Photographer SEO: How to Get Your Portfolio Found on Google

Photographer SEO comes down to helping Google understand pictures it can't really see. That means fast, properly sized images with descriptive file names and alt text, a portfolio organised by genre with real text on every page, local landing pages for the areas you actually work in, and metadata that protects your copyright without exposing clients' locations.

Most photography websites are beautiful and nearly invisible in search. They're built around huge images and minimal words, which is lovely for visitors and confusing for search engines. The good news is that fixing it doesn't mean filling your site with clunky keyword copy. It means adding the right information in the right places. This guide covers image optimisation, page structure, local SEO and metadata, in the order that usually makes the biggest difference.

Photographer SEO starts with how Google reads images

Google's image SEO best practices are clear that it relies on signals around an image to understand it:

• the page's title, headings and text
• the image's file name
• the alt text, which Google calls the most important metadata for images
• captions and text placed near the image
• structured data and Open Graph tags

Google also says it doesn't index images set as CSS backgrounds. If your theme displays portfolio images as background images, they won't appear in Google Images at all. They need to be real <img> elements, with a src fallback if you use srcset or <picture>.

A gallery titled "Gallery 3" full of files called DSC_4412.jpg gives Google almost nothing to work with. A gallery titled "Barn Wedding at Huntsham Court, Devon" with files named huntsham-court-barn-wedding-first-dance.webp and a short write-up of the day gives it plenty.

Image sizes and compression for photographers

Speed matters for SEO and for clients browsing on phones. Camera originals are often many megabytes each and far larger than any screen can display.

Recommended sizes

These are practical targets, not rules. Fine art and print-focused sites may want larger lightbox images, but even then, serve smaller versions in grids.

How to get there

1. Export web versions from Lightroom, Capture One or similar at the long edge you need. Keep your full-resolution masters for print.
2. Batch resize anything else with a browser-based image resizer.
3. Compress with the image compressor, choosing WebP for the best savings. Quality around 75 to 85 is very hard to tell apart from the original on screen. Both tools run in your browser, so private client work never leaves your device.
4. Load the first image normally, and lazy load images further down the page. Most platforms support this with the loading="lazy" attribute.
5. Set width and height on every image so the gallery doesn't jump as it loads.

Check whether your platform already does some of this. Squarespace, Wix and many WordPress themes generate responsive sizes automatically, but they still start from whatever you upload. WebP is supported by all current major browsers, so it's a safe default.

Alt text for photographers

Alt text has two jobs. It describes the image for people using screen readers, and it tells search engines what the image shows. Write it for the first job and you'll usually do the second well.

• Describe what's in the photo, briefly and specifically: "Bride and groom laughing under a willow tree at Hampton Manor" rather than "wedding photo".
• Include the place or subject naturally where it's genuinely relevant. Don't paste the same "wedding photographer Birmingham" phrase into every image.
• Keep it short, usually a sentence or less.
• Skip alt text for purely decorative images, using an empty alt="".

Our image SEO and alt text guide has more examples.

Portfolio pages that rank

Organise by genre and intent

Clients search by what they need: "newborn photographer", "headshot photographer", "commercial product photography". Give each genre you offer its own page, with:

• a clear H1 and title, such as "Corporate Headshots in Manchester"
• 150 to 400 words of original copy: what the session involves, who it suits, how long it takes, what's included and how to book
• a curated gallery of your best relevant work
• prices or "from" prices if you're comfortable sharing them
• a short FAQ and a clear call to action

Turn shoots into case studies

Individual galleries or blog posts for real shoots are some of the best content a photographer can publish. Name the venue or location, describe the brief and the light, and credit suppliers. These pages rank for venue searches ("[venue name] wedding photos") that couples and planners make, and they give AI search tools something specific to quote. Always get the client's consent before publishing.

Check titles and share previews

Every portfolio and gallery page needs a unique title and meta description. Check them with the free meta tag checker. Galleries get shared on Facebook, Pinterest and WhatsApp constantly, so run key pages through the Open Graph checker to make sure they show the right image.

Local landing pages for photographers

Most photographers serve an area rather than a single town. Local landing pages can help you rank across it, but only if they're genuinely useful.

Do:

• Create pages for the main towns or areas where you regularly work.
• Show real work from that area: venues, landmarks, local businesses.
• Mention practical details, such as travel costs or local venues you know well.

