Do I need a One-Page Website?

For many of my design clients, launching a new business or in the early stages of testing out a new product or idea, a full website is simply too much for their current needs or daunting to create when they have limited content starting out.

A One Page Website condenses and highlights all the critical information to connect potential clients with your brand, service or product without the ‘excess’ that a full website can sometimes feel like.

A single page website design allows you to control how users experience your web page as a sequential story as they scroll down and gather more information. 

All your information is positioned in a specific order, making it easier for your audience to navigate and find what they need to know when they interact with your brand. It’s easy to scroll through and doesn’t take much time to find what they’re looking for. 

Single page sites are great at quickly communicating the value of a product, brand, or service and will lead to a clear ‘call to action’ to help clients take the next steps in their journey with you.

Another great thing about a single-page website is that it's very compatible with mobile viewing, which so many of us do these days. We are already used to long-form scrolling and there is no need for jumping around finding things in a menu bar on a small screen. 

Let’s Future proof…

But what if later I want more than the one page?

I hear you.

A One Page Website might be a good fit now, but what about later down the line, when your business has grown and evolved, or you have more content that you want to share?

I’ve got you covered, by future proofing for expansion.

The way I approach One Page Websites also makes it very easy for streamlined future expansion, and in fact I specifically build that into my website design strategy.

So you can easily expand your existing site to a multi-page layout in the future (either DIY or with the help of a designer) and I guide you through that process too.

I allow for this easy expansion by considering each section of the single page as a mini version of the standard main pages. For example:

A standard website is often based on a ‘five page’ layout:
Home 
About 
Services/Product
Blog/News
Contact

The single scrolling home page would contain the main landing welcome banner followed by a succinct section for each of the page themes above.

As there will be no dedicated blog page, this could either be omitted or linked to articles you’ve published elsewhere or to social media posts. Similarly, for a shop of gallery.

In the future, if your needs change and you decide that you would like to expand the single page site to become a full five (or more) page site, you can simple create the additional pages with more in depth content expanding upon the summary sections on the homepage. You’d then have a link from each section to the relevant page as well as being listed in the top menu bar. 

It’s a very organic and natural expansion process.

Here is what I consider One Page Websites best suited to:

• New businesses with minimal content or looking for a simple streamlined approach.

• The fast launch of an initial website with a view to add additional content later down the line.

• Those testing out a new project idea or in the early stages of a new venture.

• A singular product or event launch.

• A secondary website for a side hustle or additional arm of a main business. 

• A hub or homepage that brings together and links multiple aspects and external platforms.

It’s cost effective!

As an additional benefit, it goes with out saying that from a financial point of view, a one-page site is typically much cheaper to commission a designer to build. The timeframe for completion is often significantly faster too!

I offer One Page Website design as part of my Design Day approach. 

So what are the downsides?

A One Page website won’t be suited to everyone or every purpose. Whilst I believe it can suit many business needs, particularly given the easy expandable nature of the design, here are some things to consider to understand whether a single page or a multi-page is the best fit for you.

A One Page Website is not best suited to blog-centered websites that plan to have a lot of content by way of written articles, galleries, videos etc.

It won’t be suited if you know you need to have multiple products or services or an extensive shop built into the platform itself and not linked externally.

It may not be a good fit if you are a business that has multiple strands to what you offer, as there is only so much information that you can put onto one page before it becomes overwhelming for your site visitors. In this case a multi-page site is a better option.

On the other hand, you may decided to create a single page ‘hub’ with external links to all the things you offer - for example Facebook group/page, secondary websites, online shops or profiles on a specific platforms.  

Another point to note is that single-page websites can be challenging to optimize for SEO (search engine optimisation) because there’s far less content compared to a full-size website and so Google wont be able to pick up on keywords so well.

I consider a single page website more of an online portfolio and you would focus on driving traffic to it by your own efforts rather than relying on google searches, which personally I would suggest is the main focus regardless.

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Are you considering a new website?

Has this helped you better understand the options and what your needs would be best suited to?

If you’d like to explore the concept of a One Page Website with built in future expansion further with me, I’d be more than happy to chat. You can find more info on the process here.

