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Photographers, this one’s for you!

Ahhhh photography. No matter what specialty we’re talking about, it’s a totally rad art form. Lifestyle photography, brand photography , product and e-commerce photography, wedding & engagement photography, family photography, you name it… It’s something that I LOVE and deeply appreciate but can’t do myself - gotta leave the camera work to the pros haha!

So while you’ll never catch me doing more than basic point & shoot on my ol’ iPhone, what I can do is help all these amazing creatives out when it comes to their photography websites.

Specifically, Squarespace website SEO. Because I know that your goal is to get in front of the right audiences online, increase traffic to your website, and connect with more of your ideal clients/customers/fellow art nerds.

Whether you use your website as a way to share your work and display your galleries, or if it’s your main portfolio and business asset, I’ve got you covered here.

As a Squarespace SEO expert and leader in this super random little niche, it’s my job/pleasure to introduce you to things like this and present it in a way that doesn’t make you want to start hyperventilating with overwhelm!

This is the kind of insider info that I share with my Squarespace SEO consulting clients and students in my online course, Top Squarespace SEO. But since I’m not one for secrets and truly want the best for anyone with a website, I’m giving you the summarized goods here - totally for free!

Read the blog post or watch the video tutorial below - either way, I know you’ll love these SEO tips for your photography website.

Some of you reading this might be totally new to Squarespace SEO and are looking for an introduction to this topic, someone to hold your hand and show you it’s not actually that scary. On the flip side, you might already be familiar with a few points on this list already but maybe you are looking for confirmation that you’re on the right track and haven’t missed anything important. No matter where you are in your Squarespace SEO journey, I know you’ll benefit from this info!

Without further ado, let’s get started! Read the post and watch the video tutorial below to learn my best Squarespace SEO tips for photography websites.

I have so many tips to share on the subject that it would have been crazy to put it all in one article! There are many misconceptions about Squarespace SEO which is why I've dedicate so many posts to this topic. Enjoy!

Click to view all posts in the Squarespace SEO Series

Visit my Squarespace SEO page for lots more resources.

Best Squarespace SEO tips for photography websites

This tutorial shows a demo website using the Rally template in Squarespace 7.0, but the process will be super similar if you’re using 7.1!

Before we begin…

I want to make sure that you have the basics covered when it comes to the key SEO settings on the back end of your Squarespace website.

If you haven’t already, please check out this blog post/video tutorial: Squarespace SEO 101: Beginner's guide to the 3 most important website settings

Once you’ve taken care of those essential settings, then we’re ready to have a deeper discussion about the strategy and focus that goes into Squarespace SEO specifically for photography websites!

1. Build & design your photography website with search intent in mind

I’m going to guess that if you’re reading this particular blog post, you want to use SEO to increase traffic to your website so that you can reach a wider online audience, and maybe even convert more site visitors into leads or clients.

So, with that in mind, I’m going to get you to zoom wayyyyy out and think about search intent and how that plays into the pages/blog posts/galleries on your own Squarespace website.

If you aren’t very familiar with search intent, that’s totally fine! Click here to read the blog post/watch the video tutorial.

But basically, search intent should be the guiding principle so that you can create the kind of website content that will satisfy a searcher’s query.

The search intent will change depending on what kind of search someone is doing - are they looking for information? to navigate straight to a website/piece of content? compare two options? purchase a product online?

Once you know WHY someone is making a particular online search, you have major insights into the type of content they are expecting to see - then you can go ahead and deliver those goods to them :)

When it comes to search intent, I like to think of it as a 4 step process:

Make a list of keywords or keyphrases you want to rank for (i.e., if someone types XYZ into Google, you want to show up in those search results).
Run those keywords through Google and see what comes up
Analyze the top ranking websites (aka your competition) for each keyword - this means click through to each page/post, see what kind of content you’re up against, any weaknesses or gaps you can take advantage of
Create new content or update old content so that it is as good as or better than what’s currently ranking

Let’s look at an example using the term “Nashville wedding photographer”

Type a keyword like “Nashville wedding photographer” into Google and see that the top ranking websites are. If you use the example above, you’ll see that the first page results are mostly links to website’s home pages. So, this tells you that if you also want to rank for that particular keyword, you’re going to have to beef up your own website’s home page so that it delivers lots of value and is seo-friendly.

Whereas if you see that the top hits for a particular keyword are specific web pages, blog posts or product descriptions, then you’ll have to make sure that you’re doing a better job on whatever page/post/product/whatever you’re trying to rank for.

See how it all comes together?

2. Leverage your images

Now that you understand the value of search intent and you have an idea of how you’re going to leverage that to create or improve pages/posts/products on your own photography website, let’s move on to your most valuable asset - your images.

