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.
Seven photography marketing ideas for slow months, from mini sessions and seasonal campaigns to blogging, email, print and local events.
The best photography marketing ideas for quiet months are mini sessions and seasonal campaigns, useful blog posts, collaborations with local businesses, a regular email, printed work and local events. Plan a few months ahead and choose two or three that fit your genre. Give each one a date and an audience, plus an easy way to book.
Every photographer hits a slow patch. It might be the January after a packed wedding season, the lull after school photos, or the weeks before the clocks go back. The photographers who handle it well aren’t busier by luck. They’ve planned something for the gap. These ideas work best on top of the core of marketing for photographers, meaning a strong website and local search, backed by regular social media.
The aim is to fill the diary with the right work. Cutting your fees isn’t part of it. Pick a few ideas, put dates in the calendar, and run each one as a small campaign that starts and ends on a set day.
Yes, if you organise them properly. A mini session is a short themed shoot, usually one location on one day, with a fixed number of slots and a set number of images included. Family and pet photographers do well with them, and so do portrait and headshot photographers.
Start with a theme and a place with good light. Autumn leaves work, as does a spring blossom walk or a pop-up studio in a hired room.
Keep the format tight. Short slots and a fixed number of images are the backbone, with a booking page that makes it obvious who the session is for.
Then treat it as a way to meet new clients. Plenty of people who try a short session go on to book a longer one, so show them what the next step is.
Mini sessions work because they’re specific and limited. Cheapness has nothing to do with it. Price them to cover your time, editing included.
A season gives people a reason to book now. Plan a campaign for each one and announce it well before the date, because clients usually make up their minds before your busy spell begins.
| Season | Idea | Who it suits |
|---|---|---|
| Spring | Blossom and Easter family sessions, engagement shoots | Family, couples |
| Summer | Outdoor portraits, wedding anniversary shoots, event coverage | Portrait, wedding, event |
| Autumn | Woodland mini sessions, early festive card photos | Family, pet |
| Winter | Gift vouchers, framed prints, new-year headshots | Portrait, headshot, commercial |
Build every campaign around one offer. Give it a short page on your website and a handful of posts that tell the story behind it. Once it’s over, tell people it has closed and ask them to join the list for next time.
A blog turns quiet weeks into visibility that lasts for years. Every article is another chance for someone searching for exactly what you do to find you. Write about the questions clients already ask you. What should we wear for a family shoot? How long does a wedding timeline need? How do I prepare for a headshot day?
Google’s guidance says content should be created for people first, not to attract search traffic, and that it should show first-hand experience. Photographers have a head start there, because you’ve done these jobs. Add real examples from your own shoots (with client permission) and mention the areas you cover.
A few good posts beat a pile of thin ones. Link each to the right service page. Our guide to website design for photographers shows how to set up a site so articles and service pages support each other.
A collaboration gets you fresh images and a new audience in one go. Picture a styled shoot with a local florist or make-up artist, or a stylist. You could photograph a series of portraits for a local maker, or spend a behind-the-scenes day at a café or a gym.
Put the plan in writing before you start. Agree what each side brings and how the images can be used. Settle who gets credited and when you’ll deliver. Then share the results on your channels and on theirs. Charity projects and community groups work the same way, and you build local goodwill into the bargain.
A quiet month is the right moment to start a mailing list, or revive one that’s gone cold. A short monthly email might feature one recent shoot and one useful tip, then a single invitation such as a mini-session date or an open slot in the diary.
Keep it brief and personal. In the UK, marketing emails fall under the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations. Before you send anything, read the ICO’s direct marketing guidance, make sure people have agreed to hear from you, and give them an easy way to opt out.
Very much so. People can hold a print, and it sticks around long after a post has scrolled away. Frame a few strong pieces for a local café or salon with a small card giving your name and website. Post past clients a printed card with a new image at the right moment, say just before the festive season. Bring album and wall-art samples to consultations.
Quality shows here. Use good paper. Give a clear next step and a short web address that’s easy to type.
Go where your ideal clients already gather. For a wedding photographer, that could be a stand at a venue open day. A headshot photographer might go to a business breakfast, while a family photographer could take a table at a school fair or a community market.
Take printed samples and a way to collect contact details. Have one simple offer ready too, such as a mini-session date. Follow up within a few days, while people still remember you.
Get a calendar out and mark your busy months and your quiet ones. For each quiet month, choose one main activity and one smaller supporting job. As an example, you might run a mini-session day in September and a gift voucher push in November, then a styled shoot in January, with a blog post every few weeks right through the year.
Review each campaign once it’s done. Write down how many bookings it brought in and what it cost you in time and money. Then do more of what worked.
We can help you turn these ideas into campaigns that run themselves. That covers brand portraits and video for your promotions and a portfolio website with a blog. We also handle social media and local advertising to fill your mini-session slots. Have a look at our marketing for photographers service for the details. We agree a clear brief, scope and fee with you before any work begins.
A themed mini-session day is often the easiest to organise. It has a fixed date and limited slots with a clear price, so it’s simple to promote, and it gives you new clients to look after. Back it up with a short email and a few posts, then ask for reviews afterwards.
Give popular periods six to eight weeks, and big events like weddings longer still. People book family and festive photos well in advance, so if you start promoting once the season’s under way you’re usually too late. Announce it and remind your list. Then close it on the date you said you would.
It can, as long as your posts answer real questions and show your own experience. Google advises writing for people first, with search engines a long way second. Useful local content that links to your service pages gives search engines and visitors a sharper picture of what you offer and where.
Not if you run them well. Trouble starts when they’re heavily discounted or open-ended. Treat them as a distinct, limited product with a fair price and a tight format, and a route into longer bookings. Edit them to exactly the same standard as your full sessions.
No. Most of them cost time more than money. You need a location and a few printed cards. Add an email tool and some planning. Paid ads can give a mini-session day or a seasonal campaign extra reach, but they’re only worth adding once the basics work. Start with one idea and learn from it.
A page-by-page checklist for UK photographers: home page, galleries, about, pricing, testimonials, booking, blog and legal pages.
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A closer look at the work behind each part of your plan.
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