Posted by Kshitija SEO for Photographers: 15 Expert Tips to Help You Rank in 2024
There’s two types of photographers: those who show up right at the top on Google search results when someone looks for a “photographer near me”, and those who… don’t.
Because we want you to be the first type, I’ve taken all my years of knowledge of Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, to compile this complete guide of everything you need to know to master SEO for photographers and start ranking on Google.
After reading this, you should be able to confidently begin your journey optimizing your photography website for Google search results. We'll explore 15 essential SEO tips tailored specifically for photographers, helping you climb the search engine rankings and attract more clients in 2024.
What is SEO in Photography?
Before diving right into the tips, let's clarify what SEO means for photographers. SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is the practice of optimizing your online presence to rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs). For photographers, this primarily means focusing on local SEO – targeting keywords and optimizing your online presence for the specific location where you work.
Why is this important? Because when potential clients in your area search for "wedding photographer in [your city]" or "family portrait photographer near me," you want your website or profile to be the first thing they see. Good SEO practices can make that happen.
Pro tip: Think of your SEO efforts as creating your digital portfolio. Just as you curate your best shots to showcase your skills, SEO is about curating your online presence to showcase your business to search engines and potential clients alike.
Now, let's get into the 15 expert tips that will help you outshine the competition in local search results.
1. Set up your Google My Business profile
The first thing to do is to create your Google My Business (GMB) account, if you haven’t already. This profile is the cornerstone of local SEO for photographers, and will help ensure that your name pops up when someone’s searching for a photographer nearby.
And it's not just about claiming your listing; it's about optimizing it to the hilt. You can find Google’s official guidelines here, but below are a few tips and best practices:
- Complete every section of your account, including your business name, contact information, hours, business description, category and attributes, services, questions and answers.
- Make sure your contact information is up to date.
- Add answers to frequently asked questions by your customers.
- Add photos that best represent your style and work and update them regularly.
- Respond to every review, positive or negative. This engagement signals to Google that you're an active, caring business.
- Use Google Posts to share weekly updates, special offers, or recent shoots. This keeps your profile fresh and engaging.
2. Aim to rank locally, i.e., focus on local SEO
SEO for photographers is primarily local SEO, at least for solopreneurs who focus on covering shoots (whether wedding, portraits, events, and more) in specific regions.
The basics are that you need to target all the keywords for the location where you live and ensure you’re the one who comes out on top. This helps Google understand where you operate and show your site to relevant local searches.
But local SEO is about more than just adding your city name to your keywords. It's about weaving your locality into your entire online presence.
- Create location-specific landing pages for each area you serve. For instance, if you cover multiple cities or neighborhoods, create unique pages for "Wedding Photographer in [Region/City Name]."
- Add your locality to the title and content of all your pages, whether it’s your homepage or your contact page.
- Get yourself listed on other popular local directories, which is helpful for both quality backlinks to your website and for discoverability.
3. Optimize all your images
As a photographer, your images are your biggest asset – both for clients and for SEO. Here's how to make them work for you online:
- Use descriptive, keyword-rich file names (e.g., "beach-wedding-photography-miami-2024.jpg") to optimize for the keywords you want to rank for.
- Compress images without sacrificing quality. We recommend tools like TinyPNG. Compressed images are smaller, ensuring your pages load fast — which is important for both SEO and for reader experience.
- Implement lazy loading to improve page speed without removing images.
- Use alt text to describe your images to search engines and visually impaired users. Include relevant keywords and accurately describe what's in the image. For example: "Couple posing for engagement photos in Central Park, New York City."
Pro tip: Create an image sitemap specifically for your portfolio. This helps search engines discover and index your images more effectively, potentially boosting your visibility in image search results.
4. Go for quality over quantity with your content strategy
You don't need to blog daily or even weekly to see SEO benefits. Focus on creating high-quality, location-specific content that truly serves your potential clients.
In-depth guides perform exceptionally well for photographers. Consider creating comprehensive resources like:
- "The Ultimate Guide to Planning Your Wedding Photography in [Your City]"
- "[Your City]'s Top 10 Engagement Photo Locations (With Example Shoots)"
These articles will naturally incorporate local keywords, showcase your work and experience, and provide genuine value to potential clients.
