If you’re a wedding photographer wanting to profile your business on Google a one strand SEO strategy doesn’t cut the mustard any more. Sure SEO is a cost effective and proven long term strategy to promote your photography business in Google, but if you’re relying solely on organic listings then you are missing out big time.
Run a search for a wedding photographer in your area and look at the SERPs. The organic listings no longer dominate the landscape. Sometimes you’ll see 3 masthead Pay Per Click Adwords followed by local search, with the organic listings relegated to 3rd spot on the page.
The screenshot below shows a typical search and how far down the page the organics come even with just 1 pay per click ad at the top.
Using SEO, Pay Per Click and Local Search in unison is an excellent way to boost your online profile and market your business in Google. A 3-tier strategy, and getting listed 3 times on the page is the Holy Grail.
If you’re site is a new site with very little authority and trust then it’ll certainly take a while to build some, in the meantime you can run a Pay Per Click campaign and sign up for a local business account. Pay Per Click and Local Search offer you the opportunity to get listed and get a page one ranking in no time at all.
Pay Per Click – Adwords
Pay Per Click can be expensive for wedding photographer keywords. Even though it’s expensive it can provide a great return on your investment. If you want quick exposure on Google then it’ll cost, simple as that.
Forget about the cost, think of it more in terms of what business you’ll generate, and what future referrals and recommendations you’ll receive. The ROI can be substantial.
Should you set up and run your own campaign?
Unless you’ve time to spare, are motivated and prepared to pay for your mistakes then my tip would be to hire a company or individual well versed in Google Adwords. Concentrate on what you do best and get someone to set up a campaign that won’t cost the earth and done well will bring you a nice return.
Ask for client testimonials and ask about previous work, as you would do in any line of business.
If you do decide to go it alone, make sure you’re well read up on poor campaign organization and management, generic landing pages, lack of negative words, poor ads, set and forget approaches and so on.
Google Local Search
Google Local Search is free, yes free, so make sure to read Google Local Made Easy for Photography Business. Notice the screenshot above, notice the map with the alphabetical markers beside it. That’s local search listings and their importance is steadily increasing. Google will display local search listings when they infer local intent in a search query.
Searchers are looking for a local photographer, so this is an opportunity that can’t be missed.
Local Search also now comes with an analytics package, that although limited in what data it provides is simple for understand for anyone.
Local Search has recently got slightly more competitive with Google introducing the 7 pack, 7 listing rather than 10. 3 Listings just got culled. So although free, it can be competitive and if you don’t know what you’re doing you may wish to hire someone that does or read up before you submit.
Conclusion: 3 Tier Approach Helps Bookings
Having run successful campaigns in the wedding field, a 3 tier approach works wonders for bookings and inquiries provided you have a quality website that will convert. If it’s a poor quality website than you need to get your house in order first.
At the time of writing, Google appears to be set to rollout another local search opportunity ‘Local Listings Ads’ in the form of a Paid Placement ad. This could be another string to your bow and one to watch.
Article Contributed By Michael Wall
Michael Wall runs a web design company in Belfast Northern Ireland. You can find more of this articles on his internet marketing blog.
