62: SEO for Creatives: Turn a website into a lead-generating machine
How do you go from photographing weddings to running an SEO agency?
If you’re Roy Serafin, it’s a story of creative pivots, smart strategy—and an accidental CEO moment that changed everything.
The Accidental Pivot That Started It All
Roy started his career as a 21-year-old art director working on major ad campaigns. But a chance encounter with a photographer led him to pick up a camera—and never put it down.
After capturing an emotional wedding and seeing the bride moved to tears (in a good way), he quit his job the next day.
That moment sparked a new passion—and laid the groundwork for everything that came next.
Why SEO Became His Superpower
While other photographers chased social media trends, Roy focused on writing useful content that couples were actually searching for.
A blog post he casually wrote on a plane? It brought in over 30 leads.
That’s when he realized SEO wasn’t just a “nice to have”—it was a game changer for creatives.
Now as CEO of Story and Community, Roy helps photographers and creatives turn their websites into client-attracting machines.
Your Website Isn’t Just a Portfolio
In this episode of The Accidental CEO Podcast, Roy breaks down the most common website mistakes:
- Using builders like Showit or Squarespace without considering site speed or SEO
- Writing copy that’s generic instead of client-focused
- Relying on AI to create homepage content that sounds robotic or inaccurate
Roy’s advice? Use your site to answer real questions your dream clients are already Googling. Make it personal, strategic, and optimized.
AI Is Helpful—But It Won’t Save You
Roy’s not anti-AI—he uses it in his workflow. But only as a support tool.
He shares a hilarious example of AI going wrong when a tool misidentified a venue as “pirate-themed” (it wasn’t).
Takeaway? You need your voice and local knowledge to rank. AI can’t fake that.
The Long-Term SEO Payoff
SEO is a long game—but it pays off.
Roy calls his strategy “rain buckets”—content that continues to bring in leads long after it’s published. And it works. His blog posts are still generating leads years later.
Today, he only takes on 15–20 weddings a year—and spends the rest of his time growing his agency and helping others do the same.
Listen to the Full Episode:
Want to learn how Roy turned SEO into a scalable, creative business model?
Tune in to this episode of The Accidental CEO Podcast and hear:
- Why creatives should treat their website like their best employee
- How to write content that converts
- What platforms are actually good for SEO
Save this post for later if you’re building your SEO strategy!
Listen to the full episode on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
