Blog on Photoblogs

Last night, I had received a great email from a reader, and it really got me thinking about blogging and in particular photoblogs.

“…folks who visit my photoblog regularly and comment are generally those whose blogs I previously visited and commented on first.”

[caption id="attachment_113" align="alignleft" width="289" caption="BTL traffic sources"][/caption]

I interpret this as meaning that the main source of traffic for a photoblog is referral traffic?  I have done some testing with my own photoblog in the past and I would agree 100% with this statement (and Google Analytics backs it up).  If I comment on another photographer’s blog I will see a spike in traffic which will quickly dissipate when/if I stop making comments regardless of how useful those comments may be.

In my own mind this simply means that people are either not searching for photoblogs or their search engine queries are not returning the results they want so they resort to using their favourite photoblog to find new photographers.

So, is this something that SEO could fix?  I would bet that it could only help for sure, but it depends on what your stated goal is for you photoblog.  Are you trying to make money by selling your prints or services, or as Bob states in his email,

“I’ve learned to view my postings as an exercise in personal satisfaction,…”

There is something to be said for photoblogs as a source of personal growth in your hobby, and I don’t for a second feel that if that’s what you want to do with your photoblog that you’re making an incorrect decisions.  Your answer to this question will help you decide how much time and effort you should be putting into improving the SEO of your photoblog.

“If I were doing this for a living I would have starved the first week.”

You’re not alone in this statement.

“…and have totally sublimated any expectations for outside recognition. It’s not a good business model, but realistic at this point.”

This got me thinking if there is actually an effective business model for a photoblog?  To some extent business model(s) (with varying degrees of success) do exist for blogs.  Here’s my quick summary of the models that exist for conventional blogs,

1)    Monetize with Adsense
2)    Sell an e-book
3)    Sell advertising space, by this I mean banners

Can any of these apply to a typical photoblog, my first reaction is to say no, they would typically distract from the main purpose of a photoblog, which after is the photography itself.  I am sure that with some creative brainstorming someone out there could adapt on of these models to work on their photoblogs.

The most successful example of photoblog monetization that I have been able to find up to this point would have to be David Nightingale’s tutorial and training services on his Chromasia photoblog.  If you think about the type of visitors that are typically visiting a photoblog i.e. other photographers, then David’s hit the jackpot.  What do most photographers want?  Collect another photographer’s work?  Probably a few, but I would bet that the majority of them want to improve their skills, and this is the service that David is offering through his tutorial program.

After quite a bit of thought I’ve started to think of my blog as an extension of my photography business and as more of a “living website” rather than a direct path to monetization.  A great example of a photographer who is using this type of indirect monetization from her photoblog would be Jasmine Star.  She builds connections with her visitors who then become customers over time.

I would be interested in getting other peoples thoughts, and I want to thank Bob of Associated Pixels for his insightful comments!  Why not send Bob some click love and check out his excellent body of work.

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