Haven't read the other six before this one? Well, lucky for you, they're listed below with links you can click on to go directly to the post you want to read:
"The Anatomy of a Modeling Website Pt I: Welcome Page"
"The Anatomy of a Modeling Website Pt II: Photo Gallery"
“The Anatomy of a Modeling Website Pt III: About Me”
"The Anatomy of a Modeling Website Pt IV: Resume Page"
"The Anatomy of a Modeling Website Pt V: Services Page"
"The Anatomy of a Modeling Website Pt VI: Contact Page"
This last post is going to focus on social media. Sure, we all know what it is and use it frequently--in fact, social media is now a regular part of our daily lives, regardless of your background and lifestyle.
But when it comes to using this feature on your official modeling website, there are a few rules of thumb you'll want to take note of and implement.
KEEP IT SIMPLE
Nothing looks worse on a modeling website than a list of crazy long links/URLs to social media profiles. Stay away from having those on your site.
Using the icons (like the ones in the image associated with this post) is a more visually appealing way to let visitors to your site know that you have additional profiles they can check out.
Whether you use a self-publishing website platform or have someone else maintain your modeling website for you, a great way to incorporate social media in an easy way is to make the icons active links so that whenever someone clicks on each one, it will direct them to that specific social media profile.
An online image search for social media icons will present you with tons of options to choose from. Save the image to your computer and then you'll be able to use it.
It's also a good idea to adjust the settings on your site so that when the social media icons are clicked, the info opens up in a separate window. This will prevent visitors from having to click the back button if they want to go back to your modeling site.
DON'T OVERANALYZE
By that, I mean you don't have to fuss over whether to use colored social media icons or black and white. It really doesn't matter and there is no right or wrong way when it comes to how the icons appear. As long as they are easily visible and aren't pixelated in appearance, they'll serve their purpose just fine.
SIZE DOES MATTER
You don't want your social media icons to be so tiny that it gets missed but you also don't want it to be so large that it becomes a huge distraction on the page. Exercise good judgment when it comes to the size of the icons you use--you'll know when it's the right size.
PLACEMENT IS KEY
Social media icons often appear at the bottom of a website in the footer area but can technically be placed anywhere (although I would stay away from placing them as part of the navigation menu bar).
I've seen the icons used just on the Contact Page of a site or are set so that they appear in the same place on every page of the website so no matter which page you're looking at, you have instant access to those icons if you wanted to click on them.
DOUBLE-CHECK YOUR LINKS
Nothing is worse than sending visitors to your website to a social media profile that doesn't work. Take advantage of the "copy/paste" shortcut when linking the icons to your profiles. Doing so eliminates the possibility of messing up the hyperlink itself.
Make sure it's possible to "preview" your site so that you can check if everything works properly before making the website live and visible to the public.
KEEP IT PROFESSIONAL
I've already blogged about the importance of being professional and having a polished online presence when it comes to social media profiles so I won't go into depth on this subject again but I do want to say that if you haven't updated your profiles in a while, you may want to do so--especially your modeling images/portfolio on those sites.
The goal is to make sure that anyone clicking the social media icons on your site won't come across something you don't want them to see or that will make you look bad.
QUALITY OVER QUANTITY
There are dozens of social media sites out there but that does not mean you need to create a profile for every single one to include on your modeling website. Pick social media profiles/accounts that you use and update on a regular basis. If you sign up for a ton of profiles on various social media sites, chances are you'll be sharing info and photos that are repetitive.
Having a strong social media presence is great but having more of the same for each profile isn't very impressive. Focus on the substance of your existing social media profiles and that will cover all your bases each time a visitor to your site decides to learn more by checking you out on other sites.
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