David,
Can you please explain what you mean here ? Is this a helpful suggestion ?
I don't have time to play games with my site and haven't a clue what you are implying.
Sorry for sounding grumpy :-)
Caroline
Wow.. Crabby...
Do I really seem like I would be trolling? Perhaps.. Just perhaps, after something like 100 sites that I've customized, that I've picked up a few easter-eggs along the way?
It's really no fun if I tell you exactly what will happen. Let's just say it's an undocumented feature, and one that you'll probably like.
Hi Andy,
Those search terms work fine for your type of business, but for me and many in my situation, I want my work found because someone is searching for specific subject matter - ie landscape of blah blah, they don't need to be looking for ME, and I want my images to appear in a google image search but they don't and as far as I can tell I haven't found any of yours yet when using the title of an image as a search term, although they do when doing just a google search.
Caroline
why wouldn't 'landscape of mendip' be found in the same way? There's tons of stuff that goes into the google pot to be cooked - are you doing it all?
why wouldn't 'landscape of mendip' be found in the same way? There's tons of stuff that goes into the google pot to be cooked - are you doing it all?
Hi Andy,
Thanks for looking -'landscape of mendip' returns a result in google, yes, but I'm damned if I can find anything of mine ever on google images.
Yes, I think I'm doing nearly all the recommendations but I draw the line at putting any more than a couple of images on picasa.
Of course it's not all bad :-) I just had an enquiry this morning for calendar images for 2010.
I don't think that was the case when I started my Smugmug site a few years back.
Well lets see what happens to my search engine traffic
gracias mucho
You are in better shape now than before but it's not optimal yet. There are only so many "prime" characters that matter in the title of the page and they are ALL in the beginning of it, everything else after those first 65 or so characters becomes a "..." in SERP. Now, lets examine your new and improved page title:
|---------1---------2---------3---------4---------5---------6---|
Brad Powell : photos : Henry the Blue Heron- powered by SmugMug
Brad Powell : photos : 2009 Chinese New Years Parade in Vancouver- powered by SmugMug
The above grid represents the first 65 most valuable characters, what do you see? The first 23 characters are always the same. What should be happening is the reverse of that -- all repeating patterns of a page title should go at the END of it not in the front of it. The way it is now you are wasting away 35% of your title realestate.
And you still have an issue of missing headers (h1, h2).
Then, check out a gallery, and look at the page title...
David
p.s. People sure are crabby before their morning coffee..
hmmm, well, I'm not so sure that's not the greatest solution actually. Now the page titles turn from "Digital Faerie Photography" {which is what I had before} to:
digitalfaerie : photos : Brookgreen Gardens - powered by Smugmug#456112006_usEUR
I just really wish meta data was customizable for every single page and gallery.
Another curious things about page titles and Google- apparently they're pretty important to the Google index, yet in their own Chrome web browser, page titles don't even show up at the top of the browser window. Instead they are put in the tabs at the top, which only show about 20 or so characters before truncating. You have to hover your mouse over the tab for the full title to pop up.
If they are in fact switching content for the sole purpose of feeding it to the search engine crawler it's considered spamdexing ...
It's not spamdexing. We're not sniffing for search engine crawlers, we're sniffing for any user-agent not capable of AJAX'ed pages, including mobile browsers, older versions of browsers, etc.
Google and the others happen to get caught up in this net since they also can't parse JavaScript. But we know plenty of people at Google who say this is the right approach and we're clearly not being penalized.
Spamdexing, FYI, is intended for when the *content* changes, not the method of displaying the content. Since our pages are very similar, and contain the same essential content, we're not spamdexing even we didn't have Google's blessing.
It's not spamdexing. We're not sniffing for search engine crawlers, we're sniffing for any user-agent not capable of AJAX'ed pages, including mobile browsers, older versions of browsers, etc.
Google and the others happen to get caught up in this net since they also can't parse JavaScript. But we know plenty of people at Google who say this is the right approach and we're clearly not being penalized.
Spamdexing, FYI, is intended for when the *content* changes, not the method of displaying the content. Since our pages are very similar, and contain the same essential content, we're not spamdexing even we didn't have Google's blessing.
Yes, you are absolutely correct -- content stays the same = legal, content changes <> legal. I actually said the same thing last night after I read the official doc on google webmaster portal:
There's a reason why content providers go directly to YouTube and Flickr -- it's to get exposure to the enormous traffic that these sites get. Flickr and YouTube are so big now that they don't even need search engines -- they generate their own traffic!
SmugMug is great for establishing your identity on the Internet by having a good looking site. SmugMug is not the right tool to compete in the SERP with Flickr or Youtube or any other social networking site.
You want traffic and exposure you go to social network, you want identity and face recognition you go to SmugMug. Different tools for the different jobs. It would be nice to have it all in once place so you don't have to duplicate your pictures on different sites and that's what we are working on at ttljournal.com ... But we need your participation to make it work.
This past week's SEO discussions prompted us to move ahead with developing more Social Networking features on ttljournal.com -- we already handle User Comments on your Virtual Galleries and last night we launched a "Feature My Gallery on TTLJournal Homepage". This is a really cool way to get your story and images out to the world and to get real-time feedback through user comments.
