Browncoat
Senior Member
If you've read any number of posts in this particular section of the forum, you've undoubtedly come across the term SEO, which stands for Search Engine Optimization. But what exactly is SEO, why is it important, and what can you do about it? You're about to find out...
For the purpose of this guide, we will be focusing on how to optimize your website for a local photography business.
What is SEO?
At the 10,000 ft level, SEO is affecting the visibility of a website (or single web page) in a search engine's natural/organic search listing. Consider the following statistics:
Therefore, if your company sells widgets, you obviously want to be in the top 3 or 5 of a Google search for the term "widgets". Since we're a local business seeking local customers, we want to target our local area: Anyville, Ohio 45123 and the surrounding areas. Why local? Because potential customers seeking photography services who live in California are not going to drive to Anyville, Ohio for your services.
How search engines work
Without getting too technical, a search engine indexes the content of your website and assigns a value to it compared to the terms that are being searched for. In other words, if someone performs a Google search for: Anyville, Ohio photographer how relevant is your site? The company down the road selling waffles isn't going to be listed in that search result, because their site is about waffles. So how do you let the search engines know how to consider you for that listing, and other search terms you want to target? Become an authority. This is done a variety of ways, some of which we will touch on here.
ASSIGNMENT: Do a Google search for your zip code + photographer. (ex: 90210 photographer).
You should find a number of listings, in addition to a map showing pins/locations. That map is why we're focusing on local SEO. In addition, handheld devices are the next wave. Let me repeat that: you NEED to optimize your site for mobile phones and local search. In 2013, mobile web use finally surpassed desktop internet use. This means if your site looks like crap on a mobile phone, customers might pass you by.
Choose a platform for your site
Your website should be the "home base" for your business. Not a Facebook page, not Twitter, not Photoshelter or Zenfolio, and certainly not some free service. You need to purchase your own dot com. Those sites give you a subdomain (mybiz.subdomain.com) and they have next to zero SEO value and there's very little you can do to change it. If you're not serious about being in business and willing to purchase your own domain, then stop reading now. This guide is not for you.
WordPress is by far the easiest, cheapest, and fastest way to get a great looking site up and running. There are SEO features built in, additional free SEO plug-ins, and hundreds of thousands of design templates to choose from for your own unique look, including hundreds of photography-related themes for every budget ranging from free to "OMG you paid how much for that?"
Two Wordpress plug-ins you definitely want to take a look at are:
Why WordPress?
Simple: it's text-based. 10 years ago, the big trend with photographer's websites was using a Flash slideshow with some cheesy music playing in the background. In fact, there are still a ton of photographers using Flash sites today, and they look very nice. Wanna know the biggest downside to that? No SEO. Those sites might as well be empty or not exist at all. Search engines can't "read" pictures.
Think of your website as a book. It has a cover, and a number of pages. Pages with what? CONTENT. The golden rule in SEO is: content is king. When you go to the library (or back when people actually used to do that anyway) what did you do? Perhaps you were looking to do research for a school paper on the War of 1812. You began your search by going to the index (Google) and looking for relevant books on the topic of the War of 1812 (Google search). You then browsed the aisles looking for the books turned up by your search, similar to how a customer browses websites. What kind of books would you pick up for your research paper?
How about a book titled: War of 1812-A Historical Record? Yeah, might want to have a look at that one. Then, you probably thumbed through a few pages (web browsing) to look at the content. If the text matched the title of the book and it was just what you were looking for, you headed to the counter and checked out the book. What if the book just had a bunch of pictures and very few words? Wouldn't do much good for a research paper, would it? The book is still relevant, but you really don't have much information, just something to look at.
Text is vital for SEO. Additionally, a website is a living, breathing book that should not only contain content, but it should also add content over time to remain relevant. Blogging isn't just a buzzword anymore. It's vital to your website's search engine visibility, search ranking, and ultimately, survival.
Thanks for reading this overview. Stay tuned for parts 2 and 3, where we'll get into the nitty-gritty.
