As photographers, many of us know the importance of creating high-quality content for SEO. But an often-overlooked element of a strong SEO strategy is link building—the process of getting other websites to link back to yours. These links are called “backlinks,” and they are an important ranking factor for search engines.

Building backlinks can feel daunting, but it’s an essential part of a long-term SEO strategy. The more authoritative links pointing to your site, the more search engines like Google trust your content, which can result in higher rankings. Let’s explore some key concepts and practical strategies for expanding your backlinks as a photographer.

Understanding Backlinks and Their Importance

Backlinks are like votes of confidence from other websites. When someone links to your website, they’re telling search engines that they trust your content and think it’s worth sharing. This trust is why backlinks are one of the top three ranking signals for SEO.

Search engines prioritize showing results from trustworthy sources. So if you’re a photographer looking to rank higher in search results for queries like “best wedding photographer in [your city],” you’ll need more than just great photos—you need authority. And one of the best ways to build that authority is by earning backlinks from reputable websites.

Measuring Your Website’s Authority: Domain Authority

A common way to measure your website’s trustworthiness is by looking at its Domain Authority (DA) score. Created by the company Moz, this score is a useful way to gauge how well your website might rank in search results. The score ranges from 1 to 100, with higher numbers indicating a more trusted and authoritative website.

While Domain Authority is not an official ranking factor used by search engines, it’s a helpful indicator of how much trust your site has built. Factors influencing your DA include:

• The number of backlinks you’ve received
• The quality of those backlinks
• The age of your domain

By building more high-quality backlinks, you can gradually increase your Domain Authority, which in turn will help improve your overall SEO performance.

Types of Backlinks: Do Follow vs. No Follow

There are two primary types of backlinks that impact your SEO:

• Do Follow Links: These are the most valuable backlinks for your website. When another website links to yours with a “do follow” tag, they’re explicitly telling search engines, “We trust this site, and you should too.” This type of link passes along SEO authority from their website to yours.
• No Follow Links: These links are less impactful from an SEO perspective because they don’t pass on the same level of trust. However, they’re still valuable for building awareness and driving traffic to your site.

A balanced backlink profile will include both do follow and no follow links. While do follow links are ideal, no follow links (such as those from social media or online directories) still offer value by contributing to your overall link-building efforts.

Backlink Sources for Photographers

Now that we’ve covered the basics, let’s dive into some specific sources and strategies you can use to build backlinks as a photographer:

1. Online Directories and Social Media Profiles

The easiest place to start building backlinks is by listing your photography business on online directories and creating social media profiles. Many of these platforms allow you to include a link to your website. While most of these links will be no follow, they’re still an easy way to establish your online presence and generate traffic.

Examples of Online Directories for Photographers:

• Yelp
• Behance
• 500px
• Flickr
• Wedding Wire
• The Knot

Social Media Profiles:

• Instagram
• Facebook
• TikTok
• Pinterest

Local directories specific to your region can also be great resources. For instance, some cities have niche wedding or event vendor directories where you can add your listing, which may offer high-value backlinks for your business.

2. Submit to Online Magazines and Blogs

Submitting your work to online magazines and blogs is a natural fit for photographers. When your work gets featured, these publications often link back to your website, providing valuable backlinks.

Platforms like Two Bright Lights and Matchology make it easy to submit galleries to multiple publications at once. This can save you time while increasing your chances of getting featured.

Popular Online Magazines for Photographers:

• Green Wedding Shoes
• Junebug Weddings
• Style Me Pretty
• Martha Stewart Weddings

3. Collaborate with Industry Vendors

Collaborating with other wedding vendors, event planners, or even venues can result in valuable backlinks. For example, if you’ve shot a wedding at a particular venue, ask the venue to feature your photos on their blog and include a link to your website.

You can also create a recommended vendor page on your own website and ask vendors to do the same in return, establishing mutually beneficial backlinks.

4. Guest Blogging and Podcast Appearances

Guest blogging for industry-related websites is a great way to build backlinks. You can write blog posts about photography tips, wedding trends, or other relevant topics and get a link back to your website in return.

In addition to guest blogging, appearing as a guest on podcasts related to weddings or photography can be a fantastic way to get a backlink. After your appearance, most podcast hosts will link to your website in the show notes.

5. HARO (Help a Reporter Out)

Help a Reporter Out (HARO) is an excellent resource for photographers looking to get backlinks from reputable websites. Journalists and bloggers post requests for expert input on various topics. If your response is selected, they’ll often include a backlink to your website in their article.

Signing up for HARO can be time-consuming, but the potential for getting high-quality backlinks is significant, especially if you’re featured in articles on major news outlets.

6. Alumni and Community Features

If you attended college or are involved in a local community organization, reach out to see if they offer alumni profiles or business features. Many schools and local news outlets feature successful alumni or business owners, which can be a great opportunity to get a high-authority backlink.

Shoot and Thrive – Special Backlink Opportunities

For owners of the Shoot and Thrive SEO and Blogging course (or the full Business Course suite), we have also been connecting with community partners to put together a resource of websites you can reach out to to collaborate with in exchange for backlinks.

We continue to expand the list of opportunities on here and have made it significantly easier to find opportunities that will actually come through for you, so you can focus more time on actually building backlinks with reputable websites instead of just trying to find an opportunity.

Why Backlinks Matter for Photographers

Building backlinks is crucial for photographers because it not only helps you rank higher on search engines but also enhances your credibility and trustworthiness. Each backlink serves as a vote of confidence from another site, signaling to search engines that your content is valuable and worth sharing.

The more backlinks you have from reputable websites, the more likely you are to attract new clients and rank for your target keywords. Backlinks can be the key difference between a stagnant website and one that’s thriving with organic traffic and new leads.

Conclusion

Incorporating backlink strategies into your SEO plan is essential for long-term growth. Start by building backlinks through easy wins like directory listings and social media profiles, then move on to more intentional strategies like guest blogging, submitting to online publications, and collaborating with vendors.

Remember, SEO is a long game, and the benefits of backlink building may take time to see. But as you grow your backlink profile, you’ll position yourself as a trusted authority in the photography industry, which can ultimately lead to more traffic and bookings.