Why?

Most photography websites contains mainly images and are often flash based. Google likes text but doesn’t like flash based websites at all. Actually, Google probably have nothing against flash as such, but it just can’t understand what it is.

Text on the other hand is easy for Google to understand so Google is very efficient in gobbling and understanding text based web sites.

So is it hopeless to get a photography website ranking high on Google?

No, it’s not. In fact Google is pretty good at understanding images and have started to like them even more lately. In fact, nearly 30% of my website traffic now comes from Google’s image search and it’s growing fast. You just need to help Google to understand what the images are all about.

Here’s how you can help Google to interpret your images:

1. Include a descriptive file name including the keywords for all images (for instance angkor-wat-temple.jpg)
2. Include a descriptive ALT tag including the keywords (for instance angkor wat temple)
3. Give non relevant graphics (bullet points etc.) a number instead of a name (1.gif or 55.jpg etc).
4. Include caption text for each image (of course including the keywords (or synonyms)

You should of course also do the “standard” SEO for your webpage:

• All webpages on your site should be optimized for different keywords.
• Include the keyword(s) between the TITLE tags (for instance <title>Angkor Wat Temple</title>)
• Include the keyword(s) between the H1 tags (for instance <h1>Angkor Wat Temple</h1>)
• Include the keyword(s) in the filename (for instance angkor-wat-temple.html)
• Include the keyword(s) and synonyms if you have some text on the web page.

These small tricks are fast and easy to do and gives you good value for the small amount of time it takes to do it. There are more advanced tactics but they’re more time consuming and often not worth the time it takes.

Note: don’t keyword spam because Google is not stupid. Only include relevant keywords.

Of course, getting incoming links to your website is also needed to rank high on google but i’ll cover that later in a separate blog post.

Cheers!

SEO For Photography Websites is a post from: PhotoBusinessGuide.com

First some background, a referral can be 50 times more valuable than a “normal” lead. Let me ask you, who would you trust more:

1. A photographer coming up to you and telling you he takes great photos for great prices
2. One of your friends recommending a photographer and telling you he takes great photos for great prices

You are naturally inclined to trust a good friend much more than someone totally unknown.

So it should be one of your highest priorities in your photography marketing plans to get referrals whenever you can and here’s a proven game plan you can follow.

Game plan

Offer a free photo session to five families with small children and take ~100 to 200 images. Give them ten free 8×10” sized prints under the condition that they personally introduce you to a minimum of ten other families. Also “upsell” them with additional prints and larger sized prints after you gave them the ten free prints.

This should give you 5-10 paid photo sessions with the referred families where you sell 8×10” sized prints. Also offer them a few 11×14” sized prints for free if they personally refer you to their friends.

Remember to take a lot of images because it’s really hard for small children families to reject a cute photo of little Alice, especially if it’s already printed. It’s like throwing little Alice in the trash can.

Your photography business can go viral with this kind of marketing approach and the word is spreading by word of mouth which is extremely valuable. Never be afraid to offer something for free in the beginning as long as you have a plan how to monetize it at a later stage.

An additional photography marketing idea would be to offer a photo shoot every birthday for the first few years or why not monthly or quarterly the first one or two years. That would generate recurring income which is always nice to have.

Photography Marketing Ideas – Getting Referrals is a post from: PhotoBusinessGuide.com

It’s like making money on autopilot, all you have to do is to take and submit images to the micro stock agency who do all the grunt work while you collect the money (and taking photos is your hobby right?.

The biggest sticking point people have with micro stock photography is that the images sell for only a few dollars and even less. Traditional stock agencies usually sell similar images for hundreds of dollars.

I sold this stock image for $330 at a traditional stock agency but only once. How many times could i have sold it if the price was $1?

So why would someone sell images through micro stock agencies for a few bucks if they could sell it for hundreds of dollars at a traditional stock agency?

There are more factors that price in the equation so let me explain…

You can calculate how much you earn through this formula:
Number of images sold x Average price = Total sales

So it’s not only the price you get per image but also the number of images sold that matters. And as you might guess, it’s way easier to sell a photo for 1 dollar than for 600 dollar. So in the end you might make much more money selling images for 1 dollar each than you would selling your images for 600 dollars.

OK, this sounds great but what kind of photos can I sell?

There’s a big difference between a good photo and a good marketable photo so that image of aunt Molly’s birthday might mean a lot to you but probably mean nothing for the rest of the world (sorry Molly). The same goes for sunsets and pets which also are very hard to sell.

The best way to find out what sells is to analyze the most popular images section you can find at most micro stock websites. You can also analyze images in magazines and websites. But in general… Photos that sell falls in two categories:

1. Photos of people doing something
2. Photos expressing a concept or a mood

Be extra careful if your image contains a recognizable face or building as you will need a signed model release. Also be careful if your image contains a subject protected by a copyright or trademark.

Here’s a couple of micro stock agencies to get your started:

• iStockPhoto
• Fotoalia
• ShutterStock

So what are you waiting for?

Make Money Selling Micro Stock Photography is a post from: PhotoBusinessGuide.com