If you are a photographer, you might consider creating a blog.

A blog is beneficial for so many reasons. It gets your name out there and it can even establish you as a thought leader in your field. It may also bring in income off advertising and sponsorships. It is a terrific vehicle for networking with others.

Blogging is not easy so if you are thinking of starting, it’s advisable to do some research in advance. Here are some things you will want to be aware of.

Find a Blog Platform

The first step you will want to take as a blogger is finding a blog platform. There are tons out there.

When researching which is best for you, think about the features offered. What templates are available? What kind of support does the platform provide? Is the site user friendly?

The cost will also be a factor. Some blog platforms are free to use but will charge fees for advanced features.

Be Engaging

A blog is not worth the bandwidth it’s taking up if nobody reads it. To ensure readership, you’ll want to write about topics you think will interest your audience.

Because you are writing for photographers, you can Include helpful tips and tricks for achieving specific techniques or working in a certain genre. You can review equipment. You can talk about a photo shoot that you did that stuck out as being a unique experience.

The blog platform you’re using should provide you with analytics so you can figure out which blogs are getting the most engagement. Once you determine what people are reading most, you’ll have a better idea of what topics you should be writing about.

Make it SEO Friendly

If you write your blog with SEO techniques in mind, it will come up higher in search engine pages, so you get more readers and more potential clients checking you out. Depending on how crazy you want to go, you can hire an SEO expert. He or she will be on top of the latest trends and know exactly what to do to please the Google algorithm.

However, there are a few tried and true methods that are guaranteed to work. Here are some to consider.

Use Keywords: Research to find keywords that are most likely to attract your target audience. Sprinkle them throughout your content making sure to include them near the beginning and end of articles and within headlines.

Make Sure Your Site Loads Quickly: A site that loads slowly will not only turn off visitors, it will reduce the likelihood that you end up on the top of search pages. If your site is not moving quickly enough, determine the problem and do your best to remedy it.

Add Videos and Images: Videos and images will make your site look more Attractive. If you label each with an alt tag that has a keyword in it, it will be effective in boosting SEO.

Share on Social Media

Most blog platforms have share buttons that allow you to share your articles to Social Media sites. Doing so will get your content out to more people to boost your blog’s visibility.

Make it Attractive

If your blog doesn’t look professional, you won’t look professional. Make sure your blog is easy to navigate and use a pleasing format.

The right images and video will go a long way in making your pages look more attractive. Fortunately, as a photographer, you shouldn’t have any trouble in that department!

Protect Your Images

Speaking of images… it’s likely that you will be posting a lot of yours within your blog. This makes them vulnerable to theft. To ensure your images don’t get stolen, register the copyright to your work and use a copyright notice.

You can also watermark your work, include a digital signature or use low resolution images that will not look great if they are copied.

A blog is a terrific way to get your photography noticed. Now that you know how to get started, what are you waiting for? Start getting those thought processes flowing so you have plenty of content ready when it’s time to publish.

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