Don't:

• Duplicate one page 40 times with the town name swapped. Google treats near-identical doorway pages as spam.
• Claim an address you don't have. Your Google Business Profile should show your real location, or hide the address and set a service area if you work from home.

Pair local pages with a complete Business Profile in the right category, consistent contact details and genuine reviews from every client. The UK local SEO guide covers this in detail. Add LocalBusiness or ProfessionalService schema to your contact page with matching details.

Copyright, EXIF and IPTC metadata

Image files carry two kinds of embedded information that matter to photographers.

EXIF: camera data and location

EXIF data records camera settings and, on phones and many cameras, GPS coordinates. For photos taken at clients' homes, a newborn shoot or a family session, publishing location data online is a privacy risk. Photos of identifiable people are personal data under UK and EU GDPR (and under privacy laws in many other places), and the location of their home makes that worse.

Strip GPS data when you export web versions. If you shoot on an iPhone, the free HEIC to JPG converter doesn't copy EXIF or location data into the new file.

IPTC: creator and copyright

IPTC fields hold rights information. Google's image metadata documentation lists the fields it uses, including Creator, Credit Line, Copyright Notice, Web Statement of Rights and Licensor URL. With the right fields filled, Google Images can show who created an image and may show a "Licensable" badge linking to how to license it.

Google's own advice is to keep critical metadata. It notes that removing it can reduce file size, but warns that removal may be illegal in some jurisdictions, and recommends retaining at least Creator, Credit Line and Copyright Notice where possible.

Getting the balance right

There's a tension here. Many compression tools, including ours, re-encode images in a way that drops all embedded metadata. That removes GPS data, which is good, but also removes your IPTC copyright fields. A sensible workflow:

1. Set up an export preset in your editing software that keeps copyright and contact info but removes location and camera data. Lightroom and Capture One both offer this.
2. Use those exports as your web versions where rights metadata matters, such as editorial or licensable work.
3. Use browser-based compression for images where speed matters more than embedded rights data, such as thumbnails and blog images.
4. Add a visible copyright line and licensing page to your site either way.

Under UK copyright law, as in the US and most other countries, the photographer is generally the first owner of copyright in their photos unless they took them as an employee or have agreed otherwise in a contract. Spell out usage rights in your client terms.

Technical checks for photography sites

• Speed: test your main portfolio page on mobile. Large galleries often push the first image well beyond Google's 2.5-second "good" threshold for Largest Contentful Paint. Compressing and resizing the first image is usually the biggest fix.
• Broken links: old client galleries and expired blog images often leave dead links. Run a broken link check a few times a year.
• Enquiry emails: if replies to enquiries land in spam, you lose bookings. Check SPF, DKIM and DMARC with the email deliverability checker.
• Client delivery: use private, expiring gallery links rather than public pages for client deliveries.

You'll find the full set of image, PDF and SEO tools we recommend on Make It Flow's free tools for photographers and creatives page.

FAQ

How can photographers improve their SEO?

Start with the basics Google relies on: descriptive file names, useful alt text, a unique title and text on every page, and fast, properly sized images. Then build a page for each genre you shoot, publish real shoots as case studies, and complete your Google Business Profile with genuine client reviews.

What size should images be on a photography website?

For full-width images, around 2000 px on the long edge is enough for most screens, and grid thumbnails can be 1000 to 1200 px. Compressed to WebP or a high-quality JPEG, most files can sit under 300 KB. Keep full-resolution masters for print and client delivery.

Does alt text matter for photography SEO?

Yes. Google describes alt text as the most important metadata for images. Write a short, specific description of what each photo shows, mentioning the place or subject where it's genuinely relevant. Avoid repeating the same keyword phrase on every image, which helps neither search engines nor screen reader users.

Should I remove EXIF data from photos before uploading?

Remove GPS location data, especially from photos taken at clients' homes, because it can reveal where people live. Google recommends keeping rights metadata such as Creator, Credit Line and Copyright Notice, so use an export preset that strips location and camera data while keeping your copyright fields.

Do local landing pages work for photographers?

They can, if each page is genuinely useful: real work from that area, local venues you know and practical details such as travel. Near-identical pages with only the town name changed are treated by Google as doorway pages, which breaks its spam policies and can hurt the whole site.

Why don't my portfolio images show in Google Images?

Common causes are images displayed as CSS backgrounds, which Google doesn't index, images blocked by robots.txt, pages that require a login, or JavaScript galleries that never output standard image elements. Make sure each image is an img element with a src attribute on a crawlable page.