Hi Andy,
This is what I did one site that seemed to work very well - 350% increase (over previous year) in traffic 7 months after adding image galleries and blog for a tile company.
Lots of descriptive content with keywords on each image on page.
Images in blog posts 2-3 per week. Share posts and images out to interior design bloggers and print media with online presence.
Generate lots of posts (several per week) by external bloggers and media that link back to the tile company site images and image collection galleries, home page, and blog posts.
I repost their posts on the tile company's blog that "so and so design blogger" did this great post with excerpt and link to them. These are all follow links in WordPress. Link out generously.
Tweet out from blog the post with URL 3-5/day 5 days a week amid general conversation on twitter. Credit the great blogger who shared your content. Share post with URL on Facebook.
Pin like crazy.
GIve out, give credit to others, and watch it come back.
Have fun!
