Hello, my wonderful photographer clients!
As we get ready to head into a new year, this is the perfect time to assess how blogging is going for you and if there’s anything you’d like to change in 2024.
Some things to think about:
Are You Happy with Your Google Rankings for Your Top Keywords?
I recommend checking your rankings at least once or twice a year to see if you’re satisfied. This is super easy to do!
Just type each of your top keywords one at a time into a Google browser (for example, one of your top keywords might be “New Jersey cake smash photographer” or “Best Houston Newborn Photographers”) and see where you come up. Scroll past any sponsored listings/ads and businesses (listed next to a map) to get to the organic results. These are the ones we care about! Where do you fall on the list?
Pro Tip: I recommend making a list of your top keywords and jotting down your ranking and the date next to each one. That way you can easily keep track of which keywords you should focus on. And next time you check your rankings, you’ll be able to see at a glance which keyword rankings have improved and which ones might still need some work.
Bonus: Don’t have time to check your rankings? Just send me the list of your top 10 keywords by December 9th, 2023, and I’ll check them for you! (If you’re not part of the RedFox Blogging family yet, it’s just $25 to have me check your top 10 keywords and give you a customized recommendation for how to improve your results.)
If you’re happy with your Google rankings for all of your top keywords, then we can probably just keep doing what we’ve been doing. Easy!
If you’d like to improve your rankings for any of your keywords, we’ll need to up your blogging game in 2024! This usually takes the form of:
- More frequent posts
- Posts with a higher word count
- Adding informational posts
- Or a combination of these!
If you have something you’d like to try, let me know. If you’re not sure, let’s chat and see if we can come up with a package designed to help your business grow.
Is There Anything New You’d Like to Try with Your Blog?
There are so many fun things to do with blogs! Maybe you just feel like trying something new this year, like creating Pinterest pins based on your blog posts, making sure you announce each new blog post on social media, or blogging about a new topic that would be of interest to your target audience.
If you want to try something new, reach out and let’s see if we can incorporate it into your package for next year!
What Do You Foresee Your Competition Doing Next Year?
Just because something worked in the past doesn’t mean it will always be effective. It’s important to be aware of the competition so you can stay ahead of the curve. The fact that you are already blogging puts you in a good position. But if your competitors are blogging too, or if you expect them to set new goals and improve their SEO next year, then you’ll need to make sure your own efforts will keep pace.
The Basics
If you’re not sure whether your current blogging strategy will work for you next year, here are the basics I recommend:
- Blog at least once a week.
- Use a mix of short posts (around 300 words, I call these check-in posts) and longer-form informational content like 500-word (booster posts) or 1000-word (power posts). Mixing up your post length and content type gives you more opportunity to use a variety of keywords, connect with your audience at different levels, and improve your rankings.
- Make sure that your entire site is search-engine optimized. That means that, without feeling spammy, your text should reflect your top keywords, your largest headings should focus on those top keywords, and your images should have alt text that includes your keywords.
Let’s Make 2024 Our Best Blogging Year Yet!
I am so excited to continue blogging for you next year! Whether you’re feeling great about your current package or want to try something new, it is an absolute pleasure working with you and I want you to know I am honored to be entrusted with this important aspect of your business.
Please be in touch with any questions or ideas! Together, let’s figure out a blogging package that will help you climb those rankings and make 2024 our best blogging year yet!
