Smugmug and Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

My Smugmug hosted photos are next to impossible to be found on Google and other Search engines.

I just read "Google's Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide" found on Google's SEO Starter Guide page

I am really surprised to see all the hints they are NOT following and how many of the 'avoid's that they ARE doing on Smugmug.

To me this fully explains why Smugmug is doing so badly in Search Engines.

Smugmug have just introduced Smugmug's Feature feedback forum and one of the topics is "Improve our search engine results (better SEO)"

I gave it 3 votes and added the following comment:

It would be a good idea to follow all the tips and avoids described in the document "Google's Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide" found on Google's SEO Starter Guide page

This includes - but not limited to:

Page titles,
Meta data,
URL-structure,
One URL per image
Navigation (HTML + XML Sitemap)
Anchor text
Use of heading tags
Image file names
Quality content
Duplicate versions of the same page.

Add to this a per image preferred size to be indexed. (Size do matter - Google has Small, medium, large and XL)

I was under the expression that they had already started improving this (postet on Dgrin), but this SEO issue is only "Planned". Hopefully they will start soon.

Update July 5, 2009

The Smugmug feature request Improve our search engine results (better SEO) is no longer planned. The status has changed to 'null' - 'nothing'. I hope this is not true.

If you are a Smugmug user - frustrated of not being found by Google and other Search Engines - Go and vote for this SEO-issue request - and do post your frustration on Smugmug Dgrin Forum.

I'm still hoping that Smugmug will take these SEO-issues serious one day, but by hope fades.

Does anyone knows about a SEO-friendly image hosting site?

Update August 25, 2009

Smugmug released a SEO-update and plan to release more later. Please check out my latest post about Smugmug and Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

Save the albatrosses + New About Me Smugmug page

Changed my About LichtenHansen - Allan Hansen in Smugmug.
Much better than the previous version- more photos and better text.

I also added a link to Save the Albatross. These magnificent birds need all the help they can get.

New navigation bar in Smugmug

I have changed the navigation bar on my SmugMug site. I wanted it to be horizontal and I was not happy about the solution found on Smugmug or Dgrin. I enden up using the idea found on Free CSS Drop-Down Menu Framework. I can highly recommend this solution for a horizontal drop-down menu in Smugmug.

The final horizontal navigation bar can be seen on my web site: Horizontal navigation bar in Smugmug.
Especially take a look at the Galleries nav link - multible level navigation bar - not bad at all.

Lemaire Channel + Gentoo penguin on Panoramio

2 new photos are published on Panoramio:

1.

Lemaire Channel, Antarctica.

Lemaire Channel. The Antarctica scenic highlight. Steep cliffs hem in the iceberg-filled passage, which is 11 km long and just 1,600 meters wide at its narrowest point.

I hope - if you come to Antarctica – that you will see the Lemaire Strait in fine weather like this. The Antarctic Peninsula does have a lot of beautiful sceneries, but this strait is outstanding. This photo is only a 2-dimentional image of this place, and it doesn’t tell the whole story . I guess you have to see with our own eyes to believe it.


2.

Gentoo pengion chicks begging for food.

Hungry Gentoo pengion chicks begging for food at Booth Island, Antarctic Peninsula, Antarctica.

From Wikipedia:

The Gentoo Penguin (pronounced /ˈdʒɛntuː/), Pygoscelis papua, is easily recognized by the wide white stripe extending like a bonnet across the top of its head. Chicks have grey backs with white fronts. Adult Gentoos reach a height of 51 to 90 cm (20-36 in),[1][2] making them the largest penguins outside of the two giant species, the Emperor Penguin and the King Penguin.

Two eggs are laid, both weighing around 500 g. The parents share incubation, changing duty daily. The eggs hatch after 34 to 36 days. The always hungry chicks remain in the nests for about 30 days before forming creches. The chicks molt into sub-adult plumage and go out to sea at about 80 to 100 days.



See more of my photos at Photos on Panoramio - Google Earth by LichtenHansen

King penguin search page changed

I have changed the layout on South Georgia Island and King penguin as 4 of the thumbnails are indexed with the word "larger size".
The link is moved down a bit, so that the title is just below the photos.
I have to wait another 2-3 weeks to see if this helps.

update 2009-08-04:
Changed link.

Update 2009-08-25:
Changed link again to reflect URL structure changes in Smugmug.

Update 2010-10-12:
Changed links to my own web site, as I am closing down my Smugmug site.

Panoramio - New photos

Published a few new photos for the Panoramio contest: Unusual landscape photos by Allan Hansen

1. Landscape with ocean view at New Island, Falkland Islands. Black-browed albatrosses are nesting just below the rocks with orange lichens.
Entered the Travel category.

2. Icebergs and Adelie penguin rookery near Palmer Station on Ansverse Island in Antarctica.
Entered the Unusual Location category.

2. Fiskenet hængt til tørre i aftenlys ved Tempelkrogens bådelaug ved Ågerup / Arnakke på Sjælland, Danmark.
Entered the Scenery category