Re: AIS Website--first paragraph

[Jill Bonino <aistreas@earthlink.net>]

Thanks Bob for putting something out as a starting point...

I prefer Discussion #2 about selling the Society, and I would edit it so that
the person reading it is reading "bullets".  In other words, make it less like
text and more like a list.  People's eyes will go to what interests them and
perhaps we can have a link with each "bullet"..

The bullet list can be surrounded by pictures!

I agree that when AIS incorporated and where can go on an "historical" page.

Jill

-----Original Message-----
>From: Robt R Pries <rpries@sbcglobal.net>
>Sent: Feb 13, 2008 9:16 AM
>To: aisdiscuss@aisboard.org
>Subject: Re: [AISdiscuss] AIS Website--first paragraph
>
>The topic of why people reach our website and how we
>sell them when they first get there has been on my
>mind for some time. I would like everyone to spend the
>time to read two examples I have created. Discussion
>#1 emphases key words which would make search engines
>display our site; and Discussion #2 emphases selling
>the society. If each of you could comment on these
>openings I would appreciate it.
>
>Discussion #1
>Including lots of key words that could attract
>members.
>
>Introduction to AIS
>
>AIS is a non-profit organization providing objective
>information on Irises. AIS is the backbone of the
>worldwide Iris information network, promoting
>research, registering cultivars, and connecting our
>membership. As a member you support the organization
>of the Iris community and are alerted to the newest
>developments in Iris. The systems of judges, shows and
>awards, celebrate the best of the genus. Local
>affiliates can provide advice for your area.
>
>The diversity of the genus offers something for all
>types of gardens, from the perennial border, to water
>gardens, to alpine collectors, and native plant
>enthusiasts. There are irises for every climate and
>every garden. We invite you to explore the rich
>diversity of more than 250 species and thousands of
>exciting hybrids.
>
>The society produces a bulletin 4 times a year showing
>the latest in Tall-bearded Iris and all the other
>groups. Specialty groups with newsletters include ten
>categories, from Iris species, Siberian Iris, Japanese
>Iris, Dwarf Iris, Aril Iris, Louisiana Iris, Pacific
>Coast Natives, Spuria Iris, Reblooming Iris, Historic
>Iris, and Median Iris..
>
>Instead of presently;
>
>Welcome to the American Iris Society (AIS) website. We
>hope that you will find this website an informative
>and helpful resource to all kinds of iris information.
>
>Website updated: September 19, 2006
>The American Iris Society is a nonprofit institution
>incorporated February 2, 1927, in the County of
>Philadelphia, State of Pennsylvania. By the terms of
>the Charter, the Corporation has no stockholders and
>exists for the sole purpose of promoting the culture
>and improvement of the Iris
>
>Discussion #2
>The first impression that is made when a new person
>comes to our website is important.  Does anyone really
>care when and where we are incorporated Iris.]
>It seems more important that we say who we are and
>what we do. Perhaps something like the following.
>
>The American Iris Society is a community of plant
>enthusiasts who have found in Irises,  durable and
>rewarding garden plants. The enormous diversity of the
>genus provides marvelous and exotic cultivars for a
>great variety of gardening situations, from the
>perennial border, to the rock or water garden. As a
>member of this network you help further research,
>guide the development of new plants and act as a
>guardian of the vegetative heritage that has been
>passed along from member to member. We invite you to
>become a participant in our gardening community and
>allow us to enrich your life with the world of iris.
>
>I ask which of the above opening statements would
>intrigue one to learn more?
>
>--- Robt R Pries <rpries@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
>
>> John is correct in his analysis of metatags. They
>> are
>> probably not as important as they once were. My
>> understanding is, that Google has people that
>> constantly review websites and tag keywords. Until
>> recently they were not going past the first page so
>> only topics that appeared on the first page were
>> tagged. I understand they are trying to refine this
>> by
>> going somewhat further. They do count how often a
>> site
>> is accessed for a certain keyword that was searched.
>> Since the adwords campaign AIS has moved up the list
>> so we now often appear in the first or second page
>> of
>> a search, whereas in the past it was often many
>> pages
>> back. Since the reviewers creating these indexes
>> probably barely read the text, it is important to
>> have
>> the keywords that we would want indexed for our site
>> on the first page. I would junk the initial
