APOLOGIES IN ADVANCE FOR THIS LONG POST!

It's been exactly one week since I began setting up my site. Last weekend, I wrestled with creating a watermark. This weekend, I'm unveiling a "starter" website and asking for your suggestions, feedback, and input before I go any further.

First off� to those who are still thinking about taking this step, I say: Do it! There's labor involved for sure, but it's actually quite easy to set up your own site once you get past a small learning curve. Leo and Amanda and others involved in developing & testing SYS have done their work well.

A week ago today (Friday), I downloaded SYS and went looking for a URL. Didn't have a clue what it would be but was hoping for something like "naturestock.com" or "naturephotostock.com". Not surprising, most everything I checked was already taken by somebody else (a genuine photog or a scalper� and I didn't want to pay a premium).

Remarkably, I did find available one perfect-for-me URL, and I snapped it up. I'm now officially bestnaturestock.com. And to make it clear that I'm not saying my photography is better than anybody else's, I call the site: "Martha Marks' Best Nature Stock Photography."  It's my best work, and I do think it's pretty good overall, but I'm not claiming it's the very best nature photography on earth. I was just lucky enough to grab that URL, and I'm capitalizing on it. :-)

So, today I'd like to invite Leo, Amanda, other SYS site owners and prospects to take a look at what I've done in the last week. Not all pages are done yet. No EULA or final bio or Network Directory� stuff like that will come this weekend. But there are 7 bird pages ready for inspection. Many more species pages will come over the next few weeks.

Based on what's already done, there are four specific areas where I'd appreciate input from this group.

1. ORGANIZATION/STRUCTURE � My work falls into 5 basic categories: birds, beasts, bugs, plants, & places, so I used those words as my main menu items. Each one will have many sub-categories, like those currently under the 2 "Birds". Not every page will be filled with images in perfect grids, since I'm grouping them by species and I have more quality pics of some species than of others. QUESTIONS: Is the set-up as it is now intuitive enough for a visitor to the site? Is it attractive? Will it work for SEO?

2. SEO � I've followed Leo's advice to change the titles and URLs of all my images, so they're different from what SS, DT, FT, etc, show for these same images. I've also expanded the description section for many images and will try to do it for all eventually. This is the most time-consuming aspect of setting up this site, but I think it's worthwhile, assuming I'm doing it right. QUESTIONS: Based on a sample of the images you can see, am I doing it right? Any other suggestions for enhancing CEO?

3. WATERMARK � The WM I created last weekend shows on all the photos that click off thumbnails on the current 5 pages. I'm still trying to create a white/light version for dark images, including many not up on the site yet. (Thanks, Christine, for your effort to help with this. I'll be working on that this weekend.) QUESTIONS: Does this WM give my images enough coverage to offer reasonably decent protection? Does it look okay?

4. ADDITIONAL IMAGE PROTECTION � The 2nd paragraph on my home page explains that "royalty free" does not mean "free for the taking" and that it's not okay to steal or "borrow" images. But many viewers will go directly to the photo pages and never see that paragraph or never click to the EULA page.( I also believe some people assume "royalty free" means "FREE!!", which of course it doesn't.) 

I'm thinking of appending a similar statement to the description of each image on the site. So far, I've only done that with this one image:

http://bestnaturestock.com/image/mountain-bluebird-pinyon-pine-stock-photo/

QUESTIONS: What's your reaction to the presence of that statement under the image? Is it helpful or a turn-off? Will it hurt SEO?

I'd also appreciate your reactions to anything else on the site as it currently stands. Advice, please!

Thanks, as always, for the great, supportive community you've built on this Forum. I'm pleased to be part of it. I will network with as many of your websites as possible and hope many of you will want to do the same with mine.

Martha

I LOVE IT!

Thank you, Leo! Music to my ears!!! And I can imagine it's fun for you to see how others are taking "your baby" out into the world with so many different kinds of images.

I welcome any suggestions you (and others) may have on any aspect of my fledgling site.

I've been looking through and I can't seem to find anything else to critique. Just a generally really good start! Good job.

You have made amazing progress in a week. 

1.  I would agree with Leo that simpler is better on the logo.

2.  As you gain skills with SymbioStock theme you will pick up all the little tricks to make the site what you want.  Leo has a wealth of knowledge about what not only works but what flows well for the client.

