Link Building Strategies for Wedding Photographers

Having a website is crucial; it’s the best way to showcase yourself and your work to the online world. However, your website also needs to be discoverable. It should be linked from your social media accounts and, ideally, found via search engines like Google.

How to Get Link Quality Back Links for Photographers

First, it’s important to understand what a backlink is and why it matters. A backlink is a link from another website to a page on your own site. These links serve as endorsements, building trust and authority for your site in the eyes of search engines.

The more votes/back links the better? Wrong.

Before we delve in, it’s important to understand the types of backlinks you want. A backlink from an established and authoritative website is far more valuable than 40 links from small, new blogs or sites. Keep this in mind when reaching out to potential sites for collaboration.

The number of links is important, and more links can help you rank higher, but quality matters just as much. You want to ensure the links are relevant and high-quality. For a wedding photographer, links from wedding blogs and photography sites are ideal. A sidebar link from a low-quality gardening blog, for example, won’t benefit you much. Sites such as Moz and Ahrefs can allow you to see the domain author of a site.

In this article we are going to look at these areas to help build links.

Social Media
Real Weddings
Guest Posts and Sharing Articles
Contributing to Articles
Featuring Images
Online Directories
Reclaiming Links

A quick, simple, and effective way to get backlinks to a new site is through your social media accounts. Platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram allow you to add a URL to your profile. This link not only serves as a backlink but also helps Google recognise and trust your site as a legitimate business.

Pinterest is another excellent platform where you can add a link to your site. By pinning your articles and images, you create additional links to your site and increase your visibility. Pinterest functions as a visual search engine, so this can significantly enhance your chances of being discovered.

These simple links won’t instantly propel you to the top of Google, but they are quick wins. Even though each one might seem small, they all add up over time.

Real Weddings

As a wedding photographer, you’ll have hundreds of weddings to showcase. Many of these should be shared on your own site and blog. If they aren’t, then why not?

While publishing on your own site is great, sharing your work on other sites is also beneficial. This not only provides a backlink but also helps you get your work seen by a wider audience. In real wedding features, you’ll be credited as the photographer and linked to your site. From a marketing perspective, this exposure can attract couples who might be looking for a photographer, potentially leading to more bookings.

There are many online wedding blogs where you can look to publish your work. We have a blog post on this here. – Best Wedding Blogs & Sites to be Featured On.

There are some blog wedding sites that allow guest posts or where you can share an article you have written.

For this, they are likely to be interested in articles that provide value to their readers, rather than just content about you and your work.

For example, consider writing articles on topics like what to do if it rains on your wedding day, why couples should have get-ready photos, or what to consider when hiring a wedding photographer. These useful and informative articles, combined with your own photos and a link to your website, offer a strong marketing strategy and a valuable link-building opportunity.

Contributing to articles

As a professional wedding photographer, there may be opportunities to contribute to articles within this sector. For example, news sites might seek quotes from professional photographers for related topics and welcome contributions. These types of opportunities can often be found on Twitter using hashtags like #journorequest, along with search terms like “wedding” or “photographer.”

We’ve featured several articles where we’ve invited our members to contribute their insights on various topics. This is a great way to share perspectives and opinions on different areas and to learn from others in the industry.

Featuring Images

Wedding-related blogs and websites are always on the lookout for images to accompany their articles, and stock photos can only go so far. Reach out to wedding blogs you admire and offer them the use of your photos, provided they credit and link back to your website.

Additionally, many wedding venue websites feature galleries with photos from various photographers. If you have some stunning shots of their venue, email them and offer to let them use your images on their site, ensuring you receive proper credit.

Finally venue directories such as Bride book and Wedinspire feature photographer photos and will link back to your site too, again these are worth looking into.

Wedding Directories

There are many online wedding-related sites and directories that offer backlinks to your website. These are excellent for marketing yourself and improving your site’s SEO. While many directories require a fee, some, like BrideBook, offer free listings.

When looking at directory sites to market yourself on, consider the following: Are they wedding-related? Are they still active and regularly updated? Do they reflect your work, and do you want to be promoted on them?

Unsplash

Since the photos are shared royalty-free and at no cost, there is no obligation for sites to add a credit. However, some sites do include credits, and if you notice a site using your photo, you can send a polite email asking if they could add a link to your website.

Many news and blog sites use photos from such sources, so this approach could help you gain high-quality backlinks.

What about internal linking?

So, the above discussion focuses on external links—web links from other sites pointing back to yours. Internal links, on the other hand, are web links within your own website, directing users to other pages on your site.

While external links are crucial for how you rank on Google, internal links are also important for several reasons. Linking to pages within your site helps Google understand which pages are important, which should be prioritised, and what they should be ranked for.

It takes time

Link building is time-consuming, but it’s a crucial strategy for your website’s SEO. Take time to consider your approach and explore potential opportunities. Review your website to ensure it is optimised with valuable links. If your site loads slowly or isn’t mobile-friendly, you’re limiting its potential to rank highly.

Link Building Strategies for Wedding Photographers