| Web Site Design For Photographers, II by Crimson Star |
Are congratulations in order? Did you follow my advice in last month's column, and set up a test web site on your own computer? If you did, then you also discovered that it was only a little more difficult than using your word processor to write a letter to your least favorite relative! So far, your site contains simple text pages. You may have experimented with different font sizes or colored backgrounds, but we both know that you really want to show off your photos. You've already learned how to display them, so why did I ask you to wait? Beware the Graphics Trap! No doubt, you have the most beautiful photographic images in the world. Naturally, you would like to display some of these on your web site, in order to attract photobuyers. Let's pretend that you also have the means to digitize your images at various resolutions, sizes and color depths. Are you ready to go? Not yet. Most of us would agree that a good picture is worth a thousand words, but is a good picture worth a thousand seconds? I recently visited a photographer's web site that promised excellent graphics. As I entered the "Gallery," the web page started to appear on my screen. After waiting 1000 seconds (16.7 minutes, if you must know), only one-third of the web page was visible. What I could see looked great, but I had better things to do, so I left. A photobuyer may need to visit hundreds of web sites a day. How long do you think he/she will wait to see your images? You will need to sacrifice some of the quality attributes of your images so viewers can access them quickly. I can't tell you what to do, it is your choice. As you visit more and more web sites, you will find good examples to follow. Unlike in real life, in CyberSpace good examples are easy to follow. What You See Is What You Got It is time to discuss a technical issue that you must understand, as a photographer setting up a web site. When your web browser connects to a web site on the Internet, it has really only connected to a web server (a computer that contains web pages). Your web browser asks that web server to send it the web page that you want to see. The web server downloads that web page, and any related images, onto your own computer's hard drive. If you are using Netscape's Navigator, for example, then these files are probably saved in the C:\NETSCAPE\CACHE subdirectory. Once the files have been downloaded, the web browser can display them for you. The good news is that you can view the actual HTML source code and see how the designer got that page to work. In Netscape's Navigator, for example, you select View, Document Source. This is the best way to learn how to use new HTML tags. We all do it. What about the bad news? Why Copyright = Copywrong Images, as well as HTML files, are downloaded onto your computer. Many web sites encourage you to save and use their graphics, royalty free. Others request that you acknowledge their ownership of an image when you use it. Most of us place a copyright notice on each page and hope for the best. As a working photographer, you would not steal someone's copyrighted images. Alas, we photographers are in the minority. You realize by now that every person who visits your web site will be able to copy your text and your images. Period. There is nothing you can do about it. There are thousands of web sites using stolen images at this very moment, in spite of copyright protection laws. To my knowledge, only a few Internet copyright disputes have gone to trial. The results don't matter anyway. Laws simply cannot be enforced on the Internet at this time. My advice is simple. Don't put your best images online. Don't put super-high-quality images online. Place a copyright notice on each of your web pages and/or images. Kiss each image good-bye! How Photobuyers + Search Engines = Your Web Site Would you like it if every photobuyer in the world could find your web site, instantly? Would you like it even better if you could arrange this for free? Nothing to it! Once you have a "real" web site on the Internet, as opposed to your test web site on your computer, you can register your web site's name and address with all of the "search engines" available on the Internet. A search engine is just a special type of web site that searches an index of web sites, looking for the keywords that someone enters. Rohn Engh explained how a photobuyer would do this in his recent column, "How To Be Unique." Once you register your web site with a search engine, that search engine will send a "robot" or "spider" to your web site and create entries for its search index. Some search engines will index every darn word at your web site, so you had better watch your vocabulary. Other search engines will only index the first 150 words or so from each web page, so if you have anything important to say, say it first. The best search engines do not concern themselves with such trivialities, but rather already know exactly where to find an accurate description of your web site and a list of important keywords to use. These smart search engines look for the META tags in your HTML files. One form of the META tag is used for a description, the other form is used for keywords. These two META tags are from my personal home page: META name="description" content="Are you interested in amateur rocketry, homebuilt aircraft, sportscars or genealogy? If so, drop by this site for a short visit. Everyone is welcome!" META name="keywords" content="amateur rocketry, homebuilt aircraft, sportscars, genealogy, crimson star, Vancouver, BC, British Columbia, Canada" As a photographer, your META "description" tag should jump out and grab photobuyers. Be direct. Try something like "Attention Photobuyers: I am the greatest..." You get the idea. Use the META "keywords" tag to promote your specialties. For example, "stock photography, Italian sportscars, Abarth, Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, Lancia, Maserati, Zagato." Each of your web pages should have these two META tags directly under the TITLE tag. If you set up a different web page for each of your photo specialties or sub-specialties, you will get maximum exposure from these META tags. You will also get an unfair advantage on the competition. Most web sites do not use the META tags, therefor most web sites are not accurately indexed. Photobuyers will find you fast, if you use META tags. It's Not the Thought that Counts! Once your site is indexed, people will find it. That doesn't mean anyone will actually visit it, though. There is only one way to know how many people are visiting your web site - count them. No, you don't create a counter with HTML tags. You must register with someone who provides counter service (not that kind of counter service!) and then link your web page to the counter that they will maintain for you. The company I use provides up to three counters for personal use, for free. When your web site is online, find out how to add a counter by visiting this web site: Who, Me? Guess what? You have learned more about web site design than 80% of the personal web site developers out there right now. Good work! It is time that your web site went public. Next month, I will explain how to select an Internet Service Provider (ISP) to host your personal web site (for those of you who have not already rushed out and signed up with one). I will also show you where to find design guidelines, graphics info, additional HTML tags, and other neat stuff for photographers.
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