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new website

andyrpsmith
Dabbler
Posts: 23
Registered: ‎06-04-2009

new website

Just set up my new website:
www.schersmith.co.uk & there is no search engine that can pick up my site.Any ideas?
10 REPLIES 10
scubarew
Grafter
Posts: 43
Registered: ‎31-07-2007

Re: new website

I am by no means an expert but it can take quite some time for search engines to pick up a new website.
Some engines like google provide tools to help you make sure your site is being 'seen' by their search bots:
https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/
It's worth making use if them as they are quite useful in understanding how sites are picked up and listed in search results.
Good luck
matt_2k34
Grafter
Posts: 1,300
Registered: ‎09-07-2007

Re: new website

Quote
I am by no means an expert but it can take quite some time for search engines to pick up a new website

Correct. Also the number of links which go to / from other sites, should help it get found. (e.g. this forum is trawled quite alot, and posting the link here may make googles 'bots' go to it, and start indexing Smiley )
Theres lots of ways to optimise results, a quick google of "SEO" will bring up millions of results.
Regards
andyrpsmith
Dabbler
Posts: 23
Registered: ‎06-04-2009

Re: new website

Thanks for this I will look into the suggestions given.
Kind regards
JamesM
Grafter
Posts: 1,103
Registered: ‎24-06-2009

Re: new website

Smiley
matt_2k34
Grafter
Posts: 1,300
Registered: ‎09-07-2007

Re: new website

You will find a lot of contradictory information though, so its worth using your nogin...
Like i wouldnt recommend doing what James has done to his Titles. Your page titles should be meaningful, and succinct. However you can add lots of meta words - but be cautious as adding huge paragraph after paragraph of meta keyword can ensure you *LOSE* rankings too (e.g. if it finds your keywords are not relevant)
With a page with lots of images (like James' site) id recommend making sure *all* images have ALT and TITLE Tags (this is standard practice) but it will ensure that anyone who is browsing your site with a non standard browser (e.g. Lynx, a text only browser) will be able to tell what the image is of - it can also aid your images coming up in image searches. (e.g. alt="A landscape photo showing grassy hills in the background, with a gravel path in the foreground. At the end of the path is a wooden gate") etc. make sure they're good and descriptive - not just "logo", "photo", "<persons name>".

James - have you thought about adding any protection to your photos? they seem very copyable to me, also did you know that you can link to external CSS files - this will speed up someones browsing of your site (as they do not have to download your stylesheet everytime they change page)
Regards
JamesM
Grafter
Posts: 1,103
Registered: ‎24-06-2009

Re: new website

Smiley
matt_2k34
Grafter
Posts: 1,300
Registered: ‎09-07-2007

Re: new website

<slightly off topic, but continuing from James' response>
my personal preference is PHP, and i like to keep each individual file small (nice and fast) also a browser will open several connections when downloading a page (usually at least 4) this means that instead of getting 1 peice of information at once, potentially it can 'grab' at least 4 at once.
i normally structure my pages like this:
<html>
<title>Service Status Pages !</title>
<link href="css.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" />
       
<?php include "navibar.php" ?>
<<<<<< HTML CONTENT >>>>>>>>>>>
(this could also be changed to say, <?php include "maincontent.php" ?>

<?php include "footer.php" ?>
.....

** Note the "include" means its "including" another file - so that file has to exist or you arent 'adding' anything 😉
This is a 'fast and dirty' way of adding php elemented to a HTML page (but the file extension should be .PHP)
doing it this way means that you can use an editor like dreamweaver to do your tables etc, without the need for it to be on a 'live' php server.
As you can see my "Stylesheet" is css.css (imaginative name!) adding that one line of code- replaces the entire style sheet and makes your pages much easier to read, particularly when going back in a few months time to edit them!
You would then populate your css file as if you were doing your stylesheet in the page...
e.g.
#wrapper{
margin-left: auto;
margin-right: auto;
width: 90%;
height: 80%;
}
#content1{
text-align:center;
float:top;
background-color:#CCCCCC;
color:#FFFFFF;
padding:0;
width:90%;
height:20%;
}
.......

For example Smiley
I'm sure someone will come along and say theres a better way / more efficient way of doing this - this is my personal favourite and normally means my largest file is about 30KB.
In terms of protection, have you looked at just basic things, such as Right click Disable, Water marking. Make your pics thumbnails then when its clicked the larger images are watermarked (link to your site, your name) for example.
Regards
JamesM
Grafter
Posts: 1,103
Registered: ‎24-06-2009

Re: new website

Smiley
matt_2k34
Grafter
Posts: 1,300
Registered: ‎09-07-2007

Re: new website

@andyrpsmith Just done a quick google for the name on the site and just "schersmith" in google, You've made the front page and the top 5 links! - give it time and im sure you'll get to the top Smiley

@JamesM - its all about practice and learning. I started learning HTML at school - prior to this i'd taught myself quite abit. Since then i've taught myself how to do PHP + SQL bits, which going to college / uni has helped me refine into better methods of working. Lecturers look at my hueg list of files then look at marking me down for 'poor directory structure' - its only explain my working, and justify it that i get to keep those marks 😛
What i'd recommend doing while your still learning, i used to make a MASTER.php (then set it to read only) open this up with dreamweaver as your 'blank canvas' (e.g. the black page with all the photos put in) then all you have to do is drag in your piccies Smiley
Or, go one better and look at a peice of software such as Gallery You could use this as a CMS - design a front page and have your gallery, which can be protected with various plugins (if i remember correctly) you can also find software similar to gallery - which does your watermarking & thumbnail creation automatically when you upload a file - seriously saves some time!. Wordpress is a good tool also to play with Smiley (but i wouldnt do it on plusnets webspace... See here why
Regards
JamesM
Grafter
Posts: 1,103
Registered: ‎24-06-2009

Re: new website

Smiley