When you hear the word “blog,” you might think of the olden days (2007) when bloggers were the OG influencers and Tumblr reigned supreme. So why do photographers need a blog in an era when most people’s online time is spent swiping rapidly through curated images and videos of people restocking their pantries? There are SO MANY BENEFITS to blogging when it comes to website traffic, sharing your insights, and providing tons of value to current and potential clients. Let’s get into it.
Why Photographers Need a Blog
1) To showcase your work
Instagram and your Portfolio or Gallery page are great places to showcase your work, but when you pick photos for those, you’re limited to picking THEEEE PHOTO from each session – ya know, the perfect golden hour lighting shot, the tearjerker first look photo, the jaw-dropping background. You get to share the highlights, but never the whole story. And once the algorithm stops pushing it out, those photos can get buried on your feed.
The joy of a blog is that it gives you a chance to showcase your full scope and turn a one-time shoot into “evergreen” content that can be useful for potential clients forever. It’s also a way to share the more subtle stunners in your roll. A detail shot that spoke to you. A candid dance floor photo. An in-between moment that gives you all the feels. With a blog post, you can tell the story without agonizing over which 5 photos are worthy of your IG feed. (Back in 2010, we would just dump them all in a Facebook album, but anyway…).
A blog also gives potential clients a better idea of the entire experience, as well as the range of photos they can expect. Plus, they’re a great way to give context about your clients, the location of the shoot, and other vendors that were involved.
2) For SEO
In simple terms, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is basically the process of making it easier for the right people to find your website search engines, like Google. You do that by helping search engines understand what your business and website are all about so that they can serve your content to the people searching for it.
The problem? Photography is alllll visual…and search engines are pretty much alllll about words. Your main webpages like the Homepage, About, Contact, Services, etc. are all important places to have the keywords your dream clients would search for. But unfortunately, that’s not usually enough. Blog posts with clear keyword intentions are an AMAZING way to rank for some of the more specific terms rather than trying to stuff everything in one page. We’ll give some examples below, but our SEO for Photographers guide is also a great resource!
3) To share your tips and expertise
Your clients and potential clients definitely want to see your work. But they also probably have questions that you’re uniquely qualified to answer! What are the best spots for sunset shoots in your area? How does an elopement work? What should a couple wear for engagement photos? These are all ways you can add value for your clients and show that you’re an expert in your field.
A blog gives you a place to get more in-depth than you can on a social post and explain the topics that are most important to your community and business.
What Should Be On a Photographer’s Blog?
Before starting your blog, it can be helpful to jot down a list of 3-5 general topics related to your work that you’d like to post about consistently. It might be helpful to think about what questions you get asked a lot or what you could go on and on about when it comes to photography. While you can – and should – make your photography blog unique to your personality and ideal clients, there are two areas you definitely don’t want to miss: sessions and sharing tips.
Blogging a session is basically showcasing one particular shoot or client with a combo of images and words. You should include anywhere between 10-30 photos and at least 300 words (but the more you can get, the more it will likely help your SEO!).
So what the heck do you write about? The people! The location! The story behind their vision! The vendors! The funny thing that happened during the session! You can truly take it any direction. Just be sure to give it a title that’s relevant to people searching for you and include keyword phrases throughout. For example “Jess & Noah: Joshua Tree Maternity Shoot.”
The other category you should include on your blog is tips and tricks that add value for clients. This can be literally anything related to your business and the type of clients you work with: the best photoshoot locations in your area, how to prep your kids for family photos, the best wedding vendors in XYZ location, best national parks to elope in, digital vs film, posing vs prompts, how photography presets work, how to choose a wedding photographer – the list is endless!
Again, be sure to incorporate keywords in the title and throughout the blog post that are related to what someone might type into Google. This helps drive more traffic to your site while also showcasing that you know what the heck you’re doing.
Ready to add a blog to your website?
Our drag and drop templates are built on Showit, an easy and totally customizable platform. Lucky for you, Showit partners with WordPress – the world’s most popular blog platform (in fact, our website is built on Showit and you’re on WordPress right now)! This means you can create blogs on WordPress while providing a seamless experience for people who visit your website.