You have a website – I hope! – but is it search engine friendly?
Websites are becoming needles in a very large haystack – how do you put your piece of hay on top of the pile? “Build it and they will come” worked for Kevin Kostner in Field of Dreams but won’t cut it in today’s world wide web. You need a few key ingredients – good content, good design and good SEO – Search Engine Optimization.
According to Business Insider’s March 8, 2012 article: How Many Web Sites Are There?
(…) there isn’t a definite answer. However, right now there are 644 million active websites on the Internet according to Netcraft.
Netcraft’s March 2012 website survey discovered 644,275,754 active websites, to be precise.
Half a billion is a lot. But when we’re talking about the Internet, sounds kind of small.
It won’t be small for long. The Internet is still growing by leaps and bounds. The March numbers were up by 31.4 million (5.1%) over last month.
Plus, nearly six million domain names were added to the Internet in the fourth quarter of 2011, bringing the total to 225 million domain names worldwide, says VeriSign. Each domain name can designate a single website or it can host lots of them.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – I LOVE WordPress for websites! All but one of my sites is a WordPress website (don’t ask – it would take an army to move the other and I haven’t found the army, time or inclination to make it happen yet!). It is flexible, there are tons and tons of things you can do with a WordPress site… I could go on and on.
But today I just want to tell you this: WordPress websites are great for SEO.
The people who created WordPress knew what they were doing. They knew that the number of websites would continue to increase exponentially and it would become more and more important for people to have tools to make their website stand out. They designed the platform to make it easy.
The folks at All in One SEO Pack created a fabulous plug-in that makes it really easy too. Simply go here: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/all-in-one-seo-pack/ and get the plug-in. Install and activate it on your website.
Once the plugin is active, a box will appear at the bottom of every page or every blog post where you can add information that search engines like. Add a title, a description, keywords and more. Here’s a screenshot of what you will have at the bottom of each post and page and what I filled out for the blog page of this website…
I use this on every page of every website to help my sites stand out. With a name like “Tara Reed” I can assure you it was hard to get on page 1 of Google. Even now, 9 years after I got online, Google will ask me “Did you mean Tara Reid”? – that’s how the actress spells her name. (I hear jokes about it daily…) You will see that I still get to see lovely photos of her in my search, in spite of the name spelling differences, but most of page 1 is related to me. Yeah to SEO – she used to be the whole first page no matter how you spelled REED…
SO – if you use WordPress for your website, make sure you use this or another plug-in to help you get the attention your website deserves!
Learn more about WordPress for Artists by getting a free copy of the Ask Call with Kim Beasley – head to www.AskAboutWordPressForArtists.com
Learn more about SEO for artists by getting a free copy of the Ask Call with Daniel Tardent – head to www.AskAboutSEOforArtists.com
Heck, get them both!
Here’s to your creative – and highly ranked – success!
– Tara Reed
P.S. You want to see that Field of Dreams scene don’t you??? Here it is…
Improve your Art Website Search Rankings
NOW AVAILABLE IN A NEW EDITION FOR WORDPRESS AND THE GENERAL EDITION FOR ALL OTHER WEBSITE TYPES
Do you feel like a talented actor with no publicist your website is sits alone when it should be networking and building relationships to help you sell your art. You can do better!
I was so excited when Daniel Tardent – the expert from the Ask About SEO for Artists call – emailed me a few weeks to tell me that they created a version of this fabulous system for WordPress! (SEO means Search Engine Optimization and is how websites are ranked when someone searches a term on Google, Yahoo, Bing or any other search engine site.)
I worked through the General Edition a while back and was able to make improvements to all of my websites SEO, WordPress websites and non-WordPress websites. It’s an easy to follow, no-fluff guide that helps you get better ranking on search engines without stealing all of your creative time.
You don’t need (or want) to pay the people who email you and say they can get you top rankings for $500. No one can understand your art, your business and your goals AND optimize your website for that. Not to mention, they simply email everyone with a url – I get emails all the time telling my that this blog isn’t ranking well and they can make it better. Umm… it’s regularly in the top 5 when you search “art licensing” so they obviously haven’t don’t their homework!
The best person to set up your SEO is you.
- YOU know your art.
