What are some of the best tools and plugins to help you with SEO for your commercial photography business?

1 Keywords and analysis

One of the first steps to optimize your photos for SEO is to do some keyword research and analysis. Keywords are the words and phrases that people use to search for your services or products online. You want to find out what keywords your ideal customers are using, how competitive they are, and how relevant they are to your niche. You can use tools like Google Keyword Planner, Moz Keyword Explorer, or Ubersuggest to generate keyword ideas and get insights on search volume, difficulty, and trends.

2 Image optimization

Another crucial aspect of SEO for your commercial photography business is image optimization. Image optimization means reducing the file size and dimensions of your photos without compromising their quality, so they load faster and use less bandwidth. This can improve your site speed, user experience, and ranking factors. You can use tools like TinyPNG, ImageOptim, or WP Smush to compress and optimize your images before uploading them to your website.

3 Metadata and alt text

Metadata and alt text are the text elements that describe your photos and help search engines understand what they are about. Metadata includes the title, description, and caption of your photos, while alt text is the alternative text that appears when an image cannot be displayed or accessed by screen readers. You want to use your keywords and relevant phrases in your metadata and alt text, but avoid stuffing or over-optimizing them. You can use plugins like Yoast SEO, Rank Math, or All in One SEO to edit and manage your metadata and alt text easily.

4 Schema markup

Schema markup is a code that you can add to your website to provide more information and context to search engines about your photos and business. Schema markup can help you create rich snippets, which are enhanced results that display additional details like ratings, reviews, prices, or availability. Rich snippets can increase your click-through rate, visibility, and authority. You can use tools like Schema Pro, WP SEO Structured Data Schema, or Google's Structured Data Markup Helper to generate and implement schema markup for your website.

5 Sitemaps and robots.txt

Sitemaps and robots.txt are files that tell search engines how to crawl and index your website. Sitemaps are XML files that list all the pages and photos on your website, while robots.txt are text files that specify which pages and photos you want or don't want search engines to access. You want to create and update your sitemaps and robots.txt regularly, so search engines can find and display your content accurately and efficiently. You can use plugins like Google XML Sitemaps, Yoast SEO, or Rank Math to create and manage your sitemaps and robots.txt.

6 Analytics and tracking

The last but not least tool to help you with SEO for your commercial photography business is analytics and tracking. Analytics and tracking allow you to measure and monitor your website's performance, traffic, conversions, and goals. You can use tools like Google Analytics, Google Search Console, or MonsterInsights to track and analyze your SEO metrics, such as impressions, clicks, bounce rate, keywords, referrals, and conversions. You can also use these tools to identify and fix any issues or errors that might affect your SEO.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?