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The Photographer's Guide to SEO
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<blockquote data-quote="Browncoat" data-source="post: 198896" data-attributes="member: 1061"><p><span style="color: #ff0000"><span style="font-size: 15px"><strong>Off-Site SEO</strong></span></span></p><p></p><p>Wait. What? Yes, that's right. SEO is much more far reaching than just your own humble website. Remember, your site is just a drop of water in the ocean, so it's important that you take additional steps to getting noticed.</p><p></p><p><u>Linking</u> used to be the way to get this done, but no more. Wanna know the most linked-to site on the internet? Wikipedia. Why? Because a Wiki page contains near 100% pure information about a relevant topic. </p><p></p><p><strong>ASSIGNMENT:</strong> Do a Google search for <em>"aardvark"</em>. What's the #1 search result? Do another search for <em>"Hank Aaron"</em>. Again, Wikipedia. Odds are, any search for a noun (person, place, or thing) one of the top results is going to be Wikipedia, because Wikipedia has <u>a ton</u> of incoming links. </p><p></p><p>Wikipedia has established itself as a <strong>content authority</strong>, so other sites link to the information there, which further builds its credibility. You must do the same thing, only establish yourself as an authority on photography in your area. You do this by first creating good content that other sites want to link to (see above On-Site SEO), and second by promoting your site through various channels.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #ff8c00"><strong>Shameless Plugs</strong></span></p><p></p><p>Visit other photography-related sites and blogs and leave comments. When leaving a comment, you have the option to include your website address. Do it. You are building a link between that photography site and your photography site, which builds a little bit of relevance. The power of link building has been diminished, but it still exists. </p><p></p><p>Many sites have a <span style="font-family: 'courier new'">rel="nofollow"</span> attribute on their external links, which means they won't do a damn thing for you. If you have the Firebug extension for Chrome or Firefox, just right click on any link to check it. For example, many of you have a link to your website here in your Nikonites signature. Nikonites uses <span style="font-family: 'courier new'">rel="nofollow"</span>, so no SEO juice for you!</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #ff8c00"><strong>Social Signals</strong></span></p><p></p><p>As the web continues to evolve, social media plays a larger role in SEO. Things that influence search rankings include:</p><p></p><p></p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"># and quality of social shares of a page</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">authority/influence of the page author in social media</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">followers, fans, and activity of a page's author in social media</li> </ul><p></p><p>This is a major reason why it is important that your site be based on YOU, and not a fancy business name. YOU are much more capable of building authority versus something like <em>Tinkerbell Photography</em>. YOU want to be the author, YOU want to build a reputation, because YOU want to reap the rewards of YOUR hard work.</p><p></p><p>Social sharing is important in 2013 and beyond for many reasons, which is a topic for another thread. What is important for SEO is that your pages need to have social sharing buttons, and you need connect your social media efforts. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Pinterest are all major players in the social/SEO game.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #ff8c00"><strong>Build Your Brand</strong></span></p><p></p><p>Since your brand is YOU, it should be relatively easy to achieve this. Who is the leading authority on baby care products? Johnson & Johnson. Any blog or site about babies and baby care are going to mention that brand. That is called <strong>brand recognition</strong>. Other major industry players like Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Tide, and Pampers all have one thing in common: their image and message has changed very little over the years. In a word: consistency. </p><p></p><p>Other sites that mention and link to your brand name have a huge impact on off-site SEO. You achieve this by consistent marketing.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #ff8c00"><strong>Build Relationships</strong></span></p><p></p><p>Helene and I have a relationship (don't I wish!). We are friends on Facebook and are fans of each other's pages, we follow each other on Twitter, we have "liked" and shared each other's content. We are both photographers, and all of this back and forth has built a relationship that strengthens our online presence as authorities and content producers of photography.</p><p></p><p>Find like-minded people and interact with them. Share content. Write on someone else's blog. It all pays off, not just for SEO, but in building connections that are far more important.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #ff8c00"><strong>Customer Reviews</strong></span></p><p></p><p>Testimonials can be a significant indicator of a site's credibility, value, and popularity. Google is already using a new sentiment analysis in their search algorithm, which is why getting <u>voluntary and authentic</u> reviews of your services can have a lasting effect on your site's ranking power.