SEO for Photographers: How to Rank Your Photography Website Higher in Search Engines

As a photographer in the digital age, having an online presence is crucial for growing your business. But simply having a website is not enough – you need to optimize it for search engines like Google to bring more traffic and leads.

Implementing SEO or search engine optimization best practices can help your photography website rank higher in search results for relevant queries. This will allow you to get your work in front of more potential customers.

In this comprehensive guide, we will share the best SEO tips and strategies specifically for photographers looking to improve their website‘s visibility and search rankings.

Why SEO Matters for Photographers

Here are some key reasons why you should focus on SEO as a photographer:

• Increased website traffic – Good SEO leads to higher rankings, which means more people will find your site when searching for related terms. More traffic equals more potential customers. According to a recent BrightLocal survey, 97% of website traffic comes from search engines. So you simply cannot afford to neglect SEO as a photographer.

• Reaching local clients – Optimizing for local SEO helps you attract clients in your city or region by ranking for queries like "photographer Denver". Location-based searches account for 46% of all Google searches according to Search Engine Journal. Targeting them is critical for photographers.

• Builds credibility – Having your site rank on the first page for competitive keywords builds trust and establishes you as an authority. In a survey by Blue Corona, 89% of consumers said they only consider brands on page 1 of results. SEO helps secure that coveted real estate.

• Cost-effective marketing – SEO provides results without expensive ads. And the traffic keeps coming as long as your rankings are maintained. The average cost per click on Google Ads in the USA is $2.69 as per Wordstream. SEO provides free clicks!

• Helps your social media – Higher rankings drive traffic to your site, giving you more opportunities to gain followers on Instagram, Facebook etc. Shopify merchants with blogs get 3.5x more social media shares according to their research.

• Future-proofs your business – Search engines are only growing in popularity. SEO ensures customers keep finding you in years to come. Google processes over 2 trillion searches a year as of 2020 and that number keeps rising.

Simply put, SEO is too important to neglect if you want to grow your photography business online. Let‘s look at how to do it right.

Step 1: Optimize Your Website Design

The foundation of good SEO is having a well-designed, fast loading website built on modern best practices. Here are some tips:

Use a Professional Looking Theme

Your theme or template controls the overall look and feel of your photography website. Using a dated, amateurish theme gives a bad impression.

There are many modern, professional photography WordPress themes available these days. Look for responsive designs with portfolios, galleries and other key features.

Popular options include:

• PhotoFocus
• Pixpa
• Photoshelter
• Format

Avoid free themes – they often lack polish and optimization. Investing in a premium theme is worth it. A well-designed website leads to lower bounce rates which helps SEO.

Make Your Site Fast and Mobile-Friendly

Site speed and mobile responsiveness are key ranking factors according to Google.

• Pagespeed should be above 85/100 on mobile and 90/100 on desktop according to Google recommendations. Use tools like Pingdom or WebPageTest to measure.

• Enable caching, CDNs, image optimization and other technical optimizations. Fast load times keep visitors on site longer.

• Ensure your site adapts smoothly for mobile devices. As of 2022 over 60% of search traffic comes from mobile per Backlinko. Use mobile-first indexing.

Tip	Impact
Enable Caching	Faster load times
Compress Images	Quicker page loads
Minify Code	Reduces file size

Include Your Location

As a local photographer, you want to rank for searches within your city or region. Make it easy for Google by adding location info:

• Full address on Contact page
• City and state in page titles and meta descriptions
• Optimized Google My Business listing

This clearly signals your geographic service area.

Update Your Site Architecture

Old or cluttered site structures with poor navigation can negatively impact SEO.

Do a review of your pages and simplify the information architecture (IA). Add clear categories, archives and intuitive URLs.

Make sure key pages are no more than 1-2 clicks away from homepage.

For photographers, common pages include:

• Home
• About
• Portfolio
• Contact
• Blog

Well-structured sites are easier to crawl, index and navigate.

Step 2: Conduct Keyword Research

The backbone of SEO is optimizing your content for keywords people are searching for. To identify these, you need keyword research.

Use free tools like Google‘s Keyword Planner, SEMrush or Ahrefs to discover relevant keyword ideas.

Types of keywords to target:

• Branded – Your name or business name e.g. John Doe Photography

• Generic – General terms like "photographer", "portraits" etc.

• Long tail – Specific phrases like "family photographer Ottawa"

• Geo-targeted – Your location like "Portland wedding photography"

Keyword Type	Example
Branded	John Doe Photography
Generic	Photographer
Long Tail	Newborn Photographer Phoenix
Geo-Targeted	Seattle Fashion Photographer

Organize keywords into priority tiers based on volume and competitiveness. Focus on winnable long tail variations for articles.

Track ranking progress in tools like SEMrush. Adjust targeting over time based on performance.

Step 3: Optimize Website Content

Now that you know what keywords to target, it‘s time to optimize your site content accordingly.