- YOU know who you want to find your website.
-
And with the SEO System for Artists, YOU CAN LEARN HOW TO DO IT.
Bring the most powerful economic force on the Internet to your artist website with the complete do-it-yourself SEO system for artists, “21 Days To Bring Search Engine Traffic To Your Artist Website”.
Created exclusively for artists by our partner and Beautiful Artist Websites co-founder Daniel Tardent, the Artist SEO Success System solves the big problems that confront artists with SEO and delivers powerful results.
NOW AVAILABLE IN A NEW WORDPRESS EDITION
In recent years, WordPress has developed a huge following with artists around the world because of it’s ease of use and flexible design and extension options. It really is an incredibly powerful website platform which offers evolved SEO capabilities out of the box.
Learn how to turn your WordPress Artist Website into an Art Marketing Machine with the new “Artist SEO Success System For WordPress”. This new WordPress edition of the BAW SEO Guide includes very specific instructions on exactly what to install and exactly what to do to get your website ranking well in search results.
I had the chance to interview Daniel last week. We reviewed some of the basics of SEO and then talked about what was different in the WordPress version.
In a nutshell, if you have a WordPress website, you will learn:
– How to decide what key words are being used by the people you want to attract to your website
– How to organize your website for optimal results
– What plugins to install and how to install them – to get great SEO results for your site
– Step-by-step instructions – including screen shots (love that!) – showing you how to enter your information
– and more…
Listen to the 30 minute audio online by clicking the play button below or download the mp3 and listen on your iPod or computer at your leisure.
If you choose to download the audio, please remember these IMPORTANT NOTES:
- If you use Internet Explorer and have trouble with the download, try using a different browser – Firefox and Chrome usually have no issues.
- Also make sure pop-up blockers are off if you have trouble – the link you get will prompt a file download. Thanks! My goal is to have fewer customer service emails so I can keep working.
Buy or learn more about the WordPress Edition*
Buy or learn more about the General Edition*
Unconditional Money Back Guarantee.
Here’s to your creative – and high ranking – success!
– Tara Reed
P.S. If you haven’t already, you can get a free hour-long Ask Call replay where Daniel answered lots of questions about SEO submitted by artists like you. Head to www.AskAboutSEOforArtists.com now!
When is the last time you reviewed your website?
If you are like a lot of people, you put a lot of time and effort into creating your website – when you created it. When was that? Last month? Last year? Five, ten years ago?
Regardless of when you created your website, when is the last time you looked at it to make sure it was all that it could be?
I like to review my art website 2-3 times a year. I always go through it with a critical eye in February – a few months before SURTEX to make sure what manufacturers will see before, during and after the show is as good as it can be. Then one or two other times a year I go through and make sure things are good.
Here is a quick checklist of what I look at:
- Home page – is the look of the page giving a good first impression? Can people tell what I do quickly? Is the text as strong as it can be from a marketing standpoint and is it relevant – or can it be changed to be even better?
- Visuals – are the visuals on my site up to date and do they represent my best work? Do they appear current or are there some that look dated and should be changed out?
- About page – is this up to date and does it give people a better sense of me as an artist and of my business?
- Speed – is my website loading quickly enough and if not, what can I fix or change to make it better?
In addition to these basics, I also do a quick SEO (Search Engine Optimization) review. Checking keywords and descriptions for each page. I look at Google Analytics to see what keywords they see as most relevant to my website and see if I agree…
I just reviewed my site and dusted off my copy of SEO for Artists* by Daniel Tardent. You might remember him from the Ask About SEO for Artists call we did over a year and a half ago. It was a great reminder of the basics and I used some new tips that I hadn’t implemented the first go round.
If you don’t have it already, I recommend you go to www.AskAboutSEOforArtists.com and register to get the free mp3 replay of the call I did with Daniel. It is full of great information – he answered questions submitted by artists like you so chances are, you have some of these questions too.
If you are serious about optimizing your website, I also encourage you to consider his eBook – SEO for Artists*.
Here’s a video I did before the call that is still relevant today – and now closed captioned! – How SEO for Artists is Like making a Google Field Goal. Enjoy!
Here’s to your creative website’s success!