For the purpose of this guide, we will be focusing on how to optimize your website for a local photography business.
What is SEO?
At the 10,000 ft level, SEO is affecting the visibility of a website (or single web page) in a search engine's natural/organic search listing. Consider the following statistics:
- Most purchasing decisions begin with a search, usually Google
- Sites listed in the top 3 are clicked most often, followed by the top 5
- Most consumers do not search beyond page one
Therefore, if your company sells widgets, you obviously want to be in the top 3 or 5 of a Google search for the term "widgets". Since we're a local business seeking local customers, we want to target our local area: Anyville, Ohio 45123 and the surrounding areas. Why local? Because potential customers seeking photography services who live in California are not going to drive to Anyville, Ohio for your services.
How search engines work
Without getting too technical, a search engine indexes the content of your website and assigns a value to it compared to the terms that are being searched for. In other words, if someone performs a Google search for: Anyville, Ohio photographer how relevant is your site? The company down the road selling waffles isn't going to be listed in that search result, because their site is about waffles. So how do you let the search engines know how to consider you for that listing, and other search terms you want to target? Become an authority. This is done a variety of ways, some of which we will touch on here.
ASSIGNMENT: Do a Google search for your zip code + photographer. (ex: 90210 photographer).
You should find a number of listings, in addition to a map showing pins/locations. That map is why we're focusing on local SEO. In addition, handheld devices are the next wave. Let me repeat that: you NEED to optimize your site for mobile phones and local search. In 2013, mobile web use finally surpassed desktop internet use. This means if your site looks like crap on a mobile phone, customers might pass you by.
Choose a platform for your site
Your website should be the "home base" for your business. Not a Facebook page, not Twitter, not Photoshelter or Zenfolio, and certainly not some free service. You need to purchase your own dot com. Those sites give you a subdomain (mybiz.subdomain.com) and they have next to zero SEO value and there's very little you can do to change it. If you're not serious about being in business and willing to purchase your own domain, then stop reading now. This guide is not for you.
WordPress is by far the easiest, cheapest, and fastest way to get a great looking site up and running. There are SEO features built in, additional free SEO plug-ins, and hundreds of thousands of design templates to choose from for your own unique look, including hundreds of photography-related themes for every budget ranging from free to "OMG you paid how much for that?"
Two Wordpress plug-ins you definitely want to take a look at are:
- All in One SEO Pack
- Google XML Sitemaps
- Genesis for WordPress (highly recommended, even for beginners)
- Thesis for WordPress
Why WordPress?
Simple: it's text-based. 10 years ago, the big trend with photographer's websites was using a Flash slideshow with some cheesy music playing in the background. In fact, there are still a ton of photographers using Flash sites today, and they look very nice. Wanna know the biggest downside to that? No SEO. Those sites might as well be empty or not exist at all. Search engines can't "read" pictures.
Think of your website as a book. It has a cover, and a number of pages. Pages with what? CONTENT. The golden rule in SEO is: content is king. When you go to the library (or back when people actually used to do that anyway) what did you do? Perhaps you were looking to do research for a school paper on the War of 1812. You began your search by going to the index (Google) and looking for relevant books on the topic of the War of 1812 (Google search). You then browsed the aisles looking for the books turned up by your search, similar to how a customer browses websites. What kind of books would you pick up for your research paper?
How about a book titled: War of 1812-A Historical Record? Yeah, might want to have a look at that one. Then, you probably thumbed through a few pages (web browsing) to look at the content. If the text matched the title of the book and it was just what you were looking for, you headed to the counter and checked out the book. What if the book just had a bunch of pictures and very few words? Wouldn't do much good for a research paper, would it? The book is still relevant, but you really don't have much information, just something to look at.
Text is vital for SEO. Additionally, a website is a living, breathing book that should not only contain content, but it should also add content over time to remain relevant. Blogging isn't just a buzzword anymore. It's vital to your website's search engine visibility, search ranking, and ultimately, survival.
Thanks for reading this overview. Stay tuned for parts 2 and 3, where we'll get into the nitty-gritty.
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