In-depth (white-hat) SEO review
The complete SEO review service for photography websites.
I'll highlight everything you're doing wrong now, fix any critical SEO issues, and give you recommendations for improving your rankings and befriending Google.
Good SEO might be the reason you're now on this website, but it requires a whole lot of technical stuff that you probably don't want to deal with. I know many photographers tell me that.
All photographers are fighting for attention online. Those with the resources and knowledge to improve their photo website's rankings will eventually reap the benefits of the increased traffic & exposure.
"White-hat SEO" (aka "Ethical SEO") means using SEO tactics that respect Google's guidelines and recommendations, maintaining the integrity of the site, and focusing of the browsing experience of your human audience.
A website SEO review is for you if...
- Your existing website is ranking poorly for your target keywords/phrases, and you want to rank higher and get more traffic.
- You're overwhelmed by the entire concept of SEO and need someone to give you clarity and help you with your site's SEO.
- You've already covered a lot of SEO steps, but not yet getting the results you were expecting.
- You're not sure if your website has technical problems preventing Google from indexing your site properly.
Where do clients & photo buyers find you?
"Many photographers don't realize how important Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is. If I want to hire a photographer, it means I'm looking for something pretty obscure and will always turn first to Google to see if there's someone who specializes in that niche." - Anonymized Editorial Photo Editor, Textbook Publication
From on PhotoShelter's 2013 survey "What buyers want"
That same report mentioned that "[...] these same buyers ranked easy navigation, fast load time, and clear contact information as the most important elements of a photographer's website." It makes sense, user experience impacts SEO as well. I review all those aspects as part of my SEO review!
Being listed at the top of search results, besides increasing the trustworthiness and importance of your site to your target audience, will, of course, generate the greatest amount of traffic.
If you have quality content, SEO is the tool that can help you rise to the surface if done right.
Do I know anything about SEO?
Read my complete SEO guide for photographers:
Free SEO educational content like this can be really useful (and a bit of SEO knowledge can make a big difference over time), that's why I wrote it for photographers like you. Take some time to read it all and learn the basics.
My paid SEO review is for when you know that you can't handle all that work yourself, and are confident you want to hire an expert to take it off your hands and do it to perfection.
And also check out these other SEO-related articles I wrote:
- Image SEO essentials: How to optimize for Google Image search to drive more traffic to your photography website
- Don't obsess over SEO: 10 things you should be taking care of on your photography site before doing advanced SEO work
- “Dinosaur” SEO tactics: stop wasting time on outdated SEO tactics and instead focus on what Google now cares about
- How to change your site's domain name (URL) without losing SEO rankings (7 steps + FAQ)
- A simpler approach to writing your SEO titles and meta-descriptions
"I've been Google AdWords (now Google Ads) certified since 2007 and have taught SEO courses since 2011 and your advice is 100% spot on. Really good work and advice! You are a great example to follow." - Cory Jaccino
What's included in the SEO review:
On-site SEO
- Installing and configuring the Yoast SEO plugin (WP sites only)
- Reviewing SEO titles and meta descriptions for all pages and for your top 10 blog posts
- Removing meta keywords throughout the site (they haven't been used by search engines in a long time and can potentially hurt your SEO)
- In-depth recommendations on how to write your SEO tags in the future
- Identifying any black-hat SEO practices (you've got to stay clean if you want to have a long-term relationship with Google)
- Checking nested H1-H6 heading tags
- Basic keyword research (keyword/phrase suggestions, identifying searcher intent for the main keywords, identifying patterns for the Google results above you)
- Recommending appropriate pages where to add keyword-rich copy
- Basic content audit (copywriting mistakes, pruning useless posts, combining pages, deleting & redirecting pages, etc.)
- Finding images that still require ALT tags
- Checking your site's "robots.txt" file & meta robots tag
- Updating page permalinks (and putting proper redirects in place)
- Help with setting up your SSL certificate and upgrading to HTTPS
- Adding redirect to canonical domain (www or non-www) if needed
- Identifying any duplicate URLs
- Identifying any navigation and internal linking problems
- Identifying broken links (both outbound and inbound)
- Installing and configuring anti-malware plugins
- Performance testing & recommending fixes
- Mobile-friendliness testing & recommending fixes
Off-site SEO
- Checking inbound link sources (so you know the top sites that link to your photography site)
- Organic traffic analysis (to learn what are your site's most popular pages, and what keywords/phrases people are using to find them)
- Recommendations and reading material for improving off-site SEO and getting backlinks
Google tools
- Setting up Google Analytics universal tracking
- Adding and verifying website in Google Search Console
- Integrating Google Analytics and Google Search Console (for viewing SERP performance data in analytics reports)
- Checking for fake sources ("spam referrals") in your Analytics reports
- Setting up internal site search tracking in Google Analytics (so you can see what images people are searching for on your site)
- Setting preferred/canonical domain in Google Search Console site settings
- Submitting XML sitemap to Google Search Console (for faster indexing)
- Setting appropriate international targeting in Google Search Console
- Identifying and suggesting fixes for mobile usability, crawl errors & indexation issues
- Identifying blocked resources on your site (that can impair indexing of your pages)
- Help in setting up your Google My Business listing & optimizing your site for local search
Also included: one-to-one consulting
- As part of the SEO review, I will also take the time to quickly review the rest of your site's details and give you a list of recommended improvements (site structure, layout, design, content, etc.). These user‑experience issues can all indirectly influence SEO over time.
