{
    "componentChunkName": "component---src-templates-post-js",
    "path": "/blog/2013/06/22/optimizing-a-photography-studio-website-for-converstion-and-seo-the-analysis",
    "result": {"data":{"site":{"siteMetadata":{"title":"your friend Joel's digital garden","description":"Articles and notes from a collaborator at egghead.io. Musings on software, business, and life from a skilled virtual assistant.","author":{"name":"Joel Hooks"},"keywords":["Video Blogger"]}},"mdx":{"excerpt":"The internet is a competitive place for small businesses, and this is especially\ntrue when we are talking about portrait photographers. My lovely wife is a\n family photographer in Fort Worth , Texas. She's been\ndoing portrait photography…","fields":{"github":"https://github.com/joelhooks/joelhooks-com/tree/master/content/legacy_blog/2013-06-22-optimizing-a-photography-studio-website-for-converstion-and-seo-the-analysis.markdown"},"body":"var _excluded = [\"components\"];\n\nfunction _extends() { _extends = Object.assign || function (target) { for (var i = 1; i < arguments.length; i++) { var source = arguments[i]; for (var key in source) { if (Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty.call(source, key)) { target[key] = source[key]; } } } return target; }; return _extends.apply(this, arguments); }\n\nfunction _objectWithoutProperties(source, excluded) { if (source == null) return {}; var target = _objectWithoutPropertiesLoose(source, excluded); var key, i; if (Object.getOwnPropertySymbols) { var sourceSymbolKeys = Object.getOwnPropertySymbols(source); for (i = 0; i < sourceSymbolKeys.length; i++) { key = sourceSymbolKeys[i]; if (excluded.indexOf(key) >= 0) continue; if (!Object.prototype.propertyIsEnumerable.call(source, key)) continue; target[key] = source[key]; } } return target; }\n\nfunction _objectWithoutPropertiesLoose(source, excluded) { if (source == null) return {}; var target = {}; var sourceKeys = Object.keys(source); var key, i; for (i = 0; i < sourceKeys.length; i++) { key = sourceKeys[i]; if (excluded.indexOf(key) >= 0) continue; target[key] = source[key]; } return target; }\n\n/* @jsxRuntime classic */\n\n/* @jsx mdx */\nvar _frontmatter = {\n  \"layout\": \"post\",\n  \"title\": \"Optimizing a Photography Studio Website for Converstion and SEO: The Analysis\",\n  \"date\": \"2013-06-22T00:00:00.000Z\"\n};\nvar layoutProps = {\n  _frontmatter: _frontmatter\n};\nvar MDXLayout = \"wrapper\";\nreturn function MDXContent(_ref) {\n  var components = _ref.components,\n      props = _objectWithoutProperties(_ref, _excluded);\n\n  return mdx(MDXLayout, _extends({}, layoutProps, props, {\n    components: components,\n    mdxType: \"MDXLayout\"\n  }), mdx(\"p\", null, \"The internet is a competitive place for small businesses, and this is especially\\ntrue when we are talking about portrait photographers. My lovely wife is a\\n\", mdx(\"a\", {\n    parentName: \"p\",\n    \"href\": \"https://visualempathy.com\"\n  }, \"family photographer in Fort Worth\"), \", Texas. She's been\\ndoing portrait photography professionally since 2007, and being the good nerd\\nhusband I am, she's had a web presence the entire time. By this I mean she's had\\na website that I built in 2007 (prior to my own shift in careers from 3d\\nanimation to web development), and haven't really touched since. She's been\\nleft to her own devices, outside of my intervention when her Wordpress\\ninstallation was \\\"hacked\\\" to be used for nefarious purposes (this is an entirely\\ndifferent post, ugh).\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"Fast forward to 2013. This year has been interesting for me professionally. I've\\nbecome extremely passionate about conversion optimization and search engine\\noptimization. Conversion optimization simply means converting website visitors\\ninto paying clients, and search engine optimization (SEO) is the art of climbing\\nthe Google ranks for organic search results. Our photography site is the polar\\nopposite of being optimized for either of those things.