Do you want to know more about starting a photography blog or if you need one? A photo blog allows you to optimize your website’s SEO and gives you your own personal space where you can post photos and discuss your shooting techniques, gear, and upcoming projects. In this post, we will tell you how and where to start your photography blog, how to entice visitors, and how to monetize your traffic. Regardless of whether you’re on safari in Africa or working with supermodels, all photos you take tell a story about your style and artistic vision. If you don’t showcase your pictures on an easy-to-access online platform, you’re depriving others of the opportunity to appreciate your work.
1. Narrow Down Your Photography Blog Niche
If you are an enthusiast and still trying to find your feet in the photography world, choosing a niche is vital because it allows you to target a specific audience for your blog. As you browse through photography lists on Tumblr, you will find an assortment of styles. It will be easier for you to offer your audience with relevant content after you’ve decided on one. For example, lifestyle photography and travel blogs deal with different subjects. You will also be able to study potential ad partners and what you can review on your blog if you have chosen a niche. Since the needs of a portrait photography blogger differ from those of an e-commerce specialist, your niche will help you learn what you can review.
2. Pick a Name for Your Blog
Choosing the right title for your blog is critical because it will be tied to your work for years to come. To avoid picking the first option that comes to your mind, sit down and think about what you want your business to be known as. It’s a simple job, but it’ll be tied to your work for years to come. Therefore, you shouldn’t just pick the first name that comes to your mind, but rather sit down and really consider what name best represents your business.
3. Pick the Best Host
The first phase in starting a photography blog is choosing a web host. Since we’ve gone through the fundamental steps, we can now move on to picking a web host. The costs for web hosting services have dropped dramatically over the years, and the leading companies offer excellent solutions at reasonable prices. Unless you’re seeking something extravagant, I recommend getting a popular company.
4. Choose Your Photography Blog Platform
The reason why you should use WordPress is that it’s the best option available right now. There are a lot of themes, plug-ins, and customization options that make it simple to establish a unique looking blog. WordPress can also be learned fairly quickly and is simple to use, even if you don’t have a coding background. Because WordPress is so well-known, most web hosts come pre-equipped with it and let you install it in one step. Other settings in your WordPress account can be adjusted, meaning you don’t have to configure FTP or wp-config files. That’s why I always recommend WordPress as the go-to option for photography blogs. In the alternative, you may choose from platforms like Squarespace, Wix, or even Blogger.
5. Choose the Right Web Design
When creating a photography blog, I recommend using a single-colored or pastel-colored theme because these types of blogs attract readers’ attention to the pictures. Even if you have a lot of images and content to share, keep the design clean and minimalistic. You should also keep it simple and straightforward to navigate. The maximum number of menu buttons should not exceed six, and they should be placed on the left or right so that a user can access them at all times.
You should also include a “Home” button to return visitors to the homepage. Modula, a powerful gallery plugin, may be used to display your masterpieces and make your photography website more visually appealing in addition to enhancing your portfolio.
6. Optimize Your Images
Creating a photo blog is a big undertaking, as you will be required to post a great deal of pictures in your articles, galleries, and other content. Your website loads quickly and keeps users from leaving it by optimizing your images. You can use Bulkresizephotos and Optimizilla to optimize all your photos quickly and for free. If the photos appear, the maximum recommended width is 1800 pixels. If not, 800 pixels (which is often a bit larger than most website content) is fine.
7. Try to Edit Photos in the Same Style
When planning to construct a photography blog, I advise using pictures that have been altered in the same fashion. This will create a visually attractive visual appearance and aesthetically correct, coherent appearances. You may choose to employ automatic presets or employ professionals who have been in the field for quite a while and may therefore produce excellent outcomes.
8. Always Promote Sales or Special Sessions
You should advertise a sale or discount photo shoot in a blog post if you are planning one. Make sure you include the date so that readers who find your older posts later on won’t be confused.
9. Occasionally Post Personal Stuff
Personalize your photographs by sharing about your life or work as a portrait or wedding photographer by posting about you or any interesting events you may have experienced. It will help you establish a closer relationship with your audience and customers by posting relevant content. You may risk losing them if you post things that do not interest them.
To keep your audience interested, post things that are relevant to them or you might bore them. It’s a smart idea to begin a 365 image project or post some photographs from your vacation. Coming up with ideas for your niche will be simple if you know it well enough.
