A Case Study – How SEO Helped Arielle Peters Grow Her Small Business

Being visible to the right audience is crucial for growing a small business, and that's exactly what SEO did for Arielle Peters. In this episode, we explore how a few strategic changes helped her land luxury clients and transform her business.

Arielle, a luxury wedding photographer, credits SEO as a key factor in growing her business. As both an SEO coaching student and a Done-for-You SEO client, Arielle leveraged SEO to narrow her focus to luxury weddings. She now books an average of $12,000 per wedding while taking on fewer projects to maintain a better work-life balance. 

Arielle also shares how she first focused on local SEO in South Bend and then shifted to target Chicago's competitive market.

If you’ve been wondering how SEO could impact your small business, Arielle’s story offers a perfect example. Be sure to tune in to hear the full conversation and take notes on actionable SEO tips!

Specifically, this episode highlights the following themes:

• How SEO drives targeted traffic to your website.
• Evolving your SEO strategy to match business growth.
• The impact of SEO on breaking into new markets.

Other Mentioned Links & Resources

Episode 006: Building Your Business Through Vendor Relationships with Arielle Peters
https://treefrogmarketing.com/building-your-business-through-vendor-relationships-arielle-peters

Episode 015: Balancing Entrepreneurship & Motherhood with Arielle Peters
https://treefrogmarketing.com/balancing-entrepreneurship-motherhood-arielle-peters

Learn more about Arielle Peters: https://ariellepeters.com

Follow Arielle Peters on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/arielle.peters

Learn more about Arielle Peters Photography Workshop: https://ariellepeters.com/education

Get this free PDF guide: How to Use Keywords to Improve Your Small Business’s SEO:
https://treefrogmarketing.com/how-use-keywords-improve-small-business-seo

Explore Treefrog’s Done-for-You SEO Service
https://treefrogmarketing.com/seo-services-small-businesses

Learn how to write your Marketing Guiding Statements:
https://treefrogmarketing.com/how-write-marketing-guiding-statements

Learn More About Treefrog’s Small Business Marketing Resources & Services:
https://www.treefrogmarketing.com

Receive 50% Off Your First Year of HoneyBook:
https://www.treefrogmarketing.com/honeybook-coupon-code

Use this coupon code to try Showit for FREE
https://www.treefrogmarketing.com/showit-coupon-code

Book a Strategic Marketing Coaching:
https://treefrogmarketing.com/marketing-consulting-small-businesses

Follow or DM Treefrog Marketing on Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/treefroggers

Follow or DM Kelly Rice on Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/treefrogkelly

Follow or DM Victoria on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/victorialrayburn

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction
• 1:06 About Arielle Peters
• 3:45 Reduced wedding shoots, added associate team support
• 8:00 Focused on wedding photography, driven by competitiveness
• 10:00 Self-taught photographer relies on community support
• 14:02 Seeking to learn more about SEO strategies
• 17:27 Significant increase in South Bend weddings
• 22:01 Learning luxury values: being over saying them
• 31:10 Differentiate by targeting niche markets in industry
• 33:29 Chicago SEO efforts resulted in successful bo
• 37:39 Indiana preferred, but leveraging Chicago's market prominence
• 39:35 SEO attracts, social media connects, websites convert
• 42:37 SEO delivers quick, tangible results
• 45:54 SEO investment pays off long-term; coaching helps

Transcript

Arielle Peters [00:00:00]:
I always tell people, too, something that is important to remember is that it is important the amount of inquiries we get, because, I mean, I book one out of 30 inquiries and I feel like some people are really surprised by that kind of stuff and they feel really defeated when they get no and no and no. But I'm like, I get no all the time. It's just that I'm getting enough people to come through my door that the one yes that I got of all those no's leads me then to my ten weddings a year. And that's where I'm at, you know, specifically personally. So getting in front of those eyes is really important because it is at some point a magnitude of the inquiries you're getting, but then you're able to fill.

Victoria Rayburn [00:00:43]:
Hey, there. You're listening to the Priority Pursuit podcast, a podcast dedicated to helping small business owners and leaders define, maintain and pursue both their personal and business priorities so they can build lives and businesses they love. I'm your host, Victoria Rayburn. And in case you've been wondering how much of an impact SEO can have for small businesses or if SEO is worth the time or financial investment, this episode is is for you. You see, I've had the pleasure of working with Arielle Peters of Arielle Peters photography as both an SEO coaching student and as a done for you SEO client. Arielle is a luxury wedding photographer who has built the most incredible business. And while she deserves all of the credit for building and scaling the way she has, she credits a lot of her success to SEO. Now, I can tell you all day long how SEO is the key to reaching and attracting your ideal customers.

Victoria Rayburn [00:01:30]:
However, in case you don't believe me, I'm excited for you to hear directly from Arielle. Ariel, it is so, so good to see you. Thank you so much for coming back on priority pursuit. Like, I feel like it's. It's been a while.

Arielle Peters [00:01:43]:
It had actually, I was trying to think when last time I was on this, but yes, thank you so much for having me. It is such a privilege to talk to you.

Victoria Rayburn [00:01:50]:
Oh, my goodness. Yes. Well, y'all, we'll be definitely sure to link and put in the show notes Ariel's past episodes. Cause she's actually been on priority pursue a few times to talk about motherhood and vendor relationships and. Yeah, like, kind of way back at the beginning.

Arielle Peters [00:02:04]:
So.

Victoria Rayburn [00:02:04]:
No, definitely, we will link to those in the show notes. Sorry for not knowing the number. Off the top of my head, it has been, oh, you're okay. But, y'all, today I have the pleasure of talking to Arielle specifically about how SEO has affected her business, how it's helped her reach her business goals. And I know that, honestly, SEO is one of those things that it just regularly gets put on the back burner. When you're a small business owner, you have so many things that you need to take care of. And let's be honest, when you know Instagram reels can give you that rush of serotonin, sometimes it's a lot easier to focus on a reel than it is to focus on something that seems so technical or overwhelming. But Arielle has done.

