Quirky Bird Blog

Mistake #5 – Not updating your blog on a regular basis.

Because this is really your only way to generate search engine content, it’s imperative to keep the information flowing. Google loves new content and will visit your site more regularly if it sees that you’re updating it regularly. And, don’t just post a photo series. Talk a little about the shoot – the area you were in, the type of people you were photographing (newborn, family, children, etc). Describing these things will inject keywords without force into your blog posts in a way that’s legible…not a keyword sausage fest.

Mistake #6 – Not befriending content.

Content is your friend. It’s your buddy that gets you on the VIP list with google. Write good content for your blog posts. I know I just talked about this, but it’s so important that it gets it’s own Mistake too. Writing good content is the easiest thing you can do on your blog to climb the search engine ladder. Make sure any time that you write the following that they have descriptive, search engine friendly content:

Post titles

Post Content

Meta Titles

Slugs

Comments

Mistake #7 – Not utilizing linking opportunities.

Networking is such a great way to spread the love and help out your fellow photographers out there. Since most of you are operating in your area, a photographer in a far away city isn’t much competition for you. Create a blog roll and get mini banners from your recommended photo blogs. Do one per city, and make a deal with the photographers that you’re listing to list you as well. So, say you’re my photographer, I’m reading your blog and see a photographer that you love in Houston. I send that to my sister-in-law and she hires them. See how it works? Not to mention that your link on their site helps your search engine rankings and credibility, so to set up a symbiotic link swap via your blog roll will help both of you climb search engine rankings.

why this works

Google has a complex set of criteria for ranking your site against others with the same type of content and keywords. Part of this is what you do on your site to display good relevant content. The rest is what you’re doing off site – including how many links on the web are pointing at your website. These links are “graded” based on relevancy. So if your link were on my site, a web design site, that doesn’t weigh as much as a link on a photography site with similar keywords. The more links you have that are in your same genre, the more valuable that link becomes.

Mistake #8 – Posting randomly on each other’s blog posts.

Make the most out of any posts that you make on other’s blog posts. Posting randomly isn’t going to get you many clicks. If you can make what you say valuable and relevant, there’s a higher likelihood that someone will click your link there. Posting on each other’s blogs is a good thing for SEO though, it’s a relevant link to your website. If the blog that you’re posting on doesn’t have a good SEO setup though – this link isn’t going to help you out near as much as it might if they did.

Mistake #9 – Using a profile widget instead of an about page.

So, if climbing the SEO ranks is easily done by having great content, then passing on an entire page about you and what you do to opt for a mini section about you with just a couple of sentences is a tragedy. Your about page is a fantastic page for you to talk about you, what you do, and show a picture of yourself and your family. This page should be 500+ words. Include your name. The page title shouldn’t be About Me, it should be something like Staci Brillhart, San Diego photographer.

Mistake #10 – Not putting your contact information on your blog.

Think of your blog like a second website. It should have everything from an informational standpoint as your portfolio website and then some. Why not make it obvious how to get a hold of you? This way if someone lands on your blog and they have the impulse to call, they’ve got your number right there. While you’re at it, may as well have a contact page with an email form. Make it as easy for them to get in touch with you as possible – it’ll make it so easy that they’ll feel compelled to contact you.

Stay tuned, final installment coming soon!