In today’s fast-paced, global world, being instantly recognized is important for your business. Potential customers are bombarded with information from numerous sources throughout the day; if they recognize you as a trusted source, then you are already ahead of the game. 

This is possibly the number one reason why digital marketing and your online presence are so important. It gives you a global platform to increase product awareness and get your brand recognised. 

Technological change is another reason why your business needs to be on the web. Web design agencies can keep up with these changes, and with the customers’ changing use of technology. This ensures that you are always able to be found, and found easily. 

Having an effective online presence is also extremely cost-effective. Posting on social media, updating your blog and monitoring website traffic cost you very little. You can read up on SEO 2020 for more information on this.

Relying on print media does not hold this advantage and limits the scope of your audience. It is also worth remembering that the internet does not have a closing time. Information can be accessed all the time, meaning that you are available when your potential customer needs you.

Social Media Marketing

You need to understand the importance of social media marketing to be able to support the development of your business. While an expertly designed and professional website that is regularly updated with excellent content is essential, it cannot exist in a vacuum and support your business.

When discussing your needs with potential web design partners it is important to turn the conversation towards social media marketing. Any agency you approach should be able to convince you of the need for a social media presence by explaining at least some of the ways it can support your business. 

One of the main reasons to consider investing in social media marketing is that it increases your brand recognition, allowing you to increase your visibility on numerous platforms and reaching more of your intended audience. Your potential web design agency should also be able to explain how utilising social media provides you with more opportunities to increase your conversion rate. 

By increasing the interaction you have with both potential and returning customers you increase the potential for brand loyalty based on a positive experience. Not only does this mean that those you interact with are more likely to become customers, but they are also more likely to share your posts and further increase your reach and appeal. The opportunity to become a voice of authority is also offered through social media interaction. As existing customers post positive comments, and you answer the questions of potential customers, the trust that you instil increases.

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However, this is what makes growing a company such a confusing and difficult task–there are just too many things to consider! Do you focus on developing a public image by attending trade shows and displaying your products and services, or do you focus on the more modern social media approach and grow your digital presence?

You only have so much time and capital as a small business, but we think we’ve found the best component to focus on for sustained business growth; search engine optimization. Your digital presence is arguably one of the most important factors to focus on especially as a modern business. So let’s take a look at some of the ways your business could benefit from SEO and why it’s such an important component.

SEO converts leads more efficiently

SEO is typically targeted at certain audiences and keywords. This means that if someone finds your website thanks to your SEO efforts, then it’s highly likely that the lead will eventually convert into a sale or even more exposure. The quality of your content (and thus your SEO) will have a dramatic effect on the quality of your leads.

Every business can use SEO

As long as you have the help of an SEO agency, any business can make use of SEO. It’s not an expensive or magical treatment to help you grow your company. Instead, it’s just a tried and tested method of exposing your business on the internet and giving yourself a digital presence boost. So no matter what you sell or offer to the public, SEO can help your business get noticed.

SEO increases profit margins

Finding leads takes money. In most cases, you’ll typically rely on paid advertising (with most of it usually being irrelevant to your audience) to secure leads, and this can be expensive due to all the failed leads you couldn’t convert. SEO, on the other hand, doesn’t cost nearly as much once you understand how it works, meaning greater profit margins and less money spent on promoting your business.

Billions of people use search engines

Search engines are the single most popular way to find information, businesses, services, products, and generally anything you could ever want. Google regularly sees billions of searches and it’s estimated that 93% of all internet activities start from a search engine query. If you want to get noticed, then it’s important that you focus on ranking high on Google and other search engines.

SEO helps in the long-term

Good SEO prepares your business for success. It’s not a temporary solution to your problems, but a long-term plan to help your business continuously grow and consistently build more leads. Once you understand how SEO works and how it helps your business, you’re going to have a much easier time growing your company.

