3 Different Types of Blogs – What is best for a Photographer?
For photographers, a blog isn’t always a just a blog. In today’s online marketplace, the term “blog” can be broken down into three different types of blogs, with most having some overlap between the three. Photographers sometimes struggle to figure out what kind of blog they should have. In order to fully harness the power of the internet, where should your photography business blog live? And, what is the best blog for photographers to be publishing? Today we’re going through three of the best types of blogs for your photography business.
Personal Blog
This is the original type of blog, and still the most popular form of blog today. Born from the term “Web-log”, it took off as people started going to the interwebs to share their innermost thoughts and feelings in an online diary format. (Live Journal, anyone?) When the functionality for commenting was created and other people could comment and add in their own thoughts, the blog was born.
Now, personal blogs are a dime-a-dozen. On WordPress.com alone, there are 15.8 billion pages, and that doesn’t include self-hosted WordPress.org blogs or blogging sites such as Blogger and other blogging platforms. Unless they are from a very well known persona, a general personal blog tend not to drive a lot of relevant traffic.
Blogs that fall into the personal category will often offer opinions and stories and favorite lists. The posts don’t necessarily follow a theme. One post might be about movies and the next could be about women’s rights. Infusing some of your personality into your blog is important, but this is typically not the best category for your business blog. If you’re trying to grow your business with the help of your blog, move along to the next one on our list.
Business Blog
As the weblog started to catch on as personal diaries, businesses started to take notice. A few forward-thinking companies started to blog about their services and realized it was a way to reach out and relate directly to their existing customer base and attract new customers. It was (and still is) free marketing on a platform that they can control. Today, almost every business has a blog on their website, and they employ people (sometimes teams of them) to carefully create and curate content as a part of their online marketing strategy.
This is the category where your professional photography business blog will reside. It should be focused more on growing your business and reaching out to clients. Posts usually center around your business and things related to your craft. As a photographer, this might include posts about industry topics, local vendors and even what inspires you. Just because a blog is in the business category doesn’t mean it shouldn’t have individual flair or personality. It should support your business as a tool. Again, this is the best blog for photographers, and the one your photography blog should focus on.
Monetized Blog
Sometimes known as “multi-author blogs’, this is the category where industry blogs like “Style Me Pretty” or “Offbeat Bride” will live. These are more niche blogs that may have started as a personal blog, but have established themselves as an expert in their space. Because they are recognized as an authority, they have created a following and see significant traffic. The most important distinction here is that because of this increased traffic, advertisers pay them to blog. While most tout photography skills, people who blog in this category are actually professional bloggers.
As a professional photographer your blog should live mostly in the business blog space, but with some personal influence to really let your clients know who you are. A photography blog is probably not the best place to talk about a new restaurant you like unless you are a food photographer. There are other social media outlets, like Instagram, to communicate that part of who are. Your business blog can be a great place to share how you felt in a given moment as a person and as a photographer.
Your business blog can also overlap with a monetized blogs depending on your traffic level. If you are blogging regularly and consistently and people are flocking to your site in the thousands, you can be sure that advertisers will want to work with you. Always be aware of your main reason for blogging – is it to attract thousands of the wrong clients or a hundred of the right ones?
Bonus: Best Blog Platform for Photographers
Ok, so you’re convinced you need to have a blog for your photography business, and you’ve even decided what focus is best. What is the best blog platform for photographers to build their blog on? Here at Fotoskribe, we recommend either WordPress or Squarespace. Both give you a sturdy and stable platform that you can rely on. Each are very common and easy to use, meaning that there is a lot of help out there as you need it. As you grow your business, you’ll be able to find lots of resources to help you expand your blog presence. WordPress is especially nice because the options are endless! Plugins help to create a customized look and feel to your blog, and give you endless possibilities for capturing leads and sharing content. Squarespace is nice because it has a strong focus on simplicity and ease of use. They do a lot of the heavy lifting for you and make things very simple.
The best blog site for photographers should give you flexibility to brand the experience. You want your clients to feel at home when they are on your blog, and you want the branding to match your website and other marketing collateral.
In conclusion, remember that your blog is a place to express your business in your own words. It an integral part of a comprehensive SEO & social media strategy, but your blog is the only element that you can fully control. Your blog can be a portfolio, a record of your past shoots and weddings and a place to market to new clients. When done well, your blog can be the most powerful tool that you have in your marketing arsenal.