Archive for September, 2009

Creating an Arts and Crafts Website – Part II

Sunday, September 27th, 2009

This following is Part II of Creating an Arts and Crafts Website

Once the business owner has a clear set of goals for attracting customers via the internet, a good idea is to create a list of features that are needed for the website. A blueprint of the site may include only a single page or a menu which includes several pages. Essential to any arts and crafts website is the home page, which may feature a few photos and a brief description of products and services. Larger sites will have a full menu on the home page, listing all the important sections that clients may need to access.

Many crafters and artists will need a photo gallery which accurately depicts the products they offer. For some artists, this section may include descriptions, pricing and in some pricing even and a buy now link.

Many artists will include sections on their experience, influences, sales policies, upcoming events and other important information. These sections can eliminate mix-ups and provide customers with a clear understanding of the products and services available from the artist.

Some arts and crafts venders include a blog on their website. Blogs, news pages and events sections are extremely popular among audiences and can be a vital tool for building a portfolio of repeat customers. Most blogging tools combine artist’s entries, photos and guests comments to create an interactive experience that attracts a loyal following of readers throughout the season.

Once the website is launched, a specialist can show you cost effective ways to improve your search engine ranks, target specific search terms and bring more readers to your site. The end result of these steps should put more paying customers aboard your boat.

For help with setting up an art or crafts website, improving your search engine rankings or online advertising, visit Daybreak Web Designs.

Back to Creating an Arts and Crafts Website – Part I

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Times To Remember Photography and Videography Services

Sunday, September 27th, 2009

Times To Remember Photography and Videography Services announces an expansion of services in Denver Colorado and surrounding areas. The company is one of the few Colorado photographers that specialize in customized child photography.  The photographer captures images of children which are available as is or digitally placed in custom graphics to create fantasy, whimsical or themed works of art for a variety of occasions.

Kristine Tochtrop, owner of Times To Remember explained the popularity of this style saying, “we use computer graphics to create custom backgrounds, and merge subjects into the chosen layout. The finished product can have a cartoonish, fairy tale, angelic or other fantasy theme.” The same techniques are available for adult photo shoots as well.

The photographer explained that “we can use this same form of layout for weddings, prom dates or other important occasions. We enhance the original shot, change the background, and the subjects appear to be somewhere else.” This fantasy style is of photography is extremely popular and many clients choose this type of layout. This style has become very popular for portraits destined for family and holiday gifts.” The company also offers unique animated photo album/slide shows in video format, for babies and children.

Times To Remember videography services are similar, offering a variety of enhancements to video footage, including transitions, music, slide shows and other techniques and effects. With 2 photographers and 2 videographers, the company is capable of handling large or small weddings, family reunions, dances, dinner parties and other events.

For more information, visit: www.times-2remember.com

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Tools for Blog Promotion

Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009

These sites are resources for promoting your business blog. In addition to attracting a human audience, creating a profile page on these sites can help your site get indexed by Google and other search engines

The list:

http://www.technorati.com/

http://www.mybloglog.com/

http://www.blogcatalog.com/

http://www.blogged.com/

http://www.networkedblogs.com/

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Tools for Finding and Checking Backlinks

Wednesday, September 16th, 2009

1. Google Webmaster Console

http://www.google.com/webmasters

Webmaster console is a reputable source for backlink checking.

2. Yahoo SiteExplorer

http://siteexplorer.search.yahoo.com

You can see up to 1000 backlinks for every domain but results include nofollow links as well. You can also export backlinks to TSV file.

3. Google link command

Using the link command with your website name can return backlinks for a site. Users report that the number of links to websites using the link command in Google is usually less than the number of links seen in Google webmaster console.

link:www.yourwebsite.com or link: yourwebsite

4. Google Allinanchor command

Using the allinanchor command with your website name can return a lot of backlinks for your site. This method may return links which were not reported by the google link command or yahoo siteexplorer.

allinanchor:www.yourwebsite.com or allinanchor: yourwebsite

One disadvantage of the allinanchor command is that if a website name is a generic phrase, results may contain text that are not links.

5. Backlink Tools

http://tools.seobook.com/backlink-analyzer, http://www.seoelite.com

These tools usually compile a report of backlinks along with other useful information like Google Pagerank, Alexa rating, etc.