Keep up the good work.  I love the male blue bird on the stalk.  Nice shot.

David

I'm just waking up this morning and... so nice to find great feedback here already! Thanks, Leo, QuailRun, Redneck, for your fine suggestions. I have a busy weekend in front of me and will take your advice.

Stay tuned!

Hi Martha - I agree with the others about your logo - how would it look if you isolated the bird so it was all against a white background?


Hi Solphoto - welcome, I don't think you need a totally niche portfolio for Symbiostock, mine certainly isn't !

I just tried again to go to your site and have a better look, Martha, and all I get is a spinning wheel. I clicked on the links posted in this thread and the pages just wouldnt go anywhere. Maybe you are working on it?

Not sure why it's doing that, Cathy. I haven't been working on it yet this morning. Too busy eating breakfast! But it just did open up for me. Please try again later.

Congratulations! Great start.

SANTA FE!!!!! Yay, another fellow New Mexican!!! - Btw, I'm noticing that New Mexico related images are hitting big within my own metrics on the personal website recently, and for sales so this is good (mostly northern I've noticed); both with people and without.

I'm considering doing my own Symbiostock website, however, my portfolio is very small and not niche enough. I am in web dev/ seo/marketing by trade as a day job, however.

First post btw, hope I'm not breaking any rules... 

Start your website. Your portfolio can't be smaller than mine . I recently started submitting to stock websites. Have around 50 downloads so far from different stock websites in 3 mths. I feel my pics are not of very good standard but I am trying to improve. Setting up my own website and interacting with great people due to this website has been the biggest motivation so far for me to improve. More than 50-100 likes that I get on pics on Facebook.

APOLOGIES IN ADVANCE FOR THIS LONG POST!

It's been exactly one week since I began setting up my site. Last weekend, I wrestled with creating a watermark. This weekend, I'm unveiling a "starter" website and asking for your suggestions, feedback, and input before I go any further.

First off� to those who are still thinking about taking this step, I say: Do it! There's labor involved for sure, but it's actually quite easy to set up your own site once you get past a small learning curve. Leo and Amanda and others involved in developing & testing SYS have done their work well.

A week ago today (Friday), I downloaded SYS and went looking for a URL. Didn't have a clue what it would be but was hoping for something like "naturestock.com" or "naturephotostock.com". Not surprising, most everything I checked was already taken by somebody else (a genuine photog or a scalper� and I didn't want to pay a premium).

Remarkably, I did find available one perfect-for-me URL, and I snapped it up. I'm now officially bestnaturestock.com. And to make it clear that I'm not saying my photography is better than anybody else's, I call the site: "Martha Marks' Best Nature Stock Photography."  It's my best work, and I do think it's pretty good overall, but I'm not claiming it's the very best nature photography on earth. I was just lucky enough to grab that URL, and I'm capitalizing on it. :-)

So, today I'd like to invite Leo, Amanda, other SYS site owners and prospects to take a look at what I've done in the last week. Not all pages are done yet. No EULA or final bio or Network Directory� stuff like that will come this weekend. But there are 7 bird pages ready for inspection. Many more species pages will come over the next few weeks.

Based on what's already done, there are four specific areas where I'd appreciate input from this group.

1. ORGANIZATION/STRUCTURE � My work falls into 5 basic categories: birds, beasts, bugs, plants, & places, so I used those words as my main menu items. Each one will have many sub-categories, like those currently under the 2 "Birds". Not every page will be filled with images in perfect grids, since I'm grouping them by species and I have more quality pics of some species than of others. QUESTIONS: Is the set-up as it is now intuitive enough for a visitor to the site? Is it attractive? Will it work for SEO?

2. SEO � I've followed Leo's advice to change the titles and URLs of all my images, so they're different from what SS, DT, FT, etc, show for these same images. I've also expanded the description section for many images and will try to do it for all eventually. This is the most time-consuming aspect of setting up this site, but I think it's worthwhile, assuming I'm doing it right. QUESTIONS: Based on a sample of the images you can see, am I doing it right? Any other suggestions for enhancing CEO?

3. WATERMARK � The WM I created last weekend shows on all the photos that click off thumbnails on the current 5 pages. I'm still trying to create a white/light version for dark images, including many not up on the site yet. (Thanks, Christine, for your effort to help with this. I'll be working on that this weekend.) QUESTIONS: Does this WM give my images enough coverage to offer reasonably decent protection? Does it look okay?

