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Posts: 1,153Girls, what are the key words that should be be put into the search engine, for a website?
I haven't got a clue and I need your help.
Thanks so much........ :hug:
nanc
Nancy, I'd love to help you, but I'm afraid I don't understand your question. Can you rephrase???
Jare Hares & BearsI'm with Shelli on this one...
Do you mean what keywords should you use to describe your web site? as in the meta tags?
Or do you want keywords to look up for a web site?
Patsy Lake BearsI would think Nanc means meta tags ..if so I would be intrested as well ......but I could be wrong
UKi would put things like
hand made bears. mohair bears, artist bears, 
things like that
Posts: 1,153This is how my web designer put it to me.........
Hi Nancy,
If you can type out a list of keywords for me to implement into your site for the search engines, that would be great. Usually I do this but I don't know teddy bear stuff well enough to know the right words.
You can type the keywords like this:
teddy bear, teddy bear artist, hand made teddies, teddy bear
The words, or string of words, should have commas between them. Just use any words that people would type to find a bear. END
That is all I know...I am not familiar with these things :doh: but I do know this is very important.
Thank you all so much for responding.
Nanc.......
Nancy, also state the materials like mohair, synthetic, needle felting and orginal designs, one of a kind, open mouth needle sculpting ect. Think of things you do your bears. Yorkies ect. Think of what you made type in to find bears critters ect. Hope that helps.
Lynn
OH, metatags! Okay.
Disclaimer: I don't really know what I'm doing.
I do know, though, from what my friend Andrea told me, that metatags are indeed what allows search engines to "find" you. That, and as Kelly pointed out in another thread, your TEXT content (not anything contained in an image or photo.)
I tried to cover all bases and used as many meta tags as I could think of. I don't know if it matters, but I put FIRST those words which I thought would most readily identify me (my business, my name, my product.) It looks something like: Potbelly Bears, Shelli Heinemann, teddy bears, teddy bear, artist bear, mohair bear, mohair, artist, plush, fur, mink, ... and so on.
I'd actually love to learn from someone more in the know -- because I never took the time to investigate, and chose to cover my bases -- whether you need to use metatags which are precise. By that I mean, if I put metatag "bear", and someone searches "bears," will they find me? Or must I put both "bear" AND "bears" to get those hits?
Nanc, just use your imagination, and be sure to include not just bears, but your little mice, and other creative descriptors. Someone who knows you for your mice might search "mouse", so you want to be sure they can find you.
If you want to see what metatags look like, go to the home page of my website, www.potbellybears.com. Then, in your browser, go to the top menu bar and click VIEW>PAGE SOURCE. You will get a window showing the html/javascript programming on my webpage (which, let me remind you, my program wrote for me; I can't read it to save my life.)
Near the very top, at the left side you will see where it says METANAME=KEYWORDS, followed by a bunch of descriptors like the ones I mentioned above. You'll also note there's a METANAME=DESCRIPTION, which is a tagline I have used to describe my bear making business. I try to keep to that same tagline no matter where I post a "description" -- such as at a teddy bear listing, etc.
You can see for yourself that these keywords don't appear on the HOME page of my website, for visitors to view. However, the search engines can "see" them, buried within the coding, and this is how websites get found.
Hope this helps!
Good luck!
Posts: 1,153:dance: :hug: thank you SOOOOO much. I think I have it all covered now. I copy pasted a couple of your responses and sent them to Carrie and then worked on what I thought would be searched.
My brain just went blank, but you gals gave me a whole lot more ideas.
I greatly appreciate all your time to help.
hugs...
nanc.....
Gatehouse GalleryThanks so much for this thread gals and guys, I'm right in the middle of getting my website redone by a professional and I hadn't thought of what words I would need. Now I can be ready when she asks me the same questions and I won't feel like a dope and have to ask what sh'e talking about :dance: :dance: :dance:
Jare Hares & BearsHere are some keywords that might help... Remember to only use keywords that relate to your site.
Teddy
Teddys
Teddies
Bear
Bears
Teddy Bears
Hand Made
Hand Crafted
Mohair
Angora goat
Old Fashion
antique-style Teddys
Modern Bears
Artist made
Plush
Synethic
domestic Plush
Imported Plush
Glass eyes
Sew on Eyes
Excelsior
Poly fill
fully jointed
the list goes on and on.
There are several free keyword searches out there.
I use googles https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordSandbox
This is also helpful when creating a listing on ebay you can see related keywords that people looked up when looking up the keyword that you typed in.
Hope this helps,
Jared
Ooh, cool, Jared! Thanks for posting!
Posts: 1,153You gals are THE BEST!! :clap:
Thank you so much. :hug:
Glenys, I am glad this will help you too. I can't say that I felt like a dope...just un-educated in the field of web design...and I knew it was an important part of it and I didn't want to make a mistake at this point.
I was sure you gals would have the answers I needed and as usual ... you did! 
Jared, your entry was most helpful. In fact I sent it on to Carrie too. She does great work at a very reasonable price but mainly does animal related sites...as for cat and dog breeders. She was a very good customer of mine (mink bears) and I decided to ask her to do my site because I knew she did this and I wanted to patronize her as well.
