James Kings
Roger Thompson
Lisa Jensen
Barb Wood
James Kings |
Roger Thompson |
Lisa Jensen |
Barb Wood |
| Crimson Star is a computer consultant and photographer who lives in Jasper National Park, Alberta. Phone: (403) 852-4111, Fax: (403) 852-4350, E-mail: cstar@incentre.net, Web: www.crimsonstar.com |
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Would you like it if every photobuyer in the world could find your Web site, instantly? Would you like it even better if you could arrange this for free? Nothing to it! Once you have launched your Home Page and have a "real" Web site on the Internet, as opposed to your test Web site on your computer, you can register your Web site's name and address with all of the "search engines" available on the Internet. How Photobuyers + Search Engines = Your Web Site A search engine is just a special type of Web site that searches an index of Web sites, looking for the keywords that someone enters. Once you register your Web site with a search engine, that search engine will send a "robot" or "spider" to your Web site and create entries for its search index. Some search engines will index every darn word at your Web site, so you had better watch your vocabulary. Other search engines will only index the first 150 words or so from each Web page, so if you have anything important to say, say it up front! The best search engines do not concern themselves with such trivialities, but rather already know exactly where to find an accurate description of your Web site and a list of important keywords to use. These smart search engines look for the META tags in your HTML files. One form of the META tag is used for a description, the other form is used for keywords. These are two META tags from my personal home page: < META name = "description" content = "Are you interested in amateur rocketry, homebuilt aircraft, sportscars or genealogy? If so, drop by this site for a short visit. Everyone is welcome!" > < META name = "keywords" content = "amateur rocketry, homebuilt aircraft, sportscars, genealogy, Crimson Star, Vancouver, BC, British Columbia, Canada" > As a photographer, your META "description" tag should jump out and grab photobuyers. Be direct. Try something like "Attention Photobuyers: I am the greatest..." You get the idea. Use the META "keywords" tag to promote your specialties. For example, "stock photography, Italian sportscars, Abarth, Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, Lancia, Maserati, Zagato." Each of your Web pages should have these two basic META tags directly under the TITLE tag. If you set up a different Web page for each of your photo specialties or sub-specialties, you will get maximum exposure from these META tags. You will also enjoy an advantage over the competition. Most Web sites do not use the META tags, therefore most Web sites are not accurately indexed. Photobuyers will find you fast, if you use META tags. Once your site is indexed, people will find it. That doesn't guarantee anyone will actually visit it, though. There is only one way to know how many people are visiting your Web site - count them. No, you don't create a counter with HTML tags. You must register with someone who provides a counter service (not that kind of counter service!) and then link your Web page to the counter that they will maintain for you. The company I use provides up to three counters for personal use, for free. Once your Web site is online, find out how to add a "counter" by visiting this Web site: www.digits.com Guess what? You have learned more about Web site design than 80% of the personal Web site developers out there right now. Good work! It is time that your Web site went public. Next month, I will explain how to select an Internet Service Provider (ISP) to host your personal Web site (for those of you who have not already rushed out and signed up with one). I will also show you where to find design guidelines, graphics info, additional HTML tags, and other neat stuff for photographers. |
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