Back in Business, But Missing From Google
Returning to your business after maternity leave is already a lot. Shandi had the talent, the portfolio, and the drive to make it work. She’d chosen a website template to get back online quickly, which made sense. Templates are fast, look beautiful, and get you up and running without needing to build from scratch. The catch, though, is that they don’t come with any of the SEO setup that actually tells Google who you are, where you are, and who you serve.
So while Shandi had a beautiful site and incredible work to show for it, Google was essentially shrugging her off, and the couples searching for a St. Augustine wedding photographer weren’t finding her.
Here’s what getting Shandi found on Google actually looked like inside the SEO Starter Kit:
Creating An SEO Strategy
Before any optimizations, I walked Shandi through her full SEO strategy; what I’d be doing, why it matters, and what to expect going forward. That way she wasn’t just handing things over and hoping for the best. She knew exactly what was happening and felt good about every step before we got started.
Helping Google Find Her Website
I went through her website’s core pages and looked for everything that might be stopping Google from reading her site properly. All of it was caught and fixed, so her site was actually set up to be indexed before we did anything else.
Keyword Research for Couples Who Are Ready to Book
I researched the exact phrases couples in her area are typing into Google when they’re actively looking for a photographer.
Competitor Research: Seeing Where She Could Show Up
I researched how other photographers in her market were showing up in search and where the gaps were. That gave us a clear picture of where Shandi had the best opportunity to get found.
Optimizing Her Website
With the right keywords in place, I wrote and optimized her SEO titles, meta descriptions, URL slugs, alt text, H1 tags, and heading structure. Every page was set up to clearly signal to Google and to the couples landing on it, exactly what Shandi offers, who she serves, and why she’s the right fit.
Tracking Every Lead On Her Website
Her website was fully connected behind the scenes and conversion tracking was set up so Shandi could see exactly when leads were coming in and which searches were bringing them there.
Checking In and Cheering on the Wins
At 30 and 90 days, I checked back in to show her what was moving, what was working, and where there was room to keep growing.
Toast-Worthy Wins 🥂
In under five months, Shandi’s website went from invisible on Google to a consistent source of real bookings. Here’s what that looked like:
- 300+ visits from organic search in under 5 months
- Showing up for searches like “St Augustine wedding photographer” and “couples photographer near me”
- 9 direct leads from Google (up from zero)
- Her website became a real referral source, bringing in couples around the clock without her having to post every day or chase the algorithm
But more importantly beyond the numbers: she came back to her business after one of the biggest seasons of her life i.e. becoming a mom, and built something that genuinely works for her. Couples are now finding her on Google. Inquiries are coming in. Her website is doing that work for her every single day, without her having to post, pitch, or chase behind leads.
Ready to chat about waking up to leads from couples who found you on Google, without posting, pitching, or chasing?