5. Get the basics of Technical SEO right
Technical SEO sounds scary, but you don’t need to stress about it too much. Just make sure you have the basics covered and keep an eye on future opportunities to improve your website. Here are the key areas to focus on:
- Ensure your site is mobile-friendly, i.e., looks great and functions well on smartphones and tablets. Not only are a majority of people searching on mobile vs desktop, Google's mobile-first indexing means this is non-negotiable.
- Improve site speed. Use Google's PageSpeed Insights and implement its suggestions.
- Implement schema markup for your business. For photographers, you should go for a schema type like LocalBusiness.
- Use clean, descriptive URLs that include relevant keywords. For example, "www.yoursite.com/wedding-photography-chicago" is better than "www.yoursite.com/page123."
If you're using a platform like WordPress, SEO plugins like Yoast or Rank Math can simplify many technical aspects of SEO.
Pro tip: Use breadcrumb navigation on your site. It's great for user experience and helps search engines understand your site structure better.
6. Build relevant, high-quality backlinks
Not all backlinks are created equal. For photographers, local relevance often trumps domain authority. However, a diverse backlink profile from various high-quality sources can significantly boost your SEO efforts.
Focus on getting listed in local business directories, wedding vendor lists, and partnering with local venues for backlinks. These locally relevant links can significantly boost your local SEO efforts.
Here are some strategies we've seen work wonders for photographers:
1. Guest posting
Reach out to popular photography blogs, local lifestyle magazines, or wedding planning websites to contribute articles or insights for their articles. Make sure your author bio includes a link back to your website. (FYI – Aftershoot often features photographers on our blog. Reach out at marketing@aftershoot.com if you’d like to contribute!)
2. Podcast appearances
The photography and creative industries have numerous podcasts (like After the Shoot, our photography podcast!). Pitch yourself as a guest to share your expertise. Many podcast hosts will include links to guests' websites in their show notes, providing valuable backlinks.
3. Collaborative shoots
Partner with other wedding vendors (florists, venues, dress designers) for styled shoots. When these shoots get published on wedding blogs or in magazines, you'll often receive backlinks.
4. Photography tutorials
Create in-depth, valuable tutorials on your area of expertise and reach out to photography education sites to feature your content. This not only builds backlinks but also establishes you as an industry expert.
5. Local event coverage
Offer to photograph famous local events for free or at a discount in exchange for backlinks from the event website and social media mentions.
6. Interviews and features
Reach out to photography gear review sites or local news outlets for interviews about your work or business. These often result in backlinks and increased local visibility.
7. Community involvement
Participate in local events, particularly those related to arts and culture. This often leads to mentions on event websites and local news outlets.
Pro tip: When pursuing these backlink strategies, always prioritize relevance and value. A single high-quality, relevant backlink can be worth more than dozens of low-quality ones. Focus on creating genuine relationships and providing value to your collaborators and their audiences.
Remember, backlink building is a long-term strategy. It takes time and effort, but the cumulative effect on your SEO can be substantial. Not only do these strategies help with backlinks, but they also increase your visibility and authority in the photography community, which can lead to more direct business opportunities.
Social media is one of the most powerful tools in a photographer’s marketing toolkit.
While it doesn't directly impact search rankings, a strong social media presence can drive traffic to your site and increase brand awareness. Optimize your social profiles with your job title and location keywords. Share your blog posts and website content on your social channels to increase visibility and potentially earn backlinks.
Pro tip: Use location tags and local hashtags in your social media posts. This increases your visibility in local searches within social platforms, driving more local traffic to your profiles and website.
8. Tap into the goldmine of Video SEO
Many photographers overlook video but it's a powerful SEO tool — especially on YouTube, the world's second-largest search engine.
Try creating short videos with keyword-optimized titles and descriptions showcasing your local shoots or offering tips. Host these on YouTube and embed them on your website for an SEO double-whammy.
If you post Reels from your shoots on Instagram, cross-post them on Shorts to start building an audience.
