578: Sam Hollis – How to generate photography leads with Google Maps

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Sam Hollis builds websites for photographers and is an SEO specialist who popped up on my radar when premium member Adrienne Angelo suggested I listen to an episode of the “Shoot To The Top” podcast, where the discussion was focussed on utilising Google Maps to generate leads for your photography business.

Sam is the podcast co-host and runs a web design business with a difference—you pay for your website monthly with no upfront fees and no long-term commitment. If the website isn't working, you don't pay.

In addition to sharing his expertise to help with your SEO, I'm keen to hear his take on the recent nightmares for photographers, mainly in the UK, who have had their Google Business Profile flagged by another photographer and subsequently taken down.

In this interview, Sam shares how to generate photography leads with Google Maps and increase your overall search rankings.

Here's some more of what we covered in the interview:

• Utilising Google Maps for generating photography leads.
• Most photographers are either well-organised or need serious help; few are in the middle.
• Assessing a website's SEO by analysing content, menus, and Google Analytics/Search Console data.
• Google Business profiles can rank well even if the website has poor SEO.
• Depending on the situation, Google Map results can take users to the website or a Google Business Profile.
• Google business profiles and their importance for photographers, with tips on optimising them.
• In urban areas, Google Business Profile can be a winner for photographers due to high population density.
• Google Business Profile may be less effective in rural areas due to a limited customer base.
• Using a virtual address for Google, which can be a co-working space or an address provided by an accountant.
• Using a relative's address in the UK as their business address on Google Maps, as per Google's rules for service areas.
• Photographers often list their home addresses on Google My Business without understanding the implications.
• Most photographers are not trying to game the system; they simply fill out the form without fully understanding the requirements.
• The process of trying to contact Google for assistance is slow and painful.
• Photographers should choose clear and descriptive names for their businesses to improve visibility.
• Reviews are crucial for moving up the rankings on Google Maps.
• Use all available space on your Google Business profile to provide information about your business.
• Encourage clients to use keywords and mention the area in their reviews.
• Using Google My Business to improve local SEO and attract more customers.
• Posts should be regularly added to the Google My Business profile to keep it active and relevant.
• Do not expect interaction on Google Business Profile posts, but they are useful in their own right.
• How to analyse competition by looking at reviews, products, and inertia to improve local SEO rankings.
• Long-term clients can leave reviews at intervals of more than six months without appearing suspicious.
• The importance of storytelling on photographers' websites.
• Emphasising the importance of storytelling in wedding photography, the presentation stresses the need to showcase the photographer's skills and techniques beyond photography.
• Sam suggests including text on a website's wedding page to provide context and details about the photographer's role in the wedding, including client testimonials.
• Optimising a photography website for SEO and user engagement.
• Sam suggests analysing website engagement metrics, such as time spent on pages, to identify areas for improvement.
• Recommending making call-to-actions more tempting by offering value, such as free tips or guides, to encourage visitors to take action.
• Family and wedding photography are on the homepage to appeal to both audiences, which is okay.
• Balancing the amount of copy and images on a photography website is crucial for engagement and conversion.
• Pop-ups and opt-in forms can be effective for photographers, but timing and relevance are important factors.
• Sam recommends creating specific wedding pages with relevant keywords to improve SEO and ranking.
• Internal linking and backlinks from other websites are important for SEO and should be prioritised after creating quality blog content.
• Using AI for content creation and potential penalties for over-reliance on AI.
• Suggestions for using AI as a writing aid, not a pure writing tool.
• Discussing the potential penalties for using AI to generate content that violates Google's rules.
• Sam provides valuable insights and tips for photographers looking to grow their businesses.

I select to service an area because the rules on Google are that if you have a pin, you've got to have a permanent signage and people have to come and see you. Effectively, it's like a shop or an office where somebody's always there in office hours and they can come in while the area is more people don't come and see you, you provide services to people within that area. – Sam Hollis

What’s on Offer for Premium Members

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Plus, special member-only interviews.

