Are you an aspiring photographer who wants to grow your recognition online, but you are not sure how? Search engine optimization (SEO) services will help you gain exposure and attract new leads to your photography business. There are thousands of talented photographers today, however, the ones who managed to become successful have definitely considered SEO. In this article, we’ll be discussing why photographers need SEO, SEO tips photographers should use, and where to find the best photography SEO services.
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Why Invest in Photography SEO?
So, what exactly is SEO and why should you care about it for your photography? Well, let’s say you’ve created an awesome online portfolio with all your best work. This is a great start, but don’t you want to start reaching and appealing to potential customers? In today’s world, people type keywords like “photographer in Chicago” or “wedding photography” in search engines like Google to find websites and resources. For each search query, Google is forced to decide which web pages are the most relevant. Of course, we all want to be at the top of the search engine results page (SERP) in order to reach a higher number of potential clients. That’s when SEO comes in.
The Importance of SEO for Photographers
Appearing at the top of the search engine results page is a huge achievement because it implies that your website and business are the front-runners of a particular niche – in this case: photography services. In fact, people tend to not look past the first search result page. Studies indicate that the first five organic search results – meaning, the websites that appear after Google ads account for 68% of all clicks on Google. Traffic generated from organic searchers have the highest probability to convert. So if you are focusing only on your social media accounts or paid advertising, you may be missing a valuable opportunity.
This is why SEO is a great and valuable way to grow more traffic to your photography website. With that being said, let’s get started on how to improve your SEO ranking.
SEO Tips for Photographers in 2020
While going through these SEO tips for photographers, always keep your customer in mind – who they are, what they want to consume, what their concerns are, etc. At the end of the day, you want viewers to trust, know, and like you so that Google can process these positive interactions and rank you higher!
1. Ongoing Quality Content Creation Using Keywords
One of the most important steps in the SEO process is creating engaging high-quality content using keywords. You want your potential lead to spend time on your site by browsing the various web pages and learning more. Google measures this in two metrics: Time on Site (how long the user spends on your site) and Bounce Rate (how quickly they left your site without clicking on another page). Of course, these measures can be impacted by a number of external factors, so consider them as a general reference and not absolute.
One example of good quality content is a blog post about the type of photography that you do. Let’s say you’re a travel photographer and you recently came back from a trip in Indonesia. You can write a blog about the specific geographical area you visited (Bali, Ubud, Jakarta, etc.) while using strong relevant keywords which link back to your main topic. Other examples of content can be a video trailer, professional photographs, infographics, etc.
2. Backlinks
When a website links to another website this is called a “backlink” or “inbound link.” When websites refer traffic to one-another, it establishes trust. Google’s algorithm takes backlinks into consideration for search engine rankings. In a statement released by Google, they said the best way to increase backlinks to your site is “to create unique, relevant content that can naturally gain popularity in the Internet community.” Notice the term “naturally” as you definitely want to avoid link buying. That’s because it is a violation of the Google guidelines.
A lot of the time, photographers work with major clients but have no SEO recognition for it. To avoid this, make sure you ask for recognition on print and online as a part of the contract. That way, you can allow organic searches to your site from print and direct links to your site from backlinks.
3. Site Speed
In 2018, Google announced that site speed would be considered in SEO ranking. So, what do mean by site speed? Studies show that if your site takes longer than 3-5 seconds to load, the user will likely leave the page. You can check how fast your page load time is using PageSpeed insights. For photographers, a key thing to remember is image optimization. Having large image files can slow down site speed tremendously, so try to compress your images much as possible WITHOUT losing HD quality! Also, using a lot of plugins (particularly if you’re on WordPress) can contribute to slower site speed – so check and see if there are any old plugins you no longer need and delete them.
4. Responsive Design
A responsive website will automatically adapt the site design according to the device being used. If your site is not responsive, this will impact your SEO and you should consider updating. A responsive design will allow for proper spacing, readable text without needing to zoom, and no horizontal scrolling
5. URL Structure
Your URLs should have target keywords whenever possible. Simply, your URL should indicate what that page is discussing and the type of content included instead of being . You do NOT need to add too many excess words and make it too long.
Which out of the following 3 web page URLs is best:
- examplephotography.com/archives/wPx34I/w_2/fRw
- examplephotography.com/amazing-wedding-photos-in-bali-during-2018
- examplephotography.com/wedding-gallery
If you chose C, you are correct! A has a complicated folder structure that is unclear and B has too many words. The goal is to keep the URL page as short as possible while using important keywords in order for it to be clear for humans and the search engine. Some site builders will automatically create URLs like example A (such as WordPress) – so, check to see if your URLs are unnecessarily long and if you can change them.
Use These Questions to Assess Your Site
- Is my site much better than the ones currently listed at the first search engine result page using my keywords? How so?
- If someone was to press the link to my website from the results of a search enquiry, would they find ALL the info they need to be fully satisfied? Or would they need to refer to other websites for additional information?
- Can I right away discover the topic of my website (within the first few seconds)? How many clicks does it take to find relevant services or products?
- Is it easy to access the website on all devices?
- Would viewers feel a sense of trust towards my photography business based on my site? Do I appear as a leader in the photography industry?
Remember: search engines look for signals from user behavior interacting with your site.
Your goal is to generate a positive user experience.
SEO Services for Photographers
Often, trying to optimize your photography website to achieve the highest ranking SEO on your own can be difficult. But we’re here to help! At SEO Design Chicago we provide all the services photographers need, including both local and national SEO photography services.
In one of our case studies, a local Chicago photographer was looking to generate more traffic to their website. Local leads are a key demographic for most photographers – so, we made that our focus and increased local search results by 315%.
Local Photographer SEO Services
SEO Design Chicago will help you take the first steps to outshine your local SEO competitors. We can do this by evaluating the current market, seeing where you stand, and assessing how you can improve.
- Photographer Local Search Rankings: Your local target audience is searching for available photographers near them – so, it’s time you rank higher on the local search engine result page.
- Google My Business for Photographers: Highlight your services and engage with customers via Google My Business.
- Photographer Online Business Listings: Make sure your photography and business listings are consistent everywhere.
Photographer SEO Services
Once you have established a good local SEO ranking, you can then begin to expand across more cities. Given our experience with photographers and SEO, we are well aware of the many challenges they face – such as new online scams directed at photographers. Make sure to look out for atypical behavior in the messages and also verify the email/phone number.
- Photographer SEO Analysis: By providing a thorough analysis of your SEO photography business, we will be able to rank you higher on organic searchers.
- Photographer SEO Services: Like many of the tips mentioned above, we help optimize your content, increase your site speed, create quality content, and more.
- Link Building for Photographers: Link building is a really important step in the SEO process – and we can help you not only find these links, but also correct any poor links you currently have.
Contact Us Today!