40 visit per day, no request for 45 days!

[michelgauthierdesign]

I am just starting my business in wedding photography, and I have done 12 so far in a bit less than a year. I have a website, I post to various ads, try to improve my google rating, and get most of my request through references. But something must have happend 45-60 days ago.....All 4 clients interested in various dates are now unreacheable, I purchase leads through Eventective with no response (8 leads so far), I get an average of 40 visits per day on my website, but nobody sends me email to request a meeting or info???? it is completely dead!!!! what is wrong?????

....and my stupid website... the more I put content in it, the more I work with it, the more point I get in alexa rating (it is now in the top 30% of all website), but the better it get, the further away it gets in google... I must have spend hundreds of hours working on that site...

Now what is wrong? is it the quality of my photo? my prices? is it the market? my approach?

HELP!!!!

[rent]

music on websites is just really annoying to me. nothing makes me closing the window faster than unwanted sound coming from something that should be just purely visual.

photos are pretty nice, but there is no way to turn off the music on your portfolio page so i didn't stay long.

-alex

[basroil]

I get an average of 40 visits per day on my website, but nobody sends me email to request a meeting or info???? it is completely dead!!!! what is wrong?????

I'm sorry to say this, but if you measure visits without robots, you likely have close to zero visits. What you need is good SEO (look at the stickies), and a well targeted local ad campaign.

Other things that seem odd are: availability dates and website host logo. Unless you are actually constantly booked and you end up having to tell people you aren't available that day all the time, you should consider just saying "call for availability" instead. If I was in need of a photographer, and a decent looking one had any day open, I would just keep them in mind and search for more, since that photographer will likely still be free a week, month, or year from now. It lowers you to a backup almost instantly. Lying about dates also doesn't work, since customers may actually need a date you lied about. So just letting them contact you is the best way.
The me.com logo also kind of makes you look less professional, a text version or no logo would be better, anything that looks more business like and less like the average joe with a mac.com photo album. Not sure if you can change it, but it's something to consider.

[Hikin Mike]

You have absolutely no content on your home page. Without content i.e TEXT, Google will not "find you". Add some text on your home page, a short bio, and I bet your rating will climb. ;)

Also, use a Anchor Text on your signature.... Ottawa Gatineau Wedding photography (http://www.michelgauthierdesign.com/)

[24alpha]

+1 for that boring music. Remove it....now!

There are other things that put me off. You have gramma errors all over your site. This attention to details would worry me if I was thinking of hiring you. The site also takes ages to load. This WILL have something to do with the music loading to play. Once again...dump it!

[WinterWings]

I like that you do photography and graphic design, thats what im working on doing with my website.
but for your site i like your layout design a lot but your graphic design, photography and blog feel to separated, try to combine it a bit. but #1 the music must go.

[azpix]

agree........86 the music. also, proof read your page. finally, if i was shopping for a wedding photog i'm thinking the ebay thing would be probably make me look elsewhere.

one last thing, keep in mind I am not a wedding photog, but this is more of a business philosophy of mine... I would remove prices. Request a consultation to review packages or something. In my mind, someone sees your site and sees prices and then calls another photog to see if they can do better. If you can get them in front of you, you can build a rapport, make a connection, etc.

[tim]

Splash page will put people off, as will the ugly splash page design and the music - even though i'm sure you've paid your music license fees right?

Your portfolio page doesn't have photos... just music. Oh hold on, they did appear, just really slowly. The photos are fine, there's nothing wrong with them... but nothing jumps out and says "hire me". There are no "wow" photos.

Also the text looks like it was written by someone not that familiar with English. Have it proof read. eg the menu "Testimonial" should be "Testimonials". "Sometime, 40% is just a lot to pay to book the date. If its your case, then I can offer your these payment plans" should be "The following payment plans are available, all with a 40% retainer".

The title tag of your website needs to have "Ottawa Gatineau Wedding photography" before your name, for SEO.

[mattyb240]

Definately lose the ebay and music!

[Nightstalker]

Lose the splash page and replace with something that has contect and definately +1 for getting rid of the music.

I would click off the site as soon as the music starts.