Here's how to get your Virtual Gallery featured on TTLJournal front-page:
1) First sign-up for TTLJournal account if you haven't already! It's free. Then create a virtual gallery using your SmugMug images.
2) Set your Gallery to be Featured on TTLJournal:
3) Write a Story (at least 256 characters long):
4) Your gallery will be featured on TTLJournal Home page within next 15 minutes:
We have developed an algorithm to rotate featured galleries to get them even exposure on our homepage -- so don't worry if you don't see yours right away -- it will eventually show up just refresh the page
As we get more and more requests for featured galleries we'll be adding a rating system where galleries with higher rating will be given more exposure on the home-page so make sure to write good story and use your best images! It will count in the long run! Good luck and have fun!
We have developed an algorithm to rotate featured galleries to get them even exposure on our homepage -- so don't worry if you don't see yours right away -- it will eventually show up just refresh the page
As we get more and more requests for featured galleries we'll be adding a rating system where galleries with higher rating will be given more exposure on the home-page so make sure to write good story and use your best images! It will count in the long run! Good luck and have fun!
Edit: fixed sign-up link and instructions ...
Hi cabinetbuff,
Thanks for your posts about ttljournal. I have signed up and it is a very easy to use and well designed site. As your site is set up as a service solely for Smugmug users, I was just wondering if you'd be able to help me clarify how different this is to duplicating our images in Picasa? I think the featured galleries with stories is a good idea. However, in an ideal world, if I were to write stories for my photos, wouldn't it be better to have all those in a blog that is either directly linked to my website or within my Smugmug website instead?
I see that you have incorporated some specific algorithms and make good use of keywords to help Google find the images which is great. As I mentioned in the other thread as well though, according to Google's Best Practice guidelines:
Another useful test is to ask, "Does this help my users? Would I do this if search engines didn't exist?"
...so if I had a blog and a Smugmug website which allowed Google to index my photos correctly, what would be the benefit of duplicating my photos into ttljournal? Thanks
...so if I had a blog and a Smugmug website which allowed Google to index my photos correctly, what would be the benefit of duplicating my photos into ttljournal? Thanks
Blogs, forums and other venues are all valuable ways of getting your story and images out in the world for real people to see. TTLJournal is just another such venue -- designed specifically for SmugMug users to share their stories and images. Think of it as another exhibit for your work.
I've had SmugMug pro account since 2005 -- TTLJournal is the result of my own need to have a better way of sharing my stories and images with the world. I also have a blog and I used to post my images there but it was a cumbersome way which required duplication of my work (copying URL's and image captions, worrying about formatting etc..). I wanted a simple way to use a subset of my SmugMug images so I could create a web-page and attach a story to it -- that was the basic premise that started TTLJournal ... It has nothing to do with google, but everything to do with people you want to share your Through The Lens Journal with ... I just happen to know SEO principles and made sure to lay them down in the foundation of TTLJournal framework.
Thanks for elaborating further on that cabinetbuff:) I think it may be worthwhile putting what you wrote on the website so that it gives potential users a better idea of how the site works because it was only until after I signed up and played around with it that I understood the features and the concept of a 'virtual gallery'. Nice work:)
SM does poorly at SEO. I've been sayin that since I joined but it seems SM doesn't listen. One thing regarding titles is the order. SM puts user name, gallery second and caption last. It should be reversed. People read left to right and when the search term is at the far right or hidden because Google only shows 64 caracters, people are more likely to click on other search results showing their terms on the left.
Thanks for elaborating further on that cabinetbuff:) I think it may be worthwhile putting what you wrote on the website so that it gives potential users a better idea of how the site works because it was only until after I signed up and played around with it that I understood the features and the concept of a 'virtual gallery'. Nice work:)
Thanks Nelson! We did just that by creating "About TTLJournal / News" page and it allowed us to expand the "Featured Galleries" section on our homepage - so keep them coming, there's more room there now!
Comments
Do I really seem like I would be trolling? Perhaps.. Just perhaps, after something like 100 sites that I've customized, that I've picked up a few easter-eggs along the way?
It's really no fun if I tell you exactly what will happen. Let's just say it's an undocumented feature, and one that you'll probably like.
David
Twitter: @WolfSnap
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/WolfSnapDesigns
SmugMug & Wordpress Customization - WolfSnap.com | Custom Domains
Portfolio • Workshops • Facebook • Twitter
Then, check out a gallery, and look at the page title...
David
p.s. People sure are crabby before their morning coffee..
Twitter: @WolfSnap
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/WolfSnapDesigns
SmugMug & Wordpress Customization - WolfSnap.com | Custom Domains
Thank you Dr. David!
I see what you were talking about.
Every gallery has its own page title.
Google should like that better...right?
I don't think that was the case when I started my Smugmug site a few years back.
