FOR ARTISTS & CREATIVES
What Should a Photography Website Include? A Page-by-Page Guide
A page-by-page checklist for UK photographers: home page, galleries, about, pricing, testimonials, booking, blog and legal pages.
Set up and optimise a Google Business Profile for photographers, from categories and service areas to photos, posts and honest reviews.
To set up a Google Business Profile for photographers, first claim your listing and verify it. Pick the most specific primary category (such as Photographer) and set service areas if you travel to clients. Add real photos and post updates often. Ask every happy client for an honest review, and never offer anything in return for one.
Search for a photographer near you and Google will often show a map with a short list of local businesses, above the ordinary results. A well-kept Business Profile is your ticket into that list. Setting one up costs nothing.
This guide is for working UK photographers, whether you shoot weddings, portraits, families, headshots, commercial work or events. It explains what Google asks for, and which choices count most when you’re a one-person business without a shop front.
Google says local results are mainly based on relevance, distance and prominence. Relevance is how closely your profile matches the search. Distance is how far you are from the person searching. Prominence is how well known you are. Reviews and ratings feed into it, and so do links from other websites.
Google also says plainly that you can’t pay for a better local ranking. For small studios that’s welcome news. A complete, accurate profile with a regular flow of honest reviews counts for more than budget does. Verify your listing first, because according to Google, verification makes your business more likely to appear.
A profile works best next to a good website and some wider advertising for photographers. Still, it’s the cheapest place to start.
Yes. Lots of photographers shoot in clients’ homes and offices or at venues, with no studio at all. Google’s guidelines call a business that travels to its customers without a storefront a service-area business, and they allow it one profile.
There are three rules to know.
First, hide your home address. Google says service-area businesses should hide their address from customers, so don’t publish where you live.
Second, keep your service area realistic. Google says it shouldn’t stretch further than about two hours’ driving time from your base, though some businesses can justify more.
Third, studios work differently. If your studio is staffed and open to clients at stated hours, you can show its address and add a service area on top. You can’t list a virtual office unless someone staffs it during business hours.
Google’s guidelines for representing your business have the full wording. Read them before you start so your listing is within the rules from day one.
Your primary category counts for more than anything else on the profile. Google’s advice is to choose categories that finish the sentence “This business is a”, as opposed to “this business has a”. Use as few categories as you need to describe your core business, and make them as specific as possible. Don’t add extra categories to cram in keywords.
For most photographers, the primary category is simply the one that says photographer. If you have an obvious specialism, like weddings or headshots, scan the list for something more specific, and only use it if that’s what you do day to day. Pick from the options Google gives you during set-up. Go easy on secondary categories.
Next, fill in the rest. Write a plain business description and add your opening hours. Your website and phone number go in too. Keep your business name exactly as you trade under it. No added keywords or town names.
You’re a photographer. This is where your profile can look better than everyone else’s. Google accepts JPG or PNG files between 10 KB and 5 MB, recommends 720 by 720 pixels and sets 250 by 250 as the minimum. Photos should be sharp and well lit without heavy filters, and Google says they should represent reality.
Google’s photo guidelines suggest at least three of each relevant type. That includes the team, and shots of you at work. Some ideas to start with:
Before uploading any photo of a client, check you have the right to publish it. If you’d like a fresh set of personal brand photos for your listing and website, our team can help.
It helps. Google lets you publish posts on your Business Profile, whether updates, offers or events, each with a photo and an optional button through to your website. Unless you set a date range, posts older than six months get archived. Google reviews each one against its content policy.
Good post ideas for a photographer include a recent shoot or a limited run of mini-session dates. A seasonal booking reminder works too, as does a new venue you’ve shot at. Keep posts short and local, and make sure they’re real. Leave your phone number out of the description, since a post containing a number Google can’t verify as yours may be rejected.
For a small photography business, reviews are the strongest signal you can build. Ask every happy client, ideally within a week of delivering their images. Make it easy by sending them the direct link from your profile.
Google’s review policies draw firm lines:
UK law bans fake reviews and concealed incentivised reviews as well, under rules in force since April 2025, as the government’s guidance for businesses explains. Reply to every review. Thank people by name and stay polite, even with the odd critical one.
Clients ask the same things over and over. How far do you travel? How soon will they get their images? Do you shoot in the evening? Answer these in your profile description and your services list, and in your website FAQ, so the information is right wherever Google or a customer comes across it. If a questions feature shows on your profile, reply quickly. Stick to the facts.
We set up and manage Google Business Profiles as part of our advertising and local SEO for photographers, alongside Google Ads and Facebook and Instagram campaigns. We can also help you work out where it sits in your wider marketing as a photographer. We agree a clear brief, scope and fee with you before any work begins.
Yes, it costs nothing to create and manage. Google also says you can’t request or pay for a better local ranking. What decides it is how complete and accurate your profile is, how well reviewed it is, and how closely it matches what people search for.
Yes. If you travel to clients, you can set up as a service-area business. You hide your address and list the areas you cover, keeping them realistic. If you also run a staffed studio that opens at stated hours, you can show that address too.
Yes, if you work from home and meet clients somewhere else. Google tells service-area businesses to hide their address from customers. Showing a home address that isn’t open to clients can cause problems with your listing.
No. Google removes reviews prompted by incentives like discounts or free goods, and UK law bans concealed incentivised reviews. You’re free to ask for honest reviews, as long as you don’t try to influence the rating or what people write, and don’t put clients under pressure.
Google doesn’t set a schedule. A sensible routine for most photographers is a short post every week or two and new photos after each shoot you’re allowed to share. Give your hours and services a quick check at the start of each season. Posts older than six months are archived.
A page-by-page checklist for UK photographers: home page, galleries, about, pricing, testimonials, booking, blog and legal pages.
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Four quick questions, and we’ll show you where we’d start. Your answers come straight to us with your message, so you won’t have to explain it twice.
A 30-minute introduction call on Microsoft Teams, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm. Your answers come with the booking, so we’ll be ready for you.
Prefer to talk it through? Make an appointment for a 30-minute call on Microsoft Teams, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm.
A closer look at the work behind each part of your plan.
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