9. Answer commonly asked or searched questions
You can use keyword research tools like Semrush, Ahrefs, or even Google Ads Keyword Planner to look for keywords and questions that potential clients are searching for. Then, you can use those keywords to create content that directly answers their questions.
Often, Google features these answers in the form of featured snippets or People Also Asked questions, which can help you get even more visibility.
Pro tip: Structure parts of your content as direct answers to common questions. For example, create a FAQ section addressing "How much does wedding photography cost in [Your City]?" Use proper heading tags (H2, H3) to increase your chances of snagging these coveted spots.
10. Offer quality user experience to website visitors
Google is increasingly prioritizing sites that offer a great user experience. For photographers, this means:
- Easy-to-navigate portfolios
- Clear pricing information (or easy ways to request it)
- Simple contact forms
Pro tip: Consider implementing a chat function on your site. It improves user engagement and can increase time on site, both positive signals to search engines.
Reviews are critical for both convincing potential clients and improving your local SEO.
Create a streamlined process for requesting reviews after each shoot. Consider offering a small incentive like discount for future shoots, for clients who leave reviews on Google and key industry sites.
Download our client survey template for a free resource on asking clients for reviews.
12. Niche down for SEO success
Specializing in a particular type of photography can make your SEO efforts much more effective, as Google rewards websites that focus on specific niches and categories instead of trying to talk about multiple topics.
This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t try new types of photography; but that you should figure out your biggest business driver and focus your SEO efforts in that area.
Make sure this is clear across your entire online presence. For example, if you focus on elopements, use long-tail keywords like "intimate elopement photographer in [Your City]" throughout your site.
13. Target local and seasonal events
Capitalize on local events and seasonal trends in your area.
You can create content around major local events or popular seasons for photography in your area. For instance, "Best Spots for Fall Family Photos in [Your City]" can attract seasonal traffic and bookings.
14. Monitor, analyze, and adapt based on website data
SEO isn't a set-it-and-forget-it task. Regular monitoring and adjusting are crucial.
Set up Google Search Console and Google Analytics. Pay attention to metrics like organic traffic, bounce rate, and conversion rate. Look at which keywords or phrases are driving traffic and conversions. Use these insights to continually refine your SEO strategy.
15. Keep voice search in mind
With the rise of smart speakers and voice assistants, optimizing for voice search is becoming increasingly important. One way to optimize for this is by including natural language phrases in your content.
For example, "Where can I find a wedding photographer in [Your City]?" as these mirror how people ask questions verbally.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Can I do SEO myself as a photographer?
Absolutely! While SEO can be complex the deeper you dig, many aspects can be handled by photographers themselves. Start with the basics like optimizing your Google My Business profile and creating quality, location-specific content.
Q: How much does SEO cost?
SEO costs can vary widely. Many strategies, like optimizing your website content and images, can be easily done for free. Paid tools and professional services can range from a few hundred to several thousand dollars, depending on your needs.
Q: Is SEO good for beginners?
Yes, SEO is great for all businesses, including those just starting. Begin with the fundamentals and gradually implement more advanced strategies as you learn.
Q: How can a beginner practice SEO?
Start by researching keywords relevant to your photography niche and location. Implement these naturally in your website content, optimize your images, and focus on creating a great user experience. Use free tools like Google Search Console and Google Analytics to track your progress.
SEO for photographers is a marathon, not a sprint
Implementing SEO strategies takes time and effort, which is a precious resource for busy photographers, but the payoff is worth it. Start with optimizing your Google My Business profile and creating valuable, location-specific content. Then, gradually implement more advanced techniques as you grow more comfortable with SEO.
Remember, SEO is an ongoing process. Search engines and user behaviors evolve, and so should your strategy. Stay curious, keep learning, and don't be afraid to experiment. With persistence and the right approach, you'll see your photography business climbing the search rankings, attracting more visibility, and ultimately, booking more of your ideal clients.
And if your response to this is “I don’t have the time to focus on SEO,” then might we suggest offloading some of your routine tasks like culling and editing photos — like Aftershoot user Tania Aspeling Allen?
“This is probably the best program I stumbled upon! Being a wedding photographer the editing tends to pile up, I now have the time to spend on marketing while my magic unicorns are doing the hard work for me!”