- Free 30-minute consulting call on Zoom, Skype or Google Meet (when I answer all your follow-up questions about your photography website or SEO in particular)
What's not included in the SEO review:
- Advanced keyword research - This is potentially a much more time-consuming job, but we can discuss it separately on a case-by-case basis. I can also recommend good reading material on the topic.
- Schema / Rich snippets - Structured data requires more advanced work and is only needed for some types of websites, and is not the subject of my SEO review.
- Copywriting - As much as I keep improving my writing, English is not my native language, so I can't claim I master all the nuances of writing business copy. If you need extra content on your site (both for visitors and search engines), I will get you in touch with skilled copywriters (working specifically with photographers).
- Marketing - I don't handle your outreach marketing or go out there to get you more links back to your site, that's your responsibility. But I can recommend marketing experts/companies and quality reading material so you can learn things yourself.
- Dodgy SEO practices - If you need quick SEO success with dodgy tactics you might have heard from a friend, I won't help you. I'm all about keeping things clean and simple and building a website that's worthy of ranking well.
- Implementation - This is an SEO review. If you need me to actually help implement all the SEO fixes/opportunities I discover, we can treat that as a separate mini-project afterward.
Also not included: "100% guarantees"
SEO is a long-term game work and doesn't come with guarantees, so I won't offer them and make false promises.
In fact, Google's guidelines on search marketing particularly state: "No one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google. Beware of SEOs that claim to guarantee rankings." So if you want that kind of SEO service, check your spam folder.
Search engine rankings are unstable and can't be controlled. They can only be slowly influenced using the core principles that Google values: quality, user‑experience, trust, accessibility.
So I won't give guarantees, but I'll make an honest commitment instead: I will just do my best to improve your site's SEO, cleanly and thoroughly, while also teaching you where & how to do your SEO work as well.
What you get:
- A detailed list of all the important site SEO stats, problems & opportunities that I found on your site. To be extra clear: this is not a flimsy "report" that you can get from automated tools. I'm personally taking the time to manually look into every nook and cranny of your website.
- Various bits of homework during the project, with instructions and explanations along the way (providing access, rephrasing or adding new website copy, etc.) Your availability is important.
- And usually a lot of homework after the project, as a prioritized list of remaining SEO tasks you need to do in the future
- Useful stats & reports you should frequently be monitoring
- A private calendar link to choose your preferred day & time for our 30‑minute consulting call
"Thanks so much, Alex! Your notes are fabulous, truly. I so appreciate all the pointers - I am ready to use my office time to level-up my SEO. I have jumped several pages in searches already. You were a tremendous help." - Larissa Lord
"Followed some of your SEO advice and have seen a steady increase in traffic - many thanks!" - John Peltier
"Thank you again for all the work and input. I feel great about the changes and it gives me peace of mind knowing that website is properly optimized so that I can be found online. I know I have a lot of work to be done ahead, but you have given me all the tools and most importantly the blueprint so that I know what to do next." - Kliton Ceku
"Wow, you have certainly gone through the site deeply! Looks like you have put the train on the tracks, I don't think it was even in the station before :-) I am very impressed, you have done an outstanding job." - Steve Bagness
"Thanks Alex!! I am slowly getting through your list! It's already made a big improvement to my SEO though and I am nearly on page 1 for all my keywords!" - Elle Goss
Let's get started
The SEO review ranges from $1,000 to $2.500 depending on the particularities of each website and underlying photography business. Flat fee, no hidden costs.
My work is usually completed within 1 week, and we then schedule the free consulting call at your convenience.
Payment is done via PayPal or using any major credit card.
I provide an unconditional money-back guarantee (yes, this is the good kind of guarantee) if you're not satisfied with my work for any reason.
Take action now
SEO reviews are currently booked at least a few days in advance, so act now if you'd like to schedule yours.
You first need to answer a few questions about your website and business, to see if we're a good fit:
After reviewing your answers, I'll contact you asap to schedule the SEO review and ask you any other relevant follow-up questions.
Anything else you want to ask? Don't hesitate to contact me, I reply to every single email.
Interested in other ways (besides SEO) to improve your site? Check out my other services or start reading some of my articles.