Your photos are beautiful. Your website looks picture perfect. But a sleek website won’t do your business any good if you can’t get anyone to check it out!
For Massachusetts photography websites, SEO is an important strategic tool that aids in getting more traffic to your website. Traffic that is consistent and produces reliable inquiries! However, SEO can get somewhat confusing when trying to do it all yourself.
We’ve got tips for photography SEO in Massachusetts and the know-how to get you there. So if you’d like to increase your ranking on Search Engine Results Pages (SERP’s), get your photos liked and shared online, and win more commissioned projects through your online portfolio, keep on reading.
Massachusetts Photography SEO Tips
Identify the Right Keywords
When it comes to successful SEO, your first step is to do keyword research. Find out which words or phrases a potential client would type in to find your photography services online. This is how search engine algorithms work: they focus on specific keywords to understand if your website is pertinent for that keyword-related inquiries. It means that if you use the right keywords at suitable places on your website, Google will pick you among the others. This keyword placement is crucial since the better your rank, the more hits you’ll receive. In fact, the top three search results get 60-80% of all the hits!
People will likely use specific keywords when searching for photography services in your given area. For example, if they want to hire photographers in the greater Boston area, they will search for terms such as “photographers in Boston, Massachusetts.” It would help to have a keyword research tool to locate the right keywords to target.
Once browsers visit your site, you want to present them with a clear call-to-action to help convert them into customers. Use buttons, forms, and contact information
to achieve this. People will likely act if the website guides them smoothly to take the next step.
Make a Mobile-friendly Website
This solution cannot be stressed enough. A website not performing on a mobile device can be a recipe for disaster. Just think of all those potential visitors who are browsing on the go and can’t find the contact button or are unable to click to follow. Making your photography website mobile friendly is also important because Google’s mobile-first index gives a definite SEO to sites that are optimized for phones and tablets.
Speed Matters
And no, we are not talking about shutter speed. As a photographer, you will most likely have a bunch of your photos on the site. Adding large, unoptimized images will drag down your website’s speed, and people don’t have time for a laggy website that refuses to load. Instead, adjust the size of your images and other elements of your website so it performs swiftly, especially on a mobile device, as people tend to bounce off faster when browsing through a phone or tablet. No worries, we’ve got you covered as OpenVine develops websites that improve site speed and retain image quality.
Insert Titles and Descriptions
You will have noticed the big blue line of text (title) followed by two black lines of text (metadata) when you run a Google search. That’s the title and metadata. Search bots scan metadata for indexing and ranking. Therefore, it’s essential to have unique and informative metadata that clearly describes what your content stands for.
Add Alt Text to Images
Search engines cannot view images to understand what they are about. It means the display of phenomenal photography on your website won’t drive traffic if it isn’t checked for SEO. Add that annoying yet valuable alt text for every single photo to ensure your images are “seen” by engine crawlers. Alternative text attribute is where you would describe your image in one short line. It doesn’t show on the website, but search engine bots scan it carefully. Introducing more textual elements
to images gives you more chances of being spotted and presented on Google Images, which can drive some serious traffic your way.
Create High-Quality Relevant Text Content
Text helps search engines pick up on what your website is about. So aside from the stunning photographs on your online gallery, think of adding valuable and worthy subject-related content. Blogs are a great way to do just that. Create a blog where you talk about your photography skills, address frequent photography concerns that newbies run into, or even give some insider tips on how to click the most amazing natural shots. What you choose to fill your blog with is up to you, but remember those keywords we discussed? Your blogs will only be influential when sprinkled with the right mix of SEO keywords. Keep your blog updated by posting regularly and sending out newsletters when you do.
Apart from blog content, pay attention to the About page, where you would do a short, catchy summary of yourself, skills, and services. All this content together will work towards increasing your SEO levels.
Get Exposure and Backlinks
Backlinks are like a check of credibility that your website gets from other websites. Google will award you an authority score to measure how many natural and organic backlinks you have generated over time. Use promotional tools and techniques for people to see your content and encourage them to share your word forward. The authority score also improves your domain number, and the higher your domain number, the higher your website ranks in the search results.
Work With a Web Development Professional
Being a good photographer doesn’t mean you have to be equally proficient at SEO techniques. After all, technicalities such as F-stops, depths of field, and balancing space are pretty different from aspects like analytics, anchor text, and breadcrumb navigation.
If you want to ensure that your website is perfect and optimized for business, consider hiring a professional web designer to build it for you. Contact us today, and let’s make it happen!
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