Writing for SEO as a Photographer

Writing is very similar to photography in many ways—it is a creative art form that many people feel they can do, to varying levels of success. But when you make the leap from doing photography as a hobby into a business, especially with a robust social media campaign scheduled, writing must be a part of your workflow. But thankfully, that doesn’t mean you have to be worthy to pen a novel in order to get your business writing done.

I often get asked: “How do I write better for SEO?” My answer is always: “Just write!” But I wanted to dive deeper into the question, mostly because SEO is made up of many moving parts, of which the writing can be a small portion.

Let’s look at blog/content marketing writing from a technical point of view. First, the most important thing you can do is be consistent when you release your writings. If SEO is your main goal to write, then it needs to be done on a schedule.

Second, if you are on a WordPress site, you should install the Yoast SEO plugin. It will tell you how to rank the one main keyword you choose for each post. (And one really is all you want anymore, because any more and you may get penalized by Google for keyword stuffing.)

By looking at it from a technical side first, you can get rid of the “I have to …” statements that may be holding you back. The beauty of writing, even for SEO, is that you don’t HAVE to do anything. Like photography, it is a way for you to express who you are in small snippets. If you worry about just SEO, you lose the benefit of sharing content that is personal to you. This can be an invaluable tool for potential clients to get to know you better before they ever book you.

Now, that doesn’t mean it’s easy. You still have to do it. So, I’ve compiled a few resources to help you strengthen your overall writing skills as a photographer.

Learn How to be a Better Writer

I really love this course by Jenika from Psychology for Photographers. Called Irresistible Words, it’s a comprehensive class on how to write, geared towards photographers and creative entrepreneurs. If this is an area you know you need help in, and you have time to dedicate to learning this way, you can’t go wrong with this resource.

Build a Blogging Workflow System

Sometimes “writing” is as simple as putting the story together from existing facts. Story First Blogging is a system of forms (for you, the photographer), questionnaires (for your clients), and a worksheet to put it all together. Having all these elements in your workflow can make blog writing for your client sessions something that you can do regardless of your confidence in your writing.

Outsource it

This is what we aim to do at Fotoskribe—take the pain of writing away from you, while ensuring you are still marketing your business. We strive to capture your voice through our forms and take care of all the technical details that comprise a robust SEO plan—like renaming images and scheduling each post on a regular basis, much more than just “writing’.

There are many, many writing services you can hire, but my only word of caution is to make sure they have a way to capture and express who YOU are as an artist. Because that—sharing who you are and why potential clients should hire you—is the most important thing you can achieve with any writing on your blog and on your site as a whole.

To learn more about Fotoskribe, please contact us at any time. We are always happy to talk writing and blogging for photographers.