– Tara Reed
Giving Thanks
Today is Thanksgiving in the U.S. – a day when we gather in groups to eat too much, watch football, cook, laugh and give thanks. I would like to give thanks for all the wonderful things that have been going on in my art licensing info business – none of which would be possible with you.
I give thanks for…
… the internet.
Without we wouldn’t have a way to connect via blog, social media, chat and more. Before the internet our ability to connect with others was usually limited to where we lived or where we traveled. Now we can click a few buttons and learn, interact and absorb so many things!
… the Ask Call experts who have been kind enough to share their knowledge with you.
Here’s a list of everyone from the past 2 years – you can get a free mp3 of the first call (if there have been a few) with them by clicking the links and registering for the replay.
- Paul Brent. www.AskPaulBrent.com
- Mary Engelbreit. www.MaryEngelbreit.com/askme/
- Dena. www.AskDenaDesigns.com
- Jill Seale. www.AskJillSeale.com
- Daniel Tardent (SEO expert) www.AskAboutSEOforArtists.com
- Kim Beasley (WordPress expert) www.AskAboutWordPressForArtists.com
- Hal Gumbert (database expert) www.AskAboutArtLicensingDataManagement.com
- Suzanne Cruise (agent) www.AskSuzanneCruise.com
- Cheryl Hodgson (attorney) www.AskCherylHodgson.com
- pre-thanks go out to Drew and Maria Brophy who will be our experts in January. www.AskDrewBrophy.com
… social media.
I love being able to connect with artists and more – regardless of where they are – on social media. Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn are my favorites and yes, in that order.
… 1ShoppingCart.
Yup! My shopping cart provider makes the list – with this one resource I organize my eNews lists, broadcasts, product sales and delivery, coupons, and affiliate programs. It’s a great service to get things done – all in one place. (here’s my affiliate link in case you need this too: www.1shoppingcart.com/app/?pr=1&id=130170)
… you!
Of course, last but not least, this wouldn’t be fun at all if I didn’t have anyone to interact with. So thank you for your friendship, your feedback and your enthusiasm.
– Tara Reed
The Art Licensing Blog has the #1 spot on Google!
And I couldn’t be more excited! Well… I’m also excited that the hub website, www.ArtLicensingInfo.com goes between #3 and 4 – not to shabby to have two websites in the top 5!
“How did you do that?” many people have asked. Here’s what I think…
1. Consistent content that speaks to the industry and keywords – art licensing
2. Social proof that the content is good, by others linking to it. (thank you!)
3. Good SEO habits. SEO is short for Search Engine Optimization – there are things you can do to increase your chances of moving to page 1 of Google – or your search engine of choice. (Yahoo, Bing, DogPile, etc.) If you have a website, that should always be a goal. When people search, they often look at options on page 1 & 2, rarely on p. 20…
So what are good SEO habits and how can you get them?
A few that I employ are adding tags to blog posts, keywords to website pages, titles that make sense and sometimes include keywords. The most important thing to do is create good content of course.
You can learn more about SEO by registering to get the mp3 replay of my call with Daniel Tardent, at www.AskAboutSEOforArtists.com. Daniel is the author of an eBook – SEO for Artists – which I purchased and implemented before doing the Ask Call with him. This only helped me with my search engine rankings.
CLICK HERE* to go directly to the eBook – SEO for Artists.
Here’s to your creative success! Now to decide just how to celebrate this SEO success…
– Tara Reed
* ftc disclosure: this is an affiliate link – if you click it and make a purchase, I will receive a commission for the referral. This helps me pay my bills and keep blogging – all clicks greatly appreciated!
Do you get the Art Licensing Info eNewsletter?
Twice a month, I send out an eNewsletter to any artist interested in art licensing who signs up. You may get a lot of junk mail and think any eNewsletter will be more of the same, so I thought I’d take a moment to tell you a little bit more about it. But first… let me share an email I just received from Christine Marsh that really put a smile on my face:
Terrific Tara,
This was so full of incredibly incredibly solidly useful information.
WOW! I am impressed.
I have canceled most of my newsletter because of a desire for wiser time usage, but I keep yours coming because it is so fabulous!
Thank You!!!
Any email that starts with “Terrific Tara” will get my attention – who doesn’t want to be called terrific? 