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #ff8c00"><strong>Build Citations</strong></span></p><p></p><p>Remember that one of our key SEO strategies is to rank for local search listings. This process will be detailed a bit more in the next post, as there is too much to go into here. Citations are listing with business directories, which list your name/address/phone number (NAP) so that you can be tied to a business and an actual/physical location. Some of these directories include: Google+Local, Manta, Yelp, Yahoo Local, Yellow Pages, etc.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Browncoat, post: 198896, member: 1061"] [COLOR=#ff0000][SIZE=4][B]Off-Site SEO[/B][/SIZE][/COLOR] Wait. What? Yes, that's right. SEO is much more far reaching than just your own humble website. Remember, your site is just a drop of water in the ocean, so it's important that you take additional steps to getting noticed. [U]Linking[/U] used to be the way to get this done, but no more. Wanna know the most linked-to site on the internet? Wikipedia. Why? Because a Wiki page contains near 100% pure information about a relevant topic. [B]ASSIGNMENT:[/B] Do a Google search for [I]"aardvark"[/I]. What's the #1 search result? Do another search for [I]"Hank Aaron"[/I]. Again, Wikipedia. Odds are, any search for a noun (person, place, or thing) one of the top results is going to be Wikipedia, because Wikipedia has [U]a ton[/U] of incoming links. Wikipedia has established itself as a [B]content authority[/B], so other sites link to the information there, which further builds its credibility. You must do the same thing, only establish yourself as an authority on photography in your area. You do this by first creating good content that other sites want to link to (see above On-Site SEO), and second by promoting your site through various channels. [COLOR=#ff8c00][B]Shameless Plugs[/B][/COLOR] Visit other photography-related sites and blogs and leave comments. When leaving a comment, you have the option to include your website address. Do it. You are building a link between that photography site and your photography site, which builds a little bit of relevance. The power of link building has been diminished, but it still exists. Many sites have a [FONT=courier new]rel="nofollow"[/FONT] attribute on their external links, which means they won't do a damn thing for you. If you have the Firebug extension for Chrome or Firefox, just right click on any link to check it. For example, many of you have a link to your website here in your Nikonites signature. Nikonites uses [FONT=courier new]rel="nofollow"[/FONT], so no SEO juice for you! [COLOR=#ff8c00][B]Social Signals[/B][/COLOR] As the web continues to evolve, social media plays a larger role in SEO. Things that influence search rankings include: [LIST] [*]# and quality of social shares of a page [*]authority/influence of the page author in social media [*]followers, fans, and activity of a page's author in social media [/LIST] This is a major reason why it is important that your site be based on YOU, and not a fancy business name. YOU are much more capable of building authority versus something like [I]Tinkerbell Photography[/I]. YOU want to be the author, YOU want to build a reputation, because YOU want to reap the rewards of YOUR hard work. Social sharing is important in 2013 and beyond for many reasons, which is a topic for another thread. What is important for SEO is that your pages need to have social sharing buttons, and you need connect your social media efforts. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Pinterest are all major players in the social/SEO game. [COLOR=#ff8c00][B]Build Your Brand[/B][/COLOR] Since your brand is YOU, it should be relatively easy to achieve this. Who is the leading authority on baby care products? Johnson & Johnson. Any blog or site about babies and baby care are going to mention that brand. That is called [B]brand recognition[/B]. Other major industry players like Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Tide, and Pampers all have one thing in common: their image and message has changed very little over the years. In a word: consistency. Other sites that mention and link to your brand name have a huge impact on off-site SEO. You achieve this by consistent marketing. [COLOR=#ff8c00][B]Build Relationships[/B][/COLOR] Helene and I have a relationship (don't I wish!). We are friends on Facebook and are fans of each other's pages, we follow each other on Twitter, we have "liked" and shared each other's content. We are both photographers, and all of this back and forth has built a relationship that strengthens our online presence as authorities and content producers of photography. Find like-minded people and interact with them. Share content. Write on someone else's blog. It all pays off, not just for SEO, but in building connections that are far more important. [COLOR=#ff8c00][B]Customer Reviews[/B][/COLOR] Testimonials can be a significant indicator of a site's credibility, value, and popularity. Google is already using a new sentiment analysis in their search algorithm, which is why getting [U]voluntary and authentic[/U] reviews of your services can have a lasting effect on your site's ranking power. [COLOR=#ff8c00][B]Build Citations[/B][/COLOR] Remember that one of our key SEO strategies is to rank for local search listings. This process will be detailed a bit more in the next post, as there is too much to go into here. Citations are listing with business directories, which list your name/address/phone number (NAP) so that you can be tied to a business and an actual/physical location. Some of these directories include: Google+Local, Manta, Yelp, Yahoo Local, Yellow Pages, etc. [/QUOTE]
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