Welcome to the latest edition of The Artists Newsletter!This week we shall look at Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and of course have a round up of news and info on The Artists Web and beyond 

SEO 101

We’ve added some new tips to the wiki regarding SEO, here’s the ‘Basics’ section for the How To Get Your Artists Site In Search Engines article:Really there are two aspects to consider when ‘optimising’ your website for search engines, what you do on your site and what the rest of the internet is doing in relation to your site.

Your Own Site

Mainly, it is important that your site properly accessible to all visitors, the page titles are good, the site generally has good quality content and you have some relevent outgoing links to other sites of interest, see the section below about Search Engine Optimistation. If your site is not properly accessible to search engines, it simply won’t be listed at all.

The Rest Of The Internet

However arguably of much greater importance is what the rest of the internet is doing in relation to your site! You can have the best website in the world, but if no other websites mention or link to your site then you will be buried at the bottom of the search engine results. You could think of the other websites linking to you, mentioning your site as your reputation on the internet. Even if your site is excellent, if you don’t have a reputation you won’t get many visits just like if a very talented artist has no reputation then they have trouble finding buyers!Full Article: How To Get Your Artists Site In Search Engines.

Getting Listed In The DMOZ DirectoryAnd following on from the SEO article, you’ll no doubt be thinking about adding your site to the DMOZ directory: How to get your website listed in the dmoz directory

Recent Forum Posts

Date	Subject	Member
28/06/2007

EVALUATING YOUTH ARTS PROJECTS – limited availability!!
Date: 27 November 2006 Venue: Paddington Arts, London Time: 9.45 am- 4 pm
This creative, interactive one day workshop explores the benefits of meaningful evaluation of youth arts projects. Beginning by addressing preconceptions around evaluation (constructive exercise or chore?) the course will progress to examine methodologies, structured approaches and case studies using a series of collaborative exercises and tutor led presentations.
An excellent course for evaluators, youth workers, project managers, artists, local authorities, arts organisations, volunteers or youth arts workers. Informative and practical, this course will provide you with a toolkit of ideas, and help you develop your own individual approach to creative evaluation and the confidence you need to engage with evaluating youth arts projects.
Delivered by Artsplan, the in-house training provider of the English National Youth Arts Network (ENYAN). ENYAN and Artsplan are delivered by Artswork, the national youth arts development agency.
Prices (inc. lunch, refreshments & VAT):
ENYAN Full Members benefit from an additional 10% discount on any prices below
Supported: Freelancers/individuals/Youth Service – £95 Reduced: Voluntary Organisations/Charities – £115 Full: Public Sector/Commercial Companies – £135 Bursary: volunteers/unemployed/ Reg. Disabled – £47.50
Special offer!!!: Anyone booking on to an Artsplan course also benefits from a special offer price of £10 on the Youth Arts Directory – an invaluable resource for all those working within the youth arts sector.
How to book: If you wish to make a booking for the above courses please pick up an Open Course Booking form from Paddington Arts, London or download a copy from our website ( http://www.artswork.org.uk/artsplan ) and send with a cheque payable to ‘Artswork’ or details for invoicing.
Further details can be found on line at http://www.artswork.org.uk/artsplan or by contacting Jay Barron, Artsplan Development Manager at mailto:artsplan@artswork.org.uk , tel: 023 8063 0960, or Artswork, Fairways House, Mount Pleasant Road, Southampton, SO14 0QB.