I'm thinking that my "home" page as it stands right now is too word-sy.  I'm thinking that maybe instead of paragraphs explaining where I am and what I do, I should basically lay out in bullet points to help someone make a quick estimation of what I am, what I do and whether I'm worth investigating.  If they need more info to make the call they can get it on the other pages.

Mod Bod


I'm thinking that my "home" page as it stands right now is too word-sy.  I'm thinking that maybe instead of paragraphs explaining where I am and what I do, I should basically lay out in bullet points to help someone make a quick estimation of what I am, what I do and whether I'm worth investigating.  If they need more info to make the call they can get it on the other pages.

IMO, as far as internet copy goes it is very much 'less is more'.

Most people have the attention span of goldfish when browsing so succinct and punchy is where it's at.

I don't see too much wrong with the copy you have just now. 

The main point of having the index page as a static page is for making it show up better during a search. You can link to your blog from it and theres no reason for it to look any different to how it does now.

In fact if you like how it looks just now you can make a static page out of it just by 'viewing the source' and cutting and pasting it as a text document called index.htm and remove the corresponding page from the blog itself.  You'd have to amend the links between Wordpress and your new static page and vice versa but you'll be good to go after that.

So look at the index.htm page as being a static gateway into the rest of your content.

If that makes sense.

So look at the index.htm page as being a static gateway into the rest of your content. If that makes sense.

So what I am hearing you say is that, although my index page looks like a web page to me and anyone else who visits www.gatortraks.com, when Google spiders crawl all over it, they don't see it as a web page at all and won't give me the result, as far as links back to my page, that my ugly original html page did?

Dave - just curious - why are your evening and weekend rates half your daytime weekday rates?

jamesg1213


Dave - just curious - why are your evening and weekend rates half your daytime weekday rates?

I don't want to do daytime work - save's me from inquiries for daytime hours since I can do other things that make a lot more profit than recording someone (at my level.)  At least that's what my strategy is.  


I didn't want to say that I'm a part timer as that may influence how they view me.  When I say that the difference between an amateur and a professional is the willingness to take a pay cut, I mean it.  

some of the following was already mentioned by Alegria, Jon and Mike: (I have a few IT pros in my family and they fill my head with this stuff whether I want to listen or not)
 
do not discount wordpress; it has a clean code especially set up for SEO. most wordpress beginners use the same free template that screams 'I'm a wordpress site'. (the free templates usually have restrictions - type, header, menu, column width are decided for you)
 
You can purchase pro designed wordpress templates for under $50 which give uniqueness, more options as far as content placement and invaluable free e-mail support
 
do not use flash if possible (search engines cannot read flash and it doesn't load on ipad, phones etc.)
 
As mentioned before: make sure to use your search engine target words in your text; numerous times without being ridiculous about it; using target words wisely is paramount for SEO
 
use ALT text on all images (search engines don't read pics)
 
if possible use one of your target words in your domain name
use backlinks and more backlinks (very important)
 
hire a pro photographer; nothing makes a site look amatuerish than poorly shot photos
 
link to facebook, twitter and other social sites; make a few you-tube videos showcasing your studio and use those videos on your site; (you-tube videos are great for SEO)
 
search engines like large sites; gradually fill it up with pertinent content
you need not register your site with search engines; they will find you
you-tube is an excellent free source for learning wordpress
 
GOOD LUCK!
 
 
I am fairly proficient in Photoshop but know next to nothing as far as web design;
and this is a wordpress site I built for a friend in Montana.
www.mural-artist.net
 

I don't want to seem argumentative, nor do I wish to seem to contradict myself, but I think there is reason to be optimistic that the current web page will be Googled ok.

The text content is bundled in a nest of div tags, so it's a bit less straightforward than simple table data but Google can wade through all that stuff.

The actively served pages that seem to remain obscure are the pages that are truly built on the fly by the server and have temporary and arbitrary web addresses assigned on demand.

The point being, I described the worst case scenario and I think the existing front page, as wordpress serves it, is more like a best case scenario for using active technology.


I Googled "Gatortracks Studio" last night and it showed up first place... no problem. It was using a cached version of Dave's legacy site but it still pointed to the domain so it would seem seamless to and end user visiting today.

It will be interesting to learn how or when Google caches the latest iteration of Dave's page.


respectfully,
mike

"mike_mccue"
I Googled "Gatortracks Studio" last night and it showed up first place...

As it should. But as a potential new client, I don't know about GatorTracks at this point. Right? So what happens when I type "good recording studio" or "reputable recording studio" or "semi-pro recording studio" in the search field? Where's Gatortracks now? This is an exercise that needs to be done in order to help a site owner define the hierarchical and textual structure to maximize hits that can translate into potential new clients.

Yes, but my point all along has been to emphasize that there must be some other ACTIVE mechanism that suggests the name GatorTraks Studio to people.

That might be done via word of mouth, printed fliers or hand bills at local music stores, a sponsorship of a local radio show etc.


BTW Dave has a local public access radio station, WMNF,  that would be a perfect place to get a regular mention for sponsoring part of a local music show. It is one of the last of the true local, off the grid radio stations, and a sponsorship would be very affordable.

All those methods will outperform a Google search.


Having said that, I do not discount the detail with which one may address preparing for a good Google placement. I acknowledge that one can take great care to align a website with Googles stated policy.

Some of the info that should be available to Google seems obvious... and I include all of it under the umbrella "pertinent". 

Having said that, I feel that if one is truly desirous of using the web to reach customers from afar... one should buy a real good Google placement. Done.


I figure if one musician tells another musician that they should check out GatorTraks Studio and it turns out that it is easy to type in those words and find it on Google then you are right where you need to be and you should endeavor to make sure your word of mouth reputation grows steadily and surely and the rest will fall in place.

I'd like to emphasize that this is just a personal opinion.



All the best,
mike


edited grammar

"mike_mccue"
All those methods will outperform a Google search.

I understand what you're saying and mostly agree with you. And I view these various methods as being complimentary to each other.