As a photographer, you are at a massive advantage because you have sooooooo many images and visual content to use on your website. Seriously, this is a major bonus for you and I really want to make sure that you’re getting every little SEO drop out of these images!

From an SEO point of view, images have double value because they can help a page/post rank higher in search results, AND you can also get individual images to rank on their own in Google Image Search Results.

The first thing I want you to consider is the physical file name of each image you’re going to use. This means the name of the image that’s chilling on your computer before you even upload it to your website. You should always re-name the physical file name so that it isn’t a generic/useless “img09882.png” or whatever because that has zero value. Instead, include keywords and descriptive wording in the image’s physical file name.

Next, let’s talk about image file size. It’s important to keep your image files small because too many large images on a page can directly affect the load speed, and if the page is slow to load then Google will penalize you for that and you won’t show up as high in search results. I recommend using a tool like tinypng.com to compress images without losing or compromising on the image quality.

FirstNow let’s look at the Squarespace Filename field. Anytime you insert a Squarespace image content block, you’ll see that there’s a “Filename (optional)” field but THIS IS NOT OPTIONAL! You MUST rename it :) if you’ve already name the physical file name, you’ll see that it will auto-populate when you upload the image to Squarespace - yay! You might tweak it a bit or you can leave it as is if it’s good enough the way it is. What I want to see from you here is that you’re using super descriptive and keyword rich words in the filename field - something like “Jane Smith Photography | Nashville wedding photographer | Jack and Jill wedding walking at sunset through the grass holding hands” or whatever. See how much value that gives to search engines like Google who are crawling and indexing each image on your site? I’ll tell you, it’s a lot of value and you’ll be rewarded for that.

Image Guidelines and Best Practices for Squarespace SEO (updated for 2024)

$97.00

UPDATED FOR 2024!

The Image Guidelines & Best Practices for Squarespace SEO is a digital product.

It is a 10-page reference guide that covers everything you need to know about using images on your Squarespace website strategically for SEO.

This Guide is for ANYONE with a Squarespace website. Whether you have a handful of images on your site or it’s a full blown portfolio, this Guide is a must-have.

*Price in USD

One last thing I want to say about images is that even if you have a lot of similar or related images on your websites, you should still make an effort to name them differently as best as you can. Yes of course they can have similarities but the same image name shouldn’t just be copied and pasted a dozen times over, because Google will see the exact same names and it could diminish the value.

3. Focus on on-site SEO factors

On-site SEO factors include things like:

Titles (page, blog post, products, galleries, etc.)
URl structure
Headers (H1, H2, H3, etc.)
Links (internal, external and inbound)
Text that’s easy to read or scan (meaning no massive paragraphs or run on sentences)
Bullet points, numbered lists, etc.
Media (Images, graphics, charts, tables, illustrations, video, audio, etc.)

These factors apply whether we’re talking about a page on your website, every blog post you write, each portfolio gallery page, a product page (e.g.if you sell your services directly on your site).

On-site factors are often overlooked because the main focus of photography websites is usually just on the images, but once you consider how important it is from an SEO and UX (user experience) point of view, you’ll be able to optimize and see traction!

So, keep this in mind for any new content that you create for your website but don’t forget about existing content too! If you have any pages/posts/whatever that are slacking with on-site SEO factors, then go back and update/improve them. Yes that takes time and effort but trust me, you’ll be rewarded!

4. Don’t forget about blogging

When I tell photographers that they’re going to have to get comfortable blogging if they want to show up on Page 1 of Google Search Results for their target keywords, they almost always push back. “I’m a photographer, not a writer!” is what they normally tell me!

My friend, I totally get that and understand where you’re coming from…. but the fact is that blogging is an essential part of Squarespace SEO.

Do a quick Google search and look at your competition. I guarantee that 99% of the top-ranking websites that you’re up against have a blog, right? So doesn’t that show you that if you want to get in front of that same audience and take a bigger piece of the search results pie, you’re going to have to start blogging?

If I can do it, you can do it :)

Every blog post that you publish is a chance to create the kind of content your dream client/ideal customer is looking for online. Blogging takes time and effort, but it also leads to real results and authentic engagement and conversions (inquiries and bookings).

First thing’s first: you’re going to need a blog section of your website if you don’t already have one. Here’s a blog post/video tutorial that walks you through how to set up a blog on a Squarespace website.

