to three months to ensure that your website is in good standing, and that the Sitemaps are being submitted properly.

* If you have questions about the usage of your site, ask your developer. It’s a good practice to stay in communication about things. I can’t speak for others, but I’m fairly available to my clients afterwards.

Above all else, be proud that you have something custom and unique. You totally deserve to give yourself a high five when you get compliments on how easy to use, or how beautiful your new website is.

The Web has become an infinitely complex place to bring your business to. A few years back, the WWW could have stood for Wild Wild West instead of World Wide Web. People easily put up Flash-based websites that did cool “things,” proper HTML was forsaken in the attempt to make sites pretty, but these attempts were workarounds and left the realm of solid web development.

Thankfully, albeit gradually, order came in form of thing like: Web Standards, CSS, Search Engine Optimization and Google Best Practices. And of course we can praise Steve Jobs for driving the last nail into Flash’s coffin with the creation of the iPhone and iPad.

While many of the standards and practices above have made life easier for web users, the implementation of those standards can vex common business owners that just need to get their site up. It can be analogous to herding cats, and requires a broad range of skills to manage. Because of that, I highly recommend that when you do look for someone to build a custom site, you find a Web Developer instead of just a web designer. They will be skilled in the various areas (or have a team of people skilled in those areas). Here are a number of the skills required to put together a solid, custom website:

* General hosting server operations. The knowledge to move sites, and be able to handle Redirects, 404 errors, etc. is absolutely critical.
* PHP, HTML and CSS experience. These coding languages are the building blocks of the Web.
* SEO (Search Engine Optimization). Google's algorithms are constantly changing, and then every 9 months to a year there comes a big change that turns the SEO industry on its head. A good developer will keep up with this or have a person that they work with directly to stay up to date on these changes.
*  WordPress expertise. This is of course assuming you're using the best CMS out there. A developer knows how to use template files, Custom Post Types, and advanced plugins that enhance your custom website.
* Security. Having a secure website is a big deal. There have been a number of brute force attacks on sites that have rendered them completely useless. GoDaddy's entire infrastructure was down for a full day! A developer will know where you should host and what you should do to prevent these types of attacks.
* Mobile. Responsive website design “responds” to the size of the device you're on whether that's desktop, laptop, tablet, or phone (small device). There are very important things to consider when developing and designing for the various sizes. You definitely want someone well versed in that world.
* UX/UI. User Experience / User Interface. Your website is a tool to make sales for you. How efficient it is at doing that will depend on how well your Developer understands the process that people go through when entering a site. A good developer will suggest strong CTAs (Call To Actions) on home page, and wherever else a potential customer could be enticed into reaching out to you.
* Design. Of course, you want this thing to look pretty, right?!

Who To Hire?

Different developers have different strengths. Personally, I'm rock solid when it comes to SEO, HTML, CSS, UX/UI and WordPress, fairly strong when it comes to PHP, server functions, and security. I'm OK with design, but I still want my clients to have great designs. So I hire a great designer for our custom website builds.

Finding a developer that has these areas under control, either by himself or with a team, is a must in order to get the absolute best product. I've heard a lot of stories of people not getting what they expected. I even know a photographer that had a custom site performed, but was told to never update WordPress! This is a very critical step in preventing security problems, and an example of someone not familiar enough with WordPress to make the site work properly.

I also see beautifully designed sites that will never see the light of day if searched on Google because they failed to structure the site properly, and the SEO is poor. Do yourself a favor and interview the developers you have in mind and find out what their knowledge is in each area. Thoroughly test out the sites in their portfolio. Ask yourself if they have good designs (beware of the “I don’t like the paint on the walls” thing that people say on those HGTV shows). Pay attention to the level of design. Do elements on the page stick out, do they do a good job of balancing the needs of a website with the design, do the sites look like they were designed in the 90’s, does it appear that the designs get better with each and every website?

I'm happy to help you find the right person too. Even if Flaunt Your Site isn’t the right fit, I often help people figure out what the best path is for them. And we’re not always the answer. (I'll even pose as your web developer brother that works for Qualcomm and can't work on your project, if it helps you).

Who Not To Hire

* First and foremost, avoid anyone that mentions the word Flash. That should elicit the response of you hanging up the phone, or pretending you don’t speak English. Even if they say it’s mobile friendly, you should still print their email out, and then light it on fire. (Cackling like a witch is totally optional.)
* Anyone spouting anything about HTML5 or CSS3 or other technical mumbo jumbo to influence you into working with them. First, websites are about people and their businesses. The developer’s job is to use the technology to accomplish your goals, not to use buzzwords as leverage to get you to hire them. (I’ll also add that HTML5 doesn’t mean what most people think it means).
* Someone without a portfolio, or a list of previous clients and links to their site. You really want to look at the websites they’ve worked on before.
* The guy that will do an “amazing full custom website” for $500…

Do you remember the last time a $500 wedding turned out “amazing?”  … Yeah, neither do I.

What Developers Cost

Cost is, of course, a huge factor to consider. Custom websites can vary from developer to developer. It will also vary depending on what functionality you want for your site. To give you a range, Flaunt Your Site does full custom sites from $3,000 to $5,000. We can do sites beyond that price point as well, but that tends to be the averages when it comes to our clients.

You will find developers that charge less than that, and you’ll find developers that charge more than that. My suggestion would be to interview more than one person for your project. Just as your clients have no doubt interviewed more than just you to find out who the right photographer.

Whether you hire someone for $1,000 or $10,000, your aim should be to have your new website be the type of investment that actually makes you money. If this isn’t on yours or your developer’s radar, you need to make it a priority quickly. If you’re doing it just to have a pretty site, then that is narcissism or “keeping up with the Joneses” getting in the way of running your business.

