How to optimize your website and book more sessions this Mother’s Day.
March 28th, 2025
Photo credit: Jared Lazarus Photography
With Mother’s Day just over a month away–and peak season for portrait photographers not far behind–now is the perfect time for photographers who haven’t updated their website lately to do a review.
Whether you’re trying to capture the attention of potential customers searching for a Mother’s Day themed photo session or return clients ordering photo gifts, their experience will be better when your website is refreshed and optimized. During holiday and seasonal peaks like this, your online presence can make all the difference in driving bookings and sales.
During a time when nearly everyone is searching for a way to make the mother figures in their lives feel special, people will be reaching out to friends for suggestions and scouring the web and social media to find the right photographer. By taking the time to optimize your website content, promotions, and overall client experience, you can position your photography services to catch the eye–and wallet–of your ideal clients.
Leverage targeted landing pages.
One of the most effective ways to optimize your website for Mother’s Day bookings (or any special occasion) is to create a dedicated landing page in your website that showcases your seasonal photography offerings. Targeted pages like this allow you to tailor the content, visuals, and calls-to-action (CTA) specifically for customers searching for photo sessions and gifts.
When developing your page, choose or create a layout that prominently features examples of your work that match the types of sessions and packages you’re offering. It’s also important to share details about your available packages, pricing, and session availability in a clear and easy to skim layout close to the top of the page. Zenfolio BookMe service blocks offer layouts with all your booking and scheduling information automatically populated. Customize with images and add a clear and compelling description. You can also add sections further down the page with compelling text that describes what makes your client experience amazing, and answers frequently asked questions.
Remember that your ideal clients will book you and buy photo gifts not only because they love your work; they want someone who can solve their problem–needing a way to make Mom feel special–and someone they can identify with and feel connected to. Add those emotionally compelling headers or paragraphs, just make sure they feel true to your brand.
If you are offering mini-sessions or a special discount on post-session photo gift orders for Mother’s Day, this is a great place to highlight these limited time promotions. Be sure to describe or add photos showcasing any add-on products like photo mugs, framed prints, digital files, or photo albums that complement your services. These added extras are what can set your business apart from others in the market and lead to more positive reviews.
For additional visibility, we recommend adding a CTA on your website’s homepage and temporarily adding the page to your navigation menu. To drive traffic to your landing page, you can promote it across your social media channels and in any marketing emails or advertisements. By making it easy for customers to find and learn about your seasonal services, you’ll be in a prime position to convert them into booked sessions or sell your products.
Promote Mother’s Day offerings.
Planning and offering themed or unique sessions or products prior to Mother’s Day is a great way to drive more traffic to your site and increase bookings and sales–all while solving your clients’ current problem; what to give mom this year? Simply making the plans aren’t enough, though–it’s important to actively promote them across all of your digital channels.
Start by updating your homepage with a text and image block near the top of the page. It can include family and mom-centric images, a few sentences about what you’re offering, and a prominent CTA linking to the landing page with your Mother’s Day-themed offerings. This will help grab the attention of site visitors and make it clear that you have seasonal services available. You can easily customize the block after Mother’s Day for the next seasonal offering.
On your social media platforms, plan a content calendar dedicated to your Mother’s Day photo sessions and related products. If you’re not sure how to promote them, no worries–we have a few suggestions:
- Share behind-the-scenes video or stills from some of your best family and maternity shoots, and emphasize your skills in things like making people feel comfortable, posing, and keeping sessions fun with a voice over or captions.
- Highlight client testimonials from past sessions, including some of the images from their gallery, or making a pretty text graphic if they opted not to allow their images on social media.
- Screen record scrolling through a client gallery from their view, and quickly walk through how to click on images to view them larger, add favorites, and add products to their cart, describing what you’re doing throughout. This will show potential clients that you offer a great experience from booking to gallery delivery.
- Showcase any special packages or mini-session offerings, including session dates and pricing info. Add a sense of urgency by sharing the number of available time slots once you get low. Nothing helps make up someone’s mind about booking like reading “Only 2 spots left!”
- Use a few relevant hashtags like #MothersDay, #MomAndMe, and #MamaAndBaby as well as including related text with these keywords in your post captions to increase the discoverability of your posts.
