| It's essential today for a wedding photographer to | | | | pages should generally follow the same procedure as |
| have a website but that alone will not be good | | | | with the index page but with other keywords being |
| enough to attract clients. With so many wedding | | | | used relevant to that page. These pages unlike the |
| photography websites now SEO or Search Engine | | | | index page will have an URL extension and if possible |
| Optimisation is vital. Basically SEO is the process of | | | | use your keywords within this extension. Other |
| getting your site as close to the top of the search | | | | important criteria would be to have your keywords |
| engines listings as possible. SEO is generally split into | | | | contained in the meta tag description and the images |
| two parts - on page criteria and off page criteria. | | | | alt tags. |
| On page criteria. This process should ideally begin | | | | Off page criteria. This process is done after the site |
| before any code is written. A keyword search should | | | | is up and running and usually takes the most time. |
| be carried out at this stage by predicting what words | | | | Google has a page rank of 0 to 10 for each page in a |
| a searcher might type in that might be relevant to | | | | website and the higher the page rank the higher |
| your business. So for example, if you specialise in a | | | | Google will list that page in conjunction with the on |
| particular type of photography such as contemporary | | | | page criteria. In order to get a higher page rank (PR) |
| wedding photography then "contemporary wedding | | | | you need to get good quality links pointing to your |
| photography" could be one set of your keyword | | | | website. A good quality link is from a page with a |
| group. The more niche your market the better. Also | | | | high PR value that has a similar content to your own. |
| if you mainly provide services in a particular area then | | | | One good quality link can be worth several low |
| the area name in a keyword group would also be | | | | quality links. The problem with a new website is that |
| important. Google provide a keyword tool to indicate | | | | it will have no PR and it may be difficult to get higher |
| how many times a keyword selection was searched | | | | ranked sites to link to it as this may dilute their PR. A |
| and what the competition is for this search. So after | | | | good way to increase PR is to submit to directories |
| choosing your keyword groups its time to design | | | | within photography or wedding photography |
| your website. | | | | categories. Most directories will require reciprocal links |
| When choosing your domain name try and get your | | | | but not all do. Some require a fee to get listed but |
| top listed keywords in the domain name if that is | | | | this could be money well spent in the long run. |
| possible although with wedding photography this | | | | Another way to get links is to submit articles to |
| might be hard to do. When creating pages, your | | | | forums with a link to your website. |
| index page is the most important. This page needs to | | | | It can take months or even years to get near the |
| be titled using your top keywords and the text | | | | top of search engine listings but if you keep adding |
| within this page should have a good sprinkling of | | | | good quality material to the website and getting |
| these keywords but don't overdo it. Headings on this | | | | good in-pointing links the effort will all be worth while |
| page should also include these keywords. Other | | | | in the end. |