4. ADDITIONAL IMAGE PROTECTION � The 2nd paragraph on my home page explains that "royalty free" does not mean "free for the taking" and that it's not okay to steal or "borrow" images. But many viewers will go directly to the photo pages and never see that paragraph or never click to the EULA page.( I also believe some people assume "royalty free" means "FREE!!", which of course it doesn't.) 

I'm thinking of appending a similar statement to the description of each image on the site. So far, I've only done that with this one image:

http://bestnaturestock.com/image/mountain-bluebird-pinyon-pine-stock-photo/

QUESTIONS: What's your reaction to the presence of that statement under the image? Is it helpful or a turn-off? Will it hurt SEO?

I'd also appreciate your reactions to anything else on the site as it currently stands. Advice, please!

Thanks, as always, for the great, supportive community you've built on this Forum. I'm pleased to be part of it. I will network with as many of your websites as possible and hope many of you will want to do the same with mine.

Martha

Hi Martha, you have really nice photos. Added you to my Symbio site

Hi Martha, you have really nice photos. Added you to my Symbio site

Thank you for that!!! I'll start getting my network set up this weekend too, and will look at your site for my network.

Steve, that's a great "bug" image! I've never been very good at bugs but I admire those who can shoot them well.

Thanks - I don't take them very often but this came out nicely. It was actually hand held with a macro lens and one of those Ray Flash ring flash attachments that attach to an ordinary flash gun. It works really well for shadowless lighting of macro objects and if you balance the shutter speed/aperture to naturally darken the background, the subject stands out very nicely.
I reviewed it on my blog about a year ago if you want to learn more about it: http://www.backyardsilver.com/2012/04/review-of-ray-flash-ringflash-adapter/

Anyway, back to the subject - I would drop the statement off your home page as well. I'm sure it would annoy me if I was a real buyer (I don't think you see it on Shutterstock plastered all over the page) and I don't think it makes any difference to the non-buyer. I don't think the role of your stock site is to educate the public on the rights and wrongs of using images without permission.

Steve

I'll definitely take my "don't steal" message out of the one photo caption and not plug it in on any more of those. But... would you get rid of it on the home page too?

And yes, maybe dumping the "royalty free" message everywhere would be good. () I do think people confuse "royalty free" with "FREE!!!"  The pros know what RF means, but others don't... and it might encourage people to steal.

I'd love to hear what others think of that.

Yes, I would take it off the home page as well, you have copyright notices over all your photos and at the bottom of every web page so even I (who can get very protective of my images) do not really think it is necessary.

I also dropped the Royalty free wording from everywhere

your watermark - if you often have a focal point in the centre of your image it might be an idea to slightly offset it ?

Martha/others,  would you know if we can sell the images taken inside national park and/or zoo at royalty free or we need to sell them as editorial?

Asking in this thread because Martha has so many photos of birds

I do have releases for some dogs - they are property, especially the dogs that are breed champions

Your site is shaping up nicely!  Here are a few of my thoughts:

A sliders or a banner are a nice option to show some of your images.  I did some composite images with text overlay in Photoshop.  It took some time and was a little bit of a learning curve, adjusting sizing, getting the slider to work, etc.

A quicker way to get some images on the home page would be to utilize the Latest Images widget and the Featured Images widget.  (you can work on adding a slider and playing with home page images later, once you get further along with SEO and adding more images.

Consider adding the Related Posts widget to your image pages.  That will show other images with shared keywords when buyers view the image page.  You'll need to activate the Related Posts by Taxonomy plugin (I think it shows up as part of the theme under  plugins but needs to be activated.

As was previously noted, there is too much going on in the upper left menu.  I would leave the "register / log in cart" link, Contact, and the EULA perhaps.  There is no need for a Thank you for Registering link (I can't think of any reason someone would want to view that) an the Symbiostock links can go elsewhere.  Consider using the footer area with text widgets to include the Symbiostock and other links.

My solution for the watermark was to go with a desaturated white with a light grey bevel that gives some two-tone coloring to the mark so portions of it show on light or dark images.  The smaller text is also a desaturated white with a grey outline.  It's a bit distracting on some shots but it does seem to show on both dark and light images.  I figure that is something I can improve upon in the future.  SEO and adding images are my focus right now.

