TOPIC: Update the outdated. Website questions? Ask @JannieHo.
Apologies to our guest, super illustrator Jannie Ho--the conversation last night was impossible to shape into a more reader-friendly Q&A; we've provided a list of highlights instead.
Please check out Jannie's website, the awesomeness of which was the inspiration for the chat.
Note: Jannie recently updated to a Wordpress site, using the Headway premium theme.
Alert chatters provided a link to a purchase promo currently running for Headway theme packages; and suggest a Twitter source for Headway support at #headwaywp.
Advice/suggestions/comments regarding illustrator websites:
1) Keep the site as simple as possible: it's not necessary (and possibly frustrating to busy ADS) to add animations, etc.
2) Consider opening directly onto a gallery page--the fewer clicks to get to your art, the better. However, opening with your blog might move you higher in search engines.
3) Provide your name and contact information on EVERY page; if an AD prints samples from your site (and some do), your name should be on them.
4) STOP USING FLASH: makes sites slow to load, hard to bookmark; not SEO-friendly; doesn't work on iPhone/iPad; ADs may be unable to download images.
5) make sure your site is mobile-compatible, as many ADs report surfing for talent from smart phones.
6) ADs repotedly like thumbnail organization; thumbs should be shrunk from originals, however, not cropped into obscurity.
7) Opinions divided on wisdom/effectiveness of providing pdf portfolio on website. Pro: handy for ADs to print samples for prospective clients; Con: makes it easier to steal images. Chatters point out that there are ways to add security, but NO image on a website is ever totally safe.
8)Questions raised in regard to performance of Wordpress in controlling SEO for images. Some use the NextGEN gallery plug-in or Flickr to display images.
9)Choices for monitoring visits to your site: StatCounter; Google Analytics; or statistics provided by The Authors Guild Web Services
10) If you have an established blog, consider exporting content to new web site, or placing a link to the existing blog on your site.
11) Edit content on your new blog: get rid of old, outdated work; keep it fresh.
12) Don't include styles in which you do not want to work.
Thanks to all for your insight! Full transcript below:
#kidlitart 12-9-10
No worries! Thanks for having me. It was a great chat!
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