Here’s a trap I’ve seen photographers fall into time and again: They get so excited about blogging’s SEO-building potential that they start publishing everything they can. That is, until wedding season picks up. Or they run out of ideas. Or they plain burn out. Does this resonate? Quarterly content planning is a great strategy for keeping your photography blog together. 

Why Do Content Planning Quarterly

Having a quarterly content plan ensures that you publish consistently. This sounds simplistic, but its implications for your business are huge. Publishing regularly is the best thing you can do to improve your SEO. Blogging is also an opportunity for clients to get to know your brand and decide if you might be a good fit for them. Blogging drives better inquiries.

With a quarterly content plan in hand, you can become a well-oiled blogging machine. You won’t fall out of good publishing habits because you just can’t think of a good topic. Coming up with your topics ahead of time also saves you time and mental energy in the long run. (If you’re already stressing about not having enough content, check out The What to Write Guide, which includes 45 blog prompts for photographers.) 

How to Do Blog Content Planning

There are a few ways to approach quarterly content planning for your photography blog. Here are three questions to help you get started:

What has driven traffic to your site so far? 

Time to check your metrics! The answer to this question will reveal a few important things. Firstly, it will show you the keywords for which you’ve successfully optimized. It will show you why you’re getting certain inquiries from Google. For example, you may have gotten multiple inquiries for Central Park weddings from Google. It should be no surprise that your Central Park blog post is driving traffic.

In other words, figuring out which pages drive traffic will show you what you’re successfully marketing. Take a minute to ask yourself whether that’s aligned with what you want to do. Do you want to shoot more weddings at that venue getting all the clicks? If so, great! If not, it’s definitely time for a new blogging strategy.

(Not sure how to find which of your website’s pages are getting clicks? Check out this blog post for an easy how-to.) 

What are your marketing goals?

As I implied above, blogging is a part of your marketing strategy. Your content planning should ensure blog topics are aligned with your goals. Do you want to book more elopements? Find as many ways as you can to blog about them. Keep your ideal clients’ personalities, tastes, and questions in mind all the way through.

Alternatively, blogging about work you don’t love is sending a mixed message at best. Do you want to transition away from family sessions? Then stop blogging about them. 

Do you have seasonal events or specials?

A lot of photographers do seasonal work, and this should be part of their content planning. For example, you may want to book holiday minis or summer weddings. Many photographers do both. These blogs will succeed in driving more inquiries if you blog about them at least a quarter in advance. This may sound counterintuitive, but it takes time to improve your photography blog’s SEO.

When to Outsource Blogging

Once you have a quarterly content plan in hand, you have to create those beautiful blogs. You might be wondering when it’s time to outsource blogging. Outsourcing could be a good move for you if:

• you’ve read this post and want more direction.
• you recognize that a specialist can translate your marketing strategy to effective blog copy.
• you just don’t have time for weekly blogging.

Believe me, if any of this sounds uncomfortably familiar, you are NOT alone. I created House of Nash to connect photographers to their ideal clients through strategic blogging. I would love to bring your quarterly content plan to life. Reach out today!