Web Designs for Small Business

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

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/

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.

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

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.

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/

Before launching a website to represent a charter boat or guiding business, owners may want to learn the basics of website layouts, how to target keywords and phrases, and how to rank highest in search engine rankings.

Setting up a website for your charter boat or guide service is one of the most important decisions of your business. The key aspect of a charter boat or guide website is its ability to be found by your customers. Before selecting a web 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 put paying customers on your boat unless they can find you online.

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 charter boat website is the home page, which may feature a few photos and a brief description of services. Larger sites will have a full menu on the home page, listing all the important sections that clients may need to access.

Many charter boat owners will need a photo gallery which accurately depicts the types of charters they will provide. For fishing charters, this may include a collection of photos and videos that show the types of fishing and species caught. Other charters such as nature cruise and sailing charters may need images that focus on local scenery, events and aspects of the boat.

Many charter boat owners will include sections on rates, types of trips, what to bring, driving directions and other important information. These sections can eliminate mix-ups and provide customers with a clear understanding of the services available.

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

A charter boat or guide website can also be an important sales tool. In addition to traditional services such as fishing charters, cruises and tours,  many top charter boat operators and guides offer t-shirts, sweatshirts, custom tackle and other accessories. A good website can increase sales of gear which has become a valuable source of income for many businesses.

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 a charter boat website, improving your search engine rankings or local, national and international advertising, visit Daybreak Web Designs.

Daybreak Web Designs has announced several important changes to www.commercial-fishing.org for 2009. Many of the improvements relate to coverage of 2008 events along the USA East Coast. Highlights of 2008 included industry happenings and trips into the field. In January, staff attended the MWA Commercial Fishing Expo where some of the nations top boat builders and equipment manufacturers were represented. Research at sea included observing scalloping during the March opening of the Elephant Trunk Access Area. Over the summer, staff visited several commercial fishing ports including Newport News and Chincoteague in Virginia, and Ocean City, Maryland. In September, events included a tour of New England and the Working Waterfront Festival.Craig Banks of www.commercial-fishing.org remarked, “Our trip to New England had a huge impact on the website. We got to see the New England groundfishing fleet, meet a lot of industry professionals and make a lot of friends. In four days, we visited Gloucester, Newburyport, New Bedford and New Haven. We shot over 700 pictures of the towns, ports, boats, commercial fishing gear and the Working Waterfront Festival”.

New to the site for 2009 is an online store which includes an extensive collection of commercial fishing, seafood and saltwater fish T shirts, sweatshirts, tank tops, raglans, jerseys, golf shirts and other apparel.

The site also received enhancements to the layout which improves navigation, user friendliness and offers advertisers more options. Several of the software changes were implemented by an associated design company. “We used O’Hare Sites for some of the restructuring because of their reputation for expertise in content management” explained Craig Banks of Daybreak Web Designs.

Added features for 2009 are a continuation of the overall mission of the site. Banks stated “Our goal has always been to provide members of the commercial fishing and seafood industries with the tools they need to improve their business, all in a single package. For example, commercial fishermen can read about the latest regulations, learn about upcoming events, visit forums and participate in political or industry discussions, buy or sell boats or equipment, post job openings for crew and even submit pictures of their boat, catch or home port. Our site stands out by providing those features in an efficient and easy to use format.”

For businesses that supply the commercial fishing and seafood industries, the site features a several important tools. Free features include press release and article submissions, as well as standard listings in the site’s business directory. In addition to basic free tools, the site offers paid advertising and an array of other promotional tools. For businesses that lack a website but want to get listed in the directory, special pricing is available for custom websites. This service enables small businesses to have an online presence and full use of the directory’s features.

These improvements to the site come at a critical time for many businesses. According to the site owner, “The last 2 seasons have been devastating to the commercial fishing industry. Fuel prices have skyrocketed while market prices have remained constant or dropped. Here in the USA, fishermen are faced with more and more restrictions, many of which have a stranglehold on their ability to turn a profit. We are hoping that people continue to use the site to promote and improve the commercial fishing industry, worldwide and here in the USA.”

On December 16, 2007 Commercial-fishing.org overtook several important websites to gain the Google search engine’s # 1 spot in the American market for the term “commercial fishing”. While Google is known for fluctuations in its search engine results and ranks are likely to change again, the upward shift in rank was an important benchmark for the site. The site has dominated the #1 spot since late 2007. In addition the site ranks highly for several other search terms that impact the industry.

Banks explained why this is so important, stating “Our search engine rankings remain a vital asset to our members. Anyone that needs to be found thru web searches or exposed to a wide range of audiences can benefit from our search engine rankings.”