Well lets see what happens to my search engine traffic
gracias mucho
My Vancouver Island Photography Website http://bradpowellphoto.com
My Facebook Page http://www.facebook.com/bradpowellphoto
Hi Andy,
Thanks for looking -'landscape of mendip' returns a result in google, yes, but I'm damned if I can find anything of mine ever on google images.
Yes, I think I'm doing nearly all the recommendations but I draw the line at putting any more than a couple of images on picasa.
Of course it's not all bad :-) I just had an enquiry this morning for calendar images for 2010.
Best wishes,
Caroline
www.carolineshipsey.co.uk - Follow me on G+
[/URL]
You are in better shape now than before but it's not optimal yet. There are only so many "prime" characters that matter in the title of the page and they are ALL in the beginning of it, everything else after those first 65 or so characters becomes a "..." in SERP. Now, lets examine your new and improved page title:
The above grid represents the first 65 most valuable characters, what do you see? The first 23 characters are always the same. What should be happening is the reverse of that -- all repeating patterns of a page title should go at the END of it not in the front of it. The way it is now you are wasting away 35% of your title realestate.
And you still have an issue of missing headers (h1, h2).
-HTH!
hmmm, well, I'm not so sure that's not the greatest solution actually. Now the page titles turn from "Digital Faerie Photography" {which is what I had before} to:
digitalfaerie : photos : Brookgreen Gardens - powered by Smugmug#456112006_usEUR
I just really wish meta data was customizable for every single page and gallery.
Open to hear your suggestions though!
It's not spamdexing. We're not sniffing for search engine crawlers, we're sniffing for any user-agent not capable of AJAX'ed pages, including mobile browsers, older versions of browsers, etc.
Google and the others happen to get caught up in this net since they also can't parse JavaScript. But we know plenty of people at Google who say this is the right approach and we're clearly not being penalized.
Spamdexing, FYI, is intended for when the *content* changes, not the method of displaying the content. Since our pages are very similar, and contain the same essential content, we're not spamdexing even we didn't have Google's blessing.
<img src="https://us.v-cdn.net/6029383/emoji/thumb.gif" border="0" alt="" >
This past week's SEO discussions prompted us to move ahead with developing more Social Networking features on ttljournal.com -- we already handle User Comments on your Virtual Galleries and last night we launched a "Feature My Gallery on TTLJournal Homepage". This is a really cool way to get your story and images out to the world and to get real-time feedback through user comments.
Here's how to get your Virtual Gallery featured on TTLJournal front-page:
1) First sign-up for TTLJournal account if you haven't already! It's free. Then create a virtual gallery using your SmugMug images.
2) Set your Gallery to be Featured on TTLJournal:
3) Write a Story (at least 256 characters long):
4) Your gallery will be featured on TTLJournal Home page within next 15 minutes:
We have developed an algorithm to rotate featured galleries to get them even exposure on our homepage -- so don't worry if you don't see yours right away -- it will eventually show up just refresh the page
As we get more and more requests for featured galleries we'll be adding a rating system where galleries with higher rating will be given more exposure on the home-page so make sure to write good story and use your best images! It will count in the long run! Good luck and have fun!
Edit: fixed sign-up link and instructions ...
I created several galleries and what do I see but one of them in the featured column!
I have linked a couple of them on my Facebook page and will watch to see what happens next!
Smugmug site
Blog Portfolio
Facebook
Hey hey!! There's mine too!!! (the bottom one)
Tim
Smugmug site
Blog Portfolio
Facebook
Hi cabinetbuff,
Thanks for your posts about ttljournal. I have signed up and it is a very easy to use and well designed site. As your site is set up as a service solely for Smugmug users, I was just wondering if you'd be able to help me clarify how different this is to duplicating our images in Picasa? I think the featured galleries with stories is a good idea. However, in an ideal world, if I were to write stories for my photos, wouldn't it be better to have all those in a blog that is either directly linked to my website or within my Smugmug website instead?
I see that you have incorporated some specific algorithms and make good use of keywords to help Google find the images which is great. As I mentioned in the other thread as well though, according to Google's Best Practice guidelines:
...so if I had a blog and a Smugmug website which allowed Google to index my photos correctly, what would be the benefit of duplicating my photos into ttljournal? Thanks
Website: www.lookingglassphotography.com.au
Blog: http://lookingglassphotography.posterous.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/LookingGlassPho
Blogs, forums and other venues are all valuable ways of getting your story and images out in the world for real people to see. TTLJournal is just another such venue -- designed specifically for SmugMug users to share their stories and images. Think of it as another exhibit for your work.
I've had SmugMug pro account since 2005 -- TTLJournal is the result of my own need to have a better way of sharing my stories and images with the world. I also have a blog and I used to post my images there but it was a cumbersome way which required duplication of my work (copying URL's and image captions, worrying about formatting etc..). I wanted a simple way to use a subset of my SmugMug images so I could create a web-page and attach a story to it -- that was the basic premise that started TTLJournal ... It has nothing to do with google, but everything to do with people you want to share your Through The Lens Journal with ...
-HTH!
Website: www.lookingglassphotography.com.au
Blog: http://lookingglassphotography.posterous.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/LookingGlassPho
borealphoto.smugmug.com