You’re looking for answers on how to implement “SEO” and “Keywords” into your photography business…you’re in the right place! This is exactly where I would start if I was brand new to SEO.
First off, SEO stands for “Search Engine Optimization” which is just a fancy way of saying the work you’re doing to allow people to find you when they search. For now, Google is the most popular search engine but this work can apply to any search engine such as Bing, Alexa, Siri, even social media sites like Facebook have Search Engines built in.
Next, let’s define “keywords“. These are words and phrases that people are typing into the search engine. To be able to start getting leads and booking from search engines like Google you need to strategize by
- Knowing what keywords people are *actually* searching for
- How many searches do those keywords average a month?
- Is there a lot of competition to rank for those keywords? Do a lot of people already have content for those keywords?
- Do those keywords align with your brand?
- Would you actually *like* to rank for those keywords?
- Do the keywords work with the services you offer?
- Add those keywords on your website properly
Ready to dive in? It’s okay if you’re not, you can pin this to read later 😉
Free SEO Keywords Tool for Photographers
You’d be surprised what people are actually searching for. Many photographers are so deep into their craft, it is hard to imagine what our non-photographer clients might call things. This is where tools that provide data on what is being searched are helpful!
The tools I list below are super user-friendly and free. I believe if you are just diving into SEO for the first time or the tech jargon overwhelms you, then these are what I would use. There are lots of other amazing tools (free and paid) out there that can dive even deeper into the data and get really fancy. I’ve found that simple is best – mainly because marketing with SEO is just a portion of what you do to run your business. I want this to be as easy and simple as possible for you to use!
Some of my favorite free tools to help photographers with their keyword research are:
The Google Keyword Planner
This keyword tool is FREE and if you want to rank on Google then you’re going to get the best info straight from the source. You’ll setup a Google Ads account (click expert mode at the bottom so you don’t have to put in a credit card). Then you’ll be able to start searching and see what related searches come up, how much search volume and competition they have as well.
Here is a screenshot from the Google Keyword Planner. I typed in “Utah Photographer”. The most searched terms related to that keyword are getting 1,000-10,000 searches a month “wedding photographers in Utah” and “wedding photos utah”. Both have medium competition. Those search terms actually get more searches per month than just “utah photographer”.
Google (Itself)
Or whatever search engine you’re trying to rank on. Just type in your keyword and see what comes up! You’ll also see “related searches” and a “people also asked” section with more keyword ideas.
Google Trends
This is another free tool from Google to see what searches are increasing and what are decreasing overtime. They also tend to have an amazing end-of-the-year recap you can watch. I tear up every time. This is also great data to see the regions where search terms are popular.
Ubersuggest
There are many tools out there for SEO, but I’ve found Ubersuggest to be ultra user-friendly, especially for beginners! Neil Patel also is a great guy to follow for marketing tips! You might have also heard of Answer the Public – which Neil bought. That tool is better for short-form content ideas like social media posts and short videos.
How I use the Keyword Tools:
I’m mainly in the Google Keyword Planner and Google for my research on what keyword topics to write about on my website. I’ll use the Google Trends tool once or twice a year to see what niches are rising to the top or if there is anything I need to adapt to (like “content creator” on the rise). Ubersuggest I mostly use to check on backlinks (another post on that later).
Photographer Keywords Example
In this video, I’ll show you how I use the Google Keyword Planner for Keyword Research:
Choosing the right Keywords for your Photography Business
You want to choose keywords that have a decent amount of search volume (100-1,000 searches or up to 10,000 searches a month), low competition, and work for your business. You don’t want something too narrow or too close to another topic you’ve already written about. It needs to be broad enough that you can write 1000+ words about it. But not so broad that you’re unlikely to rank for it due to competition.
Also consider if it aligns with your business! “Cheap photographer” might get a ton of searches, but do you really want to show up for that?
Best SEO Keywords for Photographers
The goal is to book clients, not just get a bunch of people visiting your website. The best keyword strategy is LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION. Depending on your area, it may be better to rank for a region, city, state, or even country. You have to do the research to see what people are searching for where you want to work and the services you offer.
Think about what your potential clients might be searching right before they would hire you!
To start research you might want to start with “state + photographer” then “state + niche”. Then you can broaden or narrow from those results.
SEO Keywords for Wedding Photographers List
[Location] Wedding Photographer
[Location] Wedding Venues
SEO Keywords for Elopement Photographers List
*Please note that you need to do keyword research for the area you want to rank for. Some places people search “Elopement Photographer”, for others it is “Micro-Wedding” or “Small Wedding” or “Intimate Wedding”.
[Location] Elopement Photographer
Places to Elope in [Location]
Do not Keyword Stuff
Years ago, it was trendy to write blog posts then put your keywords at the end of every title so it would look like “Blog post title – Arizona Wedding Photographer”. Or photographers would write several pages that were basically the same information just slightly varying the keywords like “utah wedding photographer” and “wedding photographer utah”…with some keywords like that it is better to have all the content on a single page. When you have multiple pages ranking for the same keywords it is called “keyword cannibalization”. So dramatic, I know, but you really are biting yourself in the foot by doing that because you’re competing with yourself.
You can’t outsmart Google. You can’t just write your keyword 50 times on a single page and think you’ll rank #1 for it. This is keyword stuffing and Google penalizes website that do it so just don’t!
The Importance of Keywords
Choosing the right keywords is just a small part of what it takes to get found on Google. This is the first step in creating valuable content (information) on your website for people to find. If I were just starting out with SEO, I would write a blog post on the top 5-15 venues/locations for your city/state/country as a list then write a seperate blog post about each one of those.
I also have a free checklist for formatting your website to get found. Download my free SEO guide for photographers for more tips!
