Free SEO Makeovers by TheHoff

mumbles wrote in post #9237526
Thanks, we don't want to pigeonhole ourselves into only weddings. But we need to rank for it as well. I guess we can put one up temporarily... and take it down in 6 months. When summer comes back.

I'd rather be pigeonholed near the top than get no rankings at all. I'm pretty good for weddings, portraits, and engagements. If I get into anything else, I'll worry about it then.

cdifoto wrote in post #9237532
I'd rather be pigeonholed near the top than get no rankings at all. I'm pretty good for weddings, portraits, and engagements. If I get into anything else, I'll worry about it then.

Agreed... we want more portrait sessions for sure. But we'll worry about that later.

Hikin Mike wrote in post #9236922
Well, I'm not 'Hoff', but I would change that to <h2> and use the <h1> like you said, "text relevant to each page...".

Do you have any examples of how to lay that out on the html?

I can understand very basic html, as in change this text and image names and placements but coding is a bit beyond me.

I can figure out the changing of the H1 to H2 but as for where in the html code to place the H1, and how is more than I safely know.

OK Back at it. A few people have missed their responses as the thread scrolls so to help, I'll put your name in big, bold, red at the top of the post.


Milla

Milla wrote in post #9209552
Sow how does this work?

Hi, Milla.

You have one big issue: you're using Bludomain and you don't have an HTML version of your site. For that one reason, your blog is going to be the best thing you have to rank with right now. So until you're ready to switch from Bludomain (try www.bigfolio.com) you won't be able to "fix" your site because it only exists in Flash and does not have an HTML version.

There is one thing you can improve and that is to add more text to your splash/fork page:

Take this:

and expand it out to 2 or 3 paragraphs. Don't just list your keywords, write out meaningful and interesting info about you, your business, and your photography. Use the keywords and keyphrases a lot!

Ok Thanks TheHoff! I appreciate you takin a stab at it anyway!

pni173; Paul

pni173 wrote in post #9230206
Hoff
this is my fledgling site
www.paulnicholasphotog​raphy.co.nz

keywords wedding photographer whangarei

cheers in advance

You're being outranked by this thread for "wedding photographer whangarei" now that you've posted the keywords here. That isn't a good sign.

I can't see why you'd be penalized but I can see why you'd be poorly ranked. Your site, even though it doesn't use Flash and appears to have text on the home page, it is only made of images. Google doesn't have a clue that you're a wedding photographer in Whangarei because you don't really say so on your home page. The easy change is to your title. It should be:

Wedding Photographers, Whangarei -- Paul Nicholas Portraiture and Wedding Photography

After that you're going to need to re-do your home page. I'd suggest going with normal text on the page but you can also look into Flash font substitutions like SiFR.

You do see what the issue is, right? Your home page has nothing but images and Google doesn't count the text in images the same way it does text on the page. You have some keywords in your meta tags and alt tags but that is no substitute for actual text on the page.

After that, you need more inbound links!

Wilddoc

Wilddoc wrote in post #9230246
Wow, this is cool! My website: www.natashajapp.com

keywords: denver dog photographer, denver dog photography, pet photography denver, dog photography, pet photography, dog photographer denver, denver dog photo

Hmm I saw your keywords then saw your site and I was thinking you could be top 1 to 3... but nope. You're just out of it and in the top 5 for most variations of your keyphrase. There are a few quick fixes that might get you to the top-3 just with on-page optimization. First, your title... you're not using your keyphrase together!

Current title:

Natasha Japp Photography | Dog Photographer in Denver | Dogs, Sports & Nature Photography in Colorado.

I know branding is important, but which is more important -- branding your name or getting more eyes on your work? I'd say getting more eyes. And in that vein, I'd put your keywords first and your name second.

And here I was about to go on about how your keywords aren't together in your title but THEY ARE. Ooooo you tricky. I was looking at the Google cache of your site and they weren't... but now looking at your current page, you've changed the title already so that you do have "Dog Photographer in Denver" right there. Nice job. You can still re-consider re-ordering them so that the keyphrase is before your name but that was a good first change.

