Hey Everybody,
Do you know how to get more views on your photography website/portfolio/blog?
You have to buy your viewers. You have to hustle in the online world just as much, if not more, as in the off-line world. That hustle starts and ends with currency.
The Currency of the Internet
The currency of the Internet is “links”. You need links to your website in order for Google and Bing to recognize you as an authority in your market. Does your name pop up on page 1 of Google when you do a search query for your home town and photography? Does your business? Your brand?
Whether your a fine art photographer, commercial photographer, or wedding and portrait photographer you’re not going to get real search engine views on your site if you don’t have those incoming links.
This is one of the keys to Search Engine Optimization or SEO. Success in SEO is neither fast nor simple, but it doesn’t have to be too hard. It’s important. It matters if you want to drive your success through the power of the Internet.
The rank of two sites on the same topic offering equally good, original content will be differentiated in the search engines by the inbound links they get externally, and to a lesser extent, the outbound links they make to external sites.
Think of links as an endorsement. One site says your site is good. Google agrees. Your site moves up a little. That’s optimally why sites link out to one another, which is a good thing. It helps people find things on the Internet even without the Search Engines.
Relevancy
One, often ignored, aspect that’s super important in the eyes of the Search Engines is relevancy. You need endorsements from photography sites and blogs because you’re a photographer. Further, you need endorsements from local blogs and websites if you want to show up in Local searches. This tells Google, this site is about a photographer that lives in (you fill in the blank) or works in (fill in the blank).
Remember that it’s about quality inbound links not quantity. Links from websites and blogs that are already established as authority sites in Google’s eyes carry more weight than a blog or site that’s only been up for a couple months and that no one reads.
Next week we’ll go over some more on this topic and how to get more links to your website. Your homework should be to think like your client/customer. Do a Google and Bing search for how you think customers would try to find your work. This does not usually include your name. If they already know your name they aren’t really “discovering” you. Is it “wedding photographer in Dallas, TX” or “fine art photographs of Utah”?
Who pops up in those search queries? Why? Think about these things and we’ll address some of the reasons why they pop up and you don’t next week.
Until then, keep shooting.
Follow me on twitter @damienfranco
If you have questions/suggestions/comments hit the reply button in your email client. I don’t bite…hard.
"I'd Rather Be in the Studio"
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