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Let’s say for example, that a lovely family comes to visit you for holiday photos. Your session is ah-mazing and you’re obsessed with what you’re seeing straight out of your camera. You rush off to processing as soon as the session is over. The images are backed up, edited, and just as you’re about to click on ‘export’ from Lightroom or Photoshop – you’re faced with a decision… What are you supposed to call the darn things?

Enter the name game!

If you’re one of the many who relies on the standard family name and photo number for the filename, pa-lease keep reading.

For my own peace of mind, I’m going to go ahead and assume that these photos will end up published on your site. (Hello blog post opportunity!) Anyways… if you don’t customize the filenames for your images, you are missing out. Every single filename and SEO image title is a legit opportunity to boost your SEO and plug your primary keywords/phrases!

Need to see it in order to believe it? Check out this screenshot of my media folder and focus on the area that the giant golden arrow is pointing to. The bold type that begins with ‘Atterbie’. This is your filename.

Once a media file is uploaded to WordPress, this filename cannot be changed. This means that you need to get it right the first time or you’ll end up paying the price when you want to boost your SEO rankings and end up having to re-upload every single one of your images. I’ve been there, done that, and don’t ever want to do it again! Please just take my word for it.  

How is a filename used?

The filename that you choose will be used to identify the image within your media library, to create a unique URL for the attachment file, and will serve as the default text for any fields that left blank (like the title or alt text).

Please remember that a filename is not the same as an SEO image title. Scroll back up to that gorgeous screenshot above (brought to you by my beloved SnagIt). The image title is an editable field located beneath the URL. This is where you’ll also find the alt text field.

What should I use for my filename and SEO image title?

Deciding what to name your files is easy peasy. Here’s a simple formula that you can use to get it right every time:

Business Name + Keyword (Variation) + Identifier

Using this method, I named the file above:
Atterbie – SEO Image Titles – Search Engine Optimization for Photographers

If I was the photographer who took this image (my fave Courtney at LBP), I’d name it the following:
Lovebug Photography by Courtney Ucker – Cuyahoga Falls Family Photographer – Amy Family 1

Here’s another way to view image details:

You’ll notice in this screenshot below that I’ve used my golden arrow to point out the media file URL. Check out the end of that long URL, ‘Aterbie-SEO-image-title…” This is automatically populated and cannot be changed once the file is uploaded. So yet again I remind you, no – implore you, get it right the first time! Put a little thought and effort into what you choose to name your media files. It will pay off in the long run, I promise!

Make sense? Good. Here’s the rule. Do this for every single image that you will use on your website. Photographer or not, filenames and SEO image titles are absolutely vital when it comes to getting your site to rank above the competition. With ever-changing algorithms, it is important to make sure that all of your bases are covered. You never know what the next ‘most important’ factor will be.

If you are ready to get your site in front of potential customers and trying your darnedest to get your SEO in order but just can’t seem to get results, please get in touch with me! I’d love to chat with you about your goals and come up with a plan of action steps in order to achieve them. We’ll make sure to include checking every single filename and SEO image title on our to-do list.   

Here’s how you can get in touch with me:
Amy at Atterbie
PO Box 951, Hudson, OH 44236
Email: amy@atterbie.com | Call: (234) 380-1753

I can’t wait to hear from you!  Amy

Atterbie is a digital marketing services agency located in Hudson, Ohio. We specialize in website development, search engine optimization (SEO), local SEO, content writing (blogging), and digital marketing strategy.

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Let me explain… Backlinks are an incoming hyperlink from one web page to another website.

So for example, THIS (a hyperlink) is a backlink to my friend Daquari over at Ablaze Photography in Grand Junction, Colorado (it directs traffic from my website to hers).

Hyperlinks are typically made obvious by default blue (on my site, gold) text with an underline.

Another not so obvious version, is the image backlink. Take this gorgeous photo below as an example. If you click on the image, it will direct you to Ablaze Photography. I’ve set it up this way within image details.

