Nobody types “photographer” into Google and stops there. A new mom types “newborn photographer near me.” A dad planning holiday cards types “family photos [city].” A realtor who just got a new listing types “headshots [city].” A senior's mom types “senior pictures [city].” Each one is a different person with a different need, and Google treats each as a different search.
Most photographer websites answer all of them with one page called “Portfolio” or “Services.” One page cannot be the best answer to five questions. So Google picks a photographer who built a page for the exact thing.
What a genre page is
One page for one kind of shoot, with the genre and your city in the page title, the first heading and the first sentence. Newborn Photographer in [City]. Family Photos in [City]. Headshots in [City]. Then everything that person wants to know about that one kind of session, in plain words.
What goes on each one
- Eight to twelve photos from real sessions of that type, in your area, with a short caption on each.
- What the session is like. How long, where, what to bring, what to wear, what happens if the baby cries or it rains.
- A starting price or a package list. People search “newborn photographer cost” before they search for you.
- What they get and when. How many edited photos, how you deliver them, how many days.
- Two or three reviews from clients who booked that kind of shoot. See the reviews guide.
- A booking button or a short form, near the top and again at the bottom.
Which genres get a page
Only the ones you really shoot and want more of. If you shoot families, newborns, maternity, seniors and headshots, that is five pages. If you also did one wedding three years ago and never want to again, do not build a wedding page. A genre page is a promise that you do this kind of work. Keep the promises you can keep.
Some genres have their own words. “Maternity photos” and “pregnancy photoshoot” are the same search to most people. “Headshots” and “professional photos for LinkedIn” are too. Use the plain version in the title and the other version somewhere in the text, so you cover both without stuffing.
The calendar behind the searches
Each genre has a season. Family photos surge in the fall, when everyone wants a holiday card. Senior pictures surge in late summer and again in spring. Newborns are year-round but track the local birth calendar. Headshots follow the business calendar, with bumps in January and after the school year starts. Build each page months before its season, because Google needs time to find it, trust it and place it. A family-photo page published in October will miss October.
Where the price goes
Near the top, not buried at the bottom. A parent comparing four photographers on a phone wants to know in ten seconds if you are in their range. If they have to scroll past forty photos to find out, many will leave. A starting price in the first screen keeps the right people reading and saves you emails from the wrong ones.
Do not split too thin
One page per genre, not one page per prop or pose. “Fall family photos” and “beach family photos” belong as sections on the family page, not as separate pages, unless you shoot a lot of both and each has enough real photos to stand alone. Thin pages hurt. Full pages help.
Link them together
Your homepage links to every genre page. Each genre page links to the one or two others a client might also want: the newborn page links to maternity and family, the headshot page links to the branding page. Google follows links to understand what a site is about. So do clients. Put the genre pages in your main menu, too. The website pages guide shows how they fit with the rest of the site.
How to check your progress
Search each genre plus your city on your phone. “Newborn photographer [city].” “Family photographer [city].” Write down who shows up. If your “Portfolio” page shows up for none of them, that is the problem, and it is a fixable one.
Want this done for you?
I run a photography site in Tampa Bay myself, and splitting it into genre pages was the first thing I did. If you want me to look at yours, the audit is free and I send it the same business day.