But I was happy to see that Christine is enjoying the information I send.
The eNews is basically a quick resource of links to many things art licensing. Every month you get information in the following categories -
- ASK CALLS | what is on the calendar
- ON THE BLOG | what’s been going on
- OTHER THINGS OF INTEREST | from blogs and websites
- FINAL INSPIRATION | a quote to keep the creative juices flowing
As well, I may throw in a special promotion only for those artists who get and actually open the eNewsletter. New product or event announcements, etc. The newsletter goes out the 2nd and 4th Monday of each month and you can sign up right here if you aren’t already on the list!
If you ever decide you don’t want to get the newsletter anymore – no worries! There is always a “cancel” link at the bottom of each eNewsletter.
Here’s to your creative success!
– Tara Reed
P.S. Here are all the places you can learn more about Christine Marsh – she deserves a little “link love” for her kind words!
http://christinemarsh.com/
http://christinemarsh.net/
http://www.marshbodyart.com/
http://www.zazzle.com/Beautiful_Things
P.P.S. Don’t know what “link love” is? You should get the free SEO for Artists with Daniel Tardent audio replay – head to www.AskAboutSEOforArtists.com to get your copy!
P.P.S.S. The opt-in link you will need to click to confirm your subscription is through 1ShoppingCart.com – the service I use to handle the free email list, product sales, and affiliate program. It really is free so let’s not freak out and send me hate mail like the one below – I imagine something else is going on with this person because it seemed a bit hostile for an eNewsletter response! (And I don’t appreciate the attack on my integrity thank you very much! )
I’m responding to the subscription that I thought I was getting for free, instead the link leads to a shopping cart? You have a lot of nerve to waste my time trying to sell me something when I thought I was getting a free subscription to your newsletter. This is called false advertising and I’m not falling for it. That speaks volumes about your own business and integrity.
Proof that good SEO works!
SEO – or Search Engine Optimization – can help your business. If your website comes up on the first page or 2 when someone enters specific keywords, you could get new clients, more awareness for your art or products, press coverage and more.
If you listened to the free Ask About SEO for Artists call in February 2010 with Daniel Tardent, you might remember that he mentioned that the website for the call was coming up on p. 1 of search engines if someone searched “SEO for Artists”. By adding the key words to the URL, being very specific and honing in on niche key words and simply paying attention to keywords, meta tags and descriptions, I was able to do well. (If you missed it, the replay is available for free – go to www.AskAboutSEOforArtists.com to get your copy.)
I recently learned the power of SEO when Women’s World Magazine contacted me for an article about Bunco.
I have a website, PrintYourOwnBunco.com – that has themed Bunco party kits. In case you don’t know about Bunco, it’s a dice game that got its start in the Victorian Era. Played by an estimated 7 million women in the US on a monthly basis – Bunco serves as the cornerstone of girlfriend gatherings. 12 players. Rolling Dice. Taking chances. Keeping score. Beyond a dice game of chance, Bunco gives women throughout the U.S. a reason to get out and have fun with neighbors and friends.
The article was in the August 30, 2010 issue – p. 26 if you want to check it out!
I obviously did a decent job with the SEO because the magazine found me. They even featured some of the art from free Bunco Score Sheets (the Bunco Queen theme) and a link to my website. This kind of national coverage will surely drive traffic to my site, what happens then remains to be seen. I’m of course hoping for good things!
So, the next time you think filling out the SEO details on your website is too tedious or learning about SEO in the first place is a waste of time, think again!
Here’s to your creative and SEO success!
– Tara Reed
P.S. Check out Daniel Tardent’s “SEO for Artists” eBook* – it is packed with great information!
* this is an affiliate link and I will earn a small commission if you click this link and decide to make a purchase. (Thanks!)
SEO For Artists: Google Wants To Help You Sell Art | Guest post by Daniel Tardent
Back in February I was interviewed by the lovely Tara Reed for her monthly Ask Teleclass. The topic was Ask About SEO For Artists and it was a valuable call (if I do say so myself!). Tara has a real talent for bringing out the golden threads in these classes and the result was some very straightforward guidance for artists to improve their search engine rankings.