So now that you know what a backlink is, let’s talk about why you need them. The good people over at Google (and the other search engines I suppose, but does anyone really use those anymore?!) want to make sure that their search results remain accurate. While you use to be able to just feed them whatever information you wanted to share, they will no longer just take your word for it when it comes to the contents of your site.

In order to get your site ranked high within their algorithms, you need to show consistencies throughout. This includes things like your site title, site description, page titles, page descriptions, URLs, filenames, alt text, etc. You get what I’m saying… every little thing matter. (Don’t let anyone convince you that it doesn’t!)

Now back to the focus of this blog post and the additional factor you need to consider, backlinks.

Every backlink to your site is almost like someone raising their hand and vouching for you. They’re saying that your site is valid and accurate and they believe in the accuracy of your content enough to link their site back to yours.

So for example, if my friend Daquari over at Ablaze Photography Colorado shared these gorgeous images with me but then actually had some kind of off-the-wall political propogranda shared all of her site… would I really link back to it and direct traffic there? Probably not!

The fact that I’m willing to link my site to hers is a major thumbs up when it comes to search engines.

With that in mind, you should note two additional things:

First, the more the merrier when it comes to backlinks!

Second, just like you wouldn’t link your site out to a spammy site – you don’t need spammy sites linking back to yours. So focus your time on building truly legit backlinks that will help work towards opimizing your site in terms of searchability and allow you to move up the rankings.

To sum things up, backlinks are a good thing and will definitely help your overall ranking.

Questions? I’d love to hear them in the comments below or feel free to email me at info@atterbie.com.

I am all about building backlinks and supporting businesses I believe in. If you’d like your business featured on my website (backlinks included, haha) – email me at info@atterbie.com. I look forward to hearing from you!

Here’s how you can get in touch with me:
Amy at Atterbie
PO Box 951, Hudson, OH 44236
Email: amy@atterbie.com | Call: (234) 380-1753

I can’t wait to hear from you!  Amy

Atterbie is a digital marketing services agency located in Hudson, Ohio. We specialize in website development, search engine optimization (SEO), local SEO, content writing (blogging), and digital marketing strategy.

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Let’s face it. They’re all over your website. Hundreds, sometimes thousands depending on how long you’ve been in business.

So how can you use this to your advantage? Let’s break it down…

1.  Every image on your website is a representation of your brand.

Keep the look and feel consistent. Make sure you’re proud of the work you are showcasing. Your portfolio can make or break a sale.

2. Set up your image details properly.

Again, consistency is key. You’ll hear that a lot around here. Before you even upload an image, make sure that the filename is focused on the keywords/phrases of your page/post. Once uploaded, add your alt text and again make sure that the keywords/phrases are included. In the example below, our key phrase is “DIY SEO for Photographers Guide”.

TIP:  Add your keywords/phrases and your business name. After a little time, check out Google image search.

3. Use images to break up your content.

Any blog post or website page should have around 300 words of content in order for best case on-page optimization. That said, posts don’t have to read like the intro to your favorite novel. Use the beautiful images you’ve so carefully chosen for your website in order to break up the copy and keep your readers’ attention.

4. Placing images throughout your site.

When placing photos throughout your website, keep in mind the standard screen size. Photographers often have huge beautiful monitors that allow them to meticulously edit their images. This is AWESOME for anyone who also has a wildly large screen, but here’s the thing… there’s this whole slew of people who work on laptops or view your website on their cell phone. Every now and then, pull up your website on a device you don’t usually use and make sure it looks/feels exactly how you want it to (especially the images).

5. Image size.

Assuming you have a gazillion images on your site (or will soon), the size of your images will have a major impact on how quickly your site loads. For crazy details on image size and how to make every single image look amazing on your site, check out this article from the good developers at Google.

Go ahead and apply these tips to each and every image on your website. If it feels overwhelming, go ahead and take one page or one post at a time. The results you see will motivate you to finish the rest.

