The Importance of Blogging as a Photographer

Portrait Photography in Elk Grove, Ca.

When I became a photographer one of the things that I was told was I would need to blog for my website on a weekly basis to make sure that my SEO for Google was high, and I was offering my clients some valuable information and letting them see me in a personable way. Over the years I have found that blogging does not come easy, and it is easy to push it to the back of my mind.  When I began to look at the importance of blogging and what benefits it could provide for my photography business, I realized that it should be a top priority.  A blog of a photographer’s latest work can add value to their client’s overall experience, it can help the photographer rank higher on search engines and it's also an awesome way to showcase their work. There are definitely some major benefits of blogging from a photographer perspective.

Here are 8 reasons why I feel it’s important to blog for your photography business.

1. Blogging helps SEO:

Blogging is an important tool for photographers because it helps us to build SEO which stands for “search engine optimization” and it indexes a photographer’s website to look for keywords that help define the photographer and what services they offer. By blogging a photographer can add keywords to their articles that create linking back to their website. As Google scans and views the site, it looks for keywords, images, and other new content that will raise your SEO level and helps their target audience see them in a Google search and prompts a visit to their site.

2. Target their key audience:

One factor in blogging is knowing it helps cater to a particular audience. The way a photographer writes their content and styles the presentation of their blog site will attract a certain type of person.  For example, if a photographer is hoping to book seniors for senior portraits, they will create fun and interactive content that gives the senior useful information about senior portraits and may give personal information that will help the senior know the photographer better.  If you aren’t a wedding photographer, then you aren’t likely to write an article on “How to prep for your wedding” since you aren’t looking to book brides.

3. Gain Credibility:

A blog, can help show a photographer’s target audience that the photographer is serious about their photography work. A photographer not only invests time in creating amazing images, but they’ve also worked hard in creating a beautiful place for their photos to be showcased and to show their professionalism to their craft.

4. Adding value to a client’s experience:

Whether it is writing a blog post on how to prep for a session, or offering information on how to book a session, a blog can offer clients really good information that allows them to feel comfortable, that their questions are answered and that you are experienced and know what you are doing. This adds to their experience in using you as their photographer. Creating posts of a clients behind the scenes of their session, helps them feel important and special and can elevate their experience with you.

5. Helps Establish a brand or style:

Every photographer has their own style and look for their images. Blogging is a good way of creating and showing their personal brand. Clients are always looking for a certain look, style, and vibe for their potential photos. A photographer’s blog is a way of communicating that style or brand to a potential client. A blog helps show if a photographer is a lifestyle photographer, or a studio photographer? They can specify if they are a natural light or flash photographer?  How a photographer post-processes images can be seen on a blog.  For example, does a photographer like using soft muted colors, or do they create images with bold colors? Does a photographer like images that are on the warm side or the cool side? How does a photographer handle their sessions or interact with their clients? These questions are all a part of a photographer’s personal brand and what they offer to clients. A blog is a way to share that brand and style with potential clients.

6. Shows off their Personality and experience:

Showcasing their personality and who they really are is important because it’s one of the only ways to separate themselves from the other photographers.  A photographer is a unique and individual person.  By humanizing themselves and being personable can help book clients who are looking for a photographer they feel that they know, like and trust.  Blogging allows a photographer to give potential clients a glimpse into their personality and life outside of their photography work.

7. Helps boost social media following:

Creating informative and insightful content is a great way to build up a photographer’s following on social media. Blog articles that discuss session information, “how tos”, and other valuable information can boost a following as clients want to stay informed of what that photographer as to say. Also adding a more personal side of their work helps clients to connect with them on a personal level and will help to improve popularity on social media.

8. It’s a great way to showcase client sessions:  

A blog is an awesome way to show more in-depth examples of a photographer’s work. While portfolios are important on websites, they show an overall look at various sessions by niche and offers no information along with those images.  However, with a blog, a photographer can have the best of the best of a session for a potential client to look at.  They can write about the location, the time of year, the style the client was wanting, and any other information that might be relevant to that client.  Therefore, a potential client has the opportunity to see images from a specific location, or a specific season which helps them gain insight into a photographer’s skills and what you can offer clients as a photographer.

While I am not a huge fan of blogging, especially writing, I have found value in blogging on my photography website.  I want to make sure that I’m driving traffic to my site, I’m offering potential clients a look at what I can offer them, and to give existing clients important information that they will find valuable and help me as they prepare for a photography session with me. 

To see some of my other blog articles on photography, see below: