Capturing Your Market

Speed Matters: How Google’s new algorithm affects your photography business.

Bethany — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 15:46:33 +0000

Photographers beware! Google has changed its search rank criteria to include speed. How fast your Web pages load in a user’s browser will now be a determining factor in how high you rank in search engines.

Why should we be concerned? Image size.

As photographers, most of our content is image-based. This means large file sizes and slow loading times.

It is now more important than ever to be sure that your images are properly compressed. The balance between large viewing size and small file size should be moved up on your list of concerns when it comes to your blogging and Web design.

It is important to provide our clients (and prospects!) with large image sizes so as to optimize their viewing experience, but file size should also be a factor when making decisions about design and how you process your images for posting to the Web.

3 steps you can take that won’t affect image quality

Save your blog images to the exact size needed for display before uploading to the Web. Do not compress them later using html or your blog’s editing tools.

Split your photo-heavy posts into multiple pages.

Limit the number of posts displayed on each page of your blog. Look under “Reading” settings in WordPress.

All in all, this is a good thing. I know that I much prefer faster loading sites and i’m sure you do as well. Google is focused on user experience beyond the initial search result and I think this change will definitely have a major impact on the web as a whole.

Get on board! Remember to keep your site(s) simple and quick and hopefully this change will not have a negative impact on your rankings.

Take this new criteria seriously and you could actually see a rank increase as others in your market are not as quick to respond.

What do you think? Are you going to make some changes? Are you confident in the speed of your site and the way you currently handle images? Post a comment and lets discuss!

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Organizing Photos: What works for you?

Bethany — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 17:23:29 +0000

So with the purchase of a sparkly new TB external hard drive it is time to get a handle on organizing the masses of images I have stored on my old drive. I need your help!

I know this is a problem we all face. Good file organization can make all the difference in the speed and efficiency of our workflow. Spending 20 minutes searching for a file is not my idea of time well spent!

So, how do you do it? Do you organize by date, alphabetically, client type, eye color, shoe size or a combination of all of these? Post your system in the comments section. Thanks!

No related posts.

How to Split Posts in WordPress to Reduce Loading Times

Bethany — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 16:22:36 +0000

(WARNING: Semi-Advanced Content Below)

Whenever I shoot a really fantastic wedding or a completely rocking portrait session I always find myself struggling to pick just a few photos for posting to my blog. I hate to leave out even one shot that is an important part of telling the story. Of course, I don’t want to drive my viewers crazy with 15 minute loading times either.

So in order to satisfy my obsessive posting disorder (OPD) as well as keep sane loading times a priority I need to split my posts into multiple pages. This will allow an unlimited number of photos as well as keep the loading times to a minimum.

Sounds great, right!? Sounds complicated, right?

Basically there are 3 steps –

Choose where to split the post.
Tell WP where to put my page links.
Make my page links pretty.

And here is the beautiful part! You only have to do steps 2 & 3 one time! After the first time you will only ever need to do step 1 on your large posts!

Check out the video for the details:

As promised, here is the various code you will need.

< -- Should be 2 dashes on either side. If your browser shows it incorrectly you will need to fix it before adding it to your posts.

For more, in-depth information on styling page-links check out the WordPress Codex.

Post your questions and links to your own successfully split posts in the comments please!

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Why naming your business after yourself is good for SEO.

Bethany — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 16:07:53 +0000

There are many advantages to using your own name in your business name, but have you ever thought about how this can affect your search ranking efforts? As photographers, many of us have chosen to use our own names when naming our business for several, very important reasons such as artist recognition, longevity, and personalization of the business.

However, most SEO experts would suggest using one (or more) of your keywords in your business name for maximum impact.

I am here to tell you that using your name rather than an industry keyword can actually work out quite well for SEO when used properly. How is that? Well, when your business name includes your real name, your name actually becomes one of your keywords.

Sure, most people searching for your name will find you fairly easily. But what if you are like me and several other businesses/professionals use their name for their business name as well? I want to let Google know that when someone searches for me they are looking for a photographer (despite what those other Bethany Gilberts say).

The easiest way to do this is to comment on other photographer’s blogs.

Seem counter-intuitive?

Here’s how it works. When you comment on another photographer’s blog you (usually) are asked to enter your name, an email address and your website address before adding your comment.

After you click submit, the blog will then turn your name into a link to your site when displaying your comment.

This is called “link text”. Google LOVES link text. Google (and the other search engines) basically looks at the link text and associates whatever site is linked with those words.

So, when you comment on another photographer’s blog using your name as the link text, Google sees two things.

Your site is linked from another photographer’s site, so you must have something to do with photography.
Your link text is your name, so your name must have something to do with photography.

The moral of the story? If your business is named after yourself, comment like there is no tomorrow, and always (always) include your link.

P.S. Please remember to only post comments that are relevant, thoughtful and add something to the blog post. Comment about a particular image you liked for instance. Happy commenting!

P.S.S. Posting comments here will have the same effect since we are optimized for photography keywords. ; )

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How to Batch Watermark Your Photos for Blogs or Facebook

Bethany — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 16:00:55 +0000

Preparing your images to post to your blog or Facebook can be a time consuming process.