One a side note, I have a few mushrooms, chives, etc. on my site and I researched and added the botanical name, ie: Amanita Rubscens on a Blusher mushroom and Allium Schoenoprasum on the chive blossoms.  I have seen on other sites (those that list search terms) that these terms were used in searching.  I've seen that on my own site here too.  Adding scientific names and any other detail about the bird in your descriptions may help.

Good luck with your site!

Martha/others,  would you know if we can sell the images taken inside national park and/or zoo at royalty free or we need to sell them as editorial?

Asking in this thread because Martha has so many photos of birds

I think many zoos have a policy regarding photography that you agree to when purchasing your entry ticket.  I would guess that's not the same for state and national parks regarding wildlife photos since there seem to be a lot out there.  It's probably something you can research online for individual parks.  I think some do have regulations regarding use of tripods or formal shoots, ie: if you wanted to shoot mountain climbers and set up a team with lighting that would require permits.

Kisbear, those are all really good suggestions. Muchas gracias!

I've just cleaned out the upper right corner and moved some stuff to the footer. Also switched to the sidebar page layout for the home page and installed an image slider. Not sure how to make that work, however, so maybe I'll try one of those widgets. Today's leaning curve...   

The Latin names for my critters and plants are in the keywords already, but I do think I should add them to the descriptions. Maybe not until later though. Gotta get the overall site shaped up first.

At present, there are 172 bird photo pages up. (I mispoke in my note last night. There are 7 "species pages" pointing to 172 different image.) Only some 600+ to go...........  and then I'll start work on my beasts, bugs, plants, places.

Yikes! What have I gotten myself into?

@Martha: I agree that you have some great pictures and I am impressed with the number you have uploaded.  I just passed 100 this week so I have a long way to go.

@Steve and cclapper... Destructive they are but they become this:
http://quailrunphoto.com/image/moth-under-magnifying-glass/
Sometimes I mistake them for humming birds.

Yep, getting enough images up to make an impression is quite a trick. But fun too! My problem is... I'm also in the middle of writing my 2nd novel and am "borrowing" time from that project to do this one. Once I've got a respectable presence on my SYS site, I'll start alternating between book and bugs. :-)

Your site looks like a natural for me to network with, QuailRun. I love your work!

Quote from: Leo on July 20, 2013, 01:05

Quote from: marthamarks on July 20, 2013, 00:33

I welcome any suggestions you (and others) may have on any aspect of my fledgling site.

Pun intended?

Kinda, sorta, half-way intended. :-)

I'm working my way through suggestions, Leo. Yours and others. There's a lot to do but I love this stuff so am not minding the work at all. You've set up a really fine system.

Big project at the moment: getting a few colorful images on the right-hand side of the home page. Any tips about that??

Set up your best shows with a category of "Symbiostock Featured Images"  Then you can use the widget to place this group anywhere you want.  By going to the widgets section of appearance you will see the widgets on the left and the potential locations on the right. 

Have fun.

Set up your best shows with a category of "Symbiostock Featured Images"  Then you can use the widget to place this group anywhere you want.  By going to the widgets section of appearance you will see the widgets on the left and the potential locations on the right. 

Wow, that seems to be the tip I was looking for! Thanks, Quail Run. I'll see how it goes and report back.

Well, I've been at this all day and am about to close up shop for the night. Sure did get a lot accomplished since this morning... thanks to the great suggestions on this Forum. You guys are WONDERFUL!!!

I changed the header and colors of my site, moved menu stuff around, condensed my 2 "Bird" categories into one (we'll see how looooong that drop-down menu gets by the time it's done... may have to go back to two), added the first "Beasts" page and a batch of photos there, and managed to get the words "Featured Images" to show up on the bottom of my home page.

And actually, I thought I was getting a few images into that category, but they don't show up on the home page. Not sure why, so I guess that will be the next learning curve.

I also can't figure out why my Category pages (and they ARE pages!) show up like posts... with Comment sections. I didn't intend that and would like to get rid of them but don't know how. Hmmmmm.

Hasta ma�ana!

Sorry, late to this as I've been working on my own site. Addictive isn't it?

