How SEO Helped Me Grow My Photography Business — and What It Can Do For Yours

If you found this post by searching for a photographer in Victoria, you've already seen SEO work in real time.

You typed something into Google. My website appeared. You clicked. That's not an accident — it's the result of years of deliberate work building a site that search engines understand and trust.

But here's why I'm sharing this on a photography blog: a large number of my photography clients are small business owners, too. And a lot of them have websites that look fine but aren’t being found. If you've ever wondered why your website isn't showing up on Google the way you'd like, this is for you.

Starting Over in a New City

When I moved my photography business to Victoria, BC, I essentially had to start from scratch.

I had built a successful portrait photography business before relocating, but when I arrived in a new city, no one knew who I was. My biggest challenge wasn't improving my photography — it was making sure potential clients could actually find me online.

If someone searched for a family photographer or headshot photographer in Victoria, I wanted my website to appear in those results.

At first, that wasn't the case.

So I did what many small business owners do: I started researching everything I could about SEO. I experimented, tested different strategies, and spent many evenings learning how websites actually appear in search results.

It took time, but the effort paid off.

Today, my photography website consistently appears within the top organic results for searches like:

• family photographer Victoria BC

• headshot photographer Victoria BC

• portrait photographer Victoria BC

These rankings have become one of the most consistent ways new clients discover my work. Most of those leads come from people who were already looking for a photographer — which makes SEO one of the most valuable marketing tools I've used in my business.

Here are the strategies that got me there.

1. I Used the SEO Tools Already Built Into My Website

My photography website is built on Squarespace, which includes several built-in SEO tools that are easy to overlook.

A few simple things made a big difference: writing clear SEO page titles and descriptions, customising page URLs, adding alt text to images, and organising my website pages clearly.

None of these steps were complicated, but together they helped search engines understand what my site was about and who it was for.

2. I Turned My Website Into a Resource, Not Just a Portfolio

Early on, my website was mostly a portfolio of images.

But I realized that potential clients were searching for much more than that. They were looking for answers to questions like: Where are the best locations for family photos in Victoria? What should we wear for our family session? How do you prepare kids for a photoshoot?

Instead of answering these questions individually over email, I started turning them into blog posts.

This approach did two things: it helped potential clients feel more prepared, and it created helpful content that search engines could discover. Over time, those articles became one of the biggest drivers of organic traffic to my site.

3. I Focused on Local Keywords

Because my business serves a local market, location keywords were essential.

That meant naturally including phrases like "family photographer Victoria BC" and "headshot photographer Victoria BC" throughout my site — in page titles, headings, and body copy. This helped search engines understand exactly who my services were for and where I was located.

4. I Answered the Questions Clients Were Already Asking

One of the easiest ways to come up with content is to think about the questions you answer all the time.

I wrote posts about what to wear for family photos, how to prepare children for a photoshoot, the best photo locations in Victoria, and what to expect during a headshot session. These topics are genuinely helpful for clients and also align naturally with what people search for online — which is the sweet spot for SEO content.

5. I Stayed Consistent, Even When Results Took Time

SEO is not an overnight strategy.

It took months before I started seeing meaningful results, and longer before my site began appearing consistently on the first page. But over time, those small efforts compounded. Now my website continues bringing in enquiries from people who were already looking for a photographer in Victoria — without me actively doing anything to make it happen.

What Happened When Clients Started Showing Up

Something unexpected came out of all this.

After clients booked a session and we'd meet in person for their photos, many of them would mention how impressed they were with my website. They often told me it was one of the reasons they decided to reach out in the first place — not just the portfolio, but how easy the site was to navigate and how clearly it explained what working with me would look like.

That feedback stuck with me. It made me realize how powerful a well-designed website can be — not just as a portfolio, but as a tool that helps the right clients find you, understand your work, and feel confident about reaching out.

What This Means If You Run a Small Business

If you found my photography site through a Google search, you've already experienced exactly what a well-optimized website can do.

You searched for something. My website appeared. You were curious and now you’re here.

That same process can work for your business too — whether you're a consultant, a coach, a therapist, or any service provider who relies on clients finding and trusting you online.

Most small business websites look fine. But looking fine and being findable are two different things. The gap between them is usually strategy — knowing which keywords your ideal clients are actually typing, how to structure your pages so Google understands them, and how to write copy that converts a visitor into an enquiry.

That curiosity about websites and strategy eventually led me to start helping other service businesses beyond photography. Over the years, small business owners kept asking how I'd managed to get my website to rank so well — and those conversations turned into something new.

Today, alongside my photography work, I run Erin Clayton Web Design, where I build custom Squarespace websites for service-based business owners who want a website that doesn't just look professional — it actively brings in the right clients.

Because I've built a real business on the back of SEO, I understand what's actually at stake when your website isn't working the way it should. It's not just a design problem. It's a visibility problem. And it's one that's very solvable.

If your website isn't doing that for you, that's worth paying attention to.

→ Learn more about working with me as your Squarespace web designer