Blogging is like flossing your teeth or doing sit ups.  We know that we SHOULD do it, but we often fail to incorporate the routines into our daily lives with consistency.

If you’re struggling to grow your photography business, you may be neglecting one obvious marketing tool that all photographers should take advantage of: blogging.

In this article, based on content from Photography Business 201: Photography Pricing & Product Design, we’re going show you why blogging is important. Don’t miss part two of this article next week when discuss how to blog effectively.

why blog?

Here are six reasons why all photographers should blog:

1. Gain Credibility And Fill The Party

Blogging is your chance to remind your friends, fans and followers that you are an active working photographer, keeping you top-of-mind when they (or their network) have photo needs.  All else equal, would a client rather hire a photographer with recent blog entries or a photographer who hasn’t blogged since 2012?

[Related Reading: How To Market Your Photography Business]

Blogging often also “fills the party.”  This is a term we use in our business course to describe the phenomena that happens people see a line outside of a restaurant or club.  What happens?  They look twice and usually assume that it must be good.  No matter where you are in your business, your services need to appear as if they are in high demand.  Frequent blogging is a way to help.

2. Maximize SEO/Niche Targeting

With limited time, many busy photographers focus on social media over blogging.  However, blogging is just as important (and maybe even more important) than social media because the work you put in creates permanent assets that continually drive traffic to your work over time via search.

Blogging lets you target the long tail keywords in your search engine optimization (SEO) strategy.  Ranking for major keywords like “New York Wedding Photographer” or “San Francisco Headshot Photographer” is difficult and takes significant time and resources.

However, ranking for niche keywords like wedding venues, specific headshot styles, maternity locations, and other less competitive terms are much easier.  Your blog is the key to increasing your search traffic via ranking these niche terms.  To learn more about blogging, see this video.

3. Tell Your Story/Visions Through Words

Much like album design, blogging allows photographers to take their sessions and turn them into storytelling moments.

Stories allow you clients and your audience to fall in love with a set of images.  In contrast, a dump of images in a gallery showcasing thousands of images lacks the same emotional impact.

See the examples spreads below:

In addition, adding text alongside your images in a blog allows you to expand your vision and give special insight on the significance of the locations and wardrobe choices or highlight the personalities of the clients. Although pictures are said to be worth a thousand words, it still helps to accompany visuals with written text.

4. Set Yourself Apart And Show Off Your Personality

Photographers can use their blog to help them stand out and let potential clients see a more personable side of you and your business. Allowing viewers to see your personality through your blog posts is a wonderful way to set yourself apart and develop a relationship with your audience.

5. make your clients happy

Use your blog to make your clients feel special and important. A little recognition and validation can be very gratifying for your clients and makes your work more shareable.  In the end, taking an hour of your time to make your client feel special will benefit YOU by drawing more attention and traffic to your site.

6. Satisfy Your Vendors

Vendors enjoy and appreciate getting a little recognition just as much as your clients do. Take a few behind the scenes images of the florist setting out flowers, or the caterers serving the food. Mention them in your blog posts and give them credit for their services.

This will give them something to share with their clients and audience. Every time they share, the readers will be directed to your site. It’s a win-win for both you and the vendor and requires very little effort on your end.

All else equal, a vendor is more likely to recommend a photographer who credits them on their blog and social media over a photographer who doesn’t.

Conclusion

Blogging is critical to many components of your business, playing important roles in client satisfaction, SEO, vendor networking, and more. Blogging requires dedication in order to be effective; and consistency is key.

Now that we know WHY we should blog, our next article will cover HOW to do it effectively.  Stay tuned!

For more tips on building your photography business, from creating a business plan to booking clients, check out our Complete Photography Business Training System, which is available now in our store.

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