Update Page Titles and Meta Descriptions

Page titles and meta descriptions are critical on-page SEO elements visible to search engines.

Include your main keyword(s) near the start of titles and descriptions. Keep them below 60 characters.

For example:

Page Title: San Diego Family Photographer | John Doe Photography

Meta Description: John Doe is a professional family photographer serving the San Diego metro area. Schedule a session to capture your family memories today!  

Improve Image SEO

Photos are central to photography websites. Ensure they are optimized with:

• Relevant file names – "jane-doe-family-photoshoot"
• ALT tags – "Family taking pictures outdoors in the park"
• Title attributes
• Caption tags
• Copyright metadata

This provides more context to Google Images.

Create Locally-Targeted Pages

If serving a specific city or region, create pages targeting those locations. These can rank well for local intent keywords.

For example, have pages like:

• San Diego Family Photographer
• San Diego Newborn Photographer
• San Diego Wedding Photographer

And target the relevant terms.

Write SEO-Focused Blog Content

Blogging helps drive ongoing traffic and leads while showcasing your skills.

Research keywords and write posts targeting each one. Include keywords naturally in titles, URLs, content, tags etc.

Photography blog ideas:

• Behind the scenes of a shoot
• Travel adventures and tips
• Photo editing tutorials
• Gear reviews
• Business tips for photographers

Publish long, value-packed posts of 2000+ words to satisfy search engines. Use images, videos and graphics as well. Promote new content on social media.

Step 4: Build Authoritative Backlinks

Links from external websites to your photography site signal trust and authority to Google. Earning quality backlinks remains a top ranking factor.

Here are some ethical link building tactics to try:

Pitch to Local Publications

Contact local newspapers, magazines, blogs etc. offering to provide photos and be credited with a link. Great for community awareness too.

Guest Post Outreach

Photography and arts-related blogs often accept contributor posts. Secure backlinks in the author bio.

Directory Listings

Register your site on niche directories like Houzz, Thumbtack and others relevant to your locality and photography style.

Utilize Photo Sharing Sites

Share photos on Flickr, Imgur, Unsplash and other photo communities. Link back to your website.

Sponsor Local Events or Contests

Sponsor a local event or contest in exchange for promotion and backlinks. Gets you noticed in the community.

Focus on getting links from a diverse range of high-quality sites over time. Monitor progress via tools like SEMrush and Ahrefs.

Step 5: Leverage Social Media and Pinterest

While not directly related to SEO, social media and Pinterest should be part of your online strategy.

They help increase brand awareness, website traffic, and provide backlinks.

• Share your photos and blog posts consistently
• Engage with your followers
• Use relevant hashtags and location tags
• Run occasional contests to gain followers
• Promote your Instagram and other profiles on your site

Pinterest specifically can send huge traffic. Ensure your photos are "pinnable" for reposting.

Advanced SEO Tips and Tools for Photographers

Let‘s look at some more advanced tactics to take your SEO to the next level as a photographer.

Improve Site Speed for Image-Heavy Sites

Photography sites tend to be bandwidth-intensive due to large photos. This can slow down load times.

Try these optimizations tailored to image-heavy sites:

• NextGen Gallery or similar lightweight gallery plugins
• Lazy load images below the fold
• Shrink and compress large photos
• Enable a content delivery network (CDN)

Faster speeds improve user experience and SEO.

Add FAQ Schema Markup

Enhance your FAQ or common questions page with FAQ schema markup.

This makes your answers eligible to display directly in Google‘s search results.

Use a plugin like Schema Pro to easily add FAQ schema.

Create Sitemaps XML for Indexing

Submit sitemaps to expedite indexing by search engines.

An XML sitemap lists all pages on your site and assists crawlers. Enable this in your SEO plugin.

Consider AIOSEO for Seamless SEO

For photographers seeking an all-in-one SEO plugin, AIOSEO is a great choice.

It offers:

• Automatic schema markup
• Built-in speed and performance optimization
• XML sitemap generation
• Local SEO features
• Link assistant
• Readability analysis
• SEO audit

The premium version is feature-packed for photography sites.

Monitor Rankings and Traffic

Use tools like SEMrush, Ahrefs and Google Analytics to monitor important metrics:

• Keyword rankings
• Traffic volume and sources
• Top landing pages
• Backlinks growth

Track progress continuously and act on insights.

Conclusion

By following SEO best practices, photographers can drive more qualified traffic to their websites and gain more local clients and bookings.

Focus on on-page content optimization, reliable technical foundations, local SEO, backlinking, and leveraging social media. Measure keyword rankings and traffic regularly.

SEO is an ongoing process. But the payoff of higher visibility is well worth the effort for photography businesses looking to stand out online.

With over 15 years of experience in website development, I highly recommend all photographers take SEO seriously if you want to grow your business.

Feel free to reach out to me via my website if you need any help implementing these tips! I‘m always happy to help fellow artists and photographers succeed online.