The only reason to spend money on a custom site is to increase your bottom line.

I have a personal goal that each website Flaunt Your Site does is directly responsible for our clients gaining 5-10 new clients in that first year.

I've been seeing this question, or a level of self-applied pressure to get a cool website pop up lately in some of the forums I belong to. It’s understandable that newer photographers get the idea that in order for them to get more, better, higher paying clients that they need to have an incredibly designed website. But, attached to those websites is often a price tag they’re not ready to pick up. Not to mention, spending that much money for a budding photographer is very premature.

Another thing I see in forums is photographers getting frustrated with their designers, developers, etc. Since I’m both photographer and a web developer, I think I have a good handle on where the communication breakdown happens.

With those two problems in mind, I've put together a 3 part series that will cover the following:

* When and why you should get a custom website
* What to look for in a web developer or designer
* How to effectively work with your developer, and what to do after the website launch

The Purpose Of Your Website

So let’s start by defining the actual purpose of your website. The purpose of your website is to clearly provide enough information for potential clients to hire you.

Are there other things your site does? Absolutely. But you don't want to veer too far from that main purpose of your website. As the famous Architect Louis Sullivan once said “Form Follows Function.” The purpose of your site should take priority over the visual quality of your site.

Note that I didn’t say your site needs to be ugly.

If deliberate thought doesn't go into how you're getting found online as well as how people will use your site, how people will hire you, then you'll end up with a pretty website that doesn't bring you clients. We’ll look at those things in a bit, but first let’s look at the benefits you get from having a custom site over a template. Then, we’ll answer the question: When should you consider a custom website?

What Benefits Do You Get From Having A Custom Site?

First and foremost, a custom site will be something completely unique from what everyone else has. It will be exactly what you want, and nothing that you don’t want.

The process of having a custom site built for you includes having a professional walking you through what works and what doesn’t when it comes to websites. A good professional developer will also bring something to the table that you won’t have access to by purchasing a $200 theme.

A custom site is often a much more pleasurable experience for your potential clients to use and find what they’re looking for. That ease of use should result in more people hiring you. Your developer will have thoughts on how people use websites, and how the process of getting potential clients through the sales funnel should work on your site.

You’ll also have someone handling all the technical aspects of the site for you. This will free you up to work on your business, and your photography. Even if you buy a $200 theme, you still have to set it up and learn how to use the theme. You could spend a week or two just getting it the way you like it. Hiring someone to do a custom site for you puts you back in the driver’s seat of your business.

So, When Should You Get A Custom Site?

How long have you been in business? How good is your work? Have you been photographing for a short time, or are you a seasoned vet? Are you still learning your equipment? These are all the first questions you should be asking yourself first.

I find that photographers that decide to jump into business without having essential photography skills such as being able to shoot in manual mode, use light meters, use off-camera flash, et cetera, need to focus on those things before they get distracted with things like custom websites, SEO, marketing, and other business aspects like these. If the product you are delivering isn't of a professional quality yet, people shouldn't be paying for that product just quite yet. So if you’re just starting out, or unsure where you stand, getting a theme for $200 is a good place to start. And if you’re cringing at $200, you shouldn’t be thinking of custom anything for your site – at least, not just yet.

As a point of reference, most of Flaunt Your Site's clients have been in business full-time for at least 2 years, and have been photographing for at least a year or two longer than that. If your work is good, and you're booking consistently, you can use that as an indication that you might be ready for a custom site.

Branding & Visual Identity

Do you have an idea of what you want your business identity to be? Have you formed the values of your business? Are you clear what products you will and won't sell to your clients and how they fit in your offerings? Do you have any packaging in mind yet? There is a lot more to a brand than your logo and colors, but they can be a big part of it. Logo and colors can be a big part of the overall experience when people are introduced to your company. The look and feel can communicate the values of your business, and it usually sets the stage for the type of customers that will contact you as well. You may not have any of this done yet, which is fine. You can work with your web developer to come up with a visual identity, or perhaps your developer has a graphic designer that can work with you to create that.

Client Targeting

Have you been in business long enough to know what types of clients you really enjoy working with? Early on, most photographers are struggling to just get warm bodies to walk through the studio door. As you shoot more and more, you either begin to attract certain types of clients by your style, or you find that you just enjoy certain clients over others and start targeting your efforts towards those people. There are many demographic targets for which you can aim:

* Geographic (certain neighborhoods or suburban areas).
* Ethnic (perhaps you're Vietnamese and you are prominent in the Vietnamese community).
* Religious affiliations (You could specialize in Catholic weddings).
* Occupations (Maybe you came from a specialized business sector and you really connect with people in that industry).
* Organizations (If you belong to clubs or organizations devoted to hobbies or passions, you can find others that share your interests).

These are just a few ideas of where people find their niche. You can imagine how important it is to understand your target market. If the clients you tend to attract are Catholic moms in their 50's, but your site looks like Rock&Roll Bride, those potential clients will run screaming away from you. Your clientele will be a big factor in determining specific design ideas.

Are you attracting people that need larger type that’s easier to read? Are your clients moms on the go that need the information super quick? Are your clients tech-heads that want to know every piece of gear you shoot with? Do your clients feel more at ease making decisions with someone on the phone, where having a big phone number on each page will make a difference?

These questions are by no means exhaustive, but knowing the answers to these questions and having a thorough understanding of your clients will make all the difference when it comes to having an amazing and easy to use website.

If you have questions for William Bay, please post them below in the comments section. He is happy to help you through this process.