Bringing Up Business: How to Skyrocket Your SEO in 15 Minutes a Day | Wedding Photographer Kansas City
How to Skyrocket Your SEO in 15 Minutes a Day
SEO. Search Engine Optimization.
We all know it is important, but if you are anything like me, you may have been pushing it to the backburner for months (or, gulp, years) because it seems like it is simply an impossibility at this point in your business. I get it. I felt the same way for a long time, but the truth of the matter is that Facebook ads and groups are simply not a marketing plan and are not sufficient to sustain a business long term. No, in order for your business to grow and thrive, you need to be ranking on the search engine rank pages (SERPs.) Luckily for you, I’ve written the quick start SEO guide I wish had existed when I started my business. Make sure to sign up at the bottom for your FREE SEO Quick Start Guide! In the meantime, here are some simple adjustments you can make to jumpstart your rankings.
Update your image titles.
Update every image on your website with a title that will support the key phrases you want to rank for on search engine rank pages, or SERPs.
First rule: Never use the generic titles generated by your camera or computer. Search engines read data, but they can not “read” a picture - that is what your image title and alt text or description are for. For the sake of this post, I’ll assume you have done your research and already know which keywords, key phrases and long tail key phrases you want to rank for. (If you haven’t, read a blog post or two on it, like this one, this one, or this one.)
For example, on this first photo, I would use a title like “Studio Maternity Photography in Kansas City by Merry Ohler,” or “Natural light maternity photo in Kansas City by Merry Ohler.” The important thing you need to remember is that your title should only be a general idea of what is in the image. You will go in to more detail in the alt text/description and caption. When choosing titles, know that it is okay to use similar titles but you should not use the same image title more than once. This is because search engines may consider the image duplicate content and not “fresh.” An easy fix for this is to use the same title, but add a number to the end. For example: Phoenix Art Class Photography by Jane Doe (1), Phoenix Art Class Photography by Jane Doe (2), etc.
For the second photo, I would use a title like “Lawrence Rooftop Wedding Photography in Kansas City by Merry Ohler,” or “Ceremony Wedding Photography in Kansas City by Merry Ohler.” Again, your goal is to provide the search engines with a general idea of what your image contains. You will elaborate in the alt text, description and/or caption. When you choose titles, don’t spend too much time trying to get it “just right.” Sometimes, when we are too close to something, we can waste time trying to figure out the magic formula. Trust me when I say, this is not a hard choice. Go with something basic (but accurate) and let it go. You need to get this done if you want to see improvements in your SERPs, and as someone once said, “FInished is better than perfect.”
Add your alt text.
Update the alt text and/or description of each photo on your website to fully describe the image and support your key words and phrases.
Once your titles have been updated, it’s time to focus on your alt text. This is where you will provide more detail about the image in question. Depending on your website builder, alt text may be called the image description. You will have to determine which is the case for you. When filling out your alt text, remember that this is where you will describe what is actually happening in the photo, as if describing the image to a person who is unable to see the image. Search engines are incapable of seeing what is in an image or photo, so they default to whatever you write in the alt text to help them figure out where to put your content in search engine results. If the alt text is unclear or vague, the search engine will likely not even index your content. It is a good idea to include your top keyword or key phrase in the alt text, just make sure that the content is readable and makes sense. The alt text is also what will be displayed if for some reason the image itself can not be displayed.
Add internal links.
Utilize whatever domain authority your home page has to support other pages within your website by adding internal links from your home page.
Most websites will rank higher and gain more authority (read: credibility) for a home page, so why not use that to drive your other pages to success? Link your blog, your best portfolio, your about me and your contact page on your home page. Use that domain authority to establish more credibility for your other web pages. If you have a stellar video post, link it right from your home page, sit back and reap the SEO benefits!
Proofread your content.
Go through every line of copy on your website and proof for grammar, spelling, and clarity.
I can not emphasize this enough. One of the first things customers notice about a website is whether the copy is professional or not. If an individual lands on a website with typos, punctuation or spelling errors, you can be sure that 9/10 will click away before you even have a chance to show them your work. If this is an area of challenge for you, hire someone to proofread and edit your copy for you. Begin with your home page and work through every page on your website, then go through and do the same on your blog posts. There have been numerous times when I have been interested in an individual’s product or service, but upon viewing their website I decided not to do business with them because the attention to detail was simply not there. If they were not willing to put in the effort to ensure that their own website, their brand, was presented in a professional manner, why would I think they would treat me or my business any differently?
Create a blog strategy.
Take time to formulate a blog strategy that will serve your customers.
Think about what pain points your customers have and how you can help solve those problems, then craft a blog strategy around that. Decide how often you want to publish posts. Once a week? Twice a week? Next, brainstorm your topics. I prefer to brainstorm 10 or 20 topics in one sitting, then schedule them out on my content calendar. This helps me to know how I need to delegate my time. I prefer to batch work, so I will get everything scheduled, then write my copy in advance so I am not writing everything at the last minute. This also enables me to see what holidays are coming, what topics are a natural choice, etc., so I am never scrambling to find something to write.
There you have it! If you dedicate 15 minutes a day to working through these five steps, you will see improvement in your SEO! Remember, though, SEO is a marathon, not a sprint. In order to see improvements, you have to dedicate time to it every day, and stick with it! This is not a “one and done” kind of deal, but a consistent habit to develop. Once you have updated your website using the steps above, and have begun to publish new content following those guidelines, you will see an improvement on your rankings!
Do you have a SEO tip to share? Tell me in the comments below!