Saturday, February 04, 2012

Keyword editing made easier

Sara Frances | 02/04- 11:54 AM

Composition 101 trick simplifies keyword selection and organization

image

Effective keywording is one of the three most important ways to get your site or post found on the internet - along with title and description. But I’ve always found keywording a disorganized chore. Here’s a way to make the job simpler, quicker and more logical.

Remember how in composition 101 class you had to make an outline of topics, content, facts etc.? We used to do this on index cards, one card for each separate fact or topic. We wrote these in no particular order, just as they came to mind or emerged from research. Then we rearranged the stack of cards to create the logical skeleton of the essay. Done this way it was easy to see if there were any gaps in the content or if further rearrangement were needed.

I’ve found this analog approach works well for proposing, editing and sequencing keywords.

Once you’ve done your research, possibly on Google Adwords, to propose keywords, then you’ll also try to think inside the head of your audience to imagine what they might search on. I always make a big list of potential keywords, even if some seem a bit far out or not fully on target. For something as important as your website, you can never have too many keywords to start the edit process. Don’t forget keywords that speak to business products or services you may not do right now, but are targeted in your business plan.

Here’s my system to edit and organize your search keywords. My example is done on a blank file folder, easily preserved for future reference or for colleague comment.

image

  • Write down each proposed keyword “candidate” on a separate sticky note. I use the smallest size sticky notes and cut them in thirds to save space.
  • Arrange the stickies on your desk or a white board to get a good look at the total field.
  • Re-arrange them, grouping categories like Photo services, Photoshop, Album design, etc. (or whatever is your business)
  • Select the 2-5 most important keywords, then second tier from ones to be discarded.
  • Re-arrange again in a logical, customer-friendly sequence.
  • Generally choose no more than 25 keywords for your main core list (federal governments site limit). This is hard for us because we do so many things related to video, stills and productions.
  • Rearrange as many times as needed, because individual pages or blog posts will need different, specific keywords than those for the site in general
  • Keep a dated record of your final edit, and don’t throw away the de-selects, because they will eventually find a use - no need to rethink totally from the ground up

image
image

more »

Tuesday, November 01, 2011

Designing a Photo Website in WordPress #11

Sara Frances | 11/01- 07:23 AM

How to rework keywords and titles for best search engine visibility

image

After launching a website, what’s your next step? Reworking it of course! Your objective? Matching, tuning and tweaking page titles, descriptions and keywords.

more »

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Designing a Photo Website in WordPress #10

Sara Frances | 10/15- 11:50 PM

Everybody’s a critic; that’s good and bad.

image

Here’s the challenge: post your comment listing your own site if you’re proud of it, or any site you love and admire for appearance, navigation and info. Let’s get a discussion going that will provide good comments for how creatives can demonstrate that they really are, well, creative!

more »

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Is Fear Your Art Director?

Matt Brandon | 10/11- 09:59 PM

Don’t let your fears call the shots in your photography.

image

Portico of worship.

This will be a short post. It’s really just a reminder to take advantage of the moment. This morning I went to Georgetown (Penang, Malaysia) scouting out some locations for an upcoming photo walk. As I was walking through Little India, I stopped and went inside a Hindu temple. These temples have always been inviting and friendly and I thought I might take some photos. I was quickly told by the very stern and very grumpy temple curator, I could not take photos in his temple. 

more »

Thursday, October 06, 2011

Designing a Photo Website in WordPress #9

Sara Frances | 10/06- 11:45 AM

Creative websites should feel like treasure hunts.

image

A fun experience on the web is equivalent to the pleasurable entertainment factor of an exciting brick and mortar store.

more »

Sunday, October 02, 2011

Designing a Photo Website in WordPress #8

Sara Frances | 10/02- 11:26 AM

Matters of type and text are the realm of the “Mad Men” of advertising.

image

WordPress do it yourselfers need to get smart fast about what words to say and how the words appear in type. Here are 15 tips for easy enhancements.

more »

Saturday, September 10, 2011

Evaluating HDR capture quality with iPhone4

Sara Frances | 09/10- 08:52 PM

Surprising and enlightening results from a “golden hour” test

image

The iPhone4 is not news, but news to me. On my resourceful business side I bought the iPhone4 for the Chase Bank “Square”, which allows the small business person to take credit cards on location and bypass the hidden fees of card companies. On my imaginative side I was dying for the high pixel count, better apps and HDR facility.

