As small business owners, photographers need a strong online presence to be relevant in today’s hyper-connected world. However, optimizing that presence can be daunting. Websites are constantly evolving, social media changes by the day, Google algorithms are a mysterious black box, and search engine optimization (SEO) can seem like dark magic with hard-to-define performance indicators.

As creative director for PhotoBiz, a website-building platform for photographers, Jeremy Hyler deals with these issues daily, helping photographers to build better online businesses. Here, he shares some ways to improve your searchability, clickability, and, ultimately, profitability.

STAY ON POINT

You have a story to tell on your website and through other online channels. Just make sure that story stays on point. “These are sales tools, not avenues for sharing your personal portfolio,” says Hyler. “So keep it focused.” If your website and social presence are scattered, showing too many different kinds of projects for too many different kinds of clients, you will confuse your audience. Your customers want to know that you’re the best photographer for their specific needs. Your online presence should display what you do best and speak to your audience about how you’re the best option for them.

BUILD A BETTER WEBSITE

The cornerstone of your online presence is your website. To function as an effective sales tool, it needs to be visually appealing, easy to navigate, and optimized for search.

Use your words. If you want people to find your website in online search, you need to have words on a page. Your images demonstrate what you do and how well you do it, but your words help people find you online. That’s because Google and other search engines rely on written content to determine what a web page is about and how to position it on search results pages. “You should have a minimum of 250 to 350 words per page describing the topic of that page,” says Hyler.

Go organic. To attract search engines, provide rich, organic content that engages people. Don’t try to “keyword stuff” your website with high-value terms. That’s an old-school way of doing SEO that’s considered “black hat,” or not good practice anymore, says Hyler. Instead, speak genuinely to your audience about what interests them and how you can help them.

Guide your guests. Good website design isn’t just about pretty pictures and cool graphics; it’s about guiding site visitors’ eyes across each page in a strategic way. It’s also about creating a positive user experience that helps people progress through the sales funnel effortlessly. Favor design that has an easy-to-follow flow and visible (but not annoying) calls to action, such as buttons linking to your contact page.

Mind your fonts and colors. Go easy on the bright color combinations, which can be overwhelming for site visitors. And while an easily readable font size is important, don’t go too big or your site will look cartoonish. Also, choose fonts that are easy to read and not too ornate. Remember, people are looking at your site on a variety of devices, so a delicate script may be next to impossible to read on a small mobile device screen.

Navigate to the core. Your website navigation should revolve around core pages that explain the who, what, when, where, and how of your business. Your top-level navigation should be clean, simple, and intuitive. Site visitors should be able to quickly find the key info about your business by visiting these top-level pages. If they have to make multiple clicks to find something basic, such as your phone number or how to schedule a session, then your navigation is too convoluted.

PROVIDE A CLEAR ROAD MAP

A fast-loading, mobile-friendly site is essential for a good user experience and an important ranking factor for search engines. To make your website more mobile friendly, follow a few fundamentals:

Design responsively. Responsively designed sites automatically adjust to the screen size used to view them. So, for example, the layout will shift to accommodate a mobile phone view versus a desktop monitor view. 

Go lean and clean. Streamlined site code will help the site load faster and perform better on mobile devices. Avoid third-party plugins and superfluous site features that bloat the code and slow the load.

Load smartly. Smart loading systems prevent everything on your site from loading at once, which improves the site’s load speed and can improve your site’s search rankings.

Limit your images. Lots of large images slow down your site, especially on mobile devices. Galleries should have a maximum of 30 images, while other pages shouldn’t have more than 10. The images should be sized and optimized for the web (you don’t need 20 MB image files on a marketing website).

THINK MOBILE

Website visitors appreciate a familiar menu that they understand and can navigate quickly. Some common core pages include: 

Home. This is your pitch page where you explain who you are and what you do in 60 seconds or less. “Think of it as your elevator pitch,” says Hyler.

About. This is where you drill down to the “who.” Describe who you are, your business history, and what inspired you to become a professional photographer.

Contact. This is your connection page. Make it easy for people to get in touch with you.

Blog. Blogs are a great way to share recent work and speak directly to your audience. Plus, they help SEO by adding searchable content.

Testimonials. Prospective clients want to hear from others about their experiences with you. Share positive feedback you’ve received.

FAQs. Preemptively answer your prospective clients’ questions. This saves time during your initial consultations and is another powerful SEO booster.

Destination pages. These are the decision-making pages, such as galleries showcasing specific categories of work with descriptions of how you work.

Investment. This page isn’t just a price list. It’s an explanation of the unique experience and value you provide.

Booking. This is the primary decision page. It’s different from the Contact page in that it’s more directed. You’re showing people what they can purchase and how to reserve your time.

GET ON THE OPTIMIZATION FAST TRACK 

Looking to kickstart your online optimization? A few elements will give you a bump toward higher traffic.

Get the Google cheat code. Google Business Profiles (see “Google-ize your Business,” June 2024) are free listings for local businesses that allow you to provide important business info, collect reviews, display images, and even make social-media-style posts. “It’s kind of like a cheat code for getting found on Google,” says Hyler.

Make your pages searchable. SEO is an entire industry in and of itself, equal parts art and science. Adding some basics to each page of your website will help improve your search rankings over time. These include SEO page titles, meta descriptions and focus keywords on every page, and inputting alt tags for images.

Blog it. “Blogging is the secret weapon that no one likes to use,” says Hyler. “But it works, especially for local businesses because blogging is a local magnet.” By providing geographical context inside your blog posts, you can help improve your likelihood of showing up in searches for local services providers—for example, when someone searches for something like “portrait photographer in [your location].”

Get reviewed. To help optimize your online profiles on Google and social media networks, ask your best clients for reviews. Most platforms allow you to share a custom link to your business profile. “When you get reviews, positive or negative, always respond,” says Hyler. “It shows that you’re attentive to feedback and, in the case of negative reviews, it allows you to get your side of the story on the record.” 

Jeff Kent is editor-at-large.