\\nMy research on conversion optimization and SEO wasn't focused on our photography\\nbusiness, at all. It is a weird instance of the \\\"cobblers son has no shoes\\\"\\nwhere I wasn't even considering our own business and how it might benefit from\\nthe techniques that I've been learning. In fact, in my moment of epiphany it\\noccured to me that other photographer's websites suffer in a similar fashion, so\\nI decided to write a \", mdx(\"a\", {\n    parentName: \"p\",\n    \"href\": \"https://studioigniter.com\"\n  }, \"guidebook on conversion optimization and SEO for\\nphotographers\"), \".\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"I'm going to use my wife's site as a case study, breaking it down and rebuilding\\nit into a useful asset that not only attracts potential clients, but converts\\nthose visitors into high quality clients. Of the two, SEO and converstion\\noptimization, the latter is infinitely more important. Even if you have killer\\nplacement in search results, or spend piles of cash to buy top placement with\\nAdWords, if those visitors aren't contacting you in some way, then your website\\nis effectively useless. It is also a possibility that your website is\\n\", mdx(\"strong\", {\n    parentName: \"p\"\n  }, \"attracting the wrong clients\"), \", like bargain hunters looking for discount\\nphotographs on the cheap. Visual Empathy's website doesn't do either, and the\\nfirst step is to take a look at why this might be the case.\"), mdx(\"p\", null, mdx(\"span\", {\n    parentName: \"p\",\n    \"className\": \"gatsby-resp-image-wrapper\",\n    \"style\": {\n      \"position\": \"relative\",\n      \"display\": \"block\",\n      \"marginLeft\": \"auto\",\n      \"marginRight\": \"auto\",\n      \"maxWidth\": \"585px\"\n    }\n  }, \"\\n      \", mdx(\"a\", {\n    parentName: \"span\",\n    \"className\": \"gatsby-resp-image-link\",\n    \"href\": \"/static/84708fe70495d7a908d1c8bc1745536e/78a22/search_fort_worth_photographer.png\",\n    \"style\": {\n      \"display\": \"block\"\n    },\n    \"target\": \"_blank\",\n    \"rel\": \"noopener\"\n  }, \"\\n    \", mdx(\"span\", {\n    parentName: \"a\",\n    \"className\": \"gatsby-resp-image-background-image\",\n    \"style\": {\n      \"paddingBottom\": \"113.8996138996139%\",\n      \"position\": \"relative\",\n      \"bottom\": \"0\",\n      \"left\": \"0\",\n      \"backgroundImage\": \"url('data:image/png;base64,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')\",\n      \"backgroundSize\": \"cover\",\n      \"display\": \"block\"\n    }\n  }), \"\\n  \", mdx(\"img\", {\n    parentName: \"a\",\n    \"className\": \"gatsby-resp-image-image\",\n    \"alt\": \"No SEO for this website, that much is\\nobvious\",\n    \"title\": \"No SEO for this website, that much is\\nobvious\",\n    \"src\": \"/static/84708fe70495d7a908d1c8bc1745536e/78a22/search_fort_worth_photographer.png\",\n    \"srcSet\": [\"/static/84708fe70495d7a908d1c8bc1745536e/a2ead/search_fort_worth_photographer.png 259w\", \"/static/84708fe70495d7a908d1c8bc1745536e/6b9fd/search_fort_worth_photographer.png 518w\", \"/static/84708fe70495d7a908d1c8bc1745536e/78a22/search_fort_worth_photographer.png 585w\"],\n    \"sizes\": \"(max-width: 585px) 100vw, 585px\",\n    \"style\": {\n      \"width\": \"100%\",\n      \"height\": \"100%\",\n      \"margin\": \"0\",\n      \"verticalAlign\": \"middle\",\n      \"position\": \"absolute\",\n      \"top\": \"0\",\n      \"left\": \"0\"\n    },\n    \"loading\": \"lazy\",\n    \"decoding\": \"async\"\n  }), \"\\n  \"), \"\\n    \")), mdx(\"p\", null, \"The above is a search for \\\"Fort Worth photographer\\\", which is fairly generic.\\nMore specific searches don't yield better results, unless you search for \\\"Visual\\nEmpathy\\\". Thankfully we land at number 1 there, but anybody searching for your\\nbusinesses name directly already knows about you.