Tag: web

Net gains (4)

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Search engine optimisation

Search engine optimisation, or SEO for short, sounds like a complex science that only technical geeks could understand. Nothing could be further from the truth. Anyone can search engine optimise their own writing and websites by focusing on two things only: using keywords and including links.

Search engines such as Google send programs, called spiders, crawling round the World Wide Web looking for keywords . You can boost your search engine ranking by including the keywords that people might be searching for and by including links to relevant websites. A real bonus would be links back to your website from other sites containing similar keywords.

Keywords

Let's start with keywords. if you're an actor you might describe yourself as a “thespian", “player", “performer", “lead", “understudy", “character", “role-player" or “entertainer" or a whole host of other terms. A woman might prefer to be known as an actor rather than an actress. But you need to think what words people might be typing into Google. The answer is probably actor or actress so you will need to use those words, rather than elegant alternatives.

Similarly, a journalist will need to decide whether people are really searching for the words “contributor", “correspondent", “hack", “scribe", “newspaperman" or “stringer". You might need to use words such as “broadcaster" if relevant or describing words as well as the word journalist – for example, newspaper, magazine, radio, TV, broadcast or online. But the key word will be journalist.

Links

Then you need to think about links. If you've done a piece for work or been involved in a project that has a website link to it - and link direct to the page where your name is mentioned not to a generic homepage (this is called a deep link). If you can, where a website mentions you get them to link to your website.

You can also link to related websites. For example, if you have appeared at a particular theatre and you've mentioned that, link to the theatre's website. TV and radio programmes have their own websites or pages you can link to. Concert venues, bands, orchestras – you name it – most things now have their own websites. Link to them.

And if there are reviews of anything you've done, in newspapers, magazines or online, there will be a web page you can link to.

All the time

Whenever you write anything on your website, try to think of relevant links you can use. And whenever you get a chance, try to get others to link to you. If all the members of an orchestra or all the actors in a play link their own websites to each other in articles about that project, those are good SEO links.

There is other SEO wizardry you can use but nothing will have as big an effect, or is as simple, as using the right keywords and the right links.

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www.why not?

Every creative freelance should have a website. This need not cost a fortune or involve paying someone else to build it for you. These days it is relatively simple to build a basic website of your own, using templates other people have designed that you can tweak to suit your own needs.

Short URLs

The first thing you need to think about is your domain name: this is the words and letters that appear after the www. in a URL (the address on the internet showing at the top of your web browser).

Although you clearly want your name, or your business name, or something easily identifiable as you, you also want something short, if possible. It's much easier to give out a short, memorable, domain name than a long one. You will also be able to set up email addresses using your domain name and short email addresses are better than long ones as there is less scope for people inaccurately typing in the e-mail address.

I learned this the hard way so I have gone from chris@ whealassociates.com to chriswheal.com and finally to wheal.co.

What you need for a website

These days there are web hosts that provide all you need. A basic hosting package can cost a little over £2 a month. Registering a .co.uk domain name will cost about £7 a year. So for about £35 a year you can have your own website, which you can add to and edit without paying anybody else.

A web host that provides a control panel interface will often allow you to install a free content management system, such as WordPress or Joomla. The content management system effectively is a website building tool. Within WordPress, for example, there are hundreds of free themes (templates) that you can choose from, many of them with significant flexibility in terms of layout, colour and fonts.

You don't need much on your website. You need an "about" page that perhaps includes your CV. You might want to include some examples of your work and some endorsements or recommendations from clients, for example. Your website need only be three or four pages to cover most of this. Feel free to add more.

Change is the only constant

But what your website must do is change frequently and the easiest way to do that is to blog. You do not need to blog about every tiny thing you do but try to update it with something newsworthy or a relevant comment as often as you can. Set yourself a target of at least twice a week.

You will also need to ensure your website has plenty of links to other relevant websites, particularly websites that include your own work or for whom you have worked as clients. You might also include newsfeeds (RSS) and your own social media status updates (Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn all have easy to follow instructions to create your own status update widgets to go on your website).

It is also worth spending a small amount of time making sure your website is search engine optimised. Most content management systems have plug-ins (extra functions) freely available that enable you to write extra information to help search engines find you. But more on that later…

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Can customers find you on Google?

Here's a test: type your name into Google and press search. Does it find you? Are you on the first page?

If, like me, you have an unusual surname, you are at an advantage here, so let's make it fairer and try a slightly revised test. Type your name and profession – journalist, actor, musician or whatever more specialist job description you like to use – into the Google search bar. Does Google find you? Are you on the first page?

Online presence

Adding a web presence is becoming increasingly important. No matter what we do for a living, we need to make sure the people who might want to buy our services can find us easily online.

There are a whole host of things you can do to boost your web presence. You certainly need your own website, you probably ought to blog, and you need to make sure all your online profiles are up to date and, wherever possible, linked together. That means making sure your LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Flickr, WordPress, Blogger and other profiles are up to date and linked together.

Google Profile

Perhaps the first profile you need to update is your Google profile. Google is the most popular search engine so it makes sense to start by getting your profile within its sprawling empire is correct. If you have not already done so, register your Google account and complete your profile. Provide as much detail as you can and make sure you make your profile public.

You will have the opportunity to link your profile to your YouTube, Flickr, LinkedIn and Twitter accounts and many others. You can also add your own blogs and websites. Consider linking direct to pages that are about you or contain your CV. Separately, you can add links to relevant websites. These may be clients or other examples of your work.

All of this means having up-to-date accounts on social media outlets such as LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. We'll look at all of those next.