Victoria Rayburn [00:02:43]:
I mean, she's made SEO a priority in her business, and I think it's safe to say that the results speak for themselves. But, Arielle, before we get into all of that, you are now very much established as a luxury wedding photographer. And just so we have a basis for this conversation, would you mind sharing what your business looks like now? So, like, where you're shooting, how many weddings you take per year? And if you're willing, I know that not everybody's happy to share this information, but what do you charge for your services on average? Sorry, that was a lot of questions all at once. Basically, tell us all the things about your business.

Arielle Peters [00:03:13]:
So you're all good, no worries at all. Yes. So what things look like now? So I have been in the industry for 14 years as of this last August, 15 years, this August 2025, which is blowing my mind. I always tell people, I'm like, I don't feel this old, but here I am. But I have done over 200, 200 weddings. Victoria, I think we met, like, at this point, it's probably like not, I don't know, eight, nine years ago or something like that. It's been a little bit. So I've had the privilege of knowing Victoria for a while and knowing her SEO skills.

Arielle Peters [00:03:45]:
So for my business, kind of what things look like right now is I am a mom to three and a wife of a pastor. And so our life is very busy on that end of things. So it's really important for me to make sure that my time isn't completely taken up. So kind of how that's merged over the last about three or four years is that I actually went from shooting 20 weddings a year to I only shoot ten weddings a year now. And I also have an associate team underneath me. So I am able to have a group of ladies who are able to serve couples I'm not able to serve myself, whether because of budget constraints or because of that not fitting within my ten weddings that I do a year. So that has been so big and it has been a huge help, actually, for me, being able to be pretty firm on where I am price wise. I, two years ago, made a fairly big jump when I did that associate team.

Arielle Peters [00:04:36]:
And so I started, I think, a couple years ago, my minimum was like 8000. And then now I have been able to, with the help of SEO, been able to get to a minimum of 10,000. And my average is probably around like $12,000 per wedding that I'm booking. And so that, yeah, for sure. I mean, we can, we'll talk about the SEO stuff, but the associate team has been a really big help for me as well to kind of alleviate a little bit of that anxiety about potentially, you know, going a little bit of time without bookings because ten weddings isn't a lot. So I'm really very, very specific about the weddings that I do end up choosing to say yes to. Which, yeah, again, we'll talk about later more, but was a huge help and pull in, me wanting to be very targeted about where my SEO was reaching on my website because I don't say yes to everything. I say yes to a very limited amount of things.

Arielle Peters [00:05:28]:
So, yeah, if that answered the question, absolutely.

Victoria Rayburn [00:05:32]:
And I mean, girl, you have worked so hard to get where you are, and I want to make sure people have the full story. They really understand what your business has looked like because obviously you didn't become a luxury wedding photographer overnight. You put in years of hard, strategic work to get where you are today. And I so appreciate when you say the SEO is a big part of it, but that was by no means the only part. So what has that journey looked like for you?

Arielle Peters [00:05:57]:
Yes. So in 2010, started photography out of absolutely nowhere. Was a business administration major in college, had my four year bachelor degree through there, and I truly had no idea I wanted to do photography. I just was always kind of the friend with a camera. Started. I was a collegiate athlete and I played volleyball four years through college. And so during my freshman year, a friend lent me his mom camera. I started using it, and four years later, people will be like, oh, you know, did you go to photography school or did you want to be a photographer? And I'm like, I honestly did not even know I wanted to do this until it was already happening.

Arielle Peters [00:06:34]:
It was like I was a photographer and I was like, I guess this is what we're doing. But I'm so thankful that it kind of chose me in that way. I would say that a huge propeller to kind of my beginning stages was that I did graduate from college and again started my business in college when obviously that is a prime time, especially the small christian schools where I was at. And so everyone was getting married after that. With that said, though, everyone was, had pretty much nothing to spend on their wedding photos. So I was doing, I think my first wedding that I ever shot was $300. So to go from, yeah, you know, 14 years is a long, long time. And obviously the economy has changed so much.

Arielle Peters [00:07:19]:
But to know that I started at 300 and my highest booking today is 16,000, so I'm like, that's quite a big jump from that. And so, yes, a lot of years of hard work, a lot of strategy. I just in general, am a bit of a workaholic. I'm a recovering workaholic. So a lot of hours I have been put into this business. I always say as a mama that I grew my business in the wee hours of the morning after my babies were in bed because my husband and I got married right after college. And then I had already been doing my business for three years. But then after we got married, we got pregnant pretty quickly.

Arielle Peters [00:08:00]:
And so I haven't really known a season of time that I haven't had another thing with photography. So I think, you know, whenever I see people being able to have opportunities to focus solely on that and have a full time career and whether single or married, but without kids, I'm like, that is such a prime real estate time of like, doing a lot of really, really hard work and maybe not having to stay up until like four or 05:00 a.m. for deadlines, which is what I was doing. But when I went full time into the business, about six years into my business, I was able to kind of niche down right into weddings. So I stopped doing families as seniors or anything like that and made weddings my really, you know, specific expertise. And I wanted to make sure that I got really, really good at weddings and knew them inside and out. And so I would say that kind of one of my other big propellers throughout my career has been, I'm an Enneagram three. So I have just a very, like, I'm already competitive anyways, as an athlete.

Arielle Peters [00:09:00]:
And then being Enneagram three, I just, I know some people get really bothered by potentially other people mimicking them or doing like, you know, their website looking similar or something. But actually, I always was really driven by that. And so anytime I had anybody in my area that was potentially, you know, maybe mimicking fairly closely certain things I was doing, I actually always saw it as a really big opportunity to be like, okay, I'm gonna do one better. And so that's actually how I started into education. And I started doing workshops, which is where I was able to meet Victoria. So I started workshops, you know, then, yeah, six or seven years into my business, and kind of ever since then, you know, I still have. That's why I started with film photography a few years after that. And I mean, honestly, even with SEO stuff, it's like seeing, okay, you know, everyone is pretty much has a lot of opportunities to learn from people online, and now we're hosting workshops, and it was beautiful because that's not how I learned.