\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"We \", mdx(\"strong\", {\n    parentName: \"p\"\n  }, \"do\"), \" have Google Analytics installed, so I can get some insight into what\\nsearches are actually displaying the website. If you are curious, I've put a\\nfull month of analytics data in \", mdx(\"a\", {\n    parentName: \"p\",\n    \"href\": \"https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AhmOjcD8YdT6dHQtS29vSW8tb1Bwb1hBd3AzZHM4LUE&usp=sharing\"\n  }, \"this\\nspreadsheet\"), \",\\nbut the top searches are:\"), mdx(\"ul\", null, mdx(\"li\", {\n    parentName: \"ul\"\n  }, \"4 month old baby\"), mdx(\"li\", {\n    parentName: \"ul\"\n  }, \"6 week old baby\"), mdx(\"li\", {\n    parentName: \"ul\"\n  }, \"rubys\"), mdx(\"li\", {\n    parentName: \"ul\"\n  }, \"12 month old baby\"), mdx(\"li\", {\n    parentName: \"ul\"\n  }, \"summer time photography\")), mdx(\"p\", null, \"And the list goes on. Ugh. And to rub salt in the wound:\"), mdx(\"p\", null, mdx(\"img\", {\n    parentName: \"p\",\n    \"src\": \"https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/oimg?key=0AhmOjcD8YdT6dHQtS29vSW8tb1Bwb1hBd3AzZHM4LUE&oid=3&zx=lohft0ss9c73\",\n    \"alt\": \"What kinds of searches are we showing up\\nfor\"\n  })), mdx(\"p\", null, \"Normal web searches account for a \", mdx(\"strong\", {\n    parentName: \"p\"\n  }, \"tiny sliver\"), \" of the pie. Images account for\\nthe overwhelming amount of search results where VE actually shows up.\\nSearchers are looking for pictures of babies at certain ages. Only \", mdx(\"strong\", {\n    parentName: \"p\"\n  }, \"0.75%\"), \" of the\\ntotal search results actually end up getting clicked through. I actually think\\nthis might be on the \", mdx(\"strong\", {\n    parentName: \"p\"\n  }, \"high\"), \" side because there were some weird things in the\\ndata. The items that were clicked all showed 5 clicks. That seems strange, but\\nthe important thing is that \", mdx(\"strong\", {\n    parentName: \"p\"\n  }, \"nobody\"), \" is coming to Visual Empathy's website\\nbecause they are looking for a local photographer. Of those that\\nclick through, exactly \", mdx(\"strong\", {\n    parentName: \"p\"\n  }, \"0%\"), \" actually convert to paying customers.\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"The silver lining? There is \", mdx(\"strong\", {\n    parentName: \"p\"\n  }, \"a lot\"), \" of room for improvement.\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"In the next post in this series we will tear down Visual Empathy's website and\\ntry to understand why we are getting these results on Google, and attempt to\\nidentify ways of improving them. As part of the series, Visual Empathy is going\\nto get a complete web makeover. Top to bottom, back to front.\"));\n}\n;\nMDXContent.isMDXComponent = true;","frontmatter":{"title":"Optimizing a Photography Studio Website for Converstion and SEO: The Analysis","date":"June 22, 2013","banner":null,"slug":null,"keywords":null}}},"pageContext":{"id":"8351847a-bd87-526c-b088-62cf34470d6b","prev":{"id":"2b603bb2-d27e-57fd-9676-2071070b4fce","parent":{"name":"2013-06-25-why-doesnt-my-photography-studio-website-appear-in-search-results","sourceInstanceName":"legacy"},"excerpt":"This is a series of post examining why our  Fort Worth photography\nstudio  website performs poorly in Google search\nresults, and why it fails to convert the visitors it does get into new clients.\nThe first post sought to  analyze Google Analytics…","fields":{"title":"Why Doesn't My Photography Studio Website Appear in Search Results?","slug":"blog/2013/06/25/why-doesnt-my-photography-studio-website-appear-in-search-results","date":"2013-06-25T00:00:00.000Z"}},"next":{"id":"53a10cef-a4fe-585e-8b14-d5c47607f51a","parent":{"name":"2013-06-17-coming-to-terms-with-enterprise-javascript","sourceInstanceName":"legacy"},"excerpt":"What is enterprise javascript? Good question. One that might even make you chuckle 1  a little bit on the inside.\nThe word \"enterprise\" is definitely a loaded term. It could be considered by\nsome to be a buzzword. Others might say \"Why are we talking…","fields":{"title":"Coming to Terms With Enterprise JavaScript","slug":"blog/2013/06/17/coming-to-terms-with-enterprise-javascript","date":"2013-06-17T00:00:00.000Z"}}}},
    "staticQueryHashes": ["1045846374"]}