After that you're going to have the same problem as the other blogger home pages here. Your content is always changing. I would say that you should also put some of that dog photography info that is currently in your info section out onto the home page as an introduction. Say a little about yourself, your clients, and how you work. That is helpful to new visitors as well-- instead of being thrust right into your blog, they should have some intro on the site when they first arrive.

Next, with all of your blog post titles, you need to include keywords. Never use "Canvas Wraps" when you could instead use "Canvas Wraps from your favourite Pet Photos!" or something like that. See how I snuck pet photos in there?

With those changes (and some new in-bound links) I'm sure you can get to top 3.

dbvirago

dbvirago wrote in post #9230317
Hoff, if you haven't been inundated already, my url is www.brooksimages.com

photography services
photographer atlanta
stock photography
fine art photography

too much?

planning on a revamp over next few weeks

thanks

db

Hey David. This is another case where photographers need to hire professionals. We want people to use professional photography services (even though they can "take a picture" themselves) and this is the same point... while you can "make a webpage" it is not the same way that a professional graphic designer and web developer would do it. The type of site you have now doesn't do justice to your photography.

No more home brew jobs Hire a pro. Once they're working, put up a link here before it is finalized and we can make SEO changes before the new version goes live.

Lunajen

Lunajen wrote in post #9232678
Hey Hoff...here are y keywords...

MIDDLE TENNESSEE BABY PHOTOGRAPHER,MIDDLE TENNESSE CHILD PHOTOGRAPHER,MIDDLE TENNESSE WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER, MIDDLE TENNESSEE SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER

and here is my site... www.jenduffyphotos.com

Hey Jen. Another one being outranked by this thread now For the first keyphrase you have up there, you're being beat by this page.

Why? The phrase isn't anywhere on your home page... not even the title.

Middle Tennessee Baby Photography : Jen Duffy : Portrait, Child, & Wedding Photographer

Something like that would work. Next is your home page... there isn't one line of text on it. How much change are you ready to do? Without a big overhaul to your home page and links, you'll always be stuck in the netherworlds of Google page 10+.

Mumbles

mumbles wrote in post #9236380
I have a question for you Hoff. How do you know if you are being penalized?.. i have more text and keyword on my site than any bludomain users, yet we are still beyond page 15 for our keywords. It really drives us up a wall to think we are taking a back seat to people with crappy bludomain sites and crappy index pages with just one set of keywords...

How is this possible? We are convinced we are being penalized somehow.

Any advice would be appreciated. Oh and btw, not sure if it matters but we have a Google PR3, higher than many outranking us on keywords.

I see you at the top of page 5 (like you're #41). That is where I'd expect you to be with your optimization but without having actively worked on your inbound links too much.

If you're seeing something different, I'd try clearing all of your browser cookies to make sure you're not getting personalized results or try it on another computer.

cdifoto wrote in post #9236433
I ditched the credit card logos and put testimonials there (I'm spamming my clients for more hah). Happy now?

Much better first impression! I'd make the testimonial quote longer (it seems to cut off too soon) but yea that is looking good.

flashmedic

flashmedic wrote in post #9236569
got rid of the collages, tightened up the copy on page 1
did some work with page titles

next step?

I still don't think this is enough text on your home page.

Everyone can use this tool: http://www.seochat.com​/seo-tools/spider-simulator/

This will show you what Google sees when it goes to your site. It removes all images and Flash and all that and just shows the text. When you get down to it, it shows how little text is on most pages. And when you look at your page below, you'll see you only use the keyphrase "st. louis wedding photography" once on the page! If a site only mentions something once, Google doesn't really take it seriously as a site that is concentrating on that topic.

More text, more text, more text Overall though, I think you're on the right path.

Gel wrote in post #9236878
Hofffffff....

H1 tags

I've noticed on each page my logo in the top left corner is assigned the H1 tag 'Brighton photographic' - Would it be wrong to change it to text relevant to each page, like 'Brighton Wedding photographer' for the weddings page?

As Mike said, that would be the way to go.

I'll work on adding relevant text - one step at a time

thank you for all of your help

TheHoff, you are the best!!!