Arielle Peters [00:10:00]:
I learned through YouTube videos and, like, self learning. But now there's much opportunity for education out there, so to be able to have people learn those things, people were growing a lot quicker, and so it challenged me to make sure that I was, you know, kind of one upping my game, which has just honestly been so fun. I like that. I like that photography is. Being a self employed photographer is something that you have to be your driver. So if you're not going to, like, drive yourself, it's not really going to get anywhere. And so for sure, 14 years of a lot of hard work, a lot of community. I would say that without the community of other photographers and friends that I have in the industry and in the wedding industry, I could not do what I'm way too much of a people person to be all alone in a business.

Arielle Peters [00:10:50]:
But that was a lot. So hopefully, you know, that answers the question and gave you extras.

Victoria Rayburn [00:10:58]:
Oh, no, absolutely. That was great. And I mean, y'all, if you are a photographer listening and, you know, you want to check out Ariel's education options, I cannot recommend them enough. I mean, when you took a. I was like, had decided I was done with photography at that point, but when you took a group to Ireland for your workshop, I, like, I was, no, this makes no sense to go. Like, I literally just sold camera gear. Like, I do not need to go.

Arielle Peters [00:11:24]:
Oh, my gosh, that's funny.

Victoria Rayburn [00:11:25]:
But we will definitely include links to those resources in the show notes. So, photographer friends, be sure to check that out. And we're gonna get into SEO, too. But I also just want to say really quick that I think of you all the time, like, when I'm working late at night, because I think, how in the world do. I mean, people build businesses in the midst of having. In the midst of having babies? Like, oh, my goodness, you're absolutely.

Arielle Peters [00:11:47]:
Absolutely right.

Victoria Rayburn [00:11:48]:
Like, the. It's kind of his prime time to build a business before you have kids. But that is not to say you cannot do it when you do have kids. No, but I understand the, like, jealousy a little bit now. Like, I mean, so happy to be a momma, but sometimes I do look at my entrepreneur friends who don't have kids, and I'm like, well, of course you have time to do that.

Arielle Peters [00:12:05]:
Yes, I will say I am. Yeah, I'm a first hand example of. It's absolutely possible. And I would never choose, you know, looking back and, like, I would never choose to have put that on hold. It just, you know, just a couple extra energy drinks. It's fine.

Victoria Rayburn [00:12:24]:
Fair enough. Okay, Ariel, so, okay, thank you so much for giving journey as a whole, really breaking down, you know, where, you know, $300 wedding to $16,000 wedding. Like, wow, what a span. And so much hard work that went into that. But now I do want to ask, because I think we met for your SEO coaching session. I want to say, like, in 2018, I looked back and I'm pretty, pretty positive. My Google calendar apparently does not go back that far. I was trying to figure it out outs, but pretty positive it was 2018.

Victoria Rayburn [00:12:54]:
And so that's really. I know, when you made SEO part of your marketing strategy. So just kind of with that in mind, like, over the years, what role has SEO played in your journey?

Arielle Peters [00:13:03]:
Yeah. So I would say that I. Man, I don't know. Before I knew you, it seems silly because I was already a business owner for a while, but I don't think I really even knew much about SEO. I was probably one of those people that was like, what does that even stand for? You know, that people are just not even sure what I mean. So search engine optimization for anyone who, I don't know if anybody's watching this, that wouldn't know that, but that was me. But, yeah. So I think that before I had met you, I had probably taken it maybe one, like, been at the conference and taken one little side, you know, like, talk that where I was learning about it, but it still always seemed fairly over my head, and I.

Arielle Peters [00:13:46]:
Not even just over my head, but kind of like, okay, but does this really matter? Because I wasn't hearing a lot of industry peers, like, really praise it. And so it kind of seemed like one of those things that, like, yeah, the nerds are going to do that.

Victoria Rayburn [00:14:01]:
You can put me in that category.

Arielle Peters [00:14:02]:
It's fine. Like, I don't got time for all that. And so I was listening to, you know, people explain it, and I'm like, okay, like, there's a couple good tidbits about, you know, the alt text on your images and that kind of stuff that I think I probably implemented a few things, but I think I had had a conversation with you at some point. But then after I met you at the workshop, I was like, man, I really feel like this is a pretty deep category that I feel like a lot of people could be missing out on. And honestly, it was kind of, you had quite a bit of confidence in how your SEO was performing for you for the Indianapolis market at that time. And I remember feeling like, oh, man, I, you know, I'm over here educating, but, like, there's just so much to learn still about things that you just don't know. And so I reached out to you about doing at that point. I think I was just actually asking you to sit down and learn, and you were like, actually, I'm, I'm kind of starting to offer this up for wedding professionals or other professionals.

Victoria Rayburn [00:15:02]:
And, you know, you're my first SEO coaching student, so this is, like, really coming full circle.

Arielle Peters [00:15:07]:
Seriously. I remember we were in Starbucks and, and you came so prepared. I was so impressed by all the different research that you had done and, like, the things that you were telling me about my own business and how it was performing online was just like, whoa. I think at that point, again, I had been probably in business for seven, six or seven years and maybe even a little bit longer. And I still, I'm like, whoa. Like, I don't know any of this stuff. So just for you to be able to break down, kind of showing me that was really where I kind of started to find a love for, like, whoa, this is a whole world that I just really don't know about. And so you had given me, you know, you coached me and kind of like, okay, this is what we need to look for.

