Starting a photography blog can be an incredibly rewarding endeavor, allowing you to share your passion with the world and even turn your hobby into a full-time business.
However, with so many options for blogging platforms, web hosting, themes, plugins, etc., it can also feel overwhelming for beginners to know where to start.
That‘s why I‘ve created this ultimate guide on how to start a photography blog in 2023, from choosing your niche to optimizing for SEO and monetization. I‘ll walk through everything you need to launch your own successful photo blog, step-by-step.
Let‘s get started!
Choose Your Niche
The first step is deciding what niche your photography blog will focus on. Some ideas include:
- Landscape/nature photography: Share stunning outdoor imagery and tips for capturing unique landscapes.
- Portrait photography: Provide tutorials on posing, lighting, editing, etc. for portrait sessions.
- Wedding photography: Document stories and moments from weddings you shoot.
- Pet photography: Capture cute pet pics and give tips for snapping great animal photos.
- Travel photography: Combine useful photography advice with tales and photos from your travel adventures.
- Product photography: Teach readers how to photograph products for Etsy shops or advertisements.
- Photo editing/post-processing: Offer Photoshop, Lightroom, or editing software tutorials.
Choosing a niche helps attract the right audience and makes it easier to rank well in search engines. Make sure to pick a photography focus you‘re truly passionate about!
Pick a Domain Name and Hosting Provider
Next up is purchasing a domain name for your blog, along with web hosting to power your site.
Some tips for choosing a domain include:
- Make it short, catchy and easy to remember
- Use keywords related to your niche (e.g. NaturePixelz.com)
- Get a .com address if available
I recommend buying your domain name via Namecheap or a similar reputable registrar. Expect to pay $10-15 per year.
For hosting, I suggest using a plan from Bluehost to start out. Prices begin around $2.75 per month for their shared hosting. Bluehost offers user-friendly cPanel access, one-click WordPress installation, and reliable servers perfect for new bloggers.
Install WordPress
Now it‘s time to get WordPress installed on your hosting! WordPress is 100% free, open source software that makes launching a photography site simple. Their platform powers over 40% of all websites.
If you signed up with Bluehost, there will be a "WordPress Install" option right inside cPanel. Just click it!
The installer will walk you through creating a database, username and password. Once it finishes, your WordPress login details will be emailed.
Then you can visit your new domain and access wp-admin to begin setting everything up!
Select a Theme
WordPress themes control the overall design and layout of your photography blog. There are thousands of free and paid themes available.
I suggest checking out popular multipurpose themes like Astra or photography-focused options like PhotoFocus to start.
Navigate to Appearance > Themes from your WP dashboard to browse, preview and install themes. Click "Activate" to make your selection live. Then visit the Customizer to tweak colors, fonts, layout and other style preferences.
Set Up Key Plugins
While WordPress covers the basics, plugins add tons of helpful functionality needed to grow a successful photography blog.
Here are some must-have plugins I recommend installing:
Image/Gallery Plugins
These will enhance and optimize displaying your visual content:
- Envira Gallery – Create powerful, responsive galleries.
- Smush – Compress images for faster loading.
- Imagify – Alternate good image optimizer.
Backup Plugin
Unexpected data loss could destroy your hard work. Backup plugins let you schedule full site backups to restore from if disaster strikes:
- UpdraftPlus – Popular free backup tool.
Caching Plugin
Caching stores static page data to significantly speed up load times:
- WP Rocket – Fast, lightweight caching (paid but worthwhile).
SEO Plugin
On-site SEO improvements will help your content rank higher in search:
- Yoast SEO – An SEO plugin that‘s easy yet powerful.
There are many other great plugins for contact forms, social sharing, analytics, security, etc. But the ones above form a solid starting point.
Create Your First Blog Post
You‘re all set up…now the fun begins! Time to publish your very first blog post and share your work with the world.
From your WP dashboard, hover over Posts > Add New to open the editor. Craft a descriptive title and headline. Upload any images you want to feature.
Then write your post body copy paragraph-by-paragraph. Use text formatting tools to style key sections in bold, italics, blockquotes, etc.
You can break things up with subheadings, numbered lists, embedded tweets/videos and more. Publish when you‘re satisfied, or schedule the post to go live later.
Promote Your Photography Blog
Now comes the crucial step that turns a hobby blog into a popular destination: promotion and marketing!
Here are my top strategies for getting more visitors:
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Optimize for SEO – Quality content that also targets keyword terms has the best chance of ranking well in Google and Bing. Do keyword research to identify opportunities.
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Leverage social media – Share your latest posts in relevant Facebook Groups and subreddits. Post portfolio images on Instagram using niche hashtags.
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Run contests/giveaways – For example, you could give away a free photo session or prints to a subscriber. Great for building your email list too!
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Guest post on similar sites – Pitch contributing articles to blogs in your field. Include a bio with a link back to your site.
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Comment on forums/threads – Join communities like /r/photography and provide value by answering member questions thoughtfully. Include a quick site link.
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Local partnerships – Contact nearby businesses to offer pro bono photos or discounted sessions in exchange for promotion.
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Paid ads – Once you have some income, experiment with Google/Facebook ads to find potentially interested site visitors.
Try different strategies and track analytics to determine what works best. It takes persistence, but you‘ll gain traction over time!
Monetization Tips
While running a photography blog likely started as a passion project, who wouldn‘t want to earn some income from their work?
Luckily there are numerous options for photographers to monetize online!
- Sell your images via stock photo sites like Shutterstock or iStock.
- Offer useful Lightroom or Photoshop presets/templates/brushes for purchase.
- Create online photography courses teaching your skills.
- Sell merchandise featuring your popular images (tshirts, phone cases, prints, etc).
- Write detailed eBooks covering your area of expertise.
- Join affiliate programs from camera/gear companies to earn commissions promoting their products.
- Display Google AdSense banner ads matched to your niche.
- Promote relevant photography services, tools, hosting, etc. you recommend.
- Launch a community membership site with premium workshops, critiques, bonuses.
Test out a mix of these money-making approaches once you build an engaged following. Multiple income streams will maximize your earning potential over relying on just one.
Final Thoughts
And there you have it…everything you need to know to successfully launch a photography blog!
From picking the ideal niche, choosing hosting, installing WordPress, selecting themes/plugins, writing epic content, promoting your work and making money over time…I covered all the essential steps.
The most important thing is to stay consistent and passionate. It may take months before your site gains decent traffic. But persist through the ups and downs, continually improving your craft.
If photography makes you happy, then sharing your knowledge and creations with an appreciative audience that grows to love your perspective will make all the effort truly rewarding!
Now pick up your camera, back up your site, and start blogging your heart out. I can‘t wait to see what beautiful imagery and engaging stories you‘ll produce and publish in 2023!
