This is a Website Autopsy - a free website strategy session done in the open, on a real Kiwi business that volunteered. The idea is simple. The lessons are universal, so you can take them and apply them to your own website.
On the chopping block this time: Gilmour Studios, Ruth Gilmour's Hamilton-based photography business. And fair warning - this is a website that does a lot of things right. So we got nitpicky.
A Website Structure That Google and AI Search Actually Understand
The standout strength of this website is its structure. Every service has its own dedicated page. Commercial photography breaks down into sub-pages for headshots and teams, business branding, product photography and more. Personal photography does the same.
That structure does two jobs at once. It makes it crystal clear to a visitor what's on offer. And it makes it crystal clear to Google and AI search engines that if someone's looking for a commercial photographer who specialises in headshots, this business is a strong answer.
If your website lumps everything onto one services page, you're making Google guess. Don't make Google guess.
Let the Work Do the Talking
Here's the irony of a lot of creative websites - the design gets in the way of the work. On this site, beautiful photos sit behind dark overlays, text floats on top of images, and some of the best shots are small or buried at the bottom of the page.
The fix is simple. Use full-width images. Drop the overlays. If your work is the product, show the work as big and as clearly as you possibly can. A visitor deciding whether your studio suits their needs should get a yes or no from one good full-width photo.
One more on the design front - watch your contrast. Blue text on black backgrounds, or pale blue on white, forces people to squint. If they're squinting, they're not converting.
The Specialist Question Every Business Owner Needs to Answer
This is the big strategic one. The website offers a lot of services, and that's a deliberate choice for some businesses. But here's the psychology: if you claim to be a specialist in commercial photography while also doing everything else, the specialist claim loses a bit of its weight.
A business that does one thing reads as the expert in that thing. A business that does everything reads as a generalist - even if the quality is identical.
So the question isn't "should you do less work?" It's "what do you want your website to qualify people for?" If there's a bread-and-butter service you want more of, build the website around it and let the rest support it. Your website should attract the work you want, not just the work you'll take.
Pull Your Reviews Through Automatically
This business has 22 Google reviews and 30-odd Facebook recommendations. That's real social proof - and most of it never makes it onto the website.
There are widgets that consolidate your Google and Facebook reviews in one place and update automatically every time a new one lands. Set it up once, and your freshest reviews are always working for you on your homepage. While you're at it, add a "trusted by" strip with the logos of organisations you regularly work with. Credibility stacks.
Turn Your Social Media Into a Content Flywheel
Every wedding post on Facebook can become a wedding blog on your website, tagged and linked to your wedding photography landing page. Same content, double the mileage. Over time you build a bank of real examples on every service page - which helps visitors trust you and helps Google recommend you.
Use Real Keyword Data to Find Pages You Haven't Built Yet
This is where website strategy gets fun. A quick keyword search shows what people actually type into Google each month in New Zealand. For photography, that surfaces terms like "elopement photographer" - 210 searches a month, low competition.
If that's work you'd love to do, you build a page called Elopement Photographer, theme the whole page around it, put it in the title tag, and you start showing up for those searches. That's it. That's the strategy.
Scan the keyword data, pluck out the services that fit your specialty, and build a page for each one. It's one of the cheapest sources of qualified leads available to a small business.
The Takeaway
Gilmour Studios is a genuinely well-built website - strong structure, individual service pages, FAQs, a blog, clear contact options. The gains left on the table are the classic ones: let the work breathe, sharpen the strategic focus, automate the social proof, and use keyword data to build pages people are already searching for.
Every one of those applies to your website too.
Want your website on the chopping block? Nominate your business for a free Website Autopsy - leave your URL via this link and I'll add you to the list.