We’d love to hear your ideas for the fourth step in our DIY SEO for Photographers Guide! Leave all of your SEO questions in the comments below and we’ll get you answers.  

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When it comes to making an impression with your blog, consistency is a key factor that often gets overlooked!

Often there is a direct correlation between how often you blog, and how much traffic – and ultimately leads – your website is generating for your business.

However, it is not enough to simply blog more – the quality of the content has to be high because Google will always want to see quality over quantity.

I’ve been working as a professional photographer since 2008, but I did not start blogging consistently until 2012. Before then my blogs were sporadic at best and did not have a focus.

Then I made it a point to start blogging consistently 5 days a week, and I saw a spike in my traffic, which led to an increase in brand awareness and new clients booking with me! My business schedule has changed a bit since then, but I still focus on consistent blogging and produce new blog posts 3-4 times a week.

It’s interesting to look at internal stats because if I don’t blog on a certain day, or take a break, I always see a decrease in my overall site traffic because there is no reason for visitors to come to the site.

Another way consistent blogging helps your website is that it positively impacts your SEO. It creates new content for those search engines and increases the chances for you to rank for specific keywords.

Another big plus is that it positions you as an industry authority, creates a credible brand, and sets you up as someone your clients can trust and look to for guidance.

Getting on a regular blogging schedule will also hold you accountable and make it less likely that you don’t post on the designated days. I definitely recommend planning out your blogging topics at least 4-6 weeks in advance. If you already know the topic you are supposed to be blogging about, it is much easier to flesh out the topic and get it published on time!

How Often Should You Blog?

The simple answer: as often as you can! Simply put, the more you blog, the more index pages you create, and the more content you have for those little Google bots to crawl for new content so you can pop up in search engines.

Unfortunately, the “blog when you have something to say” approach does not work. If you want to build a tribe and draw people to your brand, you need to have a set schedule for adding fresh content to your blog.

If You Need Blog Content Help, Start Here: 

• Keep a running list with potential blog ideas/topics that you can pick up and expand on at a later time.
• Answer Frequently Asked Questions – is there something your clients ask over and over?
• Industry Trends – what is hot right now in your market?
• Share Personal Information – what got you into this industry? What is your motivation? What does “a day in the life” look like?
• Customer Success Story – it’s always encouraging for new clients to see how happy current customers are.
• Review a Product/Service – this won’t be one of your products/services, but instead a related item your customers might want to learn about.
• Go Behind the Scenes – show your clients an insider’s look at the daily operations of your business.

Photos provided by Judith Soule of Fresh Look Photography.

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It brings with it the promise of summer, sunshine, warmer weather, beautiful flowers, and for some odd reason – the sensation to clean. Maybe it’s because the windows can be opened without letting in crazy cold gusts of wind. Maybe I just like being able to walk outside without having to brace myself for the frozen feeling that will take over as soon as I open the door.

Whatever the cause, I love spring and I am ready to celebrate it.

But wait… it’s February. And wait… I’m in the midwest. So yes, I likely sound like a crazy woman, but guess what? It was 75 degrees two days ago! Seriously.

The crazy mid-winter heat didn’t last and it definitely SNOWED (yes, snowed) this morning but none the less, I’m ready for Spring’s official arrival and I want to celebrate this warm weather madness with a spring clean-up deal. So here it is…

Now through March 15, 2017 purchase the Spring Clean-Up Package and receive:

• Complete once-over for your website’s search engine optimization utilizing two focus keywords/phrases of your choice.
• Keyword ranking analysis before and after work is complete.
• We will comb through up to 4 pages and/or posts on your site to make sure that you are following best practices for SEO.
• All necessary changes will be made on your behalf.
• Items we focus on include:
  • Website title
  • Website description and snippets
  • Page titles
  • Page descriptions and snippets
  • Blog post titles
  • Blog post descriptions and snippets
  • Blog post content (including length of each post)
  • Images – titles/descriptions/alt-text
  • Links

We literally do all of the work for you…
Just allow us access to your site and provide the keywords you want to focus on.

