SEO & Blogging

I’m going to be honest and let you in on a little secret. I’m not a fan of blogging. There I said it and it’s on the internet for all the world to see. You may be asking yourself “what kind of photographer doesn’t love to blog?” After all we have these cool photos to share and creative thoughts on our mind. This should be a natural extension of our creative outflow. At least that’s what I think every time I go to write a post.

When I was in college I had a blog that you can still find if you search hard enough. I updated it regularly and had lots of clever saying… at least that’s what I told myself. I recently went back and read a some of my blog post. Turns out I was a pretty obnoxious college guy! I wouldn’t even drink coffee across the table from myself level of obnoxious. I’ve certainly mellowed of the years. I’m sure my wife could testify to that.

At this point you may wonder why I even have a blog and I’ll tell you, it’s for SEO (Search Engine Optimization). Search engines like Google love fresh content. The best way to have that is by blogging. Here’s an example, I usually rank near the top of page 3 on Google for the search term “Des Moines Wedding Photographers”. It takes a few weeks but eventually I’ll fall to the bottom of page 3 if I don’t blog. All it takes is one new post and I’m back up five or seven spots.

From what I see on photographer forums is I’m not alone. In fact I would go as far to say that the majority of photographers don’t enjoy this aspect of running a business. There are a few who do and a lot more that have learned to love it.

So I’ve decided that I may not love blogging but I love my family and need to blog more often. Because of this you shouldn’t be surprised when you see a post or three about my kids, road trips or business stuff such as blogging and the importance it has on SEO.