[jdouglas003]

Like others have said you have numerous typos/mispelled words and the EBAY thing is a big mistake.

[ssim]

I'll echo some of the other comments here, particularly the music. I can put up with it if there is a quick and visual way of turning it off. Once I turn it off, it should stay off. Every time I change pages on your site, it starts with a different song.

One thing that turns me off of anyone's website, photography or otherwise, is when they denigrate others work, pricing, ethics, etc. You are ominously close to this on your destinations page. Tell me what you can do for me not what the other guys shouldn't be doing, charging, et all.

[CyberDyneSystems]

I am just starting my business in wedding photography, and I have done 12 so far in a bit less than a year. I have a website, I post to various ads, try to improve my google rating, and get most of my request through references. But something must have happend 45-60 days ago.....All 4 clients interested in various dates are now unreacheable, I purchase leads through Eventective with no response (8 leads so far), I get an average of 40 visits per day on my website, but nobody sends me email to request a meeting or info???? it is completely dead!!!! what is wrong?????

....and my stupid website... the more I put content in it, the more I work with it, the more point I get in alexa rating (it is now in the top 30% of all website), but the better it get, the further away it gets in google... I must have spend hundreds of hours working on that site...

Now what is wrong? is it the quality of my photo? my prices? is it the market? my approach?

HELP!!!!

I have well over half a million hits on my website,.. about 70 - 100 hits a day.
I sold a framed photo through it.. once. :)

[Chris]

I gave up waiting for pictures to load on your portfolio page. I think the music is probably making it even slower. What if your prospective clients don't like your music selections? Might turn them off and is unneccesary anyway. Did you pay for the rights to use this music? Otherwise you could open yourself up to costly lawyer fees if sued.

Splash page does not match the rest of your site and is unnecessary imo. I like the photos and think it would be worth the money to have someone proof your verbage and recommend changes to make you look more professional. Your pictures say you can shoot a wedding, but your web page screams "I am an amateur".

[aroundlsu]

When my lightning photo hit Reddit I had over 120,000 visitors to my website in one 24 hour period. Out of 120,000 I had exactly one person contact me about buying a poster. Then he disappeared after we kept going back and forth on the price (I wasn't asking a lot).

I agree totally on keeping it simple, losing anything flash (flash won't work on iPhone visitors), and 110% you HAVE to lose any music or sound effects.

Take a look at mine. It couldn't be much simpler but it looks great on iPhone, always works, and I have had several models thank me for having a simple and organized way for them to retrieve their photos (compared to other photographers).

[jkhynes]

Michael, You might be placing too much emphasis on the web page bringing you business. I have not gotten on photo job based solely on my web page. In pure marketing terms, the web page is a place for people check you out, after they've heard about you or were suggested by a friend. Other forms of advertising are probably better. Local area papers or even a church newspaper are more affective in cultivating leads. You can also hook up with local wedding vendors (florists, halls, DJ's, etc) and try hooking in with them.

Lastly, on the site itself. I'm not apposed to music on a site as long as it's in the background. Meaning instrumental music. Solo piano music works well and is less distracting to the images. Also, the song changes with every click. That is annoying too.

The other comments are also correct, there are a lot of typos and incorrect tense on a lot of words. Good luck.

John

[tim]

Michael, You might be placing too much emphasis on the web page bringing you business. I have not gotten on photo job based solely on my web page. In pure marketing terms, the web page is a place for people check you out, after they've heard about you or were suggested by a friend. Other forms of advertising are probably better. Local area papers or even a church newspaper are more affective in cultivating leads. You can also hook up with local wedding vendors (florists, halls, DJ's, etc) and try hooking in with them.

All my advertising points at my website, and almost everyone who books me has had a look online first. I get a lot of business via google, though more and more via word of mouth - that takes years to build up.

[Mr. E]

You need to check your grammar. I only looked at a couple pages, but there were errors in your grammar on each of them. I agree with other things previously mentioned- lose the music and the eBay bidding for dates.

[michelgauthierdesign]

Ok, I have updated some part of it:
The music is now out, Ebay is now out, Calendar is now out and I fixed a couple of typos.