Whether you are also offering Mother’s Day themed mini-sessions or keeping it low-key with a discount on prints and other photo gifts, you can simplify the process of promoting your sale with automated marketing campaigns. These ready-to-go marketing tools are available to Zenfolio members on ProSuite and PortfolioPlus, and will send emails directly to clients and visitors with whom you’ve shared a gallery. Campaigns have optional gallery banners, and the ability to customize the discount, email frequency, and content of the emails–or simply enroll. Either way, this helpful automated tool will save you time and increase sales.
To further boost awareness and drive session bookings, you might consider running targeted social media advertising campaigns. By utilizing the powerful demographic and interest-based targeting capabilities of platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Google, you can reach new potential customers who are actively searching for Mother’s Day photography services in your local area. Promote your unique packages, special pricing or discounts, and limited availability to create a sense of urgency and/or scarcity.
Review your price lists.
Whether you want to create some special product packages to combine with mommy and me sessions or are just hoping to capture some additional digital and print orders from existing client galleries, it is a best practice to review your price lists a few times a year.
If you haven’t done it recently, look over your profit for each item in your price list to ensure you’ll still make money after offering a discount. This is also a great time to add any special photo gifts that you may not always offer, like mugs or keychains. Once you’re through, save the changes and you’re ready for the sale to begin.
Leverage the power of client testimonials.
One of the most effective ways to attract new clients is by showcasing the amazing experiences of your existing clients. Word-of-mouth marketing is incredibly powerful, and client testimonials can do wonders for your business. If you don’t have many recent testimonials, reach out to your past clients and kindly ask if they’d be willing to share their thoughts about their experience with you. The best time to do this is right after you share the client gallery, so if it has been a while, try offering a free print or extra digital product with their next session as a motivational thank you.
Once you’ve collected some glowing testimonials, you can add them to your website and create visually appealing graphics, pairing the client’s quote with a favorite image from their session. Next, follow the suggestion from earlier in this blog and share these on your social media platforms, like Instagram, Facebook, or TikTok. There’s nothing like your past clients’ heartfelt words to build trust with potential clients, provide “social proof,” and showcase the high-quality experience and services you provide.
If you’re having trouble gathering testimonials, another way to gather more reviews is by implementing a client referral program to incentivize your existing clients to spread the word about your business. Offer a discount or, in the spirit of Mother’s Day, host a giveaway for a free mini-session or a special Mother’s Day package in return for reviews. To enter, have clients share an image from a past session with you, tag you, and describe what they loved most about their experience. This not only generates buzz and exposure for your business but also provides you with more testimonials for your site.
Creating a user-friendly website.
A well-organized website is essential for attracting and retaining clients, especially during peak seasons like Mother’s Day. Customers today have little patience for confusing user experiences or difficulty finding the information they need. Photographers need to ensure their website is structured in a way that makes it easy for visitors to navigate and discover their offerings.
Start with a clean and intuitive menu structure that includes the basics: homepage, portfolio, services, about, and contact. This structure clearly highlights your main service categories, invites them to learn more about you, and how to reach you. If you don’t include them already, consider adding pages with FAQs, suggested session locations, and what to wear guides.
Descriptive labels in your menu or subpages that resonate with your target audience, such as “Family Portraits” or “Maternity Sessions”, will help them find what they’re looking for without any confusion. Guide visitors through your website by strategically placing compelling calls-to-action (CTAs) that encourage them to take the next step, and add website content that aligns with your brand’s unique voice and resonates with your ideal clients.
One place for everything from proofing to selling.
Share and sell your photos directly from mobile-friendly, interactive online galleries designed to impress your clients.
Remember that your portfolio is also a powerful selling tool, highlighting the quality of your work and the experiences you provide. Organize it into clear sections or themes to make it easier for visitors to find the type of photography or products they’re interested in. By prioritizing clear navigation, brand-aligned messaging, and a well-curated portfolio, you’ll create a user-friendly website that empowers potential clients to easily find the information they need and take the next step towards booking your services and ordering from their gallery shop for Mother’s Day and beyond.
As the Mother’s Day holiday approaches, photographers have the opportunity to increase their income and take advantage of the surge of customers searching for the perfect photo sessions and gifts for their loved ones. By taking time to optimize your website navigation, offer special services, and plan your marketing, you’ll position yourself as the go-to choice for your ideal clients.
