Does SEO Still Work?

Is it still worth the effort to focus on your online text, video and Image SEO? If so, what are the benefits of SEO in 2020?

SEO or Search Engine Optimisation is the process of building, preparing and optimising web pages to be easily found in search engines. Good SEO can include effective keyword placement, image optimisation, valuable and relevant content, use of video, infographics and more recently, Google Web Stories. Search engines simply want to show the best content to their visitors. By implementing good SEO practices on your website, you’ve more chance of rising through the ranks. Yes, it works!

So, I have just got off a 30 minute Zoom call with a large, online retailer. I wanted to share my experience whilst it is fresh in my mind. The company are based in London and found me (in Dorset) via an online search.

I was asked a series of fairly in-depth questions about how I would help to promote their website and products so I knew they were legit. Zoom calls are also great for observing body language and building honest business relationships.

They were looking for a particular type of photographer…but why blankets as an image for this post?

They are looking to promote personalised blankets through their large online store and needed a photographer with experience photographing blankets. After a quick web search using keywords including “photographer” and “blankets” among other terms, they found my blog post on a wool blanket shoot that I did a few years ago. 

A Note On Blogging For Clients

Whenever I can, I always try to blog my client shoots or other work for two reasons. Firstly, if I can get the post found in search, it may help my clients attract more business and thereby cementing a relationship. Secondly, and as in this case, it may well bring in more work and clients in for myself.

Does SEO still work in 2020? It sure does!

As you can see in the private search on Google below, I appear at number one for the blog post term “wool blankets Dorset”. That is one entry above my clients’ post about their blankets. Hopefully this will bring them more business.

…and if you look in image search, you’ll see that my photos from that shoot appear multiple times on page one. Click for a larger image.

To cut a long story short, I would be doing a trial shoot with the online retailer at my standard day rate of £600-£800. All being well, they said that I would then be asked to shoot a whole range of other products for their Google Shopping channel. Ordinarily, this would be a fantastic opportunity to build a solid business relationship.

Sadly, due to my commitments with My Net Prophet, I have had to turn down this contract. However, I will happily pass this onto any of my photographer friends if they need me to. Sometimes, selling lucrative contracts on like this is also a good way to monetise your website.

Affiliate Marketing and SEO

A quick note when dealing with any potential client such as this, always look for other angles. Before our Zoom call, I checked the company’s website and was impressed. They have a whole range of popular products available for personalising with images that look great. The best thing? they have an affiliate program.

During the call, I did manage to discuss this and they were interested in an affiliation. They have a high conversion rate and pay 10% commission. Whilst not being one of the most lucrative affiliate deals, it is:

• Simple and quick to set up
• “Set and forget”-able
• Full of products that convert really well 

This simply means building one SEO focused review page and linking to it from relevant areas on my website. I will also place a few infographics and picture ads around the site to attract people that way.

The moral of the story and to answer the question “does SEO still work”?

That single, well SEO’d blog post could well have brought a new, lucrative client to my business. If I had been lazy and not bothered blogging because wool blankets doesn’t appear to be a “valuable search term” to go for, they would never have found me. Who knows what may have come of this? One thing is for sure though, blogging and implementing good SEO for any topic is very worthwhile.

Make sure that when you are building your new WordPress website or updating an existing one, learn to implement SEO techniques that work.