Thanks everyone

[misterbassman]

For some reason I can't get your website to load, but I have just viewed the cached version on google and set it to text only, this is what google can see of your home page:

mariage gatineau
michel gauthier
Blog photography best rates Photography
gauthier Graphic Design candid
michel gauthier
graphiste gauthier

I think you need to work on your content as the next priority.

[Yeoer]

Home page was a bit odd for me, it doesn't hit you as being a photographers website... let alone a wedding photographers site, sorry... and no text, your going to struggle getting a good rating. Add google analitics to your site and check your bounce rate! if its high then it shows you need to change something.

In your blog you list your kit...
Equipment I uses
•Canon 40D
•580 EXII Pro Flash
•Gary Fong Difuser
•17-85 mm IS Lens
•50 mm F1.4

If that was full of red L's it might help but that list is a little small for a wedding photographer... were is your backup body and flash etc etc might be one of the reasons for loosing a client or two... but only other tog's really understand camera stuff but the odd one might look it up...

You say you have been adding to your site. It might be that as more has been added to your site your clients don't like what they see... that might not be content as in they don't like your pictures but they might not like the fact you can see EVERYONE elses pictures which will mean EVERYONE will be able to see there's!

I password protect all my galleries and my clients really like it.

Another likely reason for loosing clients is you have competion who is cheaper!

[bwolford]

You are wasting your time thinking web advertising is going to drive your business. Local advertising trumps.

Why does your welcome page highlight your inexperience? Seems like a dull strategy to me. And it reads as if your photography is an afterthought to your design business. I went to your web site and thought, jack of all trades. If I wanted a wedding photographer, I'd prefer someone dedicate to the craft not someone who was "experimenting and pushing that shutter button like a kid playing Nintendo."

Portrait day: Looks like you are advertising you aren't getting any customers with all of those available slots on each of the featured days. I don't get it. "Call to book your time"

All of the effort is not paying off. Your web site screams amateur. Effort doesn't count, results do and you need to rethink your entire strategy.

[tim]

You are wasting your time thinking web advertising is going to drive your business. Local advertising trumps.

A large percentage of my bookings come via google, both organic and paid listings.

[Hikin Mike]

Ok, I have updated some part of it:
The music is now out, Ebay is now out, Calendar is now out and I fixed a couple of typos.

Thanks everyone

I'm going to copy what I said before....

You have absolutely no content on your home page. Without content i.e TEXT, Google will not "find you". Add some text on your home page, a short bio, and I bet your rating will climb. :wink:

Also, use a Anchor Text on your signature.... Ottawa Gatineau Wedding photography (http://www.michelgauthierdesign.com/)

[smakelijk11]

Salut Michel,

Comme les autres ont bien dit, il y a beaucoup de fautes de grammaire en anglais. Je te conseille de corriger ça le plus vite que possible. Si tu veux, je pourrais te donner des conseils là-dessus.

Cheers,

Shaun

[tim]

It's generally considered rude to talk or post in a language that not everyone understands.

[backup63]

I know nothing about the technical aspects of web design. I wouldn't have any clue what software was used to create a page. I do, however spend a lot of time researching various products and services that I am interested in online. As far as your website is concerned, everything that I saw visually looked very professional. However, I was very distracted by the numerous grammatical errors in several sections. I would have this proofread by as many trustworthy people as possible to get it correct. That being said, I know that grammar norms are different in different places, so French Canada could be different from the Midwest. One last thing, on the section for Wedding Photography, I would lose most of the writing that talks about when and how you got into photography. This should probably go into a biography section. I do think you have great pictures. I'm sure you have made your clients happy.

[BCRose]

Do a quick check with Google analytics. See what your bounce rate is. The bounce rate determines how many people leave your site after only viewing the home page. If your bounce percentage rate is high then you know that your home page is not doing the job. You want visitors to WANT to click links to find more information. A call to action on the home page works as well as many other techniques to get visitors and potential clients to stay around and actually view your site and find out what you are all about.

If english is not your first language and you want to market to an english audience then you must get an english proof-reader, you have many grammatical errors on the site and that does not help make you look professional.

Your site doesn't scream wedding photog...if that is your intention.