Arielle Peters [00:15:49]:
This is what you need to be, you know, changing the big, I will say that the biggest thing that even this time around, you guys pushed back on me, which I'm so glad is I paid you to teach these things. But I, I'm a very big, like, aesthetically, you know, how my website looks and how things appear, and so very picky about that. And so when you guys had pushed to me, you know, you asked me where my market, where I mainly wanted to focus on, and at that time it was South Bend, Indiana, northern Indiana, around University of Notre Dame. They have some really awesome weddings around there. And I remember you were very specific about what kind of keywords I needed to use in the website. And I didn't really love that at first. I thought that it sounded to, you know, whatever, like what people kind of think with SEO. It's like, oh, yeah.

Arielle Peters [00:16:37]:
Like, they don't want to use it because it's, it's maybe just doesn't look or sound exactly like what they're hoping or they want to say that they're, you know, worldwide destination photographer. And so I was kind of in that mindset, but you convinced me. And I was like, okay, like, she's very serious about this. I was like, she knows more than me about SEO. So I started implementing those super specific keywords and often throughout the website. And I think I had told you that it might have been a few months, but for sure, at six months, I was like, whoa, I am starting to get people that are telling me because on my inquiry form I have, how did you hear about me? And I started getting quite a few Google and I had not at all been getting that beforehand. And it wasn't even just that. It was like I was getting them for South Bend.

Arielle Peters [00:17:27]:
And I didn't even at that time really have any south bend weddings. I think I might have had one. And so that next year I texted you, I think it was like, I don't know, whatever, like, you know, six or eight months after we had met. And I was so excited. I was like, I was like, I just realized that, like, 80% of my weddings are for South Bend next year and which was like, just beyond what I could have even thought would have happened by us meeting. And you kind of, you know, showing me that. And then you showed me even where I was ranking at Google for that area. Again, not as someone who had even been in that market fully, but that next year I was able to, you know, then now have actual portfolio work for South Bend, which is built on top of that.

Arielle Peters [00:18:10]:
And now it's like, that's like a regular, you know, for sure. For sure by now. Now, I've obviously moved to a different market. But I know we were talking about the done for, sorry, the initial part, but then I forget, do you want me to go into kind of even further than that? As far as.

Victoria Rayburn [00:18:28]:
So I guess. Okay, so, yeah, when we started SEO, just like, if it's okay to give, like a quick recap. Yeah. Like, started with SEO coaching. And then, I mean, I guess if it's okay, I want to add to, and correct me if I'm wrong, but I was thinking about this, I'm pretty sure we. Our conversation about, like, really targeting South Bend was because I think you had just had Macy. And so I think at that point, you were really trying to stay in, like, your local market. Is that.

Victoria Rayburn [00:18:53]:
Is that right? Am I misremembering that?

Arielle Peters [00:18:55]:
No, I mean, I. Yeah, now that you say that, because, yeah, 2018 is when I did have her. And I do remember feeling like, I think at that point, I was quite a bit into Indianapolis. And I do love the indian market, and I still think it's a great wedding market. But at that point, I was like, I'm not super loving these three, you know, seven hour round trip yes days if I. As far as my majority of my market. So, yes, you're right. Yep.

Victoria Rayburn [00:19:19]:
Okay. So, yeah, in that season of your business, I mean, new baby, totally, totally made sense for you to stay local. And, y'all, if you are not from Indiana, South Bend is beautiful. It's very lovely. If you're not familiar with your state, we do have cool stuff happening here. But then, Ariel, I know. I mean, really between. I mean, like, 2018, like, every year, like, your business has just grown.

Victoria Rayburn [00:19:42]:
And I think it's just taken, you know, another, like, a big leap toward that higher end market. And now you are fully immersed into the luxury market. So I guess, yeah, let's talk about done for you SEO a little bit. Because, you know, eventually that former SEO strategy, which worked well for you at the time, it stopped working well for you because your goals change. So I guess kind of with that in mind, I mean, why did you decide, like, okay, it's time for an SEO refresh, and then that time around, too, like, you did decide, okay, like, it is time for the done for you. Like, I am not getting in the back end my website and doing this again. So, yeah, just tell us about that and where your business was.

Arielle Peters [00:20:18]:
I had it reached out to you around the time that I was rebranding, and I was definitely rebranding towards a very sophisticated, higher end, more that luxury space. And so, you know, obviously something that is nice about growing a business is that there was more resources towards those things. So I was kind of in that time of life, like, again, mom, to at the time, but might have even been close to our third or so, but I just was, you know, Victoria, you know way more about this than I do. I don't even want to see it. I don't want to touch it. You just, you just do it for me. So. But another huge, huge reason is because I was merging into the Chicago market.

Arielle Peters [00:20:58]:
And Chicago is quite a bigger beast than South Bend, Indiana. And so I really wanted you guys to be able to full blown, like, go in there and be like, this is, you know, we're talking about a totally different market with Chicago. And so that was really important to me to make sure that I was getting, like, the full scope of what you guys offered because I knew it wasn't going to be as easy to break into that market and rank high for, for Chicago. So, yeah, that was why I had ended up choosing that. I don't know if I can go further, but. Sorry.

Victoria Rayburn [00:21:34]:
No, no, you're all good. And I know Arielle because, yes, I think both, with both instances, we've had a lot of conversations about what your keywords should be and if it's okay, let's talk about that because, I mean, south end, I feel like I got you on board pretty quick. Okay, this is what we're gonna do. But when we started talking about, okay, we're gonna list you as a Chicago editorial wedding photographer. Like, we had several voice messages going back and forth. You're like, I don't think this.

Arielle Peters [00:22:01]:
I was so. Oh, my gosh, I seriously remember. So the reason. Okay, let me back up a little bit. So during that time space, too, I was learning quite a bit about what it actually looked like to be in the luxury space. And a lot of, you know, the women who were wonderful women that I was learning from in this specific group that I paid to be a part of were just talking about how basically the certain words to use and not to use and, you know, don't necessarily call yourself a luxury photographer to just be the luxury photographer so that it does it because a lot of people that are using some of these words are, you know, using them, but then it almost makes it seem counterproductive because it's like you're trying to say what you are instead of just being it. And so words at that point became very important to me in a way that I don't know if I necessarily had understood before. And so when I started working with you guys, I remember us talking about that.