Most images need to be resized to your blog specifications and to reduce loss of quality when uploading to Facebook.

Many photographers also like to apply a logo watermark to their images in order to avoid copyright infringement as well as to be sure they get credit for the images as they are spread around by clients and fans.

Photoshop actions can be super helpful in this type of situation.

In a few minutes you can create an action that will allow you to resize, sharpen and apply a logo watermark to a large amount of images in a very short amount of time. Check out the video!

Was this helpful to you? Do you have a better or faster way of doing this? Please post a comment or question below!

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Are your Facebook links sexy?

Bethany — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 21:49:08 +0000

On the CYM Facebook page you may have noticed that our links are just a little sexier than they used to be. By creating a fun little image and telling Facebook where to look, we can control which thumbnail is used with all of our links. This, hopefully, will increase your click-through rate and help your links get a little more attention.

Sound techie? It is, a little. Just follow these 4 simple steps to take control of your thumbnails!

Create the Image

Create an image no more than 200 pixels wide. I have found that tall (portrait) images work better as FB thumbnails than wide (horizontal) images. Facebook has a width limit so they will shrink a horizontal image down to the point where it is not really useful.

I suggest creating an image that is related to the linked page but also draws the attention of the viewer. Your link has to stand out from all of the other links and updates in the reader’s Facebook feed.
Upload the Image
Now, simply upload the image to your FTP server or to an image hosting site such as www.photobucket.com.
Add the Code
This is where things go a little crazy. You will need access to the html code for every page. You can edit your html file in any text editor. (Notepad in Windows) You will need to find the “head” tags found near the top of the code directly under the beginning “html” tag. There should be some other html code in there, usually a “title” tag, “meta” tags and possibly some other “link” tags. You will put your Facebook link thumbnail tag under all of these but before the end of the “head” tag. Whew.
Your page's title meta stuff -> -> Put below code here <- <-
Before the closing head tag (bottom – with the “/”) copy and paste the following code, customized with your domain and image location (or the image’s html link from photobucket). Be sure not to delete those ” ” marks before and after the link.

After you have made these changes, save your html file and re-upload it to your server.

(If you work with Bludomain or another website service you may be able to email them this image and the html code and ask them to put it in the page for you)
Test it out!

Yay! You did it! … Maybe. Go to Facebook and post a link to the page you just edited to see if you were successful. If not, come back here and post a comment and we will help you through it.

As long as Facebook is correctly pulling the right thumbnail images from your blog posts you may not want to implement this on your blog. It is good to have session-specific thumbnails as far as that goes. A great application here would be your main website. If your site is HTML you can even set a different thumbnail for each page of your site!

How did it go? Need help? Post a comment!

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4 Steps to Designing Print Ads that Actually Work

Bethany — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 16:53:37 +0000

With all of the talk out there about word-of-mouth, social media, search engine optimization and other new-fangled client grabbers we might forget that the more traditional forms of reaching our market can still work for us. Because most of us are small, local businesses we should take advantage of the fact that we usually only have a small geographic region that we need to reach.

Did you know that most people will need to see your name, images, or hear about you at least 6 times before they will remember you?

One of the best ways to reach these people on a local level is print advertising. There is a lot of argument out there about the value of print but I am still a major supporter on the local level. I have worked in the industry for years and see the incredible results you can get from running a simple, purposefully-designed ad on a regular basis.

Of course, half the battle is choosing a good publication, but for now I just want to look at some of the things you will need in your ad to help it be more effective.

An Eye-Catching, Problem-Solving, Benefit-Providing Headline

The headline is one of the most important parts of a print ad. In one phrase you need to capture the attention of the reader and persuade them to read the rest of the ad. Focusing on a benefit your product provides or how it solves a problem for the customer are necessary parts of a good headline. Copyblogger has some really great tips about writing headlines. They are intended mostly for bloggers but can definitely apply to advertising as well.
A Beautiful Body

The body of the ad should contain relevant information or images that further draw the reader in and really push your message. Obviously, as photographers, we tend to think of using photos in our ad as the only option. Have you considered attempting an ad that doesn’t contain any of your photos? Just as your logo doesn’t have to be a camera, you can portray your image and what sets you apart without photos. I think this would be a great challenge and would help you really nail down your specific message.
What to do, what to do?

A “Call to Action” is one of the most neglected, yet most important, parts of an effective ad. Call Now! Come in Today! These seemingly unimportant, short phrases do more for the impact of an ad than just about anything else. By simply telling the customer what to do you can increase the response of your ad greatly. What do you want them to do? Tell them!
How to Reach Me

So you’ve persuaded them to stop and look, told them all about yourself, and told them what to do. What’s left? Contact information. Don’t make the fatal mistake of creating a powerful ad with no way of contacting you. Some basic information to consider including: your name, address, phone number, map to studio, web address, email address, Facebook address, and Twitter profile.

So that’s it! If you have followed these steps you have just created an advertisement that will get results.

