So, you are ready for the next level in your photography career. Your website is up, you have testimonials ready, and you even have your business cards. But you keep hearing SEO and how these methods have helped others achieve a successful online presence through photography SEO. So, how does SEO work and how does it pertain to your photography business? This page will answer all of your SEO related question and help you understand the use of SEO and your business.
What can SEO do for my Photography Business?
Over 97% of internet users shop online nowadays. With a few keywords, users pretty much know what they’re looking for and when they plug those into the search engine and your page pops up first, you are successfully implementing SEO strategies. Either that, or you are really lucky. In addition, the use of proper SEO techniques will not only allow you to stand out among the rest, but will bring you new clients to your photography business–whether they are just inquiring or ready to purchase a package.
What ROI Should I Expect?
The ROI or Return on Investment is the return of sales generated by the investment you put into your photography business. When you invest in your business you know that you are investing more than just your time. Money and other expenses factor in, especially during the first few years. Although this number can never be determined absolutely, the general idea is to make sure that your investment is well founded. Other key elements such as your portfolio diversity, matching investment expectations, and comparing indices play a huge role in your ROI. This isn’t achieved overnight, but keep these factors in mind when balancing your income and strategizing a plan for you business.
How Long Does SEO Take?
SEO strategy takes time to get the formula just right but when you do, you can expect to compete in the search engine game. That’s why professional strategists take their time and know precisely which strategies will positively impact your photography business SEO.
Photography Marketing Campaign: Local or National?
Local and national SEO share some similarities–one being that they both benefit from link building techniques. The major difference between the two are keyword phrases. With local SEO, you will use geo-modifiers such as your geographical area, landmarks, city and state to pull you into the correctly specified, local category on the search engine. Your photography business will appeal to those who are searching for a photographer in your general location. With a national campaign, your keywords will appeal to national or global users, for e-commerce or wide-reaching publications like a newspaper. This decision depends on your goals as a business.
Accessing your Photography website for Key Performance Indicators
Keeping your website running smoothly while keeping you high up in the rankings will require some auditing every once in awhile. You want to be sure that your website is in tip-top shape at all times so a website audit is crucial. There are many ways that a website audit is performed:
Detailed Analysis of Photography Website Structure
The structure of your website makes all the difference when you’re on the web. Before you launch your website, first have a detailed sitemap as to how many pages you will need and what those pages will consist of. You want to give your viewer an idea of what you’re offering them. Child portraits, wedding photography, couples shots, and what each packages offers will likely be included on your pages–depending on your specialties and services offered. You also want to include a section for reviews and a clear and concise contact page.
Detailed Analysis of Photography Website Link Profile
A major key element to a high performing link profile is backlinking. When you set up articles or information on your photography business, you want to ensure that authoritative sites are linking back to your content in order to show the search engine that your page too is authoritative. Backlinking will give your page credibility in the eyes of the search engine. The number of provided links and their quality, page performance, unique links, and much more goes into the process of analyzing your link profile. Backlinks are the fuel that propel your photography business’ site content to new heights.
On-site SEO for Photographers
There are some factors to consider with your photography SEO that will have a major role in your business. These key elements with help you understand proper on-site SEO.
Correct Keyword Selection
Keyword selection makes all of the difference when implement the proper SEO techniques.
Focus on good phrases by asking yourself what products or services you sell in order to implement good phrase structure. For example, ‘photography marketing’ or ‘photography business’, or ‘photography seo expert’ is an example of unique keyword selection. Keyword selection of course should be indicative of your business goals. Not only that, you want to make sure that you are selecting keyword phrases with ample monthly search volumes to make sure there is an audience for the content you will produce.
Optimize Website Structure
Your carefully searched keywords and strategy are establishing an authentic theme for your page and the search engine will pick up these creative keywords. Your website’s structure is key to good optimization so that your readers can get a quick idea of who you are and how to reach you. In order to effectively optimize the structure of your website, create page titles that your own keywords to establish a theme for your website. Recent dialogue in the field suggests that content should be approximately 800-2,000 words in order to be both picked up and well-regarded by the search engines, though articles as short as 350 words will be indexed.
Custom Content Creation
Customizing all avenues of your website, from social media to linking, is crucial for an SEO photography business. This also allows you to engage with your existing clients.
Adding Google Analytics
Google Analytics accounts are free and an invaluable tool for tracking your site’s visitors and page rankings. This tells you what is working and what is not and can direct you in the key word selection department as well.
Adding a Sitemap and Activating Google Search Console
By adding a sitemap and adding relevant website info to the Google Search Console, you will learn a great deal about the people who visit your page, both geographically and what they are searching for when they visit your page.
Website security
Website security is another ensures you and your viewers that you have a secure, untampered network. Unfortunately, all websites are prone insecure features, however, keeping a close eye will ensure safety for your site and its visitors.
Website Load Speed
This feature allows you test the load speed of each page. No one likes to wait for a page to load, especially when it’s their first visit to your page. Make sure your site speed is not slow to ensure a good first impression on new visitors.
Off-site SEO for Photographers
Relevant Link Building for your Photography Business
As if there isn’t already enough SEO detail to pay close attention to when building your photography business, this is another key factor that you don’t want to leave behind. It’s important to have your content linked to appropriately in order to pull in the right crowd and command attention on the results page. You want to capitalize on all aspects of the photography business so that you can better identify with your potential clients.
Directory Listings Specific to your Photography Business
Find directories online that are specific to your photography business and list with them! It will not do you much good to list with a source that isn’t relevant to your business so do your research and strategically seek these out.
Cleaning Website Link Profile
Cleaning up your irrelevant links is a simple and effective to stay on top in the results. This will entail a comprehensive website link audit that will indicate irrelevant or broken links so those can be dealt with accordingly.
Social Media Integration for Photographers
Social Media Integration for Photography
Nowadays, social media is an important element to factor in when making your business stand out. Everyone uses the internet at some point and when they are searching for the perfect photographer to get the job done right–whether wedding or otherwise–they want to find you easily and know you can perform based on examples of your previous work.
Youtube Management and Optimization
Did you know that Youtube is the second largest engine in the world? The integration of Youtube is one of the most important features to have on your website. Link it and make sure that you’ve got valuable content related to maximize your photography business’ SEO to engage with your potential customers.
Management of Major Social Media
You’ll want to take advantage of a beneficial social media management team to handle all of your social media platforms. It is important to stay on top of it at all times, updating and answering questions and providing a point of contact for followers.
Tracking your Photography Company’s Growth
You always want to keep track of your company’s growth. This is an important element in order to see where you need to make adjustments to maximize your ROI by meeting KPIs. Nowadays, you can easily do this with the many ranking options provided.
Phone Tracking
The phone, whether landline or cell, is still a method that people use! Some people even prefer to call a business directly rather than emailing. Studies show that making your phone number visibly clear on your website will most likely get you that phone call.
Form Tracking
When people inquire about your photography services through your online form, you want to know where they are sending the form and how they came across your website. Keeping track of your forms will allow you to stay on top of this feature.
Traffic Reports
People are coming and going within your website shop and you want to see where they are from and how they got there. Following the traffic will allow you to do just that.
Ranking Reports
Last but certainly not least, do you know where you rank within the search engine? Knowing where you already stand lets you optimize different pages in order to rank more favorably. Also, this can tell you where you are succeeding or not, which helps you determine a strategy for going forward.
Photography SEO: A Proven Digital Advertising Solution
In order to achieve successful photography business SEO, proper keyword usage and photography SEO strategies will help immensely. If you are ready to get the ball rolling and start making waves, gaining new clients, and even reconnecting with existing customers, get your SEO strategies off the ground!