6. Alternative search engines

These search engines give information about backlinks:

MSN – uses link operator like G or Y – link:http://www.yourwebsite.com
Exalead – uses link operator like G or Y – link:http://www.yourwebsite.com

7. Google alerts

http://www.google.com/alerts

Google Alerts can be configured to check domains periodically and send a notification email when a link is located on the web. This will detect most new links but the tool also locates pages where only a domain is mentioned but no real link is present. Google Alerts are not considered to be extremely accurate and some errors have been reported.

8. BacklinkTracking.com

http://www.backlinktracking.com

This tool reports daily how many new backlinks have been indexed by Google for a given domain. The tool can verify links, detect no-follow status and calculate pagerank of pages.

9. Backlink Watch

http://www.backlinkwatch.com/

This tool has an excellent reputation among the SEO community. It returns up to 1000 backlinks, checking for PageRanks, nofollow and other attributes.

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Creating an Arts and Crafts Website – Part I

Thursday, September 10th, 2009

Before launching a website to represent an arts and crafts business, owners may want to review their options for website layouts and consider which components their site should include.
Setting up a website for your arts and crafts business is one of the most important decisions to make.

A key aspect of most arts and craft sites will be their ability to be found via web searches. For many niche crafters, having their website ranked well for relevant search terms is vital to their success. For artist and crafters that need internet traffic, the choice of a web designer will rely heavily on their search engine optimization experience.

Before selecting their design company, the business owner should learn the basics of keyword research, create a list of important search terms that relate to their business and choose a specialist that can create a successful site. Not all web design companies specialize in search engine optimization, so it is important to review past examples of success when choosing a web design company. Do they have existing clients that rank high in search engine results? Are they up to date on the latest technology?

A reputable designer can explain all the factors that influence a website’s search engine rankings, suggest which key phrases might be important and offer services to help your site perform well on Google, Bing and other search engines. After all, the most exquisite and artful website in the world cannot serve your business unless they can find you online.

Creating an Arts and Crafts Website – Part II

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Coming Soon – Web Design Best Practices

Wednesday, September 9th, 2009

Coming soon to our main site will be a series of best practices sections, including page and site layouts, blogging, search engine optimization, statistics, social media and more.

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Free Backlinks Resource for Webmasters

Wednesday, September 9th, 2009

A new site allows webmasters and site owners to join, post links and discuss other sources of one way and other backlinks. The site has a forum format and allows members to include several links in their signatures.

This site is http://freebacklinks.iboards.us/

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Free and Low Cost Ways for Artists to Promote Their Business Websites

Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009

The following list of niche websites offer free resources to organizations, artists and other business owners.  Several of these sites offer business-organization directories where listings are free. Each of the sites accept submissions of press releases, announcements, news, events, articles and other information.

www.tidewater-virginia.net – this site accepts business and organization listings, press releases, news, events, etc. Listings on this site are free and most business categories in or near Hampton Roads are welcomed. The site is in its early stages, more features are forthcoming.

www.virginia-beach-va.net – this site accepts business and organization listings, press releases, news, events, etc. Listings on this site are free and most business categories in or near Virginia Beach are welcomed. The site offers more features at present than the Hampton Roads – Tidewater site.

www.chincoteague-island.net – this site accepts business and organization listings, press releases, news, events, etc. that are related to Chincoteague Island Virginia . Basic listings on this site are free and paid advertising is available.

www.chesapeake-bay.org -  this site accepts press releases, news, events, etc. related to the Chesapeake Bay.

www.nautical-art.org – this site accepts business and organization listings, press releases, news, events, etc. Listings on this site are free but are limited to artists and organizations that offer nautical, maritime or beach art. An artist does not have to produce nautical art exclusively to be listed.

www.fresh-seafood.net – This site includes a directory with categories such as seafood art and regional blogs, which may allows artists to qualify for free listings. In addition to directory listings, artists or organizations can submit news, press releases, events, etc.

www.commercial-fishing.org – This site also includes a directory with categories such as nautical art and regional blogs, so artists may have resources that qualify. In addition to directory listings, artists or organizations can submit news, press releases, events, etc. This site is among the top ranked commercial fishing sites, so being listed here is a good way for artists to get exposed to national and international audiences.

Submitting information to these sites is a good way to gain links to your site, which in turn helps to boost your search engine rankings. Each site directory has a “submit link” button to list your site or simply contact daybreakwebdesigns.com with your business information. Articles, press releases, events, announcements, etc. can be emailed to daybreakwebdesigns.com. We can format those and get them posted to all sites that apply.

In addition to the free tools listed, we offer a wide range of affordable services for small business including online advertising, press releases, article marketing, social media, search engine optimization, backlink building, computer graphics and more.

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