more »

Wednesday, September 07, 2011

Cinematic White Balance Solutions

Sara Frances | 09/07- 01:41 PM

Use cinematic techniques to get mood-rich color and tone in camera.

image

I’ve been using Kelvin as my preferred WB control for many years, along with White Balance Shift and Picture Style Preset combinations. As a Fusion mixed media HDSLR photographer and videographer I’m naturally using the Canon 5D Mark II, but the principles are equally valid, just different methods, for Karl and his Sony EX3 or FS100.

more »

Tuesday, September 06, 2011

Designing a Photo Website in WordPress #7

Sara Frances | 09/06- 08:49 AM

The rocky road of WordPress doesn’t mean ice cream.

image

It seems I’m both getting smarter with WordPress and finding out more and more layers of hidden details that I don’t know anything about.

more »

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Designing a Photo Website in WordPress #6

Sara Frances | 08/25- 11:58 PM

Is it radical to hire a one-on-one Word Press tutor?

image

You’d do this for your daughter’s piano lessons. Why not for this important step for your business?

more »

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Lightroom Tutorial: Managing Catalogs On The Road

Dan Carr | 08/24- 04:59 AM

A Lightroom tip for the roaming photog!

image

I’m going to start a series of Adobe Lightroom tips and tutorials because it has become such an integral part of my workflow these days.  The first one I want to tackle is a common scenario for those of us who travel to shoot photos somewhere. 

more »

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Designing a Photo Website in WordPress #5

Sara Frances | 08/18- 08:14 PM

Buying a WordPress template is just the tip of the iceberg

image

Designing the perfect website, even when you don’t have to know coding, has as many arms as…

more »

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Designing a Photo Website in WordPress #4

Sara Frances | 08/11- 11:34 AM

It’s OK to get angry! Then take these tips and get busy finding the template of your dreams!

image

Angry, disillusioned with what I consider to be simply unethical and incompetent purveyors of web design, I renewed my web search for WordPress templates. I thought there were loads of theme sites, but most are just compilations or directories. I found out right away that most templates are not suitable for photographers and artists.

more »

Monday, August 08, 2011

Designing a Photo Website in WordPress #3

Sara Frances | 08/08- 08:03 AM

The misconception about website design is that it’s not just one job, but six or more!

image

Have you, like ourselves, paid significant sums to get a new website built, only to find that your traffic drops off and you just don’t get as many live inquiries as before? Don’t blame the economy! Get wise about what is happening - or not happening - inside your website.

more »

Thursday, August 04, 2011

Designing a Photo Website in WordPress #2

Sara Frances | 08/04- 07:06 AM

Are you willing to do whatever it takes to get the perfect website? I said yes!

image

Right from the start I knew it’s the most important job I could possibly be doing for the now and future life of our business. Sales is all about experience and relationships forged with old and new clients in new and creative ways. Your website is your business persona. Are you willing to do whatever it takes to get the perfect website? I said yes!

more »

Monday, August 01, 2011

Designing a Photo Website in WordPress #1

Sara Frances | 08/01- 10:36 AM

Is it practical for a small business owner to do it herself in WordPress?

image

An impactful website, SEO friendly, is the backbone of business outreach for every small business, or in our case a micro business, with just two partners doing every conceivable task - and all that photo stuff in between.

more »

Page 1 of 5 pages  1 2 3 >  Last »




Keyword editing made easier

Sara Frances | 02/04- 11:54 AM

Composition 101 trick simplifies keyword selection and organization

Combined Photo Mechanic & Lightroom Workflow Video

Dan Carr | 01/28- 10:45 PM

How to make the most of these two favorite programs in a singular workflow

LIGHTING STRATEGIES: Exploiting a Single Light Source

Art Adams | 01/28- 11:14 AM

Sometimes all it takes to make a beautiful picture is placing one light—as long as it’s the proper light source. This still photo shows an example of one style of soft lighting that’s been in use for centuries, and for good reason: it works.

