Launching your new portfolio website

So you’ve finished building your new clickbooq portfolio website and are ready for launch. How can you make the most of your new website launch? Here’s a few pointers to drive traffic to your new website:

  1. If you haven’t done so before, submit your website to directories so you can get some inbound links to your website. Check any professional organizations you belong to, your local Chamber of Commerce, online yellow pages, and photographer associations and ask to be added to their list of links. This helps contributes to your site’s search engine rankings and visibility. Submit your site to the major search engines if your site has not been indexed before. Within your Toolbox, you’ll find a link for submitting your site to Google. Also, submit your photography studio to Google Local, which will help people find you locally.
    Google Local listings for photographers.These steps will help people find your site through organic searches, however you may also consider running a Google Adwords or Yahoo! Search Marketing Solutions campaign to drive paid search engine traffic to your new website.
  2. Send out a promo email to your network to get the word out. Just make sure you only send emails to people who have opted-in to receive information from you. Sending out unwanted emails could get your email address or domain blacklisted.If you decide to purchase a mailing list, one highly qualified list provider for reaching agencies and art buyers is ADBASE (http://www.adbase.com/). MailChimp screenshotAn excellent way to send out a professional HTML email is by using MailChimp’s email marketing services. You can easily import your customer lists and Mailchimp will manage any unsubscribes or email bounces – an excellent indicator of how current your contact information is. Then create a beautiful eye-catching email incorporating the look & feel of your website using Mailchimp’s email templates. Once your promo email has been sent, you can track how many people opened your email, forwarded it to a friend, or clicked links. At just .03 an email, this is an affordable and timely way to spread the news about your new website launch. As a clickbooq customer, you can sign up for a free Mailchimp trial account and get $60 in free email credits.
  3. Update all your business collateral and advertising materials with your new web address. This may include your business cards, brochures, price lists, faxes, invoices, and any direct mail pieces. Add a Signature to your outgoing emails that includes your studio’s website URL.

Once you’ve completed these steps, check your Google Analytics account to check your site stats. Did you see an uptick in site traffic? How long are people staying on your website? Where are they coming from? These stats will help you prepare for your next email campaign or site redesign.