As a fellow bird and beasts type, I have to say that some of your images are spectacular, Martha.

You've done a great job so far. I love the colour scheme and understated appearance.

I know it's a work in progress and you may already be dealing with this but you have two login links above the header, both of which allow login and registration.

Russell

And a PS for klsbear - if you're using Linnean taxonomies (Latin names, in other words), genus is capitalised and species is lowercase. So for instance, your mushroom example should be Amanita rubescens and not Amanita Rubescens.

Re: Comments on Category pages:  Go to Dashboard / Pages / All Pages.  Hover over the page title and you'll see options for Edit and Quick Edit - select the Quick Edit option and un-check the "allow comments" section.  I think that will remove the comments option.

Yesssss!!!! That's it! Klsbear, you are a genius. Thank you so much. I've just taken your advice and quickly/easily scrubbed the annoying Comment sections from the bottom of those pages. Without help, I don't think I would ever have found that teensy-weensy little check-box in the Quick Edit section.

I appreciate your help in this very much, and I look forward to helping others as they build their own sites down the road.

And a PS for klsbear - if you're using Linnean taxonomies (Latin names, in other words), genus is capitalised and species is lowercase. So for instance, your mushroom example should be Amanita rubescens and not Amanita Rubescens.

Thank you for the info Russell.  I'll make the correction.  I'm not the scientific type so my knowledge was gleaned from other websites and I must have overlooked that nuance.

Quote from: klsbear on July 20, 2013, 20:44

Re: Comments on Category pages:  Go to Dashboard / Pages / All Pages.  Hover over the page title and you'll see options for Edit and Quick Edit - select the Quick Edit option and un-check the "allow comments" section.  I think that will remove the comments option.

Yesssss!!!! That's it! Klsbear, you are a genius. Thank you so much. I've just taken your advice and quickly/easily scrubbed the annoying Comment sections from the bottom of those pages. Without help, I don't think I would ever have found that teensy-weensy little check-box in the Quick Edit section.

I appreciate your help in this very much, and I look forward to helping others as they build their own sites down the road.

LOL - not a genius by far.  It took me about an hour to find that location for the dominant check box when I was trying to turn ON the comments for my blog.  I had the option activated in the Discussion areas but it wasn't visible, and the full edit section doesn't override it either.  I finally found it hidden in the Quick Edit area after searching all options.

LOL - not a genius by far.  It took me about an hour to find that location for the dominant check box when I was trying to turn ON the comments for my blog.  I had the option activated in the Discussion areas but it wasn't visible, and the full edit section doesn't override it either.  I finally found it hidden in the Quick Edit area after searching all options.

Well, I'll be happy to know where it is if/when I get around to adding a blog to my site. To me, that's the appropriate place for comments, and I will welcome them there.

I still say... you're a genius! :-)

Am I the only one who leaves the comment box switched on for images?  When looking around other people's sites I would quite often like to leave a comment on a picture but there is never an option, I thought they helped with seo?

My images have the option to leave a comment however it's not the big comment form that was showing on Martha's page, it's just a single comment line at the bottom that is relatively unobtrusive.  I'm not sure how that format is showing there (or if it's active on all images).  If I can figure that out I'll share what I discover.

A quicker way to get some images on the home page would be to utilize the Latest Images widget and the Featured Images widget.  (you can work on adding a slider and playing with home page images later, once you get further along with SEO and adding more images.

KLSbear, since you've been so helpful, I just went back and read your post of yesterday, because I remembered it had a lot of important info. Maybe now you can guide me to success with that Featured Images widget.

I've created a category called "Featured Images," which now shows up at the bottom of the Home page. (I set it for that.) Then, on several bird/critter pages I clicked that category and saved it. Thought that would make those images show up on the home page. So far, only the words Featured Images appears there, but no images.

Any chance you know of some other magic button to click to make that happen?

When you're ready to add your blog be sure to take note of the option in the upper right to "schedule" posts instead of publishing immediately.  You can change the publish time (this changes the button text from Publish to Schedule) which allows you to write several posts whenever it's convenient and schedule the publish time for a date in the future so you have regular updates without being tied to manual publishing.

I agree...great tip.