Arielle Peters [00:22:58]:
Now, obviously, South Bend, Indiana, again, is a lot smaller market. So to break into those keywords and rank high for that wasn't quite, especially with the, you know, SEO that my website and the longevity of my website had already had. It didn't take quite as long or it wasn't quite as hard of a task. But I remember you telling me, like, unless we get specific with exactly what your keywords are, then you don't have a chance in a Chicago market that has, I mean, thousands of photographers. And so I remember when you talked to me about the editorial, you know, Chicago audiographer, I was like, yeah, I'm not gonna use that.

Victoria Rayburn [00:23:38]:
Like, no, you really should.

Arielle Peters [00:23:39]:
I know. And it was so funny because I. Yeah, I was so thankful, and I love, I am such a person who's like, I am. I do not mind sharing my opinions. I also, after this much in business, you know, like, I feel like if there's something that I'm pretty strong on and, like, nope, this is just like, I know this is best for my business, but I think after probably the third time, you telling me, like, no, I'm telling you, you need to do this. I was like, okay, like, again, Victoria's gotten me where I was with the last time. Like, I need to just. I need to listen.

Arielle Peters [00:24:13]:
I need to just, like, dive into it. And then I literally, in my head, if I don't like this a year from now, I'm going back and changing it all on my website. And so. But, yeah, I mean, I was. I forget if I had texted you the first time that I had gotten the inquiry, but I remember, I don't know why I was, like, shocked even after I already, you know, had experienced your geniusness with the other SEO stuff, but I was shocked when someone specifically, I had gotten, in probably a few months time, people specifically saying in their, how did they find me? I was searching for an editorial style or using the word editorial in their inquiry to me. And I was like, oh, my goodness. Now, now, one of the reasons that I didn't necessarily want to say editorial was because, one, the documentary style was becoming very popular where it's, like, the blurred and the whatever. And I didn't necessarily think of that as editorial.

Arielle Peters [00:25:14]:
And so I was like, well, man, I don't want to be, you know, shooting myself in the foot of, like, what I'm trying, who I'm trying to reach. But you actually had told me you were like, your style is editorial. Like, it's nothing. It's not like not calling your style what it is. And so now that I've, you know, gotten a few different weddings that, again, specifically have come to me for that, I'm like, okay, yes, you can. You can always pull in other aspects of things, but you were just so smart in the way that you knew that was such a prime real estate on Google that there wasn't a lot of people capturing that audience by those specific keywords. And, yeah, so now, you know, seeing people specifically come to me for that, I'm like, they're still want the trendy ish stuff, but for them, in their mind, you know, of the millions of people getting married in Chicago area, it's like they just had that in their mind to search. And so they found me.

Arielle Peters [00:26:07]:
And now I think I'm number one or close to the top, whatever, for that specific keyword search, which would have just absolutely never happened in Chicago. And I think because of me being so high ranking on that, I think it's starting to play into just when other people, people are searching even beside that, just wedding photography in Chicago.

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Arielle Peters [00:28:31]:
I'm very thankful to listen to you. It's panned out, so listen to Victoria. She knows, oh, we will make that.

Victoria Rayburn [00:28:39]:
The testimonial for the show. But there you go.

Arielle Peters [00:28:42]:
Yeah, yeah, just that headline. Listen to Victoria.

Victoria Rayburn [00:28:45]:
But y'all, just to give you a little bit of background just in case you're like, okay, I have no idea really what they are talking about. So being in a Chicago market, being in a big city market of any kind, I never really recommend making your main keywords targeting just that city alone. So, like, as for instance, like Chicago wedding photographer, and that is for a few reasons. So first of all, a ton of competition position. If you were not already established, as, you know, the Chicago wedding photographer, it's going to be really difficult to rank. But then on top of that, in Ariel's situation, she very much is a luxury wedding photographer. And honestly, budget brides are going to search for Chicago wedding photographers. So not only was it a situation in which she wasn't going to rank well easily, she was also, even if she did rank well, it wasn't.

Victoria Rayburn [00:29:32]:
Was probably going to result in a lot of traffic that just was not ready to invest in a truly luxury wedding photographer. And so that, yes, I mean, just overarching advice if you were in a bigger city, like, get really niche, but then also, like, look to see what people are actually searching for. Because, you know, Ariella, you and I had ton of conversations about, like, okay, like, really, your style had evolved. Like, is it documentary, is it editorial? And really just getting into the numbers and the data and looking and seeing, like, no. Like, this is what your ideal client is actually searching for.

Arielle Peters [00:30:06]:
Yes. And that, honestly, it makes so much sense. I feel like, yeah, even hearing you say that again, I'm like, yeah, because you're right. Even if I would have ranked number one for Chicago wedding photographer on every search, it's like, I don't actually want that. Like, that's not. That would be terrible for me. I would be fielding so many inquiries because I actually don't, on my inquiry form, I actually don't put. I asked their investment level.

Arielle Peters [00:30:31]:
But I don't have anywhere on my site that I have prices because of my associate team. They start a different budget than I do. And so I actually don't put that on there. But you're right. I mean, the people that come to me from Chicago, they are, they tend to be more in the like, the range that my budgets are. And that totally is true. It's like those, you know, anyone can search Chicago, any photographer, but someone who is first of all, more specific about their design, about their actual style and is going to use even that word specifically as editorial is going to be more those high end brides and I, yeah, that's cool. I'm sure I knew that.

Arielle Peters [00:31:08]:
But I'm like, oh, yeah, that's so true.

