In 1996, Jim Miotke saw a friend compose her final college project on the Web and figured he could do the same sort of thing. But he wasn’t content with merely creating a personal Web page. He wanted to design one that dealt with his greatest interest, the art of photography.
That led him to launch Betterphoto.com, a Web site that teaches people how to take pictures and use online photo editing programs.
Since then, the Redmond, WA company has built a membership base of more than 150,000 budding photographers who pay fees ranging from $198 to $366 per four- or eight-week class and $209 per year for a Web site, says Kerry Drager, content manager and instructor for the company.
Through the site, professional photography experts give students direct feedback on their photos.
Betterphoto.com promotes itself primarily via organic search on Google and Yahoo and through e-mail newsletters to its members, says Drager.
One set of keywords that work for the company is “photography courses” which scored number three and four on Google and number three on Yahoo. Betterphoto.com also gets hits from different types of photography and course topics, says Drager.
To recruit instructors, Betterphoto.com uses photography magazines and books while current teachers recommend others, says Drager, noting that others approach the company without prompting. In the past month or so, Betterphoto.com has signed up three well-known photographers to teach new classes.
Going forward, the site looks to grow five-fold in the next year and be number one both in the pay per click and organic search engine marketing, something Drager hopes will happen thanks to skillful use bid management software and a content-rich landing page.
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