COST:  One-time fee of $299

Upgrade your search engine optimization Spring Clean-Up package to include additional pages for $79 each.

[wp_cart_button name=”Spring Clean-Up Sale” price=”299.00″]

How exactly does this work? Thanks for asking!  

Email us at info@atterbie.com with a link to your website.

Once your purchase is confirmed, we’ll send you an email with the items we need to get started…

• Login information for your site (we want to see the details!)
• The two keywords associated with your site that you’d like focused on.
• A list of the four pages you would like cleaned up.

We’ll do the rest! How easy is that?!

Your Spring Clean-Up will be completed within 72 hours of your purchase.

You will receive a report showing the changes in your website’s search engine ranking 14 days after the project is complete.

Email info@atterbie.com to purchase your search engine optimization Spring Clean-Up Package today!

We can’t wait to hear from you.  

SEO Hudson Ohio | SEO Ohio | Search Engine Optimization | SEO for Photographers

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The Basics

You’ll need to make sure that your focus keywords are included in the basic setup of your website. These areas include:

• Website title
• Website description
• Page titles
• Page descriptions

Content. Content. Content.

We’ve discussed some of the advantages that photographers have over other business owners when it comes to SEO. The reverse is true in this situation… trying to fill your website with keywords can sometimes just feel (and read) weird or boring.

So what do you do?

You think outside of the box! Let’s say you’re getting ready to post a preview from your seventh engagement session. You’re tired of repeating the words “Bowling Green Engagement Photographer”. So what do you write? Here are a few options…

• Tips on how to make an engagement photography session successful.
• What to wear during an engagement photography session.
• How you help your newly engaged couple feel comfortable in front of the camera during their photo session.
• The best time of day to capture those soft and romantic shots for your engagement session.
• Top ten things to look for when searching for an engagement photographer.

There are seriously a zillion options, you just have to get creative and choose the one that best fits your needs.

Now that you’ve figured out what to write, where exactly should it go?

• The basic pages throughout your site are the most important; home, about, services, prices, contact.
• Utilize every single blog post to the fullest. Every post needs a focus, make it one of your keywords/phrases.

Wrap-Up

Every word on your website is there for a reason. Whether it’s entertaining or just there to help you connect with your readers, make sure that it’s also helping to increase your site’s SEO.

Don’t forget, potential clients can’t hire you if they can’t find you!

Check back soon for Step 3 of our DIY SEO for Photographers project… all about images!

Questions? Comment below or email us at info@atterbie.com.

SEO Hudson Ohio | SEO Ohio | Search Engine Optimization | SEO for Photographers

The post DIY SEO for Photographers – 102 appeared first on Atterbie.

With that in mind, we’ve created this DIY SEO series for folks who have some extra time and want to learn how to apply simple SEO practices to their websites that will help improve their site’s search ranking.

And now for the first step in DIY SEO series…

SEO:101 – Define your Keywords and Phrases.

Keywords and phrases are the specific terms people enter into a search engine (like Google) to find whatever product, service, or information they’re looking for. Knowing the terms that your ideal clients are looking for will help you determine how to properly market your website.

Example: If you are a photographer who takes pictures of babies who were just born, your keyword may include… Newborn Photographer, Baby Photographer, Baby Photos, etc.

Once you’ve figured out what the general terms that people are looking for, it’s time to think about how you can narrow these keywords and phrases down to best describe your business.

The first thing you must consider is niche. Do you serve a specific portion of the market or offer a product that is unique to your business? Make sure to include terms that will help set you apart from the competition.

Example: If you are a photographer who focuses on elopements, don’t rely on “wedding photographer” to best describe your services. Make sure you utilize “elopement photographer” while making your DIY SEO plans.

The second thing you must take into account is location. Most photographers serve the area located within 1.5 hours (at most) of their studio or home base. With that in mind, you can add general locations to your keywords to filter out clients who you will likely not travel all day to photograph.

