In the name of Search Engine Optimization!

As a photographer, I'm constantly distracted by visual images time and time again and this is probably something that myself and most photographers have been suffering with since the time we picked up our first books and got swept away by the illustrations.  The first time I saw the Uruwera Mural by Colin McCahon, it literally knocked the breath out of me.  However, the point of this blog entry is to discuss how a photographer that is more captivated by strong imagery, can hunker down and read the fine print and improve their habit/hobby/profession through strong Search Engine Optimization.

I wrote an essay on Google in 1999, discussing how search engines worked through the use of spiders.  I'd love to find that essay now, purely to have a good laugh at how basic it seemed to be then.  Being that Google is the dominant search engine of our time, most Search Engine Optimization focuses on improving your rankings in Google.  As a Photographer, I'm somewhat of a techie, but more in the realm of new camera gear and certainly not in the field of Search Engine Optimization.  SEO falls into the catergory of things that I'm really interested in, but not particularly good at.  Disc Golf falls into this category also!

Google is constantly updating their algorithms for how they search for content.  The latest round of updates shows that Google is now looking for frequently updated, fresh content.  To try and keep up to speed, I'm throwing it out there that I am going to try and improve on this, and will be updating my Website, Facebook, Flickr, and blog on a more regular basis.  This is only the beginning though.

It seems that every time I look into this, everyone has a new and improved method for moving up in the SEO rankings.  I try to do as many of these steps as possible, but if one searches for 'Vail Photographer', it comes up with pages of Photographers that don't reside in or anywhere near the Vail Valley.  So, as a social science experiment, I put forward the hypothesis that 'A small photography business can improve their SEO, through the research and application of other peoples ideas that can be found solely on the internet, without paying for a third party to take care of it'.  This is being done more as an experiment of curiosity than anything else.  Again, I'm fascinated by SEO, but not particularly good at it therefore it can do my business no harm!

After thinking about everything I've read on the topic so far, many questions spring to mind.  Does Twitter really work and who has the time to be on there?  Do I really need to add my business to Yahoo Directory for $300 a year like some SEO companies suggest, or is that done more for a kick back to the company?  Do I really need to design a Landing Page for Facebook? These are all points to touch on in future entries.  In the mean time, I'm going to start with this article from Photopreneur, titled 'The Reasons your Photography Blog is Failing'. 

Wish me luck and Happy Thanksgiving!

Current Ranking for 'Vail Photographer' on Google: Page 16, 6th entry...absurd!