Cuba! People-to-people 2012 dream trip for photographers

Sara Frances | 01/19- 10:14 AM

Hands On With The Canon G1 X

Dan Carr | 01/16- 11:02 PM

Nikon At CES With The New D4

Dan Carr | 01/15- 10:56 AM

Hands on impressions with Nikon’s latest flagship

A Look At JVC’s New 4K Camera And The Future Larger Sensor Interchangeable Lens Version

Dan Carr | 01/12- 12:14 AM

Intriguing first public look at prototype JVC 4k camera

Hands On Impressions Of The Fuji X-Pro 1

Dan Carr | 01/11- 05:00 AM

Photos and video run through of Fujifilms latest retro star

Adobe Launches Lightroom 4 Public Beta

Dan Carr | 01/10- 08:56 PM

Time to get testing !

Fuji Launches New X-Pro 1 And 3 Lenses

Dan Carr | 01/10- 12:45 AM

Fuji’s first foray into the interchangeable lens, large sensor market

Canon Creates Its Own Space In The Marketplace With The G1 X

Dan Carr | 01/10- 12:02 AM

Small camera, surprisingly large sensor

Lexar Introduces 1000x Memory Card

Tony Donaldson | 01/09- 07:10 AM

A CompactFlash card capable of 150 MB per second and full HD video.

Datacolor Launches Spyder4 for Simplicity and Accuracy in Color Calibration for all Display Devices

PPC News Staff | 01/06- 10:08 AM

Spyder4 Express, Spyder4 Pro and Spyder4 Elite Provide Full Spectrum Color Calibration for Creative Professionals

Hands-on with the HP Envy 110 e-All-In-One

Tony Donaldson | 01/06- 09:01 AM

It prints, scans, copies and faxes, more wirelessly than you even expect.

CRU-Dataport Drive Boxes

Tony Donaldson | 01/06- 12:33 AM

A safe way to archive and store your old hard drives.


image

Keyword editing made easier

Sara Frances | 02/04- 11:54 AM

Composition 101 trick simplifies keyword selection and organization

Effective keywording is one of the three most important ways to get your site or post found on the internet - along with title and description. But I’ve always found keywording a disorganized chore. Here’s a way to make the job simpler, quicker and more logical.

Remember how in composition 101 class you had to make an outline of topics, content, facts etc.? We used to do this on index cards, one card for each separate fact or topic. We wrote these in no particular order, just as they came to mind or emerged from research. Then we rearranged the stack of cards to create the logical skeleton of the essay. Done this way it was easy to see if there were any gaps in the content or if further rearrangement were needed.

I’ve found this analog approach works well for proposing, editing and sequencing keywords.

Once you’ve done your research, possibly on Google Adwords, to propose keywords, then you’ll also try to think inside the head of your audience to imagine what they might search on. I always make a big list of potential keywords, even if some seem a bit far out or not fully on target. For something as important as your website, you can never have too many keywords to start the edit process. Don’t forget keywords that speak to business products or services you may not do right now, but are targeted in your business plan.

Here’s my system to edit and organize your search keywords. My example is done on a blank file folder, easily preserved for future reference or for colleague comment.

image

  • Write down each proposed keyword “candidate” on a separate sticky note. I use the smallest size sticky notes and cut them in thirds to save space.
  • Arrange the stickies on your desk or a white board to get a good look at the total field.
  • Re-arrange them, grouping categories like Photo services, Photoshop, Album design, etc. (or whatever is your business)
  • Select the 2-5 most important keywords, then second tier from ones to be discarded.
  • Re-arrange again in a logical, customer-friendly sequence.
  • Generally choose no more than 25 keywords for your main core list (federal governments site limit). This is hard for us because we do so many things related to video, stills and productions.
  • Rearrange as many times as needed, because individual pages or blog posts will need different, specific keywords than those for the site in general
  • Keep a dated record of your final edit, and don’t throw away the de-selects, because they will eventually find a use - no need to rethink totally from the ground up

image
image

image

Combined Photo Mechanic & Lightroom Workflow Video

Dan Carr | 01/28- 10:45 PM

How to make the most of these two favorite programs in a singular workflow

I’ve posted a detailed video about what makes Photo Mechanic a must have program for many journalists and sports photographers before. But many people also like the easy adjustment tools of Adobe Lightroom. This video walks you through how to setup a workflow that incorporates the best of both of these programs.

To be considered for listing, contact pr (at) provideocoalition (dot) com