Are you a photographer trying to develop your business? In a sea of small business photographers on the internet, how can you set yourself apart? Other than taking great pictures, one thing you can do to drive traffic to your photography business is to develop a web presence.
Many photographers make the mistake of thinking that filling their website with beautiful images will be enough to get customers. Showcasing your photographs is definitely important, but if people can’t find your site, they’ll never see your pictures anyway. The ticket is to follow some basic search engine optimization principles to get people to your web site.
The best thing you can do is to get more content on your pages. Written content is one way that search engines determine your value. If you don’t have content on your site, you’re going to be very difficult to find. So, how do you get more content on your pages?
One great way to get content on your web site is by having a blog as part of your site. A custom blog can be a great way to brand your site and show off all the knowledge you have as a photographer. Here are some tips about the type of content to include.
1. Get great keywords in your posts, including locations and types of photography services that you offer. Post about Engagement sessions in Clackamas or a maternity shoot in Fairview. You can even list specific locations like McMenamins or Mt Hood.
2. Shows off your pictures with stories, which makes a connection between the photographer and the clients. This way people aren’t just scrolling through a set of images, but rather get to know what was happening when you were shooting.
3. Show knowledge about the industry. This is really important for making people feel comfortable about using you. Let them know you understand aperture and know how to use photo imaging software to take an image from good to great. Show off those talents!
Another great way of getting more content on your pages is to use less Flash. It’s fine to have a flashy web site, but a site that is built entirely in Adobe Flash is not able to be searched by search engines. What does this mean? Well, search engines work, in part, by looking at the words that you have on your website in order to determine if you’re a good match for whatever someone is searching for. If you only have images on your site, no one will be able to find you. Having clean code is essential to being accessible to search engines.
We know sometimes the technicalities of good web design can be a little tricky to understand. If you don’t already have a website, and need one built for you that will utilize the most up-to-date web code, send us an email. We’d be happy to help you out.
Do you already have a site, but need help figuring out how to get more visitors? Alphabetix offers Search Engine Optimization consultation services to get you on the right track.
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Tags: marketing, photography, small business