>> paragraph
>> that says when we were incorporated and place it
>> somewhere further back. Right now you are more
>> likely
>> to get AIS on a search of incorporation than a
>> search
>> of Iris. Words like Iris culture, shows, etc may be
>> more important to have in the first paragraph. It is
>> not easy to choose words that will be captured by
>> the
>> indexers and still have a sensible opening
>> statement.
>> Everything is complicated.
>> --- John I Jones <jijones@usjoneses.com> wrote:
>>
>> > Well this is embarrassing, it appears that we
>> don't
>> > have any. I had
>> > assumed we did. (Of course you know what that
>> > means...)
>> >
>> > Just FYI, to see what metatag keywords are on any
>> > webpage, open the
>> > page in your browser then from your menu bar
>> select
>> > View Page Source
>> > (or something similar depending on your browser)
>> >
>> > The line near the top that says :"<META
>> > NAME="keywords" content=""
>> > contains the list of keywords that are used.
>> >
>> > The more sophisticated web crawlers (the programs
>> > used by the search
>> > engines to rank and categorize you web pages) like
>> > Google's actually
>> > look at more of your web content and how often
>> your
>> > site is cross
>> > listed and a bunch of other parameters that I
>> don't
>> > know a lot about.
>> >
>> > So metatag keywords are not anywhere as useful as
>> > they were
>> > originally. Part of the problem is that comanies
>> > would put the name
>> > (s) of their competitors and competing products in
>> > their keyword list
>> > to to get more attention (who can blame them) and
>> > so, to get better
>> > results for the searcher, the search engines
>> started
>> > using other
>> > algorithms like checking the actual content of the
>> > pages.
>> >
>> > Yes Lynn, if you have a list of metatag keywords I
>> > would like to see
>> > them.
>> >
>> > Thanks
>> >
>> > John
>> >
>> >
>> > On Feb 13, 2008, at 12:55 AM, Lynn wrote:
>> >
>> > > Hi John,
>> > >
>> > > What metatags do we have for our AIS website?  I
>> > know that when I
>> > > had my
>> > > website, my webmaster said that the larger the
>> > metatags file was
>> > > the more
>> > > apt I was to have my website accessable to
>> search
>> > engines and the
>> > > closer to
>> > > the first 10 website listed in a search.  I
>> think
>> > I worked out
>> > > quite a large
>> > > number of searchable words and phrases for my
>> > metatags file.  If
>> > > you are
>> > > interested, I'll try and dig around in the
>> > basement for the box I
>> > > still have
>> > > on Harmony Iris Gardens website.
>> > >
>> > > Lynn Williams
>> > >
>> > > -----Original Message-----
>> > > From: owner-aisdiscuss@aisboard.org
>> [mailto:owner-
>> >
>> > > aisdiscuss@aisboard.org]
>> > > On Behalf Of John I Jones
>> > > Sent: Tuesday, February 12, 2008 10:17 PM
>> > > To: aisdiscuss@aisboard.org
>> > > Subject: Re: [AISdiscuss] AIS Website
>> > >
>> > >
>> > > On Feb 11, 2008, at 11:56 AM, MORRISJE1@aol.com
>> > wrote:
>> > >
>> > >> What is the cost to become a "sponsored link?"
>> I
>> > suspect many
>> > >> people  don't
>> > >> have the patience to search to Page 7 to find
>> > AIS.  They are more
>> > >> likely to
>> > >> find AIS via the Schreiners Garden link.
>> > >
>> > >
>> > > Bob Pries explained Google AdWords (the
>> mechanism
>> > that leads to being
>> > > a sponsored link) at the Fall 2006 Board
>> meeting.
>> > >
>> > > Basically you bid for the best position in the
>> > list of the search
>> > > results page. You pay everytime someone clicks
>> on
>> > your link. The cost
>> > > could be anywhere from $.05 to $50.00 per
>> > click-through depending on
>> > > how high you want to be on the list.
>> > >
>> > > When I searched on "Iris" I found the American
>> > Iris Society as the 3d
>> > > listing on the second page.
>> > >
>> > > Positioning is not constant. It depends on time
>> of
>> > day, how many
>> > > people are bidding for the best spots, and how
>> > they have their
>> > > keywords set up.
>> > >
>> > > It also depends on how well we have our metatags
>> > set up on our site
>> > > (metatags are one of the things that the
>> > webcrawlers look at when
>> > > rating your site along with some more and more
>> > sophisticated
>> > > algorithms)
>> > >
>> > > At any rate, the cost is not truly predictable
>> and
>> > can be expensive.
>> > >
>> > > Bob has been doing some experiments with it on a
>> > limited basis, and
>> > > had a proposal for some specific landing pages
>> > within the AIS website
>> > > to better manage the click-throughs.
>> > >
>> > > John
>> > >
>> > >
>> >
>>
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>> > > http://www.aisboard.org/lists/aisdiscuss/
>> > >
>> > >
>> >
>>
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>>
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