Get in touch via email or drop me a text of voice note via Voxer @johodson

Product Photography To Build A Trustworthy Brand

I love photography! 

But when I first began food blogging back in 2011, my photography left a lot to be desired.

Yet, before long, simply through trial and error of sharing recipes multiple times a week and 100’s over the course of a few years my photography improved dramatically. 

I have since developed and photographed recipes for multiple brands.

But it’s not just food, many friends and colleagues have enlisted my skills to shoot their products - from candles to stationery (and on occasion their brand and headshots too!)

The part of photography I love the most is the layout and styling way more than the tech and editing… which is good news for you as you don’t require expensive camera kit of editing software to set up a great shot.

That’s not to say those things wont help too (they definitely will) but they are no means essential and I promise you, you can take great shots of your products simply with a phone and very basic in-app editing.

Whilst shooting food is my first love, there is a huge overlap with the skills required to shoot a plate of food and shoot a small product (we’re taking things that fit on a table top rather than something large like a vehicle)

Styling ‘lifestyle’ photos tell a story of the product, whereas product photography (for example for a commercial product listing) is typically a simple clean photo on a white background. Both can be important to know how to capture well and have very different purposes in your sales and promotional materials.

Very simple shooting set up.

Engaging photography is a key part of building a trustworthy brand.

They say a picture speaks a 1000 words. So it’s critical that your website imagery and promotional graphics are always working hard to deliver your message and story to sell your products.

However, a professional product brand shoot is often beyond the scope of a new business. 

Or it may be that you are in the early stages of evolving your style or product collection and forking out for professional shots is not practical or desirable as this early stage. 

Maybe you have an ongoing catalogue of products that you need to be able to shoot yourself, or you want to capture a variety of high quality images for social media.

Photography can be overwhelming.

So It helps to know what kind of shot you need for what purpose…

Let’s break it down, so you can decide where you want to put your attention.  If you feel like you could do with some more assistance, take a look at my new training - we go into each of these elements (and a whole lot more) in much greater detail.

White background photos 

The white background product shot is more common than any other background, primarily because it’s so versatile. It creates a ‘knockout’ of the product where it appears to be floating on the background. This can be captured in camera against a well lit white background, or in post-production using an editing app to remove the original background and replace it with a white backdrop.  

White background shots are typically used for listings in online stores and catalogs and can also be useful for promotional shots where you want to include text in the image.

Multi-product group shots 

These can also be white background, and most often used for product kits and to showcase collections of similar products. Group photography displays the variety of your products and gives the customer a more complete and contextual view of your range. 

These types of images are great for social media posts and advertisements, as they give shoppers a taste of your brand as a whole, rather than just one product in isolation.

Flat-lays

These are a common photography technique due to the quick setup and pleasing aesthetic. Flat lays often work well for lifestyle shots and to create visual variety in the shot for social media.

The camera angle is from directly above looking down. It allows you to position each product and any associated styling elements as desired. It’s also useful if shooting with a phone that can have a tendency to distort the perspective of a shot taken from an angle. 

What can be lacking with the flat-lay approach is the three-dimensional appearance of the item(s) itself.

Lifestyle photos

This is where you show your products in context to demonstrate the product used in the way it’s designed for. Lifestyle shots help tell the story behind your product and illustrate to your customers how they can use them in their daily lives. 

They’re also perfect for social media and promotions because they catch the eye and make your products feel more personal to a potential customer. 

For a sense of scale, lifestyle shots can help your customers get a better idea of the actual size of a product by comparing it with other everyday items in the shot. This will increase their confidence when purchasing online as they can visualise the product in use.

Detail photos

Best used for products with small intricacies or textures that require a close-up e.g jewellery or embellishments and other small items. Detailed shots help highlight specific product features that a zoomed out of the whole context photo might not capture well enough.

When shooting details, pay attention to quality of light, focus and depth of field (how much of the product is in focus) to ensure the details are showcased to its full potential.

Packaging photos

From browsing your website to making a purchase and receiving their product in the post, customers are looking for a shopping experience from start to finish. You may have a wonderful product, but the presentation and packaging also matters too.

