This past Monday, the 14th, was our bimonthly meeting for the CILPP (Central Illinois Professional Photographers) group. I was really looking forward to this month’s meeting because it was all about SEO, and we were going to get to learn about this valuable online marketing tool from Gretchen and Trina of Thyme for Design. In today’s world, whether you have a store front or not, every business really needs to have an online presence. I know that I, myself, often look for products or services via web searches – so as a small business owner it’s crucial for my site to be easy to find, navigate, and really engage my clients.

Gretchen and Katrina’s business (Thyme for Design) specializes in Targeted Design & Development, Custom Brand Identity and Creative Problem Solving. They offer both Web and Print media design and really stress the importance of branding to their clients. They love to offer tips and tricks to make your website more efficient and productive, and they are currently sharing a free download called “Secret Recipes To Increase Your Web Traffic” available on our home page. Definitely check out their website – they have a really diverse style and range of creativity and skill. To top it all off – Katrina and Gretchen are both incredibly friendly, personable and made their presentation fun and light-hearted – which can’t be that easy with a technical topic like Search Engine Optimization (SEO)!

This meeting really was a beneficial one for any small business owner and for those of us who wear multiple hats while running our business – it was a nice reminder of the importance of the little things and how they can make a huge impact on your business. Just to briefly touch on what was discussed – SEO is basically setting up your website to perform well so that you have the highest chance of being found in searches and keeping your clients engaged with your site. There are a lot of little things you can do to improve your rankings – the most important of which is your content. Search engines like google can’t read images – so having really phenomenal copy is crucial for your website. They also told us about the importance of using and reading your google analytics and why slow load times can damage your SEO rankings. Finding the best SEO company can be hard but I have found a could SEO Services in Guelph, that are great!

I could really go on for quite a while about all the great info Gretchen and Katrina shared. They truly did a fantastic job covering all the basics about what SEO is, on up to the more detailed info on how to improve our website’s performance to help us find our ideal clients. They also did a great job of explaining things for both the beginner web developer and the more seasoned website creator.

Our next meeting is scheduled for June 16th and we will be having Kara Kamienski speaking on how she manages her photography business shooting 40+ weddings per year. It’s sure to be an interesting presentation and Kara is such a sweet and bubbly person – I’m sure we will all be greatly entertained! If you’re interesting in joining our group – shoot me a message and I’ll help you get set up with a membership application. Have a great weekend everyone!