Increasing your PageRank in Google

Google ranks websites through its relevance via Pagerank. 

Knowing your Pagerank is important because it helps you keep track of your search engine optimization efforts as well as it helps you rank higher in the google index.

LINKS

Pagerank measures how many websites link to your site.  More important than the quantity of the websites is the QUALITY of the websites that link to you.  This means, the higher their pagerank is, the better your rank is. 

You can submit to a lot of directories such as the search engines (google, yahoo, msn, aol, etc) and directories (dmoz.org) but don’t forget about portals specific to your website (ie, if you have a wedding photography website, submit to wedplan.net, wedj.com, etc.) as well as regional websites (specific to your country, state and city).  Some website will call you on the phone trying to sell you higher placement, but in my experience, it really is not necessary.  Just tell them, no thank you and just hang up.  But expect a LOT of phone calls especially from the wedding industry.

Also, links to your website without a reciprocal link from your website to theirs are measured higher than if you link back as well. 

A great way to increase your inbound links without having to reciprocate is by participating in message boards, classified ads and forums.  Some forums allow you to create a footer so you can include your website in all your posts.  Trying to mess with the pagerank by spamming and other similar ways is frowned upon and your website might get penalized because of this, so make sure that what you post is relevant to the topic.

CONTENT

PageRank is also judged by how relevant your website is with regards to specific keywords. 

Make sure that you have a lot of text in your website.  If you have a flash website, make sure you have a HTML site that is text-rich with your important keywords.

Create articles and tips that you can place in your website.  It does not have to be complicated, just a simple guide for beginners will usually do. 

BLOG

Funnily enough, the single thing I did that increased my google pagerank 2-3 points higher is getting a blog.  Not just getting an ordinary blog, but getting a blog here at wordpress that is hosted on THEIR server.  I’ve had blogs on blogger and blog.com before but they didn’t really affect my rank.  I switched to wordpress because they allow bigger photos.  Less than a week after I created my wordpress blog, my pagerank jumped for my 2 websites.  I don’t have any proof that it’s due to wordpress, but I’ve been submitting my websites everywhere and only when I got a blog did it jump higher.

FIND OUT WHAT YOUR PAGE RANK IS

You can find out what your page rank is by going to this site and typing your url in their form.  http://www.mypagerank.net/service_pagerankbutton_index

You can also install a pagerank button on your website by copying the code from mypagerank.net to your footer.

Totally revamped my Photography Website with Flash!

I just totally redid my website with Flash photo galleries and the best thing about it is that I did not even have to open up Macromedia Flash to do it.

The old photo galleries are still up on my website as the non-Flash alternative for people who do not have Flash or don’t want to wait for the Flash to load.   It is a javascript slideshow, you can download the code from http://www.barelyfitz.com/projects/slideshow/ .  This page would also explain to you how to install the code to your website and how to customize the interface for your use.  View my javascript slideshow at http://silvasphoto.com/wedding/slideshow.php .  There are lots of other slideshow javascripts out there but this is just the first one that worked.
This javascript slideshow actually worked pretty well but I thought it lacked a certain sumthin’ sumthin’ so I started looking for Flash slideshows.  I came across Simpleviewer at http://www.airtightinteractive.com/simpleviewer/ and Autoviewer at http://www.airtightinteractive.com/projects/autoviewer/ from the same company Airtight Interactive and thought that was pretty neat so I implemented it in my website here http://silvasphoto.com/sswedding/ .  I actually have seen simpleviewer and autoviewer used in a lot of other photography websites so I am in pretty good company.

Well, imagine my dismay when after I have done all this work, I discovered JAlbum at http://jalbum.net/ which is a free downloadable software that makes online photo galleries in a very easy interface but they also have Simpleviewer and Autoviewer as Skins!  (You mean I didn’t have through all that code???)  Well, I already did the Simpleviewer and Autoviewer so I’m not about to change it but I still have another gallery to make which is the Photo Gallery of my complete weddings and engagement sessions. 

Well, before to handle all the ordering of the photos, I used Backprint at http://backprint.com cause it’s free to register but when somebody buys a photo, they get 15% of the price which is not bad since they print and send the photos to the customer.  Not a bad deal, but 15% is still 15% and I could easily code a shopping cart from scratch.  (I could but I won’t.  At this point in my life, it’s too much trouble to code anything from scratch when other people have already made a near-perfect shopping cart.)  The only problem is looking for a shopping cart that would suit me and of course, is FREE!

So I install JAlbum and my oh my oh my!  What do I discover!  In their most popular skin the Chameleon, in addition to the most awesome and coolest photo gallery, it also has a Shopping Cart attached to it!  Payments are made via paypal which is perfect and it’s free (aside from the paypal transaction fee). 

View my JAlbum Chameleon Photo Gallery at http://www.silvasphoto.com/album/

My Website Details

Here are the tools I use in my website.  Most of them are free unless otherwise specified cause I like freebies.  It is true sometimes that the best things in life are free. 

DOMAIN NAME 
I bought my domain name from Yahoo! Domains for $1.99 a year and I chose the domain name SilvasPhoto.com .  My other domain name BoudoirSC.com is from Netfirms and cost $5.95 a year.  For some reason, I couldn’t find the sale price of $1.99 anymore so I just chose a reputable domain name seller.

I think a good domain name is the most important thing if you want a professional website because that is what you put in your business cards, in your email and it is what you submit to web directories.  It just sounds more business-like and it costs $5.95 a year.

