If you don’t have a blog, you are missing out on a great marketing and SEO tool! A photo blog is a great way to show off your latest work and keep your site updated and fresh for your clients and search engines.
TOP 5 SMART THINGS TO DO WITH YOUR BLOG
- Post sneak peeks for your clients. Let them know it is a sneak peek to share with all their family and friends.
- Feature local businesses on your blog. This is a great way to partner with other businesses to network and develop a working relationship for more exposure for both parties.
- Update it regularly to keep your site fresh and new for your clients and search engines. Search engines love fresh content. They like to know your site is staying active.
- Add a local resource area to your blog. Click here for an example.
***Great Little Tip***
Did you know you can post your sneak peeks on your blog as slideshows? Yep, it looks great, keeps all images for your client in one viewing space on your blog (eliminates a lot of scrolling), and it is a little harder to copy your images!
We use the NextGen Gallery. Click here for an example.
We also found another flash slideshow creator that looks like it would work great for this. Click the image below to see some great examples of this flash slideshow builder in action:
The best way to blog is to install Wordpress on your server. This way the hits and traffic are going to your domain name. It also makes it easier for clients to associate it with your business name.
If you choose to go with an online method (the only reason I can even think to do this would be just because it was simpler to start), there are a couple of online ways to do this:
wordpress.com (online version)
Again, we like the idea of installing a blog on your own server with Wordpress.org.
This is the link to the Wordpress 5 minute installation, but I will admit that it took me longer than 5 minutes the first time I installed one. lol
Wordpress 5 minute installation
What’s so great about Wordpress?
- A bazillion (yep, I just made up that one) themes from which to choose (many are free).
- Great plug-ins to customize and optimize your blog.
- So customizable that it can actually be used as your website, too (depending on the theme you choose)!
Start simple with your blog and grow it as you become more familiar with Wordpress. It takes time to gradually learn the ins and outs of the program. Just take baby steps, and you will be fine.
We looked high and low for you to find some of the best photographer friendly blogs for your websites. We know how hard it is to pour through tons of sites looking for themes that will show off images the best, so we thought we would help you guys.
TOP 10 WORDPRESS BLOG THEMES FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS
- PhotoPressPro
- Graph Paper Press
- Photo Blog
- Grain
- Reflection
- Monolit
- Photo Gallery
- Cloudscape
- Nashita
- Tofurious
TOP WORDPRESS PLUGINS FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS
- NextGen Gallery -Turns your galleries into slideshows. This also allows you to make a gallery for your images without a slideshow. Click here to see an example.
- Askimet – This helps with spam. You do need to have a Wordpress API key to use, but it only takes a few minutes and is so worth it.
- All-in-one-SEO – Incorporates your titles and other information into your meta tags.
- Google XML Sitemaps – Easy way to create a Google friendly sitemap to help Google find your pages.
- ExecPHP - Allows you to insert PHP code into your pages or posts.
- FlickrRSS - Allows you to integrate the photos from a flickr rss feed into your site.
Things to Blog About
- Latest session
- Upcoming specials or promotions
- Local happenings
- Feature a local business
- Use your blog to educate (copyright, tips for clothing, custom portraiture, etc.)
- Share things to help your clients (upcoming local events, movie reviews, fun things to do in the area, etc.)
A Blogsite for Photographers
When I started this article, it was meant to be just about blogs, Wordpress blogs to be more specific, but while I was researching and tweaking mine, I realized that for many reasons it would make a GREAT website. Wordpress blogs have come a long way and can be seamlessly integrated into a blogsite for photographers.
The advantages:
- I no longer have to go to two separate places to update my site (blog and site). It is now integrated into one site.
- It has all the ease of the content management systems in the expensive websites
- Many themes from which to choose.
- Easy to change your theme when you want a new look.
- Many plugins available to enhance your site.
- Great SEO.
- Since they are html, they load quicker and easier for clients than flash sites. In all honesty, I’m not sure that clients really care that much about flash sites.
- I can now see exactly where potential clients are going on my website. If you have a flash website, you are losing valuable information.
If you haven’t already clicked on some of the links below, click here to see how seamlessly this can be done.
Wordpress is easier now than ever with the new version incorporating automatic upgrades. It even allows for automatic plugin upgrades, too.
Happy blogging!
Permission to use or share on forums granted with proper credit given to author and source:
Author: Tammy Cobb – Wonderfully Made Photography
Source: Art & Design at 411marketsource.com
What a well-written and informative article. One of the best round-ups I’ve seen offering easy-to-follow advice on this topic!
Thank you, Stephanie! I’m glad you found it informative!
thank you – great advice
I found a simpleviewer plug in for making galleries on your blog – super easy and works great!
I use something else for slideshows but needed to make galleries too…
You are welcome, Debi! Simpleviewer plugin would be great for galleries, too! That’s good advice! The nextgen plugin will actually display the images without the slideshow. It’s pretty flexible once you poke around in it a little bit.
Tammy you did a great job with this article! It’s a super starting point for someone looking for a new blog or blog+site.
Thanks, Kim! I’m glad you enjoyed it!