Example:  If you are a family photographer located in Detroit, Michigan – make sure that you use “Detroit” as a keyword.

Don’t be afraid of losing people searching for those general “family photographer” terms. Ideal clients are looking for photographers who will serve their specific needs. While you may get traffic from around the world if you one day have high rankings with the term “family photographer”, chances are you won’t want to travel to Timbuktu to do a one-hour family session.

We’re going for quality over quantity here folks!  

Questions? Comment below or email info@atterbie.com for help.      Atterbie – Digital Marketing Solutions – SEO Services – SEO Hudson, Ohio – Search Engine Optimization – SEO For Photographers

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Specific SEO methods may vary, but the basics remain the same; keywords, metatags, descriptions, titles, headers, filenames. If you’re at all interested in SEO or if you are a DIYer and built your own site, chances are that you’re already familiar with most of these.

But, do you know the secret magic behind Alternative Text aka “Alt Text” aka “Alt Tag”?

What exactly is Alt Text?

A description of the image it is tied to.

No matter what web host, software, or platform you are using for your site, there is always the option to fill in an Alt Text field for your images. You can usually find this field under image options along with title, caption, description, etc.

Technical definition: An attribute added to an image tag in HTML.

For example, here’s a screenshot of what my edit screen looks like (via BlueHost) for the photo above:

If you have any trouble finding your Alt Text fields, feel free to reach out in the comments below.

What does Alt Text do?

Search bots can’t see photos. Your image may be worth its weight in gold, but those darn bots just don’t care. What they DO love and take note of are image titles, descriptions, captions, and alt text.

Here’s the short list of how Alt Text works for you.

1. Help search engines (those mean ole bots) understand what your image is all about.
2. Display text inside the image container if for some reason the image cannot be displayed.
3. Serve as the default filename should someone right click and save one of your images.
4. Serve as the default description should someone pin your image to Pinterest.

What should you use as your Alt Text?

Utilize this space as another plug for the keywords and phrases you’ve already identified to help you reach your target audience. Your Alt Text does NOT need to be the same for every single image, so use it to your advantage and adjust where necessary.

Why is this an important part of SEO for Photographers?

Photographers have a unique opportunity with their websites that other businesses do not. Your work is based on creating images that clients love and your website is the best place to show them off. This means that you are generating content (that your clients TRULY want to see) on a daily basis without even trying.

Take advantage of this opportunity by publishing as much of your work as possible on your website.

My #1 recommendation to photographers that want to increase their search engine result ranking is to blog. Blog each and every session. Include a short story about your clients or details on the props you’ve used to create a specific image, to make sure that you’re hitting the word count minimum. Then, make each blog post beautiful using the photos that you’ve worked so diligently to create.

Each post you publish will have a dramatic impact on your site’s ranking as they’re satisfying the search bots in two ways – through the actual content you’ve written and the images (with alt text that includes keywords) you’ve shared.

Do yourself a favor though, before you publish to your blog…. set up the Alt Text for each and every one of the photos within your post. While it adds another step to your process, it really only takes a few extra seconds and I promise you’ll be happy with the results.

I’m not a photographer, but I love alt text opportunities and sharing photos.  

Each of the images included in this post were created by Lovebug Photography by Courtney Ucker. She’s amazing!

If you are ready to get your site in front of potential customers and trying your darnedest to get your SEO in order but just can’t seem to get results, please get in touch with me! I’d love to chat with you about your goals and come up with a plan of action steps in order to achieve them.  

Here’s how you can get in touch with me:
Amy at Atterbie
PO Box 951, Hudson, OH 44236
Email: amy@atterbie.com | Call: (234) 380-1753

I can’t wait to hear from you!  Amy

Atterbie is a digital marketing services agency located in Hudson, Ohio. We specialize in website development, search engine optimization (SEO), local SEO, content writing (blogging), and digital marketing strategy.

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