If you weren’t on the call and haven’t listened to the replay I highly recommend you do so. If you think I’m kidding about how valuable this is, here are a couple of testimonials from that call…
From Shawna Erback…
Thanks to your tele-seminar with Tara Reed, I am now in first place and first page when I search for “licensing studio”, “art licensing studio”, “artist licensing” and “artist licensing studio”. Before I listened to your ask call my website looked pretty on the outside but was a mess on the inside and thanks to you I now have seo optimization! I listened to that call more than once taking notes and will listen to it again and again to keep things fresh. Thank you Thank you!!
From Sue Allemand…
SUPER SUPER SUPER! That’s all I can say! I never expected to get this much out of Daniel’s call! I understood EVERY WORD! He makes it so simple to understand! And to think — I spent hundreds on supposed “promotion” companies who claimed to submit you to X amount of search engines – numerous times over a certain amount of time, fix your meta tags, get you X amount of reciprocal links, etc… and NONE of what they CLAIMED I needed (and what I paid for) was in Daniel’s top 3 for SEO!! Unbelievable!
I confess that I’m not normally one to self-promote as outrageously as I have above! I’m an Aussie by birth and we are trained to be somewhat self-effacing. When I landed in California 15 years ago I had to learn self-promotion 101 very fast otherwise I would have been eaten alive!
But seriously, the reason I am pushing this whole SEO topic strongly is because it is SO IMPORTANT for you as an artist and there isn’t a lot of comprehensive SEO guidance available focused on the art community. This interview with Tara was exactly that – SEO For Artists.
So, why is SEO so important?
Many artists and even some art coaches think it’s not relevant to art because art is somehow “different”. Nothing could be further from the truth. When you sell art that is business – and SEO is a major force for business success online. Let me give a hypothetical example of how it might work for an artist…
How Search Engines Help Artists – An Example
Susan is an oil painter who lives in Northern New Mexico and paints landscapes, many of which are focused close to the town of Abiquiu. (Note: If you haven’t had the opportunity to visit this town you should mark it on your list of places to go – it is right near Ghost Ranch and Georgia O’keeffe’s desert home – just gorgeous landscape!)
Susan has a website which she has optimized for search engines. During that process she discovered that many people google “Abiquiu Paintings” and “Ghost Ranch Paintings” and so she optimized her artist website to rank highly for those phrases.
Susan has opened the door to several big potential opportunities:
- A gallery director scouting for new work of Susan’s style and subject matter may very likely google “Abiquiu Paintings” and “Ghost Ranch Paintings” as part of their search strategy. When Susan’s website ranks on Page 1, it means they can find her and look at her work. This is priceless attraction-marketing for free!
- Similarly, an art licensing company may be looking for work similar to Susan’s for a new line of home decorations at Target Stores. Search engines would be part of their strategy.
- Finally, tourists who have visited the area and fallen in love with it often get home and realize that they really want a piece of art to remind them of their experience at Ghost Ranch. What do you think might be one strategy they might use? Search engines – of course!
Now, in all honesty, search engines are only one method used by businesses and individuals to find what they want. But they are very powerful – so why would you want to miss out on the potential business with a website that doesn’t rank highly for the phrases that are heavily searched? Why would you risk missing out on possibly 50% or more of your potential new visitors?
You wouldn’t right? That would be plain crazy! But that is exactly what MOST artists are doing with their websites! And the most insane part of this is that SEO is not really that difficult to master, IF you know what to do.
A lot of powerful people think that search engines are important for your business. Here is what Qi Lu, President of Microsoft’s Online Services Division said recently…
Search Engine Advertising is the most powerful economic force on the internet.
Those are important words and as an artist I would certainly want the most powerful economic force on the internet working for my art career! So, if your website doesn’t already rank highly for search terms that actually bring customers here is what I would suggest:
Start by listening to the recording of Tara’s SEO For Artists Teleclass. It’s free, and as you can see from the testimonials above you could actually learn some useful info. This is really required knowledge for any serious art marketer.
