Blogging advice for all you photoggers.

You're a photographer. And you have a blog. Because you know you are supposed to have one. But you kind of hate doing it. It takes up so much time! And does anyone actually read it? Is anyone actually reading THIS blog post? Hello?

Yes, you are here. And yes, people are reading your blog too. So let's make the most of everyone's time by having a blogging plan and sticking to it!

Blog plan:

1. Pick one day out of the week to write blog and stick to it. Most weddings happen on the weekend, so after allotting some editing time, also allot some blogging time. And plan to start AND FINISH that blog post that day. I like to do laundry once a week. I might start doing a load or two the day before, but I don't fold anything and put it away until my laundry day. This ensures that I don't feel like I am constantly doing laundry. Plus, it helps me to stay focused when it is laundry time, and it makes me want to keep going until the job is done so that I don't have to deal with this chore again until next week.
2. You need to have systems in place to make blogging a breeze. If you're a photographer, you want to have Blogstomp , or an easy way to uplaod the pictures you want to feature. Make sure your photos aren't too large, otherwise they will take a long time to load for your blog visitors, which means that your clients are leaving before your post is up. The image size you want to aim for is usually 600 x 900. For more ideal sizes for social media, check out this handy post we found.
3. Set a day or two (or more!) when you are going to have blogs published so that your audience knows what to expect from you. That way, after you write them in batches on your one day that you choose to blog, you can release them on the days when your audience is waiting for you.

Great example of a great blog

Here is Katelyn James' blog. It is a thing of beauty for so many reasons. She has SO MANY resources on her blog, that she helps her visitors to find it through a few different avenues. You can click a button, or you can use the search bar. Either way, you know her blog visitors are going to be hanging out here for a while.

You want to get technical

When the main goal of blogging becomes to educate people – even if that's to educate people on your awesomeness, this will help you rank better as a site that has good content.  This means making sure your content revolves around a few keywords that your clients are using to find you. For instance – “San Diego Wedding Photographer” could be what you are focused on, and you make sure that your blog posts, and images have these keywords in them. So, instead of sharing a wedding that you just shot just for the sake of your past client, you need to post about it for the sake of your future clients. Where did the wedding take place? Maybe you are a preferred vendor there, you should mention that. Or even if you aren't, but you have shot there many times, you should have links to previous blogposts  that were shot in the same location. For more help on having the things that Google is looking for, check out this awesome blog post by our smart friends over at The Palm Shop.

Also, don't forget about the magic of guest posts. Get guest posts for your blog, and write guest posts for others. This is a two-fold win. One, you have someone else posting valuable content to your blog, which means you aren't the only one writing for your blog. And hopefully your guest's audience will follow their friend over to your blog and you are getting more exposure! The other reason you want to do guest posting is for great backlinks. When Google sees you as an authority who shares GOOD CONTENT, your SEO will improve. Win, win. If you are looking for more detailed info on backlinks and the magic behind G0ogle rankings, read this article by Neil Patel.

So friends, we hope this helps you on your blogging journey. Don't just blog for the sake of blogging. Have a plan! Execute the plan!