What is SEO for Photographers, and Why Do I Care?
So this 3 Part series of articles was really fun.
We don’t claim to be SEO experts (in fact we’d rather avoid like the plague!), but we had a client ask us about it and this is what the 16 Hoops is all about. Ask and ye shall receive!
We scoured the internet and honestly just found articles either too dry or too detailed (like, "way-too-make-your-head-spin-detailed). So instead, we just pooled our own experiential resources. We hope you find it as fun and informative as we did. (PS - yeah, I shift from "I to we" a bunch. It’s complicated. I do all the writing, but hoops is most definitely a "we." So please forgive and bear with).
Unless you have been living under a rock for the past 10 years, you have at least heard of SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and know it’s important.
And if your website is listed on the coveted “page one” spot for your industry keywords - you may even think you have nailed it.
But don’t get too comfortable.
Less and less actual clients are relying solely on search engines to find their perfect photographer.
Also - what you may not know is that best SEO practices even from just 2 years ago are practically obsolete and vastly different than today. What may have rewarded you a few years back (keyword loading, metatags, expensive back link services) may actually harm your SEO now with the famously ever changing google algorithms.
Squarespace is a big part of this SEO Revolution with it’s simple, responsive, mobile friendly sites and elegant back end design.
The new streamlined SEO practices made especially for photographers that we will go over will be especially noticeable if you are coming from the WordPress platform with all its complicated key-wording and red/orange/green reward systems.
We got nada against WordPress and hey, Squarespace ain’t for everyone (especially if you need a TON of customization…which we think, you in fact, do not)--but love it or leave it, Squarespace is by far our platform of choice here at 16 Hoops for many reasons. Its clean SEO is just one of them.
What we have noticed is that it is actually the photographers that consistently create relevant content that rise to the top. You could be pinging green left and right on yoast, but if you are only posting 6 times a year - google will punish you.
I know - huh?
Turns out just running your business really well is the key to great SEO. Go figure.
So here is the other KEY to great SEO:
Create thoughtful content (a lot of it) that your target audience will want to view and share.
That is the number one reason they will not just be hiring you, but will also keep coming back year and year and portrait after portrait.
Keep in mind, SEO is a marathon and not a sprint. There is no magic bullet. If you keep doing these practices in our series and blogging frequently, your services will rise to the top in your market.
The rest of the neat tricks and stuff we will be showing you is just insurance and homage to the google gods. But insurance and spirit help is good to have.
Here is our first of two video tutorials on making the most of everything Squarespace has to offer: Setting up your Titles & Descriptions in Squarespace for SEO Success. PS - I say Part Three in beginning - just ignore that. I decided to put this part here instead and didn't want to re-record the whole thing. :)
So let's open up the hood (crack knuckles) on the Squarespace interface.
Hope you find this useful! Let’s look forward to part two in our handy behind the scenes tour of SEO practices for photographers on Squarespace: Google Is Still King...For Now.