WEB HOSTING
My hosting used to be free from X10hosting.com .  I like x10hosting cause they’re free, they have PHP and mySQL databases, and they give you a huge space.  The thing I don’t like about them is that I have to post on their forum once every 2 weeks so my account does not get suspended.  Their server was also down for a number of times because they were upgrading or something and everytime I checked my website it was down so I was very upset cause I lose business and potential clients if the site is down.  Another thing I don’t like is they don’t have custom 404 pages wherein if a person goes to a page that’s no longer there, instead of redirecting them to my website, it redirects to x10hosting and their annoying ads which loses me my customers as well. 

So I finally switched to Mabuhayhosting.com/ where I got a 1 GB space for 1 year for only $14 because I got it during their Christmas sale.  Their regular price is only $1.99/month for the package that I have which is really not bad. They also have other packages like their Lite plan is $5.99 a YEAR.  Their server is in Dallas, Texas, United States and so far I haven’t had any problems with them yet. 

PHOTO GALLERIES 
Photo Galleries are done with JAlbum.net software.  Jalbum is a FREE software that you can use to create slideshows and photo galleries.  They have many different skins available.

Skins I used are Chameleon, Autoviewer and Simpleviewer.

I like Chameleon for http://silvasphoto.com/album/ because it allows me to not only display my photos but also to sell them.  This is really cool cause that’s what I’m in the business of anyway.  I just connect the album to paypal for them to handle the credit card transaction so I reduce my costs and therefore I can pass on more value to my customers.

If you find it hard to install JAlbum, you can also try http://backprint.com .   It’s really easy, you just upload your photos and they handle everything else including credit card processing, printing the photos and delivering to your clients.  They do charge 15% per transaction but it’s worth it cause they do all the other work for you.  You don’t pay a monthly fee so if you don’t sell anything, you don’t really pay anything.  It saves you time and gas cause you don’t have to run around going to the lab, going to the post office, etc.

CREDIT CARD PAYMENT
Credit card and other Payment options are by Paypal at http://paypal.com .  I want to switch to Google Checkout soon but since I have everything setup to paypal, right now it’s just more convenient for me.

WEBSITE STATISTICS 
My web counter is by Google Analytics at http://analytics.google.com .  Awesome stats and easy to install too.  I just put a tiny javascript code on my footer file and I include my footer file in all my files.

I check analytics religiously everyday and I monitor all the time all the referring websites and all the keywords that people use to come to my website.  I also check the most popular pages of my website. 

ADVERTISING 
I do a pay-per-click advertising by Google Adwords at http://adwords.google.com .  Basically, when people search for a word or phrase in google, there appears some sponsored listings at the top or the side.  That’s where my ads appear.  The good thing is that I don’t have to pay them if the link doesn’t get clicked so I don’t lose money if people don’t go to my website. 

MESSAGE BOARD
Message Board is a phpBB script.

BLOG 
My blogs are by wordpress.  I like them cause they allow me to put HUGE photos which are essential in a photographer’s blog.  Please view my other blog more catered to my clients at http://silvasphoto.wordpress.com

I used to be a web programmer so if anybody needs help with their website, you can hire me.  Here is my web programming portfolio.  http://silvasphoto.com/web.php

Visit my photography website!

Please visit my website at Silvas Photography to view my portfolio and prices.  Email hontes@gmail.com or call (843)597-3518
Silvas Photography specializes in wedding photography, event photography and portrait photography.

• Wedding Photography:  Bridal Portraits, Engagement Sessions, Boudoir Photography
• Events Photography: Parties, Birthday Party, Corporate Events, Bar Mitzvahs, Family Reunions, etc.
• Portrait Photography: Family Portraits, Maternity, Baby Photography, Child Photography, Senior Photography, etc.

I also do sexy boudoir photography and glamour photography, check out http://boudoirsc.com

We currently service the states of South Carolina, North Carolina and Georgia but are also willing to travel anywhere in the USA.

The importance of a website

Having a website is absolutely essential to a photography business because of the simple fact that we have visual products. 

Most brides looking for wedding photography or moms looking for portrait photographers utilize the internet in their search because it’s fast, easy and convenient.  It’s easy to compare prices and packages as well as the quality and style of the photographs. 

Most people who get our business cards would head over to our website before even calling or emailing so that they can get an idea of the work that we do.  How your website looks and how your photos look in your website is a big part of what makes a potential client say yes or no to you.  They won’t waste their time or yours meeting you if they don’t like what they see in your website.

I like to put a lot of information on my website so that I don’t get a lot of emails asking me this or that.  Not that I don’t want to answer emails, it’s just that it is more efficient for them to see the information they need right away than to email me and have to wait for an answer.  And very few people really email to ask something unless they’re really interested so if they don’t see the answer, they might just move to a different website that does have the answer.

It also helps the search engines find my website if I have a lot of content-rich keywords.

I put my complete price list on my website which makes it convenient because potential clients would call me or email me and they know already which package they want.  Some photographers who don’t like to put a complete price list just say on their website “prices starting at $1500″ so that people who are not in their price list can move on.  Putting your price list or at least a starting price point is important so that potential clients pre-qualify themselves as being in your price range or not. 

I have a lot of clients who book me sight unseen.  We talk over the phone or email, and I send them a contract, they send it back with the retainer’s fee and the only time we meet is during the event or the wedding.  That is all on the basis of my website so my website is working for me. Usually, this happens because they live far from where I live, or because they’re busy and they don’t really have the time to meet me or because it’s a last-minute booking.   I prefer it this way because I save a lot of time, I save gas, I can do other things.   Of course, I still meet a lot of potential clients in person.