The thing that overwhelmed me the most about starting a blog was trying to figure out SEO. I read book after book and studied what I could about it, but I still became overwhelmed by it all. The best thing I did for my business was hiring Ryan Moreno to develop my website and update my SEO. He made sure my site was SEO friendly and taught me how to make each blog post SEO friendly as well. Since I learned so much from him I thought I would collab with him for a blog post all about SEO tips for blogging. If you want to know more about SEO and want to hire an SEO master to help you out contact Ryan Moreno!

Also, be sure to keep an eye on out for his SEO guide releasing in the next month!

Ryan Moreno: https://morenocollective.com/

1.What is the best thing you can do for your SEO? 

Simply put, blog. Keeping your blog current is hands down the best thing you can do to be found. That’s what SEO is all about, right? Yes, there are lots of technical things you can do, but putting out original, quality content is way better. Keeping up with your blog does not mean you need to blog every day, it just means that you consistently put new, quality content on your website.

Here are my top 6 blogging tips:

-Have at least 300 meaningful words in your blog post. It needs to be educational or descriptive. Also, write about what your visitor will want to hear.

-DO NOT UPLOAD FULL RESOLUTION IMAGES! 1600px wide and 250kb usually does the job!

-Use key phrases organically through your post, but do not overdo it. This means using short terms throughout your blog that could be used as search terms. (e.g. Bay Area wedding photographer).

-Use a plugin like Yoast SEO to write your own meta description and SEO titles. These are what show up in google search results, so you’ll want to spend time on making them catchy.

-Write a post about venues you have shot at. This will help you be found when brides are looking for a venue.

-Only show your best work. Do not overdo it. Leave your visitor wanting more, not wanting to get to the bottom of the page.

 

Photo credit: Alyssa Luziach Photography 

2. What are backlinks and why do they matter?

Backlinks are links to your website from another website. They are really powerful in building an online reputation with Google and other search engines and can help you be found easier. One of the best ways to get backlinks is to get your work featured on a well-known blog. When a website with lots of clean traffic links to your site, Google notices this and will take note that a reputable brand is linking to your site causing Google to believe you have content worth sharing.

Here are some ways to generate quality backlinks:

1. Share your blog post with your clients and encourage them to share the post.

2.Get your work featured on high traffic websites as they will most likely link to you in the credits.

3.Share your work with all of the vendors involved with the shoot and encourage them to use your images on their blog.

Photo credit: Emma Quinn

3. Does site speed matter?

Absolutely. Site speed not only matters to Google, but to your site visitor, aka potential clients as well. Studies show that if a site takes longer than 4 seconds to load 25% of visitors leave your site.

The easiest way to speed up your site is to optimize your images. I run a test using GTmetrix on all of the sites I make to make sure all of the images are optimized. If they aren’t, GTmetrix will let you know and even let you view and download the optimized version.

Here are 2 websites you should visit to gain more knowledge about your site performance

GTmetrix: https://gtmetrix.com/�
Google PageSpeed Insights: https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights/

SEO may seem daunting but it doesn’t have to be. Just remember to be original, write quality blog posts, optimize your images and you’ll do great.

If you love this blog post check out my recent blog post on Couples Poses for photography.