(web help) I really really like you guys, but...

Thanks!!!!!!!

WOW! Lots of specific and technical info here. Gotta be honest, my head is spinning a little! Can I jump on the bandwagon here and ask you guys to check my site also? I got the bit about having contact info on each page, as far as each photo, should I list the business name for the caption on each one??

I'm also wondering if I should remove the 'gallery' page and just use the slideshow/thumbnails as the gallery or keep both?

http://www.MysticalRainbowCreations.com

I JUST discovered why it wasn't coming up when I searched local for instance 'Livonia, MI face paint' on google...as I hadn't listed in 'google places', so for all the newbies trying to attract more business, well and not newbies too, make sure you take the time to do that. It's FREE.

Would adding my web link to my signature here help at all? I also added it to my email signature. Any and all FREE listing sites you guys can name off would be great! I will check snazaroo which someone mentioned.

I heard that having your website link on other sites helps, which is partially why I have added the 'recommended links' section, that way I can post friends or related sites and they can post mine, etc.

Obviously I'm looking to bump myself up in searches/views as much as possible, but NOT interested in paid advertising at this time. Any advise welcome, but I'm pretty new to this world of marketing so talk...slow...lol


and THANK YOU!!

And Jennifer, I think your site looks great, I love your explanations and write ups. Wasn't hard to see/read the writing at all. I would agree with the suggestion of maybe increasing the size of the tabs/font for your menu navigation to make them easier to spot, but most people using the web these days know how/where to look for navigation tabs, so not that big of a deal. Your pics look WONDERFUL! but OMG that Alice in Wonderland 'twiddle dee (or dum?)' FREAKS me right out! I can't believe that is only face paint, it looks like a mask or computer graphic or prosthetic! In fact, a lot of your work has a very surreal quality to it! I bet you could break into the special effects field if you wanted to! Best wishes with the business, looks like things are going great from the site! The masquerade ball looks like a blast! What a great gig!

I would keep your gallery as well, Kaci - that way people can browse in a way they're most comfortable with.

I like your website and the assortment of photos (Something I'm waiting to improve) but feel like the info is sparce...

if you don't wish to put your rates on the site, maybe another page with more about you or your experience/s or ------?

Some great ideas here, Jbax - I hope they help!

I'm gonna try them too, John (thank you!)

I've found that when browsing with Mozilla firefox I come up first for face painters Collingwood, Ontario (my town) but when browsing using some other search engines, I'm no where in sight... I had no idea that could happen either - do you find that makes a difference, Jbax? Maybe you are ahead of some people in your area depending on what search engine they're using?

I agree with you Helena, I will be adding more as time goes on, having just started a few months ago. On the agenda, Craft area and other services, as well as a Letters of Recommendation, customer comments type section. I also would like to add logos of events I have attended etc, but so far there are only a few so not really worth pointing out yet. I may have a pricing section eventually as well. I appreciate the feedback! I tend to get very wordy so I tried my best to keep it visual and simple, basically an electronic business card. I wonder if having the pricing up front helps to get more business in the long run??

helena wrote:Some great ideas here, Jbax - I hope they help!

I'm gonna try them too, John (thank you!)

I've found that when browsing with Mozilla firefox I come up first for face painters Collingwood, Ontario (my town) but when browsing using some other search engines, I'm no where in sight... I had no idea that could happen either - do you find that makes a difference, Jbax? Maybe you are ahead of some people in your area depending on what search engine they're using?

There's something wrong with the info here .... so just wanted to straighten this out so people aren't misled.

Firefox is a browser ... and whilst it has an effect on how webpages are viewed, displayed ... has nothing to do with Search Engine results at all.

Yes ... different Search Engines will give different results because they use differnt 'rules' (algorithms) to make their searches and display the 'best' results for their clients. This is why web pages MUST be 'optimized' for all the different things the robots / spiders look for ... otherwise you may be missing out on being seen by key potential customers.

Of course the most popular ones are Google, Yahoo! and Bing ... but others like Cuil, AltaVista, AOL, Ask, Alexa, Live Search, All The Web and so on are all important and may display results differently (even though they use Google or Yahoo! technology).

A useful tip here is to look at sites that show above your site and analyze them (their Meta Tags, their incoming links, onsite links, their content etc) and then adjust yours accordingly. However .... a major key to success common to them all is content! If you want to be seen as THE answer to search queries, then look like the expert, the authority, the answer to the keywords you are optimizing for! This will take fresh content and links to achieve ..... simple as that.

John

Wow! Great info. I'm still trying to digest it all. I was blessed that I unwittingly did a lot of what you said John & had no clue I was doing it. I now list around 3rd or 4th for my area. It took reading posts like this to figure out whay I was listing so high

As an update....

I put some of the suggestions into place (the template I use won't let me adjust the size of the font on the tabs... bummer), as well as working through the Google Webmaster help, and I'm showing on the first page, but even better.... I've gotten more painting inquiries!!! Whoo Hoo! I've got to do the same for the bodypainting page, but I'm way happy. Thanks for the help!

Kaci... Thanks! The tweedle was a contest entry. Feel free to check it out... http://youtu.be/rYFh5zCTcBs