When I lost my Instagram account for a couple weeks earlier this month, I went through a lot of feelings:

1. Anger, because it was unfair of course.

2. Fear, because I didn't know if I would get my account back, and I wasn't prepared to run my business without social media or start a new account from scratch.

3.  And then finally, complete peace. I felt peace because I have always used Instagram out of perceived necessity, not out of a desire to spend my time on social media. I felt peace because a forced break gave me real space to clear my head, align my thoughts, and consider my situation from a new perspective. 

 

It's been just shy of a month since I lost my account (and a couple of weeks since I got it back), but I haven't picked up posting again just yet. I also haven't been logging on to browse, which is a habit that I was so grateful to have a chance to break!

 

In my time away, I've been putting my energy toward other important outlets, and also realizing how much of a time suck social media is even when I think I'm disciplined about it. And while I've been in some of my busiest weeks of work in a long time, I have also been operating at a much higher level of productivity because there is zero temptation to pick up my phone ‘for work’ or ‘to reply to comments’ that ends in distraction or wasted time.

 

I have been considering starting to post again, but what's held me back is the feeling that I've gained so much with some time away:

 

Whether I begin posting again soon or not, I feel so strongly that I need to approach my time on social media differently, and even better than I tried to before. It should never be the case that our businesses require us to sacrifice our mental health – ever.

Even without posting on Instagram, I am getting the same number of inquiries as I would expect to at this time of year. I ask on my contact form how people hear about me, and have learned that a large majority find me on Google, either through my Google Maps listing (which we covered last week), or through a regular Google web search (which is what I'll be covering today and for the next few weeks). 

 

Yes, some find me on Instagram, and I'm so grateful that my account is back and that my images are able once again to show up in hashtag searches. I'm personally glad that I have a presence on Instagram and that it's one more avenue through which new clients can find me, but it is genuinely not what's keeping my business afloat. The time and effort that I've put into good SEO practices and maintaining my Maps listing bring me many more clients, and they're also much easier and stress-free than fighting the Instagram algorithm.

 

>> And just so you know, First name / friend, I haven't spent lots of time on SEO, not in comparison to putting together posts for Instagram. I also haven't executed it perfectly! As I'm putting this series together, I'm improving my own practices as well. What I am getting at when I say this is that you don't have to do this perfectly in order to see results and reap the benefits. It's not difficult or time consuming, really! :)

 

If you're not yet in this position and you rely heavily on Instagram for inquiries, please, please don't worry! With the right information and a bit of patience, you can make changes that have a real impact and that will prevent you from relying on social media, even if you continue to choose to use it (or use it sometimes). 

 

This series on SEO will be as simple as humanly possible. I'll be delivering bite-sized content to you every week(ish) to walk you through simple steps that accomplish real change. I'm not an SEO expert of course, but I've done lots of reading and learning on my own, and I love being able to distill complex information down into straightforward, actionable pieces.

 

So if you like hitting the easy button (I do!), here's your chance to opt out of any overwhelm or confusion, as you get your SEO in order and make sure you can be found online. Let's go!

 

If you want a really thorough explanation, I'll let Google take care of that. ;) The most important thing to understand is that SEO stands for search engine optimization, and you need to implement good SEO practices if you want people to be able to find your website and book you. 

 

People rarely scroll through more than a page or two of results, so ranking well is really important if you want to get clients through Google searches!

 

This first step is easy, promise! Your keywords are simply the terms that you believe people are searching for to find businesses like yours. For example, I would like to be found when people search for things like:

And so on, with variations on the exact location (use different areas/suburbs), types of sessions I offer, varying words like photographer/photography/session/etc. You may have one or two main keywords, but it's also important to think through variations of those keywords as well. Write them all down, because you're going to use them on your website, in your blog posts, in your image names, and everywhere.

 

Some keywords have a lot of competition, and it will be harder to get found if you're only focusing on the most competitive ones. If you're also addressing variations, you'll likely see results from those keywords sooner. Of course, the alternate keywords are less competitive because there tend to be fewer searches for those variations, but all improvement is valuable! 

 

As an example using my own business, Boise is the main area I'm targeting, as it's the largest and most prominent city in my area. However, I do serve the entire Treasure Valley - an area comprised of Boise and surrounding suburbs/cities, like Meridian, Eagle, Star, Nampa, Caldwell, Emmett, etc. I can use each of these names in my keyword variations, but not all of them will necessarily be helpful. I choose to focus on the areas that I know my target clients tend to live in or spend time in most frequently.

 

Like I mentioned previously, these keywords will get used everywhere – but we're keeping it simple and starting small.

 

Before anything else, make sure that your main keyword is on your website, preferably on the part of your page that people see when they first pull it up, before needing to scroll. You can see that on my website, I have ‘Boise newborn & family photographer’ right up at the top under my name. I really want to get found for those keywords, so they get put front and center!

 

Like I mentioned previously, these keywords will get used everywhere – but we're keeping it simple and starting small.

 

Before anything else, make sure that your main keyword is on your website, preferably on the part of your page that people see when they first pull it up, before needing to scroll. You can see that on my website, I have ‘Boise newborn & family photographer’ right up at the top under my name. I really want to get found for those keywords, so they get put front and center!

 

In addition to using your main keyword phrase front and center, this is the time to add it to other sections and pages: think of your introduction on your home page, your footer, your about page, your offerings, and so on. 

 

Don't create text that feels forced, awkward, or like it's just trying to include keywords, of course! I've seen websites like that, and while you might be able to rank higher a little quicker, it's definitely not going to appeal to the real humans browsing your page and making a decision about whether they're interested in hiring you. ;)

 

There will be lots more to do for your SEO of course, but this is a task you can check off in about 15 minutes, start to finish. Done is better than perfect, so just do what you can now and we'll tackle the next task next week!

Before I sign off, I wanted to invite you to join me in Unbasic Creatives! This is my premier offering: a six month group coaching program that will genuinely transform your business in every way. 

 

I created this program because I know what it's like to struggle in this industry, and to always wonder where the next client will come from, or feel like I'm working so hard yet have so little $$ to show for it. I spent years building a business that really worked, and now I get to teach others in just a few months what took me many years.

 

I love seeing my students far surpass where I was at their stage. I love getting their messages telling me that they're meeting their income goals, loving what they're creating, and that they're thriving for the first time ever. I love my little tight-knit community and the friendships that have grown between myself and my students.

 

If you're ready for real change in every way, I promise you that this is the best investment you can make in yourself, your family, and your business. Have questions? I'm here to answer them, no strings attached! xx

PHOTOGRAPHY SITE | EDUCATION SITE