Comments on: Will Social Media Change the Way Photographers Use SEO?

By: Per-BKWine

Per-BKWine — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 05:43:15 +0000

Now, why can’t I find a ‘share on Twitter’ button on this post?…

By: Doug Marke

Doug Marke — Sat, 11 Dec 2010 05:06:18 +0000

I think that you can sense my frustration! We do seem to spend a enormous and growing amount of time trying to talk to folks… but in the end I have the sneaking suspicion that actually no one is listening… As more and more people start “Talking”… then there will be less and less opportunity to differentiate yourself. At the end of the day, the point of all of this activity is to drive more people to our pictures.. but the system as it exists is not visual in nature and as a consequence we have changed the ground upon which we compete… we no longer compete based upon the quality of our work, and its suitability to the end user… we compete on the quality of our “Journalism” (For want of a better term..) and I cant help but feel that this change has been bad for photography, as it dilutes the essential nature of what we do, and how we should be judged. Our marketing is now driven by systems which are a one size fits all vision of how google thinks businesses need to be marketed… Is the new emphasis on social networking going to have a positive effect on this by diluting the dominance of google oriented SEO, or simply make the system more complex and less predictable? I cant help but think that we are going to end up as some sort of photodrone in the big collective, and our voice will be lost to those with more time on their hands… :)

By: Donald E Giannatti

Donald E Giannatti — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 08:41:34 +0000

Doug, “Great, so we are going to have to spend even more time talking rubbish and less time on our photography.” No. This is what I meant when I said a “buy in”. It is a marketing approach. It cannot be faked or done with an approach of dread or loathing. If you see it as ‘talking trash’ then it may not be the thing for you. Or possibly you have not found the voice that would be fun and exciting for you. I don’t participate in the ‘my sandwich is soggy’ sort of conversations. For Social Media, the cool thing is YOU choose who to converse with. Choose wisely. Maybe you only choose to engage with art directors who do editorial. Or AD’s from ad agencies in your area. But it is a conversation, not a sales pitch. And others may listen in. Like a conversation at an after work bar where a group of people are discussing something about the industry they work in. Others may choose to listen in, but the conversation is amongst those who are engaged with you. You chose who to talk to. However, the resentment to Social Media may be more due to the perception than the reality. There are many who are simply not interested in being social. That is nothing new.

By: Doug Marke

Doug Marke — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 15:56:51 +0000

Great, so we are going to have to spend even more time talking rubbish and less time on our photography. The increasing power of Google etal to determine how we market and run our business is making me distinctly annoyed. We all have to play Google-roulette and hope that if we do something magical that our numbers will come up. Now we have to act as billboards for Twitter/Facebook and Linkedin…. I wouldnt mind it so much if they actually gave us the same publicity that we give them…

By: Donald E Giannatti

Donald E Giannatti — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 13:23:51 +0000

Thanks for the mention, guys. When I state “While SEO as we know it will probably be done in the next 24 months…” I am referring to the ever-changing logarithms of the might SE’s, and the change from hard-target tools for SEO like meta tags (keyword and content) to more dynamic approaches like actual content. The more that move continues, the less ‘code’ approaches and tricks and such will be relevant. We used to say “Content is King” – and it has never been more accurate. What you show and what you say and how you present – that is what is relevant now… and the SE’s are becoming more and more powerful in their abilities to find, index and promote that content. The additional content aggregation of Social Media, with its inherent relevance of like-minded participation, draw marketing, trusted recommendations, and ‘flocking’ – where people begin to congregate to share work, ideas and more – has opened a new set of opportunities for those who are involved to become visible. As to this comment: “Maybe We should all stop and take a step back and look at who is making money from the internet. Id take a fair bet its not most photographers…” Participation is not a guarantee. Participation is not a sure deal… twitter ‘x’ and get ‘y’… It is an ongoing process of involvement, engagement or whatever you want to call it. It cannot be faked, or done with resentment. It is a ‘buy in’ required endeavor. Faking it will not work, so if one doesn’t buy in to it, do what ever else is working for you twice as hard. There are many photographers, successful and busy, who do little to nothing in the SEO/SM thing. Cool… as I said, it is not a panacea nor will it save anyone from impending decline. It is a new way to converse with the marketplace. It is a new way to become engaged with those who may have been difficult to engage with previously. It is, for me at least, kinda fun. But I can confidently state that if one is looking simply to ‘make money’ from the mere presence of a linked in page, then the expectations are WAY off base.

By: Jaak Nilson

Jaak Nilson — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 13:19:02 +0000

Yes, it ia truth that Bing and Facebook-co-operated. Unfortunately our photos on Photoshelter platform are not very well indexed by Bing. Google is indexing our photos better than Bing. At least at the moment. All Photoshelter SEO is optimized mostly for Google. In IT world a things changes very often and maybe after seveal years a Google is history. Bing or another search enging will triumph.

By: Paul David Drabble

Paul David Drabble — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 04:58:04 +0000

I’m sorry but I cant see this. Search engines serving up results based on what my virtual mates like in a medium which allows so many people to have a virtual personality, that is to say not the personality they have if you meet them face to face. It sounds like a recipe for disaster to me. Don’t get me wrong I can see where the idea is (on the face of it) good but the pit falls seem many and extreme. How many of us know our virtual friends on facebook, twitter, myspace and LinkedIn well enough that we would trust them with fairly significant amounts of our own money? Thais what is being suggested spend your money based on the recommendations of people you don’t really know. Take a look through through your “Friends” lists on your social network sites and count how many you have met and actually Know. Google search “Dump 10 Facebook friends, get a free Whopper” and find the numbers, I was surprised by how many friends were defriended. If that’s how fickle social networking is, this would surely mean it was open to unfair manipulation by the giants in any industry. Imagine Getty offering a defriend 10 photographers for some kind of incentive deal. The suggestion that photographers place a facebook like button on every page and beside every picture would leave most of our sites looking like an ad for facebook rather than a professional photographers business site so who would be the winner there? oh yes Facebook. There is such a thing as over kill. I’m already trying with social networking right now blog, facebook, linkedIn, Twitter, MySpace, Bebo, Stumbelupon, have been for a while I see numbers growing Very Very slowly. This is not translating into any significant increase in blog or website traffic. The number of Jobs I have taken in from these efforts are none yes zero nil not one. I am starting to think Social Netwroking is like the emperors new clothes, everyone says its great but there is nothing really there. That or stills photography is a dying industry, in 5 years my turnover has halved. The real question is Recession? Poor Marketing? or Obsolescence? Maybe We should all stop and take a step back and look at who is making money from the internet. Id take a fair bet its not most photographers

By: Photoblog Alliance

Photoblog Alliance — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 03:17:02 +0000

Our collaborative photo blog has seen a huge percentage of users coming from social networking efforts (3:1). I think for a photo blog, or for photographers in general, this is important because users are looking to connect with photography in a way that is different than other sites. I connect much more emotionally than with a text blog. Social media and relational marketing are much better ways to get the word out for photography. Just think about how you find photography in the real world. Do you search on Google or find out locally or through a friend? Get high on Google when selling your professional services, but work your social network for artwork. There’s a big difference and, as this article suggests, there will be some big winners and losers when the switch to relational search is made.