SEO for photographers: websites, social media, and Google Search

The podcast episode discusses the necessity and SEO considerations for photographers' websites. It highlights that while social media like Instagram is popular, a personal website offers crucial control over content presentation and brand building, especially for fine art photographers whose work tells a story through collections. For those in service-based photography, like wedding photographers, the website acts as a business card, though traditional marketing methods and direct client relationships remain significant. The conversation also delves into the nuances of stock photography, where SEO through keywords, titles, and descriptions is paramount for discoverability, and the challenges of generic terms versus specific, branded searches.

The discussion emphasizes that a photographer's website should clearly articulate their artistic vision and what they want to be found for. For hobbyists, a personal website serves as a controlled space for their portfolio, but monetization, such as selling prints, necessitates a stronger brand identity. The technical aspects of image optimization, including responsive images and file types, are mentioned as good practices but not guarantees for high rankings for generic terms. Ultimately, the effectiveness of a photography website hinges on understanding its purpose, whether it's for showcasing art, providing a service, or selling products, and aligning SEO strategies accordingly.

• Photographers need websites for content control and brand building, beyond social media.
• Stock photography relies heavily on SEO for discoverability through titles, descriptions, and keywords.
• A photographer's website should clarify their artistic vision and target audience for SEO.
• Optimizing images for file size, type, and using responsive images are good practices, but not sole drivers of rankings.
• Generative AI is not expected to replace photographers who focus on human connection and emotional responses.

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The Purpose of Photography Websites [3:13]

• Photographers need websites to have control over what and how they publish their work, unlike social media platforms where context and presentation are dictated by the platform.
• A website allows for a controlled environment to tell a story through a collection of pictures, which is crucial for fine art photographers.
• For business-oriented photographers, a website serves as a "business card" to attract clients for services like weddings.
• Different types of photographers have different purposes for their websites; for example, stock photographers rely on marketplaces.
• Instagram can compress images, potentially diminishing their quality, which is a concern for photographers.

The challenge with exhibitions is it's not just your photo, it's your photo in connection to everything that is exhibited around it. So it's similar to Instagram. In Instagram, you control your feed, but people are not necessarily clicking on your account and going through your portfolio, so to speak, but they are on their home feed.

Stock Photography and SEO Nuances [6:39]

• Stock photography involves selling work through a marketplace rather than directly building a personal brand.
• SEO for stock photography is critical and involves understanding demand, phrasing descriptions, and selecting keywords that accurately represent the image's content and potential conceptual uses.
• Examples were given of how a single image (a skyscraper) could be described with various keywords, impacting its potential performance.
• Stock photography sites function similarly to the open web with ebbs and flows in demand based on seasonality (holidays, corporate needs, family themes).
• Competition for popular keywords is high, requiring photographers to be strategic with their descriptions and titles.

It's almost like the stock photography photographers then are not like building a brand or anything like that. It's really kind of like the content that they're providing.

Traditional Service-Based Photography Websites [10:26]

• Websites for photographers offering services like event or wedding photography are akin to traditional service websites.
• A key challenge is competing with generic terms like "event photographer in London," making it difficult to stand out.
• Direct client knowledge, business cards, listings, and participation in industry events are also crucial for this type of photography.
• Design is important, but it's essential to clearly communicate what the service is for and what the photographer wants to be found for.

It's not like event photographer for London within a brick building for 15 people who are doing something. It's not that you're like searching for something very niche. You're kind of like event photographer London.

Artistic Photography and Branding [12:48]

• Photographers who are artists may exhibit in galleries, and their websites should explain their artistic vision rather than focusing solely on service listings.
• Websites for art photographers might be created for specific exhibitions, or include a page for each exhibition.
• The concept of "brand" is crucial for discoverability; using a generic term like "underwater photography" as a brand can make it difficult to rank compared to a personal name like "Martin Blitz Photos."
• The speaker emphasizes making it easy for people to find you, often by prioritizing your name or brand over generic terms.

I think fundamentally I I see a lot small businesses make the mistake of taking a generic term and calling it their brand. So, kind of you're walking into that trap because like underwater photography, it's like super that's like what your domain name is. Like if that were your brand, you would have trouble ranking for that.

Image Optimization and Website Structure [19:04]

• Gallery pages can function like category pages in e-commerce, and including descriptive text, locations, or types of photos can aid in searchability.
• Individual landing pages for each image are beneficial if there is unique text or a longer description to provide, especially for image search discoverability.
• The use of fragments in website URLs was noted as an interesting technical detail.
• Key image optimization factors include file size, file type, and responsive images to ensure good performance across different devices.
• While good practices like responsive images are important for user experience, they do not automatically guarantee ranking for broad, generic search terms.

So, it's almost like if you're interested in having your images individually findable, definitely make individual landing pages.

Video Content and AI's Impact [27:31]

• Videos are considered a different category with more involved editing processes, including color grading and matching.
• For video to perform well in search, it should be the primary focus of a page, not an afterthought.
• Generative AI is not expected to replace photographers who focus on human connection, understanding light, perception, and eliciting emotional responses.
• AI might be useful for generating illustrations or charts but not for capturing the essence of photography as a form of human connection.

No. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I mean, I do it as a hobby, so I I'm not really impacted here. But I think like a lot of photographers who studied photography, who learn how light works, how our perception works, how to elicit different psychological responses or emotional responses to an image. Um, I don't think AI can do that and not anytime soon.