This post is a work in progress

If you’ve come to a crossroads in your photography business and want to hire a website designer to help you create a better, higher converting website that resonates with the clients you want to hire you – then you’ve come to the right place!

As photographers, we spent the early years creating our own websites. While you can certainly go this route and get results, we know all too well that many photographers struggle with putting together an impactful website that marries SEO, user experience, brand aesthetics, and conversions into new bookings. 

This is where hiring a good website designer can come in handy to take the most challenging aspect of design and make it easier on you. 

In this list, you will find our most recommended website designers for photographers.

We’ve curated this list to highlight site designers that specialize in doing work for photographers specifically and have good reputations by being recommended by others. 

As with every recommendation we give, we always suggest looking through these designers’ work examples to make sure their style resonates with you and scheduling consultation calls to learn more about their process. 

Website Designer for Photographers – Our Top Recommendation:

Bella Maven

We can’t help but recommend Tessa (Bella Maven) since she’s done work on multiple websites for us (including the one you are on right now!). Working with them so closely has led to creating an incredibly refined brand and website experience that feels like us and also converts users into new clients regularly. 

Some of the highlights of working with Bella Maven are:

• They can build websites on any platform (Showit, WordPress, Shopify, etc.)
• They offer a range of services from more inexpensive template installs to full custom websites
• They place priority on website copy and branding before getting into the actual aesthetic layout and design of your website (this is HUGE)
• Very trustworthy and reputable working with photographers and other businesses to establish better brands and websites online

You can reach out to Bella Maven here – if you do, tell them Shoot and Thrive sent you!

Website Designers for Photographers – Our Full List:

We will be adding to this list as we find more website designers to recommend!

Alisabeth Designs

Kern and Ink

With Grace and Gold

Do you know a great website designer (or are you one yourself)? Share the info in the comments below!

Things to Know Before Hiring a Website Designer

There are quite a few things you should keep in mind before deciding to work with a website designer. Like most services, no two are the same and oftentimes you “get what you pay for.” This is true with website designers just like it is with photographers, contractors, and most other professions. 

As a potential customer looking to work with a web designer, some ways you can narrow down your selection is to make sure of the following:

1). You like the portfolio of their past work

Most of the time website designers for photographers will have a specific aesthetic or vibe to their work. If you are drawn to the majority of past websites they’ve developed, it’s likely you’ll be a good fit!

2). You understand what their work process looks like

The steps that go into creating a website may vary from designer to designer. Most will offer a free consult call to talk through what their process will look like. 

A few things we’d expect when working with a website designer:

• Questionnaires to collect information about you, your brand, and your website goals
• Calls to work through website copy and design
• Clarity on what communication will look like throughout the process
• How deliverables are received by you
• Turnaround times including start and launch dates

3). Your designer places emphasis on user experience and conversion first

Having spent a lot of time around Facebook groups and scouring through recommendations for website designers, the one glaring flaw we see with many out there are overemphasis on site aesthetics while sacrificing fundamentals that make a website user friendly and more likely to convert them into clients. 

As photography businesses looking to hire a website designer, we all want a good looking website – but even more than that, we want a website that will inspire people to want to hire us. Because the costs for website design can be steep (depending on what you are needing and who you are working with), you want to see a return on your investment (and then some!). 

4). Your designer is experienced and reputable

If you are going to trust your photography business to someone and want to see results, making sure they’ve had success stories from past clients is an essential part of researching who to work with. 

5). Understand everything included in your service package

Many website designers offer a variety of services including full custom websites, site template installs, and more. 

In addition, some of the best website designers for photographers also can assist you with developing your brand (logos, fonts, colors, etc.), website copy (the text on your website), and sometimes even more. 

When it comes to deliverables that you are uncertain of, it’s a good opportunity to ask questions to get to know more about what they are doing for you. For example, if they offer SEO for photographers – it’s valuable to ask questions to learn more about what they will be doing (specifically) to help improve your SEO. 

Can I do it myself?

With many great website builders for photographers, it is possible to create your own website. 

It’s even easier when using a website template!

Like many things, the results will vary depending on your own skill set and abilities. 

If you’re anything like us, the decision to hire a website designer comes from getting to a point where you feel like you’ve maxed out your potential by doing it on your own. 

In the first few years of our photography businesses, we created our own websites and had pretty good success. Our decisions to hire someone came from wanting to push our businesses further, make them even more likely to convert, and to attract clients that really wanted to work with us (instead of just window shoppers looking for a good deal). 

After outsourcing our web design and branding, we’ve seen more consistent results and have been able to attract more clients who are excited to work with us. If there’s anywhere we’d suggest spending the money in your business, it would be on this since it influences everything you do.

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Have questions about what makes an amazing website for photographers?

Check out our Websites for Photographers Course today!