We’ve found the best SEO keywords for photographers in hundreds of different cities and multiple countries too (Italy, Switzerland, Mexico, Germany and the list goes on).
Some have booked chateau weddings in France because of the work we’ve done and others receive consistent inquiries.
Every single time, we start with a few simple formulas. Ultimately, the goal is to find the phrases that your ideal client is searching on Google to find you, and then to make sure you can realistically rank for it. We call it an Alice-in-Wonderland rabbit hole because there is usually a lot more past the surface and so many different variations to try.
Take a wedding photographer in Arizona for example. That right there, is a great keyword, but they could also rank for photographer in Arizona, Arizona wedding photography, Tempe wedding photographer, and more. So, how do you find the best SEO keyword to use as a photographer?
Free photography SEO keywords list
A spreadsheet is usually the best place to keep track of your research as you create your own list. Please, go ahead and use our free SEO spreadsheet!
SEO for photographers: a simple checklist
- Write down a general list of what you think someone might search to find you
- Use tools to see the actual data behind it! Don’t just assume one keyword will be best. Double check that it’s actually searched for, and that it’s not too hard to rank for! We love using Ubersuggest for this!
- We’ve seen clients run rampant with a phrase that no one is actually searching, making all of their effort to use a keyword really just not worthwhile
- Incorporate those keywords naturally onto your website — just don’t use the same keyword on every page or this can step on your own toes (it’s called keyword cannibalization.) Our rule of thumb is:
- Add the keyword to the page title and meta description
- Use the keyword 2-3 times on the page itself (increase this for pages longer than 700 words)
- Mark one of those keywords as an h1 (at the top of the page ideally)
- Optimize and re-name 10 images per page with that keyword and a different number for each image such as arizona-wedding-photographer-01.jpg and arizona-wedding-photographer-02.jpg
(Overwhelmed? We offer this service for you and it’s typically less than the cost of photographing one wedding or even an engagement session.)
Start with your main website pages and use these formulas:
Location keywords
- City
- State
- Region
- County
- Country
For example, an Arizona wedding photographer could try:
- Tempe wedding photographer
- Arizona wedding photographer
- Maricopa County wedding photographer
- US wedding photographer
Our pro tip? Don’t forget to try other variations — like Arizona photographer (without the word wedding) or Tempe, AZ photographer. Sometimes, there will be an option that is far easier to rank for!
Specialty keywords
What type of photography do you offer? We’ve seen…
- Wedding
- Engagement
- Newborn
- Portrait
- Senior (high school and college)
- Graduation
- First 48 (after babies are born)
- Family
- Editorial
- Commercial
- Branding
- Film
- 35 mm
Take what you do and look for keywords like that! Don’t forget to pair location and specialty keywords together for something like 35mm photographer in Arizona!
Award keywords (if you’ve received recognition as a top or best photographer)
Now, there are a lot of keywords that use things like “top” or “best,” but we don’t normally recommend using those unless you truly have received an award or been recognized in a magazine. In that case, you can try words like:
- Top wedding photographer
- Best wedding photographer
- Top wedding photographer in Arizona / top Arizona wedding photographer
For bonus points (and better results), research competitors
Most SEO tools let you plug in anyone’s website and see what they’re ranking for. This means you can look up your competitors to see which phrases they’re using and the kind of traffic it’s driving for them! Just remember that some websites will perform better because of other factors — social media reputations, links from other websites, Google reviews, etc.
Please don’t copy and paste every phrase they use, but instead, use it to see if you forgot anything!
We once had a client ask us if they could copy and paste the keywords we used for one client with a totally different business that had the same niche, yes, but that was in a different location. Our answer? You could try, but we don’t recommend it. You’ll have different preferences and needs — maybe you book weddings 60% of the time, but 40% of your business is family photography so you might need to split the keywords accordingly!
Other ways to use keywords as a photographer
- Website copy
- Blog posts
- Social media hashtags
- Social media profile labels (like in your IG profile or Pinterest bio)
- In your Google business listing (but just pick one and use it in a normal paragraph description of what you do)
How to measure results
“How did you find me?”
The easiest way is to ask inquiries on your contact form how they found you! Most tools like Dubsado or Honeybook create reports so you can see the breakdown of leads from Google, social media, word of mouth, etc. That’s the best way to really connect the dots between ranking yes, but actually getting business from your SEO work!
Google Search Console
Otherwise, if you’re really wanting to get into the nitty gritty, Google Search Console is the most natural and free way to track results! It’s through Google itself and is totally free! I also like Ubersuggest for website audits!
More SEO resources for photographers
- Ubersuggest for keyword research
- Google Search Console for tracking
- Our SEO Starter Kit for done-for-you research
- SEO blog posts to drive more specific inquiries (like senior sessions in Atlanta or Tulum destination weddings)
- Other search engine optimization ideas (like Google reviews and backlinks)
