If you are a professional photographer, you might have heard that SEO can bring your photography website organic and targeted website traffic. SEO photography will help to bring your business, new potential clients, easily.
When your photography site shows on the first page of Google search engine results, you can expect organic traffic for several months or even years to come. So, what will you need to make this happen? This SEO photography guide will help you get started.
How to Improve the SEO of your Photography Website
On SEO for photographers, there are several things you can do to your website that will influence your location in the search results. The SEO tips below can be applied to any online business and wedding photography.
1. Find SEO Keywords for Photographers?
While choosing SEO keywords for photography, consider what people may be looking for when using their preferred search engine. As previously said, avoid utilizing simple keywords and instead focus on long-tail keyword terms.
Think of keyword terms a user could search if they were interested in your business and this is what is called search intent. Make a list of possible keywords or phrases connected to the services you provide. These can be broad terms or terms unique to the type of photography in which you specialize.
Once you have done your keyword research and have your potential keywords, check their monthly search volume to get an idea of how many people are searching for that keyword every month. Try to target the keywords with a monthly search volume and low competition which will mean there are not many websites targeting the keyword term. This makes it easier to achieve the best Google rankings and rank high on Google search results pages.
2. Optimize your Blog Post Content
One of the hardest things to figure out is how photographers can come up with quality content since without the right content on your blog posts, you won’t be achieving anything with your search engine rankings. Using plain old text will give Google a better chance to figure out what you’re talking about in your photography website because it has a hard time figuring out what your photographs portray.
In your content, it will also be helpful if you mentioned the photography keywords you are targeting in your first 100 words. As for the number of times you need to mention your photography keywords in your content, there are tools like the Yoast plugin to guide you on what to do.
Think of your user’s experience and although a lot of text doesn’t add to the story you are trying to portray you should avoid keyword stuffing on your post. Ensure you keep your content on point and if you manage to sneak keywords naturally into your text, the better.
3. Optimize your Titles & Descriptions
Your search engine result’s Title Tag, which is what is displayed at the top, affects SEO rankings significantly. Luckily, Google has become better at recognizing synonyms which has made search results more dynamic than in the past.
You should include the photography keywords you are targeting at the start of the title tag. When you have a good title tag, social media sites will also use this text as the anchor text. Generally, ensure you come up with good title tags targeting your chosen photography keywords and ensure your users will be intrigued enough to click.
4. Optimize your Header Tags
Although header tags are not that crucial for photography SEO ranking, they are still important for both SEO and your users. They are great for providing structure to your blog posts which makes your content much easy to read. This makes the work of search engines easier when crawling your site.
The “H1” header tag functions as a form of title on your webpage and is typically shown in the larger text at the top of the content. It explains to website visitors what the page is about while still influencing SEO rankings.
Due to the similarities in their functions, the H1 and Title Tag is sometimes mistaken. Both serve to display the title of your webpage, but the placement of their content is the crucial distinction. This distinction affects how search engines and website visitors evaluate your webpage. Title tags are high-impact but low-effort on-page SEO tasks you can work on immediately.
For your Title tag, you should consider what the page title in the search engines needs to portray when a user searches for your keyword to reassure them that your page includes related information. On the other hand, for H1, you should think about how to introduce your web page’s content when any user lands on your website as it’s like the title of your story.
5. Optimize your URL Structure
It’s important to have a good URL structure in your photography websites and avoid messy URLs which contain irrelevant information such as the date, or category.
When creating your photography website, you should have your keyword featured in your domain name to gain major SEO benefits. Also, for every internal page of your website, you should use specific keywords related to the photography niche. Ensure your URLs are as short as possible and descriptive of your page’s content.
In addition, one of the best practices is to put all of your content or site portfolios under a single umbrella domain. Instead of creating several websites with different domains for your blog or other picture activities (events, portraits, etc.), you should organize them into categories on one page.
6. Don’t Ignore Outbound Links
Most bloggers don’t like linking to other websites because they are afraid that once a user goes, they won’t return and they may also have heard about diluting your SEO strength. However, linking to good-quality content from relevant websites can have a positive effect on your website’s SEO.
Image Credit: blog.linkody.com
For instance, wedding photographers may link to vendors within the content. Notably, if you will be putting out a lot of content, a good rule is to link to other sites at 2-4x per 1000 words.
Also, you can do internal linking. This means you should find your best-performing blog post and try linking that post to another post on your website to boost it. It will give you better results if you can link to other blog posts using the photography keyword you are trying to rank for.
7. Invest in Website Speed
How fast your website will load is another important factor to consider for the best user experience and also SEO. On a user level, your future photography client is impatient because they’ve probably already visited too many other photographers’ websites. The customer will go on to the next website if your website or webpage takes too long to load.
For SEO, site speed is another search engine ranking factor, especially how your photography website will load on mobile devices. If your website is struggling to load, it could be time to consider switching your website themes or hiring a web designer.
8. Optimize your Images
You should consider optimizing the text corresponding to your images in addition to reducing the size of your images to increase page speed. Photographers’ websites are image-heavy since they use a visual medium. Also, those photographs are typical of excellent quality, they have higher file sizes and take longer to download.
As a result, image SEO is essential for improving the performance of your website. Image optimization decreases image size and the number of bytes downloaded to the user’s browser.
Image Credit: toptrendpk.com
The first step in image optimization is deciding which photographs require improvement. One method is to use an internet tool, such as Google Webmaster Tools or Yahoo! Site Explorer. These tools will tell you how many photographs are being indexed by top search engines and how huge those images are.
Once you’ve determined which photographs need optimization, the following step is to reduce the file size of the image. You can do this manually by altering the image quality or by using a software application such as Photoshop or ImageOptim.