Once you’ve got your blog set up, it’s time to start writing! But remember, there’s strategy behind blogging if you are doing it for SEO. Your focus should be on creating keyword rich content that your ideal audience is searching for - oh look, we’re looping back up to search intent that we talked about above! :)

Here are a few posts about blogging & SEO to get you started:

Once you get the hang of it, blogging starts to be fun! And if you truly hate it, it’s always something you can outsource haha

I love tracking my blogging impact by looking at the numbers. Log into the back end of your Squarespace website > Analytics > Popular Content. This is where you can see which blog posts are getting the most traffic, and how that changes over time as you start creating more seo-focused blog posts for your website. Added bonus is that you’ll see that your overall website traffic will also increase as you start blogging!

5. Benefits of backlinks

Backlinks, also known as inbound links, are anytime another website links to your website.

If you’ve read any of my other Squarespace SEO blog posts/video tutorials you’ll know that there are HUGE benefits of backlinks for Squarespace SEO but you’ve got to learn when & how to focus on backlinks as part of your Squarespace SEO strategy.

Quality over quantity is always Queen when it comes to backlinks - you want links from other relevant or compatible websites, because that’s going to send the right kind of traffic your way. Also, Google will notice that other legit, high quality websites are linking to your site and that signals to them that wow, look at all the authority this photography website must have! Google will reward you for having high quality backlinks so there’s direct SEO value in pursuing or maximizing them.

As a photographer, one of the most obvious way to get backlinks would be to submit your weddings to wedding blogs or publications. When you secure those features, you’ll get a backlink to your website and can take advantage of that referral traffic.

Some backlinks will come about naturally, but you might also want to pitch yourself and your photography for online coverage - think blog posts, interviews, media features, collabs, etc. Get creative, think of ways you can add value to both parties, and enjoy those back links hunni! It takes time and effort to get high-quality backlinks to your website but trust me, it’s totally worth it.

6. Pinterest is your BFF

Did you know that Pinterest is actually a powerful search engine and not just a social media site?

Pinterest is a visual platform where people go and search for literally anything under the sun. And as a photographer with COUNTLESS images, you can use that to your advantage to drive traffic back to your website (which is a platform you control and can then convert those casual visitors into something more).

I’m definitely not the Pinterest Expert or anything, but I wanted to include this point because Pinterest and the images on your Squarespace photography website go hand in hand.

Remember how I told you above how important it is to have properly named, keyword rich image titles? Another reason for this is that once you start pinning your images all over Pinterest, all that SEO goodness will follow you to Pinterest’s platform too. Which means that you just have to put in the hard work of naming the images once, but you can leverage that on multiple search engines: think Google AND Pinterest.

Don’t sleep on Pinterest - entire photography businesses have been built or blossomed once Pinterest came into play. You’ve got this!

Final Thoughts

And there you have it, my lovely photographer, 6 of my best tips for Squarespace SEO to use on your photography website.

Photography websites are one of my favourite types of websites to work on because they blend visual and informational content so well, which gives us sooooo much to work with from an SEO point of view!

I hope you read this and feel encouraged and excited by all the ways you can use SEO to your advantage, and start applying these tips so that your website traffic snowballs and you see a big uptick in your own business.

There’s a lot to consider with Squarespace SEO and I totally understand that it’s a daunting subject when you’re first starting out, which is why I’m thrilled to help you out with this blog post/video tutorial all about Squarespace SEO tips for photographers!

Whether you’re just starting out with a brand new website and want to make sure that you’re setting it up correctly, or if you’ve had a site live for a while and now want to grow it to make more of an impact, SEO will get you where you want to go! From web pages to blog posts to product descriptions, these factors should be considered across your Squarespace website if you want best results.

Now it's your turn to tell me, are you a photographer? How does SEO play into your website and online marketing efforts? Is there anything here that you’re going to try out?

Leave me your questions down in the comments below and I’ll do my best to answer them. As people are spending more time online than ever before, it’s SO important that your website shows up properly in search results so that you can reach your ideal audience online - but you can’t do this without SEO!

If you want more SEO goodness, be sure to check out my Squarespace SEO page for all resources on the topic.

My signature online course, Top Squarespace SEO, will be opening for enrollment again soon - sign up for the TSS waiting list here!

You can also sign up for my newsletter (right here or below), where I often share Squarespace SEO tips, tricks and high-quality exclusive content. I send out emails to my list every Wednesday, mostly focused on Squarespace websites and SEO, and I can guarantee that you’ll find the newsletter topics interesting, entertaining and worth your time. #humblebrag

Finally, shameless plug: hit me up with any specific questions you have about Squarespace SEO and your website because I’m your girl. You can reach out to me directly if you’re interested in working together on your website and we can talk about whether or not you would be a good fit for my consulting and ongoing services. I can’t take on every request to do Squarespace SEO consulting but I do pick a few websites and businesses to work with every month and I’d love for you to be one of them.