126: Announcement: Showit SEO

Summary

With Meredith away, her husband previews a special upcoming episode focused on optimizing ShowIt websites for SEO. While ShowIt is a popular choice among photographers, it has certain SEO challenges by default. He invites ShowIt users to contribute their sites for analysis, offering an opportunity to identify and resolve common SEO issues that can enhance visibility on search engines.

ShowIt and SEO – How to Optimize Your ShowIt Website for Better Search Engine Performance

ShowIt has become a go-to website builder for photographers, prized for its design flexibility and ease of use. However, while visually stunning, ShowIt websites have some limitations when it comes to SEO. In a recent podcast episode, Meredith’s husband previewed an upcoming series dedicated to optimizing ShowIt sites for search engines. Here’s an overview of how you can get the most SEO value out of your ShowIt site.

The SEO Potential of ShowIt and Why It Needs Optimization

Out of the box, ShowIt is a strong visual tool, but it doesn’t inherently provide the best setup for SEO. If you’re a photographer or creative professional using ShowIt, there are essential steps you need to take to ensure your website performs well in search engine results.

ShowIt sites require a bit of additional SEO customization, particularly in areas like indexing, sitemap accuracy, and Google Search Console configurations. Without this, your site may struggle to get indexed effectively by Google, impacting its ability to rank well.

Steps to Optimize ShowIt for SEO

During the upcoming podcast episode, specific steps for optimizing ShowIt sites will be shared. In the meantime, here are key areas where you can focus your efforts:

• Indexing and Sitemaps: Ensure that your site’s pages are indexed correctly. Sometimes ShowIt pages aren’t indexed properly, which can impact their visibility in search results. Regularly check Google Search Console to ensure all critical pages are being indexed.

• Optimize Title Tags and Meta Descriptions: Title tags and meta descriptions are important SEO elements, yet they don’t come pre-optimized with ShowIt. Manually set these for each page to include relevant keywords that align with your target audience’s search intent.

• Use Alt Text for Images: Since ShowIt is often used by photographers, image-heavy pages are common. Adding descriptive alt text to each image not only helps with accessibility but also improves the likelihood that these images will appear in Google Image Search, bringing in more traffic.

• Internal Linking: Internal links help Google understand the structure and hierarchy of your site’s content. Link between your pages where relevant, particularly linking back to service pages or key portfolio pieces.

How to Participate in the ShowIt SEO Series

If you’re using ShowIt and want personalized feedback, Meredith’s husband is inviting ShowIt users to share their Google Search Console access with him. This allows him to examine the most common SEO challenges ShowIt users face and address these in the upcoming podcast episodes. Participating could mean getting specific insights into how to tackle SEO for your unique ShowIt setup.

Resources

To participate in this study and potentially get feedback on your ShowIt site, check the link provided in the podcast’s show notes.

Final Thoughts

Optimizing ShowIt for SEO can transform a beautiful website into a powerful marketing tool. With the right adjustments to indexing, sitemaps, and SEO essentials like meta tags, ShowIt sites can rank competitively in search engine results. Stay tuned for the upcoming episode to dive deeper into ShowIt-specific SEO strategies and learn how to make your site shine on search engines.