Sharing my
SEO Journey
( messy, embarrassing & expensive)
SEO Coach for Creatives
About Christy
Cat mom.
Photographer.
Lover of nerdy things.
Hey there! I'm Christy. About 6 years ago, I dove head first into becoming a photographer. Starting my own business followed quickly afterwards and WOW!... I had absolutely no idea what I was getting myself into!
Now I've always been the planning type-- someone who doesn't jump into anything without really thinking things through (and then laying in bed thinking themselves to sleep just to be sure I thought about it enough...)
But it's true what 'they' say: You don't know what you don't know.
You'll probably find me...
If I'm not photographing a wedding day
or working on seo
Playing video games (Xbox, Oculus-- you name it, I'm there)
Binge-watching the latest series on Netflix (murder mysteries and fantasy are my faves)
Listening to a business-related podcast while multi-tasking around the house
I found my business groove...
as soon as
it was time to
...move across the country!
Juuuust as I was starting to get word-of-mouth referrals in my business, my husband's military career moved us from Tennessee to Arizona.
Did I know anyone where we were moving to? Nope.
Did I have any idea how I'd get clients in my new area?
Of course I did! I'm a huge planner, remember?
Google!
Hold on tight because this is when...
I spent thousands of dollars
only to get
absolutely nowhere on google
Ta-da! All done, right?
Show me where I rank, google!
I had just finished a complete overhaul of my brand AND launched an entirely new website. I was so d@#n excited!!!
...I sat down at my laptop, went to Google, and typed in '[my city] wedding photographer'...
And I scrolled.
And scrolled.
And scrolled some more.
"Surely I just missed my site. Let me look again."
Nope. Nothing. Nada. I was non-existent.
But why? Why wasn't I showing up? I didn't understand how Google could NOT want to show my new, awesome, incredible (and did I mention expensive? ) website to the world!
I couldn't help but feel...
Lost, confused, & overwhelmed
See, I had done my research. I knew SEO was important. I knew it was what would help you get found on Google when someone searched for my type of business. I made sure that this person I was hiring to do my huge rebrand knew that I wanted this new beautiful website to be SEO optimized.
So then what was the problem???
The problem was that I had no idea what SEO actually was.
I didn't know what questions to ask and I didn't know what to look for.
Sound familiar?
Learn from my mistakes
Why I decided to become an SEO coach.
After my very expensive SEO lesson, I honestly felt embarrassed-- like I was a dumb business owner who should have just known everything. All at once. From the beginning.
It sounds silly when you put it that way, right?
And it is. None of us know everything. And while we'll never learn it all, there are some pieces that are pretty dang important. I believe that SEO is one of them. So I'm passing on everything I've learned (and continue to learn) in my SEO journey to help better the businesses of my fellow creatives.
SEO Myth's!
My Favorite
- You have to know how to code in order to "do SEO."
- Getting your work published is the big key to ranking #1 on Google.
- Once you set up your SEO, you don't have to do anything else.
- Keyword optimization just means you should repeatedly use your main target keyword all over your website.
...because you just want to focus on the pretty stuff, right?
Specializing in seo for creative small businesses
I know you didn't start your business itching to create marketing plans, learn the latest software, and track metrics on spreadsheets. Neither did I. I wanted to have a fun, creative outlet, be my own boss, and create beautiful photos. But SEO managed to steal my heart.
And while I don't expect you to nerd out with me, I do want you to get excited about using Google to build the business you dreamed of at the start of your creative journey.