Featured images - assign images to Symbiostock Featured Images category that is generated with the theme, then use the featured images widget to put them where you want

I'm trying to recall if it was dependent on which home page format you're using.  I remember selecting the CTA (Call to Action) home page but for the life of me I can't find where that option was now!
Found it!  If you go to the All Pages option and select the Quick Edit option for your home page you can see the dropdown with templates.  Try switching to the other options and see if that works.
Before you try that however, you may want to go to your Symbiostock management page and on the Settings tab, down at the bottom, is a check box to Update Public Images.  You may need to trigger that to get it to show images initially.

Featured images - assign images to Symbiostock Featured Images category that is generated with the theme, then use the featured images widget to put them where you want

That's helpful! But... exactly *where* do I go to find the SFI category that is generated with the theme? I haven't yet spotted that anywhere.

Unless you have deleted it it will be in the list of categories that you can assign images to when you are editing them to do titles , descriptions SEO, exclusive/non exclusive etc

Normally if you look at   www.sitename/image-categories/  all the image categories would show up but on your site it is a page not found, maybe because you are setting them out differently to everyone else?

Create a new category if it is not there called  Symbiostock Featured Images   and add 6 images to it (or 12) then add the widget to your page using the CTA template

The 2nd paragraph on my home page explains that "royalty free" does not mean "free for the taking" and that it's not okay to steal or "borrow" images. But many viewers will go directly to the photo pages and never see that paragraph or never click to the EULA page.( I also believe some people assume "royalty free" means "FREE!!", which of course it doesn't.)

by Steve
I would drop the statement off your home page as well. I'm sure it would annoy me if I was a real buyer (I don't think you see it on Shutterstock plastered all over the page) and I don't think it makes any difference to the non-buyer.

I agree with Steve, that it is best to drop the Royalty Free term. A compromise solution might be to mention RF rather than full wording.


 

Quote from: Les on July 21, 2013, 21:00

Quote

The 2nd paragraph on my home page explains that "royalty free" does not mean "free for the taking" and that it's not okay to steal or "borrow" images. But many viewers will go directly to the photo pages and never see that paragraph or never click to the EULA page.( I also believe some people assume "royalty free" means "FREE!!", which of course it doesn't.)

Quote

by Steve
I would drop the statement off your home page as well. I'm sure it would annoy me if I was a real buyer (I don't think you see it on Shutterstock plastered all over the page) and I don't think it makes any difference to the non-buyer.

I agree with Steve, that it is best to drop the Royalty Free term. A compromise solution might be to mention RF rather than full wording.

I am getting web traffic when people are searching "Free Vatican photo" , Free Venice photo etc.
I think Getting traffic and clicks is good for SEO and placement. But for sure these clicks and traffic will not turn into $.  Hasn't happened so far.

Be patient, remember its the summer which is when most of us have the fewest sales. Sales will come as the network gets bigger. Also take time and work on your SEO. Those so far that have reported sales have all done work on their SEO as I understand.
SEO is a slow but worthwhile process.

PS:  I have been using Slideshow for my site.  Simple and uses your existing image library instead of having to upload images again.

Quote from: quailrunphoto on July 22, 2013, 01:27

I went to your web site this evening to take a look at your changes.  Unfortunately it never finished loading, it appears to be stuck on trying to load the Featured Images. 
Anyway, check it out.

Same here. A blank space after the heading Featured Images then the footer. No pics. And it takes a while for that much to load. I checked on my computer and ipad, both are the same. :-(

That's helpful info. I've pulled the plug on the slide show. It was too big on the page anyway. But it was fun to get something like that working after bashing my head against the widget wall for several hours yesterday!

I think the problem is that it uploaded the original large files from my computer, which seemed odd at the time. I didn't see the long delay, but obviously my Mac already had them in its memory, so no problem for me. You guys had a normal experience, and it didn't work.

I'm going to look for something simpler.  Maybe Slideshow, as Quail Run mentioned. Or maybe no slide at all, just a clean, simple interface. However, I do feel the need for some photo or other on my home page, so will keep trying different things until something is just right.

Thanks, ya'll. Learning curve continues...

That's a promising way to go, Quail Run. I'll give it a try. You guys are great!

PS... finally got my EULA worked out and posted on the page. I'm calling it "Image License Agreement" since that seems easier for an ordinary buyer to understand than "End User..." I borrowed bits and pieces of legalese from a bunch of others, then put it into my own words. Hope that's okay.