What do you think? Did I leave something out? Did this work for you? Post a comment and let me know!

Disclaimer: Advertising design is a complicated topic that deserves a much more involved post. I understand this and hope to revisit it in a later post(s). For now, these tips will get you headed in the right direction.

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Are you focusing on the benefits?

Bethany — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 19:55:30 +0000

Have you ever thought about why you buy certain products or services? Do you know the real reason behind your latest purchase?

Benefits.

Nearly everything we purchase is appealing to us because of a specific benefit it provides. Think about it. Why do you buy a toothbrush? Is it because you have a deep-rooted affection for plastic sticks with fuzzy heads? No. You buy a toothbrush because of its primary benefit, clean teeth.

Every point where your customer is reached by your business, from the initial contact to the last product drop off, should focus on the benefits your business is providing to the customer.

Is it about helping a mother remember the sweetness of her baby girl, or reminding a bride of how beautiful she looked on her wedding day? Yes. But it is about more than just the photos.

For the mother, it could also be about the quiet serenity of your studio, where she doesn’t have to stress about the comfort of her baby. The bride? Knowing that her photographer will be courteous to her guests and will not be an interruption of her day could be a very specific benefit that you can easily provide.

What benefits do you provide your clients and what could you improve upon?

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If you had to start over…?

Bethany — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 17:18:26 +0000

If you had to start a brand new photography business and could do nothing exactly the way you are doing it now, what would you do?

Consider your brand. Your logo. How would your message change? If you could change the way everyone views you, your work and your business, what would be your goal? How would your position in the market change?

What about your prices? Would you charge more? Less? Why? Would you stop using packages and go to a’ la carte pricing, or vice versa? Would you offer fewer packages? More?

What new products would you offer? What current products would you take away?

Would your services change? Would you start to photograph babies and kids or attempt to break into the wedding market? Would you stop shooting something you don’t love?

Is there something else about your business that just doesn’t seem to fit or that seems out of reach?

There can be so much about our businesses that becomes routine and predictable. We seem to forget that part of the fun of owning our own business is the power to make CHANGE.

Examine your answers to the above questions. What is one thing you could implement today? What is something you should focus on for the next couple of months?

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10 Quick SEO Strategies For Increasing Your Search Ranking

Bethany — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 16:22:22 +0000

Increasing your search engine ranking can seem like a daunting task but it doesn’t have to be. By taking a few minutes to correct some common mistakes and to implement a couple of simple techniques you can make a significant impact on your ranking in a short amount of time.

Page Titles – Customize each page of your website with a unique page title specific to that page’s content. Use keywords in the title but do not use a list of keywords. Write a 3-4 word phrase that describes the page’s content followed by your business name. A good, clean format to follow is “Local Term – Page Description | So & So Photography” or “South Carolina Wedding Photography Prices | So & So Photography”
Blog Post Titles – Most blogs use your blog post titles as the page titles for that individual blog post. Be sure to use some keywords in these titles when possible to ensure they get into your page titles. Remember that the post titles are for readers first and Google second so don’t overuse keywords here. For instance: “Bob & Sue :: Mississippi Wedding at the Crawford House in Hattiesburg”
All In One SEO Plugin – Install the AIO SEO Plugin for WordPress to help automate the above two tips and to help with several other SEO factors.
Image Alt Tags – Part of the SEO struggle for photographers is that most of our content is visual, not textual. You can offset this by using image ALT tags. Most blog editors, WordPress for sure, give you easy access to your image ALT tags as you are uploading images for blog posts. As with page titles, these should be keyword rich but not lists of keywords. Describe the actual picture and use keywords in the process. Example: “Bob and Sue’s wedding reception at the Crawford House in Hattiesburg, MS”. This will do three things for your site. First, it will make it accessible to disabled users who are using screen readers. Second, Google will see several photography specific and local keywords in your tags. Third, it will increase the chances that Bob & Sue’s friends will find your blog when searching for their wedding images.
Image File Names – As with Alt tags, naming your images using relevant keywords can have a small impact on your rankings. Take the time to at least use a local modifier (city, state, community, etc.) in your file names when uploading images.
Post Consistently – This is probably one of the most important tips on this list. A consistent posting schedule not only helps your search ranking considerably but it also provides your readers (and potential customers!) with current content. You don’t have to post every day but assign yourself a specific schedule to help you stay on track.
Forum Signatures – Use keywords in all of link text in your forum signatures. Don’t spam the forum or post long lists of links, just make the most of the few links you would likely have in your signature anyway.
Repair Broken Links – This one seems obvious but it is a common problem for many websites. Simply run through your entire website every now and then to be sure everything is working properly.
Website Grader – Grade your website and blog using Hubspot’s Website Grader for more in depth information about specific things you can do to help your ranking and to improve other aspects of your web presence.
Google Local Business – www.google.com/local/add If your photography business is not already listed in the Google local business directory go ahead and add it now. It only takes a minute and could go a long way in getting you more local visitors.

Put some (or all!) of these strategies into action and tell me about your results.

Questions about any of these tips? Leave me a comment below and I will try to help you in any way that I can.

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