Victoria Rayburn [00:31:10]:
It's been a while since we've talked about it. I promise. You have a voice message at one point that it was like, no, this is exactly why we want to do this. Yeah, but I mean, y'all, if you are listening and you know, you are also targeting a bigger market, you know, if you are, what if you are a photographer, style might be a really great way to niche down. Obviously there are people who are not photographers listening. You know, I'm sure there are niches within your industry or even to just like, looking at values. So, I mean, for instance, you know, maybe this is kind of out of left field, but maybe your, maybe if a plumbing company and like, your ideal clients really want to support, like women owned plumbing companies, like, yes, like that's a great way to differentiate yourself. But okay, we will not go off too far on that tangent, but differentiate yourself, especially if you are in a larger market and look to see what people are actually searching for.

Victoria Rayburn [00:31:57]:
And I mean, also to remember, you know, the goal is to get your website in front of people who are actually your ideal clients. You don't need to be in front of everybody, like in Ariel's case, who is looking for a Chicago wedding photographer. You need to be in front of the people who are ready to invest in your services or your products specifically. But okay. Anyway, let's get back to a few more questions for you, Arielle, because I just want really people to understand like what the impact SEO can have on a business. So you kind of touched on this a little bit already. But just so it's clear, how long did it take take for you to start seeing results from your SEO efforts and were there any measurable improvements that you can share with us since the implementation specifically of your done for you service?

Arielle Peters [00:32:39]:
Yeah, I would say that probably, probably around three months after we started working together, I started seeing them. The inquiries come in a little bit. Now, I will say that one of the things I would never recommend is someone only doing SEO and literally doing absolutely nothing in the business. So it was nice because obviously I do get higher inquiries anyways than potentially some other photographers. However, it was really, really, really important to me for them to start reflecting where I wanted to go. And that was Chicago. And so I had only done, when we started working together, I had only done one Chicago wedding. And that is not enough to be, you know, pulling in people even from at that time, I hadn't, you know, pinned them to Pinterest.

Arielle Peters [00:33:29]:
But even if people necessarily are doing that, like, that's not a lot of your portfolio to be pulling in that Chicago traffic. So when you guys did it for me, I knew that anybody who was finding me and that they were inquiring through Chicago unless they were a specific, like, relative or bridesmaid of that one Chicago wedding that I did. I really honestly did SEO for Chicago before I even started doing some of my networking events like Whip and that kind of stuff that I do out there in Chicago now. So I knew when it was coming in, it was pretty clear to me that, like, okay, this is definitely a result of working with you guys. So that was probably a few months in. It took me six months to book a wedding, but that one wedding in my case, had paid me back threefold of what I had even vested into you guys. So that was such a huge win. At this time, I believe I've probably had three or four bookings again, minor.

Arielle Peters [00:34:21]:
I feel like so many people, there would be like so many, you know, bigger numbers. But as far as the investment, like, I mean, it's however many, few thousands that I invested into you guys. And now, I mean, like, it's, you know, I probably made like 20,000 off of that initial investment that I know for sure, sure is because of the SEO through you guys. And what's so exciting is that that's not even, or that's like, truly the tip of the iceberg because it's, you know, just going to continue once I have those portfolios. And I actually have that one incoming, the first one that I booked through there, I have it coming up here in a few weeks. I'm really excited about.

Victoria Rayburn [00:35:00]:
Well, we'll definitely be creeping Instagram, so watch for it. But no, that's such a good point, Arielle, because SEO, it compounds. It's not one of those, like, fleeting marketing tactics. It's not like putting up a post which, you know, if you get quite a bit of engagement in the first 24 hours, like, great, that's wonderful, but it more or less dies after a while. SEO is very much a long game strategy, but once you rank at the top of Google search results, you're usually there for a long time, assuming that you do the things that you need to do, like content development, to keep your website fresh. And, yeah, make sure that Google is still liking what you are doing. Okay. So, Ariel, you really, you touched on ROI already.

Victoria Rayburn [00:35:49]:
So, like approximately, approximately $20,000, like, within just the last year of which is great. But can I also ask, how has SEO helped you, like, really reach your business goals? Because obviously, like, Roi, super important. We need to look at those numbers. But I know that you also have some overarching business goals. And how has SEO help support that?

Arielle Peters [00:36:12]:
Yeah. So again, once I knew, you were probably my first thought when I knew I was going to branch from my South Bend market over to Chicago. And the reason I did that, I know we were talking about me not wanting to travel Chicago is just when I knew I wanted to start doing less weddings, which was really important to me. Maybe the distance wasn't quite as important, but the actual number of weddings that I was doing that were going to still allow me to reach my financial goals was really important. And so I knew Chicago is just a bigger market. They have just higher end weddings anyway, just because of even the cost of living there is higher. And so I knew I wanted to be over in that market. And again, huge, honestly, a little intimidating market to be in.

Arielle Peters [00:36:55]:
So I knew I wanted to reach out to you to get that help. So that again, I knew unless I was, it'd probably take maybe a couple years for me to really get, like, boots on the ground, networking going there. And I knew I wanted to do that quicker. And after seeing the results of the south spending market, I wanted to reach out to you for that. So that has already allowed me to be, you know, in that, in that arena quicker than I would have on my own. Another really big reason I wanted to be in the Chicago market was because I really wanted to be seen more as a worldwide, like, destination photographer. And it's a little bit harder to convince someone from California to hire someone from, like, northern Indiana. Again, I love, I'm a hoosier.

Arielle Peters [00:37:39]:
I love Indiana. I know you know it will, but it's a little bit easier to tell someone that, you know, you're based out of Chicago and that they're flying you from Chicago versus Indiana. So that was another really big goal of mine. And now it's fun, you know, obviously, again, like SEO, but then also just social media and the networking that I do, it is fun. People just truly come to me if they have thought, you know, like Chicago, they're like, oh, well, you're in Chicago. I am so there. But so I think it's fun to, you know, obviously to be able to have you as, like, the expert on the back end, kind of showing me kind of how I can play my hand in that back end of my website and that kind of stuff to make me feel like I really do have a place in that market and not necessarily feel like I'm such a small fish in a big pine. It was just, I'm trying to think of another parallel to it, but it just was that, that big help to make it not seem so daunting to go into that huge market.