10. Publish Recent Sessions and/or Events
It’s one of the most important things you can do when you’re starting a photoblog for the first time. Of course, you won’t hear about it for the first time here. Posting pictures from your latest photoshoots or events is one of the greatest ways to populate your blog (just make sure you get a model release from your clients). It’s also a terrific way to gain free publicity by reaching the people that your clients are connected with on social media. These posts are also particularly valuable for giving your clients a sneak peek of their photoshoot before it is edited.
11. Publish Posts that Will Be Useful for Your Client
Do you photograph weddings? Then describe how you recommend that brides prepare for their occasions. For example, how to relieve stress before a wedding photoshoot, how to organize their day well, or how to get some advice about their special day from some of their previous clients, who you will include in your blog to help future brides.
If you’re a newborn photography expert, you may write about how to prepare a newborn for a shoot. Mention what you can do to calm a baby in front of the camera, and how you can always have the camera ready.
12. Prepare a FAQ
A FAQ section can help you build a more trusting relationship with clients by addressing common questions and at the same time reply to them. It may also assist you in upselling your services by including links in the answers to FAQs like ‘what is the best print size?’ and ‘what do I get for my newlyweds?’
For those who wish to stay on the website longer, you may also include links in the answers. In addition, a store/services page featuring images of everything you have to offer may also assist you in upselling.
13. Add a Pin It Button on Your Photography Blog
There are tons of intriguing plug-ins (both free and paid) that you can use to add a fashionable “Pin it” function to your images. If you want your audience to easily share your content, it is critical to include this function.
However, be sure that all your posts are of high quality and include a picture with text that describes the content of the post. When a pinned image intrigues someone, they will be inspired to visit your blog.
14. Add Social Share Buttons to Your Blog
Another type of free plug-ins you can include on your website are social media share buttons that appear when a viewer hovers over a photo. Monarch, a paid alternative, is a good choice if you want to enhance your website photos.
It’s better than free options because you can customize the size and color of the icons. This saves you from having to do it in a previous step. People like to share what they enjoy, and this allows them to do so on their preferred platform.
15. Optimize Your SEO
You should be aware of how crucial the Internet is in learning how to create a photography blog. According to Search Engine data, 95% of online activities begin with a person writing something in a search box. That’s why it’s crucial to consider SEO from the beginning.
First, use the Keywordtool website to select the most appropriate words for your first posts and appeal to people looking for them. You may then order SEO for photography business services that will assist you in selecting keywords, evaluating, and improving your site, as well as developing a comprehensive strategy for only $250 per month.
16. Reach Out to Influencer
You may also expand your audience by featuring or mentioning influencers in your posts and tutorials. You can start with a list of photographers and artists who inspire you. It will be a win-win scenario for everyone, especially if you are able to collaborate with a popular individual or even have them directly involved in making the post.
You will receive free marketing by featuring an influencer in your blog. I have never heard a single complaint about someone being included in a blog post from photographers I have worked with before. Although someone may have millions of followers, they might not regard being featured in your blog as an embarrassing situation.
17. Use Photo News Websites
The first step to establishing and operating a photography blog is to make sure you have plenty of content. However, you should not limit yourself to just your blog; there are many popular photography websites that accept article submissions.
If your article is good enough to be published, it may bring thousands of new readers to your own blog, which may result in attracting new clients.
18. Sell Your Photographs Online
It is possible to monetize your photography blog by using image selling. You can either add a purchase button directly to your blog or use websites such as Shutterstock or 500px to sell images. You can sell an image for a few dollars or a few cents, depending on its rarity. Because you’ve already decided on a subject, you should approach website designers who specialize in your subject.
Agencies like these are always on the lookout for stunning photographs that they can use on their clients’ websites, making them excellent clients for your own services.
19. Sell Your Products
Using a pay-per-download business model, you can create a successful photo blog. This choice is by far the most profitable because you keep all of the income. To start a blog that makes money, you might want to think about selling your own products. If your goal is to learn how to create a photo blog, then you should look at whether you can sell your own products.
Selling your Ps actions and overlays or Lightroom presets on your own store page will allow you to avoid third-party sites’ commissions on image editing assets because you offer a larger audience.
However, you should not entirely dismiss the option of selling goods on major e-commerce platforms such as Etsy or Filter Grade, as these sites offer your products more exposure, which is important when you’re just starting out making image editing tools for Adobe Photoshop or Lightroom.
20. Market Affiliate Products
If you don’t have the time or webspace to make and sell your items, joining one of the many photography affiliate programs is a great alternative. You can make money every time a visitor buys a product you’ve reviewed on your blog by signing up for an affiliate program. Cameras, photography equipment, Adobe Ps actions & overlays, photography books and courses, and much more are all potential review candidates. You should, however, only cover products that your audience might be interested in.
