How a Wedding/Family Photographer Reached the Top in Just 3 Months
Many photographers rely on ads to generate inquiries, but in this project we proved that organic SEO alone can deliver sustainable growth. In just 3 months, we helped Tyler Norman Photography boost their visibility and increase leads by more than 150% without spending a dollar on ads.
The Starting Point
Tyler Norman Photography is a family and wedding photography studio based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He has a wonderful portfolio, a quality website, and happy customers but he was stagnating.
Wanting to expand his reach and attract more potential leads across Allegheny County, he contacted us.
When we first analyzed his digital presence, we found that:
- His Google Business Profile was incomplete and not optimized.
- His website was slow, with little SEO structure in place.
- The studio was buried in position #20 for the high-intent keyword: "photographer in Pittsburgh."
- Organic traffic was only 20, and he was averaging just 3 qualified inquiries per month.
In a city as competitive as Pittsburgh, being invisible on page 2 meant that most couples were booking competitors who showed up first on Google Maps.
Tyler Norman Photography’s visibility before optimization, barely appearing for local searches.
The visits chart below shows the three months before our team started working with the studio, when organic traffic was basically stagnant at around 20 visits per month.
Now, looking at potential leads only 2–3 per month, three months before our team started, the studio was essentially losing money, with a website that barely converted visitors into clients.
The 3-month SEO plan
To turn things around, we developed a custom 90-day roadmap designed to improve visibility, drive organic traffic, and generate more qualified leads without relying on ads.
Month 1 - Laying the foundation
- Full Google Business re-optimization (categories, services, description, photos).
- Technical SEO audit + fixes (meta tags, site speed, structured data, headings).
- Update on-page content with focus on " photographer pittsburgh" and "wedding photographer pittsburgh" and related keywords.
Below,you can see the homepage we built to improve SEO based on Google’s requirements. It features a clear header with key information such as weddings, contact, and blog. In the “Welcome” section, we highlight the most important details about Tyler Norman’s services, including where the studio is based and its main offerings. On the left side, there’s also a strong call-to-action inviting visitors to explore the blog. Well-crafted websites like this not only make customers happy but also satisfy Google’s SEO standards.
Now, you can see the improved Google My Business profile. We added 500+ photos with meta descriptions (to help Google understand what each image is about), expanded the service areas to nearby towns and counties, added a phone number, and made several other updates.
Month 2 - Content and Authority
- Creation of locally-optimized blog posts (such as, "Emily and Patrick - Energy Innovation Center Wedding in Pittsburgh, PA").
- Added neighborhood and county modifiers to service pages.
- Setup of internal linking structure to strenghten authority for priority keywords
Below is an example of an optimized blog post we created to boost visibility. In this case, we aimed to attract people searching for new wedding locations, specifically the Energy Innovation Center. This post became one of our best-performing articles, helping us rank not only for keywords related to this venue but also for weddings in the Pittsburgh area more broadly (you can see the article here).
Month 3 - Reviews and Consolidation
- Review generation strategy to increase both volume and keyword-rich content in Google reviews.
- Continuous monitoring in Brightlocal to track movement across Pittsburgh.
- Adjustments to meta descriptions,titles, and CTAs for higher clikc-through rates.
- Refinement of service pages to improve conversions.
At the end of the 3 months, you can see the improvements: the studio went from being nearly invisible to appearing in the local 3-pack—more visibility, more leads, more clients. In the image below, the search term “wedding photographer in College Station” shows that, despite having fewer reviews and less time in the market, we were able to reach the top three alongside other competitors. From there, the studio continued to grow, achieving even higher rankings in some areas. More results can be seen below.
At the end of the 3-month period, the improvements were clear: the photography studio went from being invisible to appearing in the local 3-pack—meaning more leads, more clients, and greater visibility. In the image below, the search term “wedding photographer in Pittsburgh” shows that, despite having fewer reviews than competitors, we were able to reach the top three. From there, the studio continued to grow, achieving even higher rankings in Pittsburgh and nearby areas.
The results
In just 3 months, the difference was dramatic. The studio’s growth was rapid, moving from position #20 to #1—or into the local 3-pack in many targeted areas. On the left, you can see the studio’s rankings before our work, performing very poorly in areas farther from the location. On the right, Tyler Norman now ranks in the local 3-pack across most of the areas we targeted, establishing him as the go-to reference for wedding and family photography in the region.
Now, look at the visits. From February to April, traffic was basically stagnant at around 20 organic visits per month. From May to June, as our team started working, we initially saw a small increase of just 4+ visits per month. After June, visits began growing consistently, increasing by over 50% month by month. By October, with our team working consistently, we had doubled the visits, pretty impressive, right?
See the leads now with our work: originally, before our team started, the studio was getting ~3 inquiries per month ➝ ~4 in Month 2 ➝ ~8 in Month 3 — that’s over a 150% increase in inquiries.
Why it worked
This project proved a simple but powerful fact:
Most photographers in competitive cities like Pittsburgh still overlook the basics of local SEO.
By optimizing Google Business, creating local content, and systematically building authority, a studio can quickly move from “invisible” to “booked out.”
Conclusion
In just 90 days, Tyler Norman Photography transformed from struggling at position #20 to consistently ranking in the Google 3-Pack for “wedding photographers in Pittsburgh.”
The result? A 150% increase in qualified leads, predictable growth, and more couples finding and booking his studio.
Curious to see what this roadmap would look like for your studio? Let’s build your SEO plan today.