If your products come with beautiful looking, branded packaging, make sure you capture it to give your customers a taste of what to expect as the full experience.

What do you need to focus on focus on first?

Or where are you struggling?

When it comes to lifestyle shots you may find that the photos you customers tag you in on social media could be repurposed (with permission where necessary).

Sometimes all it takes is cropping the image to create the best balanced composition, a tweak to increase the brightness and a little extra saturation to make the colours pop.

Think outside the box and repurpose as many images as you can to help save time and money.

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Want to know more?

I bring you Product Photography Like A Pro. A 60 minute training that gives you the insights and techniques to shoot your own high quality product imagery, lifestyle shots and promotional graphics… easily, with no special tools or equipment. 

Make sure you are representing your brand and products to their full potential!

Who am I and why can I help you?

I’m Jo Hodson. I've been shooting food and product photography for brands, my blog and my biz for almost 10 years.

I am a blogger, health food business owner and website designer so I have the huge advantage of seeing behind-the-scenes from all angles.   

When it comes to photography for your website, products and brand I like to keep things simple, tech free... and a lot of fun! 

After this masterclass you'll come away with new ideas, insights and strategies to apply to all your website and social media imagery without needing to understand any special tech or complex camera settings. So, whether you shoot with a phone or a dSLR this masterclass is designed for you!

How you do one thing is how you do everything...

A week or two ago a created a unique new package... something I didn't initially talk about on here directly because it relates heavily to my design work, but actually now as I reflect upon it more I realise how much it has to do with my coaching work - it's all about connection!

The new package I have just launched is 'The Visibility Package' 

(as showcased on my design website)

In my work as a health and mindset coach, I meet so many inspiring 'wellness-focused' people who have an incredible passion and a powerful mission that I know could help so many... yet their voice and online presence is struggling to be seen and heard above the noise.  Finding ways of powerfully sharing their message, the feels in alignment with who they are, is crucial! (I know from experience!)

I was talking to a friend about the package yesterday, getting quite animated and excited as I talked, when from out of nowhere these words came out of my mouth...

"you have to connect with yourself to be able to connect with your client" *

...and there lies the truth, the fundamental principle that I am so passionate about as a coach.

In the wellness industry (or really just as regular people on our own personal journey) there is so much competition. But what really, truly, deeply sets you apart on your journey is your ability to rise above the noise and above the superficial to reach out and really connect with your people, your community, your tribe, your clients (*insert most relevant word for you there) BUT in order to do this, you first need to connect with yourself!

A massive part of The Visibility Package AND as I have begun to realise, my coaching work as a whole, is about digger deeper into your own story - you passion and drive but also the messiness and the struggles too. Really owning that.

Yes I know that might sound deep, and you might be thinking...   "but I just have a regular life, nothing special" ...well, actually no you don't.

I have often heard it said that...

"how you do one thing is how you do everything"

...and there's is your second truthbomb. Having an awareness of your actions, walking your talk and really owning and believing your message to the world speaks volumes. Your people will hear it and feel it. I promise.

So at it's core this is what my work as a coach is about, connecting to your deepest sense of self. I am reading a great book at the moment called 'The Highest Goal' by Michael Ray, and it's very similar to what he talks about.

I was going to leave this post here... with two 'truthbombs' for you to sit with and process, but then I figured i'd add the final section that was part of the note I sent out to my mailing list last night...

So now in the spirit of playfulness and curiosity, I have a game for you. Pick ONE of these three options below:

1) You're NOT interested in The Visibility Package but would love to have a conversation about what a deeper connection with yourself would mean for your life... hit reply and let me know where you are at!

2) You ARE interested in learning more about the package (there are two spots already confirmed, and more conversations booked for next week)... hit reply and let me know asap why you are interested and we'll arrange a time to call/Skype. 

3) You're kind of skimming this post, not really interested in any of it, but these bullet points caught your eye ;-) Then do me (and you) a favour and take a few moments this weekend to have a think about how you are showing up in your world right now, are there some tweaks you could make to bring yourself more into alignment?

So which will it be for you? ;-)

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