You must have these photos on your florist site

I can’t recall how many times I’ve browsed a florist site with hundreds of pictures in their Portfolio and just one headshot on the About Page.

Please read this article carefully if you’re planning a photoshoot or you desire to launch your site soon. There’s no rule on how many photos you should display on your site but there’s a couple of things you have to be aware of in terms of User Experience and SEO.

Table of contents

1. Each page needs at least 1 or 2 photos

2. Unoptimised images impact user experience

3. Use your pictures to build trust

4. Best practices

1/Each page needs at least 1 or 2 pictures. 

A typical wedding florist site contains minimum 5 pages: Homepage, About, Services (with the right title), Contact (Enquiry page), Portfolio.

You’re doing yourself a disservice when you’re using all your pictures on a single page. 

This is what I typically see on a DIY florist site:

• Pictures of bouquets and maybe a headshot on the Homepage

• 1 or 2 headshots for the About page

• Pictures of couples on the Services page

• Hundreds of photos for the Portfolio

• Nothing on the Contact page

Here’s the tea: you’re supposed to use your pictures to accompany your web copy. In other words, whenever you’re sharing anything important on your site, you have to present a picture illustrating your point. Why? Because images speak louder than words.

2/Unoptimised images impact user experience.

No one’s going to wait 5 seconds for your pictures to load properly. Nobody has that attention span anymore. We want something quick and if we don’t get it, we’re scrolling. 

You have to optimise your images before uploading them on your site. You have to reduce their size and rename them for SEO purposes. 

And let me be honest with you, waiting for pictures to load is frustrating but it’s even worse on a florist site because most of your pictures (if not all) are high resolutions photos from all the weddings. So imagine how annoying it is for your next bride to view each of them.

You can use this site to test your website loading speed: 

https://pagespeed.web.dev/ 

Anything longer than 2 seconds is bad.

Adding photos can lead to changing the page’s design but it's still an easy task, adding and removing photos on your site shouldn't be a burden. If you fell like you’re struggling then you can still check out other site builder alternatives. I released an article about the best website builder for a florist where I’m talking about WIX, Wordpress, Squarespace, Showit and Shopify. Give it a read if you’re thinking of switching to another platform. 

Sometimes tweaking things makes us realise that we aren’t fully satisfied with our website. It could be time for you to revamp your flower website without you even noticing it. 

3/Use your pictures to build trust

It’s not about how many pictures you’re displaying, it’s about the type of photos. There’s nothing wrong with showing off several brides’ bouquets but you have to diversify a bit. 

Here are my recommendations for the Homepage for example:  

1. Newly married couple with the bride holding the bouquet 

2. A picture of you smiling at the camera 

3. A picture of bridesmaids and their bouquets

4. A featured gallery about your recent work and last wedding 

Now here’s the purpose of all of that: 

1. The 1st image represents the core of your services, if you rename it well Google will be able to show it in the search results.

2. The picture of you helps you connect with them: people need to see your face on the Homepage. 

3. You can link the bridesmaid highlight to your Services page.

4. And last but not least, the gallery will redirect to your Portfolio.

That’s how you distinguish a DIY site from a professional one with just one glance. Believe me, it’s easy to spot an amateur website and your client can easily detect it too. So a great tip to instantly build trust is to place the right images on your page.

4/Best practices

Before hiring the photographer, make a list of all the pictures you need. I’m not saying that you must have these photos: these are just suggestions. 

Homepage:

• High Resolution photo of a couple

• Photos of bouquets 

• Venue decor photos

• Bridesmaids 

• Headshot 

About: 

• Headshot - laid back or professional, it’s up to you

• BTS of you working, doing floral arrangement for example

• A personal photo with your partner, your family or your pet

Services:

Different types of photos in your wedding package:

• Centerpieces 

• Bridal bouquets

• Flower cakes

• Buttonholes 

• Wedding reception

• Hair pieces

• Flower arch

• etc

Contact:

• Headshot

• Bridesmaids

• Newly married couple

Portfolio: 

Use sections if you really want to showcase all your works. Let’s say one section for one couple. Make it cohesive and don’t just dump everything on the page. Make it look pretty and don’t forget to optimise your images!

And that’s a wrap!

Now take your time. Sit down and start planning your photoshoot. 

Last tip: if you’re just starting and have nothing to show off, make sure you hire models to do the work.