Then you want move up the rankings and there's quite a lot you can do. One of the most important is getting reviews. Lots of reviews and regularly. Keep getting them. It might be that you spent six months working hard got ton of reviews and then you stop that still isn't great if a year down the line all your reviews are a year old. – Sam Hollis

You'll also receive access to the members-only Secret Facebook Group, where you can connect with other Premium Members and interview guests to help, support and motivate you to take ideas you hear in each episode and put them into action. The group also has FB live video tutorials, role-play, and special live interviews. You will not find more friendly, motivated, caring and sharing photographers online.

Seriously, that's not all.

In addition to everything above, you'll get access to instructions on forming or joining a MasterMind Group with other premium members. These groups are super motivating, make you accountable, and build friendships with other pro photographers with motives similar to yours – to build a more successful photography business.

The only thing you have to be careful of is reciprocal links. So if you did the blog post, wrote about it and then she linked to your blog post, great. If you did the post and your post is also linking to her site and her sites linking to you, Google will go, “Hmmm, they’re just kind of scratching each other's backs,” and doesn't count it as powerfully as if she linked to you. – Sam Hollis

What is your big takeaway?

Following this interview, I’d love to know if you're taking anything from what Sam shared. Is there something you heard that excited or motivated you to the point where you thought, yeah, I'm going to do that! If so, leave your thoughts in the comments below; let me know your takeaways and what you plan to implement in your business based on what you heard in today's episode.

Always link to the relevant page. Linking to your homepage usually is a bit confusing. If you're promoting something, make sure you've got a page about that very, very specific thing and send them to it. And you can also link within pages so it might be even an offer within your wedding's page and you can link to a specific location of the page. – Sam Hollis

If you have any questions I missed, a specific question you’d like to ask Sam, or a way to thank you for coming on the show, feel free to add them in the comments area below.

iTunes Reviews and Shout-outs

I check for any new iTunes or Google reviews each week, and it's always a buzz to receive these… for several reasons.

Firstly, it's confirmation that I'm on the right track with the interviews and that they are helping you improve your photography business. That's awesome!

Secondly, iTunes and Google are the most significant podcast search engines, and your reviews and ratings help other photographers find PhotoBizX. More listeners mean more interviews and, ultimately, a better show.

On Google Analytics, which you can plug into your website for free, you can literally see how long people are staying on your page and it gives you averages. But you know, if people are staying on for a minute or so that's pretty impressive. If people are staying on for 10 seconds, you've probably got a problem. So yeah, you can kind of look at how long have they stayed, so that's the first thing. And if they're staying for a short time, then what is there is not engaging or then they're just instantly not liking the look and they're leaving. So then that would be the first thing to work on. But if they were staying and they're still not clicking it means you're not offering them something they want. So you got to really look at your call to actions. – Sam Hollis

If you have left a review in the past, thank you! If you haven't and you'd like to, head to https://photobizx.com/itunes or https://photobizx.com/google. You can leave some honest feedback and a rating, which will help both me and the show. I'll be sure to thank you on the show and add a link to your website or blog if you let me know the URL of your website and your name.

Alternatively, if you've left a review for PhotoBizX and are looking for more backlinks to help your SEO, leave a review for the new Photography Xperiment Podcast. Email me your keywords or phrases and where you'd like me to link them.

You've got to have a really clear story, really clear writing on your website that tells all of that story because that's what sets you apart. That's what makes it interesting. That's what people are engaging with. – Sam Hollis

Another great way to get a backlink to your site is to send a video testimonial. It doesn't need to be fancy, and your phone will be perfect. Click record and tell me how PhotoBizX has impacted you and your photography business.​

The post 578: Sam Hollis – How to generate photography leads with Google Maps appeared first on Photography Business Xposed - Photography Podcast - how to build and market your portrait and wedding photography business.