9. Write Testimonials & Reviews
Another easy-to-replicate SEO tip is to write testimonials and reviews. However, you’ll need to act quickly to put it into practice before any other photographers do.
Ensure you consider all the apps, tools, services, and any other products you will be using for your photography business and give the owner a glowing testimonial or review. The owner will love receiving an honest review of their service and with some luck, you could find yourself on their homepage with a great backlink.
10. Get Featured
This isn’t anything new tactic. For instance, wedding photography SEO, involves you submitting a real wedding to a wedding site, and if your work is published, you earn a hyperlink that can help your SEO efforts.
Anyone who has done this before understands that it takes a significant amount of time and work. Nevertheless, you can aim for the strongest sites and then work your way down your list. However, don’t ignore the little players because even the backlinks from websites with fewer SEO metrics can be beneficial.
11. Collaborate with other Photographers
One of the most effective ways of building relevant backlinks is building relationships with other photographers. Avoid the photographers in your area and focus on photographers who offer no threat like the ones who are overseas.
It may take some time to build the systems and trust necessary to link to other photographers’ websites. It’s debatable how much advantage you’d get from a low-authority site, but it’s worth a chance.
It’s also a fantastic method to build/strengthen relationships with your peers, which may lead to referrals or opportunities you hadn’t considered before.
12. Create an Engaging Meta Description for Your Site
A meta description is a description of a page that search engines use to index it. In search engine results, it is the text that shows beneath your title. However, because the meta description has no direct influence on Google search results, it is not the place to put a lot of SEO keywords. Instead, you can use meta descriptions to make your content clickable to site visitors and let them know what your website will offer them.
13. Check your Image Alt Texts
The filenames of your images and the “Alt Text” of each one should contain your photography keywords.
The image Alt Text describes to search engines what your image depicts and aids in the image’s placement in organic search results. However, avoid overdoing the Alt text since search engines can penalize you for keyword stuffing if you have over-optimized your images.
There’s a potential that search engines that will believe you’re trying to manipulate your SEO if you have 100 similar photographs in your blog post with the Alt Text “natural wedding photographer” as a wedding photographer.
14. Use Next Generation Image Formats
WebP is a new image format that offers lossless and lossy compression for web images. WebP was created by Google in response to the growing popularity of high-resolution monitors and the necessity for reduced file sizes to improve website load times. It’s critical to understand that failing to use this new picture format will result in a penalty from Google’s search tools.
WebP image quality is comparable to or better than JPEG, but file sizes are up to 25% less. As a result, it is an excellent choice for photographers who wish to reduce the size of their photographs without sacrificing quality.
Image Credit: slashmonk.com
The issue is that not all browsers support the new WebP format, thus your images may not appear in older browsers. If you have a WordPress website, using a plugin like ShortPixel Image Optimizer is the simplest way to convert your images to WebP format and serve them to supported browsers.
When the code identifies a supported browser, the plugin will convert your photos and thumbnails from JPG, GIF, or PNG to WebP and instantly replace them on the site’s pages.
15. Ensure your Site is Easy to Navigate
Nothing turns off visitors like a disorganized website. Simplify the navigation and layout to entice visitors to browse your site and remain for a while.
Make it easy to use and intuitive, with a simple navigation bar, clickable buttons, and clear pages. It should also appear well on desktop and mobile devices. On your homepage, highlight your best work, such as the best photos from your photography portfolio or a project you’re proud of.
16. Sign Up for Google for Business
A Google for Business (GMB) account can help you integrate the content on your website with the Google search engine and Google maps. Use clear language and include information about your photography business, your expertise, and your unique style as a photographer.
Once your GMB account is activated, it will ensure that your website appears properly on Google maps and that you are ranked high in a Google map search for photographers in your location.
17. Update Your Google Business Information
To improve your SEO, make sure your company’s name, address, and phone number (NAP) are correct and up to date on Google Business. Your NAP should be exact and verified in all business directories, as well as on your social media accounts.
18. Add a Sitemap to the Google Search Console
A Sitemap is a tool that Google uses to better understand and index the content on your website. It can also help you improve your SEO ranking on Google.
The Google Search Console is accessible via your Google account. Then, in the backend of your website, create a sitemap and add it to your Google Search Console.
19. Track SEO with Google Analytics
After implementing SEO for photographers on your website, monitor its performance using Google Analytics. This free tool is a great method to monitor the results of the SEO photography changes you’ve made to your website and is included with your Google for Business account. You can access analytics data like website traffic, page views, and popular blog articles or content.
Using the data from your Google Analytics account, update your SEO keywords with relevant keywords if you notice some keywords are not performing the way you would have hoped. Also, you can tweak other website details to maximize your SEO.
20. Encourage Client Reviews on Google and Other Platforms
Client reviews are an effective practice to boost your profile as a photographer and can support your Google SEO ranking. Request your previous customers to leave a review about your company on Google, preferably a positive one.
Encourage current clients to provide a review by sending them an email reminder or asking them in person at the end of the photography or session.
Conclusion on SEO Photography
Image Credit: pinterest.com
SEO (search engine optimization) is an important component of any successful photography business. The ideas in this article will assist you in improving your website’s ranking in search engine results pages and ensuring that potential clients can find you online.
However, because SEO is constantly evolving, it is critical to stay current on the latest trends and approaches.
Jacky Chou is an electrical engineer turned marketer. He is the founder of Indexsy, Far & Away, Laurel & Wolf, a couple FBA businesses , and about 40 affiliate sites. He is a proud native of Vancouver, BC, who has been featured on Entrepreneur.com, Forbes, Oberlo and GoDaddy.