Arielle Peters [00:38:42]:
And so it's just been such a huge proponent and allowing me to get to where I would need to be sooner than what I would have been able to do on my own.

Victoria Rayburn [00:38:50]:
Yeah, that makes me so happy to hear that you've brought this up a couple times, and it's just such a good point that I want to make sure it is highlighted. But yes, SEO should not be your only marketing strategy. Like, for heaven's sakes, it should not be your only, only marketing strategy. But I think, honestly, like Ariel. Well, you know, why? It's one of the big reasons it's worked so well for you is because you have, you know, created this credibility by having a beautiful website, by being active on social media. And so if it's okay, just like, really quick, I think for people listening, like, well, let's talk about how, you know, like, what the general, like, buyer journey path kind of is. So, like, if somebody knows they need a product or service night, like, 97% of them, they go to Google and they search for that thing. They might not know what company they want to buy from.

Victoria Rayburn [00:39:35]:
They might not know what their options are. But, you know, if they need a wedding photographer, they need a wedding photographer in a specific area. Like, that is where they're going to start. So the beautiful thing about SEO is that it can get people to your website. However, it cannot convert them. You need to make sure you have a website that serves your ideal clients well. But then on top of that, especially if you are targeting millennials or Gen Z, you need to make sure that you are active on social media, because chances are they're going to ghoul you, they're going to go to your website, they're going to check you out on Instagram or TikTok or whatever your ideal clients preferred platform is, and then if they feel connected with you there, then they're going to go back to your website and inquire or do whatever it is that you want them to do. So SEO is a really great way to get there.

Victoria Rayburn [00:40:17]:
But know, like, if SEO takes somebody to a haphazard looking website and you have not established any credibility, it's not going to work well for you. So I'm really glad you said that. I just want to make sure, like, everybody understands, like, SEO is not like the one fix all. I love it, obviously, but let's be realistic at what it can do. But Ariel, with that in mind, if someone listening has been putting SEO off or they haven't made SEO part of their marketing strategy, what would you tell them?

Arielle Peters [00:40:50]:
I would tell them, you gotta stop. You just gotta stop right now, whatever you're doing. No, honestly, I will say it is absolutely, absolutely. I was just having the conversation with a girlfriend who I think you had mentioned is going to start working with you here, San Victoria. But it is truly very top of my, maybe like top three things. Obviously, social media again, website, social media again, what you said, it's just like, unless you have these three components that are playing into each other, Victoria can't do. She can only do so much. It's like, yes, you know, you can't, you can't just like, sell.

Arielle Peters [00:41:25]:
SEO is not going to sell you. It is just going to get you in. It's going to like, help you out with the rat race of getting in front of people's eyes. But the stats on, obviously when people land on your website, how quick you have to capture their attention. So, you know, one thing that I think it was with you guys, I had already worked with my web designer, but you guys were very aware and cognizant of helping me know, like, hey, this video is lagging. And actually Google hates that. And so that kind of stuff was really helpful as well. So, you know, you're doing all of the encompassing, like making sure that it just is helpful for Google to like your site enough to rank you higher.

Arielle Peters [00:42:02]:
But again, that's not necessarily going to then just sell it all for you. But yes, SEO, I would say, is for sure, like one or two. I did, that specific friend that I was mentioning had asked about investing in like a conference, or I think she. Yeah, there was like three different things that she was asking me and another girlfriend about. About, like, what to invest in next. You know, I have these funds, what to invest in. And I told her, I was like, hands down, absolutely. Like, right now that money needs to go towards hiring Victoria, because I was like, that's just for me.

Arielle Peters [00:42:37]:
I mean, there's just no denying. And I really, you know, people that have known me long enough, if I get passionate about something, I get really, like, excited about it. But especially in the education world, I'm like, they're just, to me, to this day, hasn't been something that has been so quick of an ROI, but then just such a tangible. I think we all, we post, we know we post on social media and we go to these networking events, and we just hope, we hope that it all works out and we hope that it does what we want it to do. But I think SEO is probably one of the only things in our business that has been in such a cool, quick and instant, like, oh, wow, that actually is showing results pretty quickly again, you know, all the things that go along with that as far as having a social media that is being paid attention to and the website and everything, I mean, you could have all those could be amazing, but you're not getting in front of the eyes that you need to. So, I mean, I always tell people, too, something that is important to remember is that, you know, I have a lot of girls that education wise come to me and they, you know, say they have all these in, have these inquiries that they're just not landing. And it is important the amount of inquiries we get, because, I mean, I book one out of 30 inquiries, and I feel like some people are really surprised by that kind of stuff, and they feel really defeated when they get no and no and no. But I'm like, I get no all the time.

Arielle Peters [00:44:04]:
It's just that I'm getting enough people to come through my door that the one yes that I got of all those no's leads me then to my ten weddings a year. And that's where I'm at, you know, specifically personally. But, you know, and if I had, I mean, shoot, if I was charging what the average photographer is charging in, like, certain areas around where I'm at, I mean, like, if you wanted to do 30 weddings a year, like that is possible. So getting in front of those eyes is really important because it is at some point a magnitude of the inquiries you're getting that then you're able to fill, and then you can be picky, too, which is nice about either your pricing or where you even want to be and what venues and different things you want to want to be shooting at.

Victoria Rayburn [00:44:47]:
Absolutely. Well, Arielle, before we wrap up here, as someone who has invested both in SEO coaching and then done for you SEO service, what would you tell small business owners who are trying to decide which option is right for them regularly answer questions about, like, I don't know which one I should do.

