QUICK TIPS

Old-school, but powerful. Reach out to past clients or people in your network and let them know you’re booking.

Make it personal, not spammy. Example:

Hey Sarah, I hope you and the kids are doing well! Just wanted to let you know I’m opening up spring mini-sessions next month. I thought of you because we had such a fun session last year. Here’s a link if you want to grab a spot: [Landing Page URL]

You can even use this as an excuse to post on social media:

“I’m opening up 5 slots for spring sessions – here’s the info & how to book → [link]”

People already familiar with your work are much more likely to click, refer you, or book again. These are the warmest leads you’ll ever get—they already know and like your work.

ChatGPT is climbing fast on many sites’ referral lists — and not just in volume.

Visitors coming from AI tools like ChatGPT often trust the answer more than a random Google search result. That means warmer leads, higher intent, and better conversions.

Even if Google still dominates in quantity, the quality of AI-driven traffic might be 5–6x higher.

That’s a big deal for photographers.

You can’t “game” AI rankings (yet), but you can create high-quality content that gets referenced — which starts with having a strong, trustworthy website.

Is your site ready for that kind of visitor?

Content is still king, especially when it’s strategic.

Photographers often overlook how powerful a blog can be. By writing helpful, localized blog posts that your potential clients are actually searching for, you can start bringing in traffic that converts.

Examples of blog topics:

These blog posts serve two purposes:

Don’t forget the behind-the-scenes stuff—page titles, image alt tags, and links back to your contact page all help Google understand (and rank) your content.

Pro Tip: Add a call-to-action (CTA) at the end of each post like:

DEEP DIVE

If you’ve ever Googled “wedding photographer in [your city]” and found your competitors sitting comfortably above you in the results, it’s not because they’re luckier or more talented. It’s because their website content does a better job of helping both people and search engines understand who they are, what they offer, and why they’re the right choice.

That’s where a content gap analysis comes in.

It’s one of the first things I do when helping photographers with a website makeover or full redesign. Before I touch a single line of code or tweak a single layout, I dig deep into your existing site content, your competitors’ websites, and your overall business positioning. Because without clear, strategic content, even the most beautiful website won’t rank well, or convert.

Let’s talk about how I do it, what you get out of it, and why this process consistently helps photographers get more inquiries and stronger SEO results.

Here’s the truth I see in almost every audit: your photography might be stunning, but your website’s missing the words that do the selling.

Visitors land on your site, admire your portfolio, and… bounce.

Why? Because something stopped them in their tracks:

A content gap analysis solves this by making sure no question goes unanswered.

When your content is complete, your site flows naturally, from the homepage to your services, then to the contact form, with no confusion or dead ends. And when Google sees a site that clearly explains everything potential clients want to know, it rewards it with better rankings.

This isn’t a generic checklist or an automated SEO report. It’s a hands-on, page-by-page process where I dig through your site like a detective.

Here’s my usual workflow:

Before touching your content, I need to understand your business: your target audience, service mix, brand voice, and local market. I combine that with an SEO audit to uncover technical issues and keyword gaps.

I look at:

This gives us a clear baseline of where you stand and what we can realistically improve.

I go through your homepage, portfolio pages, About page, Experience page, and Contact page, section by section, to see what’s missing.

Next, I review the top 3–5 photographers who consistently outrank you in your region or niche.

I analyze:

This part’s eye-opening for most photographers. Often, the difference between ranking on page 1 and page 4 is a single missing section, like an FAQ, a pricing intro, or location-specific text.

Once I’ve done the digging, I prepare a clear and actionable roadmap:

A document that tells you exactly what content you should prepare, page by page.

Each item is written with multiple goals in mind:

So instead of guessing what to write or what’s missing, you get a personalized blueprint for improving your website’s performance.

Here’s an example of the kind of content recommendations I’d send you after reviewing your current website. It’s a practical list of what new or updated content you should prepare for the new site, page by page.

This focuses purely on copy and content strategy — what you need to write or gather to help your site feel complete, clear, and SEO-friendly.

A full analysis for a project is quite detailed, usually with more notes for each page and with explanations of why they matter and copywriting suggestions. And all completely specific to your business and website goals!

When you fill these content gaps, your site stops feeling like a minimalist portfolio and starts working like a true marketing tool.

Once you’ve implemented the recommendations from a content gap analysis, three things typically happen:

I’ve seen this happen over and over in my website makeover projects. Sometimes, just rewriting a homepage intro and Experience page doubles the number of inquiries a photographer gets within a few months.

If your website feels “fine” but isn’t bringing in enough clients, that’s a sign your content’s got gaps.

In my Website Makeover Service, I’ll go through your site from top to bottom, run an SEO and content gap analysis, and give you a clear, personalized plan for improving your site’s clarity and performance.

Whether we rebuild your site together or you just want expert direction on what to fix, you’ll walk away knowing exactly what’s holding your website back, and how to fix it.

If that sounds helpful, let’s chat about your goals and see how I can help make your site perform like it should.

SEO TIP

Using UTM parameters is the most effective way to track referral traffic from different sources like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. These small bits of text are added to your URLs and tell Google Analytics exactly where your traffic is coming from.

Just find any free “UTM Builder” online. When sharing links on social media, fill in these fields:

So if you're linking to a product on your site from Instagram, your URL might look like:

https://www.yoursite.com/product/?utm_source=instagram&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=march_promo

In Google Analytics, you can then go to Reports > Acquisition > Traffic Acquisition to see how each campaign performed.

If UTM links get too long or messy, shorten them using tools like Bit.ly or Rebrandly. This keeps your posts clean while maintaining full tracking power.

Just note: some users might have ad blockers or privacy settings that hide their referral source. Plus, even if someone clicks a UTM-tagged link, they might only purchase later—so conversions may not always be attributed directly.

This method works great when used consistently. It helps you understand what’s working and where to focus your marketing energy.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK