Whether you’re new to SEO, have tried and failed, had a bad experience with an SEO provider, or are reaping its benefits, understanding the basics can be a game-changer. Recently, I had the pleasure of hosting a masterclass with Remi, an expert with over eight years of marketing experience. She shared invaluable insights into optimizing your online presence as a photographer.
Meet Remi
Remi, the founder of Sunday Best Digital, a boutique SEO agency, has worked with renowned brands like Officeworks and Kmart. Her mission is clear: to help businesses enhance their visibility and get the best results from their SEO efforts.
Why SEO Matters for Photographers
With 8 billion searches on Google every day, it’s clear that search engines are a crucial gateway to your business. For photographers, having an optimised online presence is particularly important as many potential clients will turn to search engines to find you. The goal is to increase both the quantity and quality of traffic to your website, leading to more leads and more sessions booked.
Understanding How Google Works
Google uses crawlers, often called spiders, to navigate and index the web. These crawlers read through your site’s code and content, sending this information back to Google’s servers, where it’s organised and ranked based on relevance. To rank well, your site must be the best and most relevant source of information.
The Three Pillars of SEO
- Technical SEO: Ensures your site is easy for Google to crawl and index, including factors like site speed and fixing broken links.
- On-Page SEO: Involves optimising individual pages with relevant keywords, quality content, and proper formatting.
- Off-Page SEO: Includes actions like building backlinks and maintaining a strong social media presence.
Keywords: The Foundation of SEO
Keywords are crucial as they describe the content of a webpage and match the search queries of users. It’s so important to choose the right keywords and place them strategically across your website—in title tags, meta descriptions, headings, and within the first 100 words of your content.
Imagine Optimisation
As photographers, your website is likely filled with stunning images. However, without proper optimisation, these images won’t contribute much to your search engine efforts. Make sure to include alt text and descriptive file names for all images on your site. This not only improves accessibility but also helps search engines understand the content of your images, boosting your overall optimization.
Boosting Your SEO Efforts
Blogging is a powerful way to improve your online visibility. Not only does it provide fresh content for Google to index, but it also helps establish your authority and keeps your audience engaged. Remi suggests creating content that addresses your clients’ questions and needs, which can also be repurposed for social media and newsletters. You can use resources like Google’s “related questions” section and Answer the Public tool to find relevant blog topics.
Backlinks: Quality Over Quantity
Backlinks are links from other websites to yours, and they act as votes of confidence in the eyes of Google. The more authoritative and relevant the site linking to yours, the more valuable the backlink. You can earn backlinks through guest blogging, writing sponsored content, participating in interviews, or creating shareable industry-related content that others want to link to.
Example: I have linked Sunday Best Digital and Answer the Public in the above paragraphs. These links are considered backlinks for those websites (not for mine) because I am directing you to their websites.
Leveraging Google Business
For photographers, local optimisation is particularly important. Ensure your Google Business profile is up to date with accurate details (website, contact details, and photos) and responses to reviews. This helps improve your visibility in local searches. It’s also wise to claim and verify your listings on other platforms like Apple Maps and Bing.
Tracking Your Success
To gauge the effectiveness of your efforts, monitor metrics like organic traffic, keyword rankings, bounce rate, time on page, and click-through rates. Tools like Google Search Console and Google Analytics 4 (GA4) can provide valuable insights, including event and conversion tracking, which can help you measure specific actions like bookings and inquiries.
SEO in the Age of TikTok
While platforms like TikTok are gaining popularity, Google remains a dominant search engine, especially for users over 30 years of age. Remi advises focusing on a few key marketing channels like search engine optimization, email, and social media, and applying SEO principles to your content across all platforms.
Quick Wins
To start improving your SEO today, Remi recommends:
- Reviewing and optimising your title tags and meta descriptions
- Ensuring your service pages are well-optimised with relevant keywords and user-friendly formatting
- Adding descriptive alt text to your images
- Writing blog posts (you can use tools like ChatGPT to help)
- Setting up and understanding your Google Analytics 4 account
By implementing these strategies, you can significantly enhance your online visibility and attract more potential clients. Remember, SEO is a marathon, not a sprint, but with persistence and the right approach, it’s a sustainable and long-term strategy for success.
