Having your blog and site come up on searches done by locals in your area is one of the most important ways you can get your images and service out in front of more people.  That is the essence of SEO (Search Engine Optimization).  We’ve got some tricks up our sleeves for helping you to be present in MORE searches, getting you more hits.

Today we are talking about marketing using other businesses in your area to get hits from unexpected places.  When you are first starting out with juicing your blog for SEO you may not have established business relationships that offer partnership marketing yet, but that doesn’t mean you can’t use the power of your neighbors to help you get in front of more potential clients.

Blog, just do it.  Write about SOMETHING.  If you have some activity on your page the search bots will recognize new content and mark your site to be crawled more frequently and pick up more of your content.  Just remember to make sure to keep the content of your posts relevant (remember last week’s topics) when creating outbound links.

Here are some simple examples of links you can start to create today.

1) If you got your hair done at a notable salon, blog about it.  Do a self-portrait and post your new look and link to the Salon’s site.  You may pick up a photography client from someone searching for a stylist.

2) Meetup locations are a great thing to blog about too.  If you have children this one is easy!  In my neighborhood there is this great place to have a cup of coffee, check my favorite forums, and let the kids play called Cafe Sip N Play.  We LOVE going there and had Jeffrey (my 3 YO’s) birthday there last fall.  They offer coffee for moms and dads, gelato, kid-friendly meals and snacks (that are ‘HEALTHY!) and great panini’s salads and baked goods too.  Cafe Sip N Play is a much needed island of sanity in the world of crazy preschoolers and toddlers.  Blogging about our experience there will probably get me some hits from local moms looking for the hours of operation, or wondering about parties.  Those same families may also be in the market for pictures and pick up my site in their search.

3) South Bend Granger Indiana Children’s Photographer Nancy Lary, my partner and resident photoblog expert guru yoda of wordpress does sessions at her local Krispy Kreme with her mommy friends and clients.  When she blogs about those sessions linking to the Krispy Kreme site and tagging her posts with her city name and Krispy Kreme may get her hits from people looking for donuts… and maybe some photography needs down the road.

One of Nancy’s adorables at Krispy Kreme…

Today’s lesson sums up really easily:

1) Blog frequently

2) Blog about stuff you know

3) Add links to relevant and local places or services to increase your exposure to more people using more search terms.