Arielle Peters [00:45:05]:
Yeah, for sure. What I would say is that I think everyone obviously has to make certain decisions for themselves, of course, about what they're investing in, what they're comfortable with, what their family's comfortable with. I would say that depending on where you're at, obviously with what you're taking in from each wedding, the done for me SEO at that point in time was a no brainer because I knew if I booked one of those wedding, like a wedding from it, it would pay for itself threefold. So it was just not, you know, for me. I was like, well, yes, I don't. I want you to do it. I would say that I kind of enjoy that I was able to get coached beforehand because I understood a bit more about it. I'm a big advocate of, you know, I love things being done for me, but I also do like to have some kind of understanding into that world of what people are working on.

Arielle Peters [00:45:54]:
But yes, I would say that if you are in a point that, you know, you're even thinking that one wedding can pay, at least pay for the SEO, I personally, we just don't have that many hours in a day. I'm like, I would say do the done for you SEO, but coaching was so, again, I've done both. Both have been so helpful. It's just, what kind of time do you have? And then again, like, how quickly could you make back that investment? Because I'd be very surprised if someone has those components, the SEO that the, you know, done for you SEO wouldn't at least pay for itself within that first year. And then again, what you, I mean, that's like, that's like just one. And then the potential of more, but then the potential of years compounding on each other is just so vital. And I know that even, you know, like, whatever you get from that SEO done for you or the coaching that first time, that's just playing into all the other aspects of your Instagram and your Pinterest and your, all these other things. I'm like, it really is.

Arielle Peters [00:46:54]:
I've had some people book me who they've told me they were like, it was like number seven for them. It was like their seven thing. It was like a friend, you know, Google this. It's like some people need that much reassurance, and so you kind of do have to check off all those boxes, which another thing I really enjoyed that you guys did for me is that you went through and you made sure that certain. I think it was like almost across different platforms or something, made sure that I was cohesive in the way that, like, I was that Chicago editorial photographer. But then it was like these different.

Victoria Rayburn [00:47:27]:
Either search engines or different your online directory listings. Is that what you're thinking?

Arielle Peters [00:47:31]:
Yes, yes. And that was very, like, oh, my gosh. Would have never done that. Never thought about that. But I'm like, even that kind of stuff, like, is a direct play into where I'm ranking and that kind of stuff that we just don't. I would not have thought about that.

Victoria Rayburn [00:47:48]:
Oh, yes. Yeah. I mean, there are so many just little moving parts to an SEO strategy. And, y'all, that is not to say you can't learn how to do it. That is not it at all. I mean, I handled my own SEO as a wedding photographer. Arielle handled hers for a long time. And I mean, again, like, this also works for non wedding photographers.

Victoria Rayburn [00:48:07]:
Just SEO works for any small business whose ideal clients are googling their products or services or contents. Like, you can definitely thrive on Google, but it is something that you can learn. But, yeah, there are a lot of nitty gritty pieces and, you know, with coaching and things, I will happily give you a checklist. But, yeah, it just depends where you are in your business right now. Whether you are wanting to invest your time or you're wanting to invest money, it's totally up to you. But, Ariel, thank you so, so much for coming on the show. It was. I mean, I really feel like this just did just, like, kind of come full circle and, yeah, I had not done, really, the math of how long we have known each other.

Victoria Rayburn [00:48:45]:
Like, that seems just wild at this point.

Arielle Peters [00:48:47]:
I know. Long time. I know. Again, do not feel like it's this old, you know, I'm this old to have these long relationships, but truly, like, I. I just don't think I'd be doing still what I'm doing without these relationships that we've been able to build over the years and how they've, you know, played into being able to watch you become a mom and just. I don't know, it's so. It's so sweet. I love it.

Arielle Peters [00:49:12]:
I'm such an advocate for. Obviously us as moms being able to obviously want support, help support our family, but then just have an avenue that we can connect with other moms and other people who want to be a mom but then also want to grow a business. It's so doable and it's not easy, but it's so worth it. And so it's been so fun to watch you continue to do that with your little one. I love it. So fun. Thank you so much for having me. I really appreciate it.

Victoria Rayburn [00:49:40]:
Oh, it's been wonderful to have you, friend. Well, there you have it. As Ariel shares in this episode, SEO truly can do big things for small businesses. Now, before we close out this episode, I do want to share a few resources with you. First of all, in this episode, Arielle shared about how we work to choose keywords based on her business goals. If you would like to learn how to choose new strategic keywords, I want to encourage you to check out our free guide how to use keywords to improve your small businesses SEO. This guide walks you through exactly how to determine what keywords to target and shows you exactly how to use keywords and where to put them on your site. You can find this guide in the show notes or by going to treefrogmarketing.com slash keywords.

Victoria Rayburn [00:50:20]:
Again, you can find this guide by going to treefrogmarketing.com keywords or by visiting the link in the show notes. In this episode, Arielle also shared about her experience with SEO coaching and our done for you SEO service. For more information about coaching, stay tuned. Another round of group coaching is coming very soon and I cannot wait to share that with you. However, if you'd like to learn more about our done for you SEO service, visit the link in the show notes or go to treefrogmarketing.com to explore the service page and schedule a discovery call. As Arielle shares in this episode, SEO needs to be part of your small businesses marketing strategy, and the sooner you get started, the sooner you will see results. Friend, you work too hard to have to stress about lead generation. You deserve a long term, sustainable success, which is exactly what SEO can help you achieve.

Victoria Rayburn [00:51:10]:
So on that note, be sure to check out the show notes or visit treefrogmarketing.com to find all mentioned resources. And thank you so much for tuning into another episode of the Priority Pursuit podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, I hope you'll take a moment to share it with your small business friends. To leave us a review on Apple Podcasts and that you'll join us next week for even more marketing boundary and priority driven tactics you can use to build a life and small business that you love.