If you are really serious about selling more art via high search engine rankings on your artist website, consider buying our Artist SEO Success System.* It is a complete 21 day program to comprehensively optimize your website for search engines – and it is 100% focused on artists. At $97, it is not cheap but it is tremendous value when you think of the potential market you can open your website to (learn more*). And yes – we have many great testimonials about this product too! Here is one that just came in this week…
I’m going through the workbook and doing a lot of the exercises which are really great. As an creater of educational materials and online courses (in my day job, I have a Masters in Instructional Design) I am totally impressed with the guide and workbook. It is so well written and thought out and CLEAR! I can tell you guys did a ton of work… Bravo! …. Kristen Hoard
As art marketers and artist website developers, our job is to give you the tools to create business success with your art. I’m handing you this one on a silver platter – so please make use of it and go sell some art. I can’t wait to open the champagne and toast your success!
About The Guest Author
Daniel Tardent is the Co-founder of Beautiful Artist Websites and Espresso Artist Websites in Santa Monica, California. Focused primarily on the development of websites and online marketing systems for artists, he also writes regularly for Art Marketing Secrets, and is the co-author of The Artist SEO Success System.
FTC disclosure: Links with an * are Tara Reed’s affiliate link to the SEO for Artists product by blog post author, Daniel Tardent. She will earn a commission if you click the links and make a purchase.
Why you should consider adding video to your marketing mix
Daniel Tardent, author of the SEO for Artists eBook* who did the Ask Call with us in February asked if I’d write a blog post about video marketing for artists for his blog at www.ArtMarketingSecrets.com In case you missed it on his blog, here is what I came up with…
Did you know that YouTube represents 25% of all Google searches?
Did you know that in Decmeber of 2007, 2.52 billion people searched for videos, up 114% from the previous month? Wonder what that’s up to now! (Here’s where I got these Statistics)
Video is the future, is your film rolling?
I’ve been hearing this for several years now – you need to add video, video, video, video. But what kinds of video can artists create to help increase their exposure, build their brand and get more business? How can we get in on the surge in video searches?
Here are four types of videos artists can create to help promote themselves on YouTube:
- Show your work. If you are shy in front of the camera, you can create a slide show of sorts that shows your art, your studio, work in progress, photos, etc.
- Show yourself working. People are often interested to see “an artist at work” – can you set up a camera and draw, paint or sculpt while the film is rolling? You could speed up the video to make it look like you are working top speed and add audio or music to go along with it.
- Promote events. Are you a gallery artist looking to do more shows? Have someone take some video of you at an opening, talking with others, showing your art on the wall. Use that to promote yourself for future events. Do the same for craft fairs, commission work, public speaking, etc. Show you and your work in action to help others visualize you in action for them.
- Have some fun! Have you ever noticed that the videos people share the most are videos that make you laugh? Or videos that catch your attention by comparing unusual things? What can you do to make a viral video (meaning people keep passing it on!) related to your art? Spoof a famous commercial or skit? Stand on your head while painting? Have fun but make sure your fun is true to you, your art and your brand.
Once you have some videos, where will you put them? The first step to cash in on all this YouTube searching is to upload them to YouTube. But also consider creating a YouTube Channel – where you control the look and feel and can organize your videos as you see fit. That way people can follow you and know when you post new content. It’s a great way to build a following of people who enjoy video content.
To learn more about how to create your own channel, go to http://www.youtube.com/advertise
Pay attention to the description and keywords you use when you put your video on YouTube as well. According to YouTube, 24 hours of video are uploaded every minute so you need to make sure the right people know about your video or your efforts will be for naught. Treat your videos as you would treat your SEO for your website.
Videos can capture attention and add interest to your blog and website as well. You can link your videos to Facebook. Video is a more personal way for people to get to know, like and trust you and that is who people like to do business with.
Newer computers have video and microphone capabilities. Most digital cameras and some phones can take video as well. So don’t believe you have to have a production company create your video or huge budgets to get it done, just believe that it can help you promote your work and commit to give it a shot.
Here’s to adding video to the mix of your creative success!
– Tara Reed
P.S. You can get a free audio replay of the Ask Call with Daniel by registering at www.AskAboutSEOforArtists.com
P.P.S. To learn more about his eBook, SEO for Artists, CLICK HERE (this is my affiliate link)
P.P.S.S. Here’s a great example of an artistic spoof video – they had some good videographers but you’ll get the idea.
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