Shelli, I also copy/pasted your earlier entry to Carrie as well as Lynns and she asked me if you have a sister named Kathleen. Carrie bought one of her kittens from her. I didn't know if you had a sister who was a cat breeder or not, so I told her I would ask.
Ok...off to take pictures of my new auction.
Thank you again for all the responses!
Nanc.......
Posts: 1,153:doh: Shelli, it would have to be your sister-in-law !!! I just put down what Carrie had asked and it just dawned on me, the last name would have to be your married name. Wake up Nanc.........
No Carrie Heinemanns in any part of my family, blood relative or otherwise. My ex-husband, from where the Heinemann name derives (I kept it so it matched that of our sons), is actually from Germany -- was born there, came to the US at 3 years of age -- so every Heinemann that's most closely related to him, and once was to me by marriage, is somewhere in mid-Germany. Siegen, to be exact, and vicinity.
It's a more common name than I would have thought! There's also a huge educational publisher called Heinemann
I would love to have a cat breeder in my family, though; we own four, all of them from rescues. So I guess you could call me a cat person! (But not a "cat lady;" you know, one of those sad souls surrounded by tiny porcelain figurines of kitties, and needlepoint pillows of kitties, and no human company to speak of... but lots of kitties.)
Baird'sBears So that's how it works. Thanks, everybody. I'm just wobbling into the baby-websteps, but it's a relief to actually understand! :hug:
Eileen
Posts: 1,153No Shel...her name is Kathleen Heinemann...Carrie is the lady who is doing my website. Sorry for the confusion.
My gorgeous Bootsie Boy is from the pound. A lady who was moving into an apartment took all 4 of her cats to the pound (I can't imagine, especially since our pound is NOT a no-kill). He is the biggest love, half Ragdoll and other parts of something else. But, he has the 'Ragdoll Flop'...when you walk near him, he immediately flops down and rolls on his back for a possible tummy rub. I want to get him a friend but I am so afraid I won't find a perfect cat like Bootsie. He doesn't eat plants (so all my plants are safe)...he makes no messes, no mistakes, no bad habits and tolerates anything...even things he doesn't like and comes running when I call him.
Anyway...any Kathleen's in your family?
Eileen, I hope there are alot of future 'webbies' out there that will be able to glean some useful knowledge from this thread. :dance:
nanc..
Nope, no Kathleens. :)
Sometimes people get in circumstances where they just can't take pets with them; I hate that such things happen, but I have empathy for that.
However, once, at the pound, I heard an employee talking about how someone dropped off a cat because it didn't "match" their new furniture, which was blonde. 
I hate that WAY more.
I'm of the generous mind, I think, that it's okay to rehouse animals... if you do so responsibly, investing time and effort, making sure they move on to a nice home which you have personally approved. Except for the most stark of emergencies, of which there are some, occasionally.
Anyhoos...
My kitties are loves, but they're totally wacko. SEALY loves LEGO; my son Toby despairs, as he inevitably finds some of his "best" pieces under the sofa, where SEALY has batted them. Both SEALY and GINGER eat paper, so we are continually picking up 1/4", saliva-covered bits of paper pulp they have half-digested and then drooled out. And CHANCE actually puts the kids to bed; when I walk them up to say goodnight and turn lights out, I kid you not, EVERY SINGLE NIGHT he jumps on whatever bed I'm attending, and sits down, and makes this little screeching sound, and purrs, and then when I move to the next room, he follows me there... and then ultimately, back downstairs, or to my studio, or wherever I'm going next. Funny kitty.
My newest cats, which were entirely feral when I got them from a local rescue, MUST be part ragdoll. Especially the girl gets floppy -- although she's still fairly skittish around people, having spent too much of her very young time under a porch fed by a neighbor. I got them for free, because nobody wanted them! And seriously, they are two of the most beautiful cats I've ever seen.
I posted this before, but here are my four kitties, whom I love.
Nancy,
I know Jared gave a lot of useful words. DH, who works in computers (programs and does other stuff I don't understand), told me to put basic words like bear, bears, teddy, etc. on every page of your site. Make sure you put at least those basic words on every page. On I Love Teddies, I put bear, bears, teddy and teddies on every page. Hope this helps.
Shelli,
I love when people rescue animals. I've volunteered for a cocker spaniel rescue group before, and I don't understand how people can be so mean. Those dogs are so loving and appreciative. My mom's 2 cockers were abandoned in their back yard. When I was volunteering, I gave some of the dogs baths and one had skin problems because his owner made him stay in cat litter. He was so sweet and had lost most of his hair. He just sat there with these loving eyes. We're in an apartment now and just don't have the space or backyard for a dog although we do get to babysit my mom's cockers. I can't wait to get a house and give some rescue dogs homes.
Jare Hares & BearsI forgot to mention when using keywords also remember to use common misspellings they can turn up hits for you too.
Teddies is correct
Teddys is incorrect
But both will turn up hits so use both.
Posts: 1,153Thanks to all of you :clap: Your responses have given me way more than what I had. Hopefully I have it all covered now.
Love your cats Shel.... they are all beautiful!
How lucky for them, they found such a sweet new mom!
There is a beautiful cat at our pound that is in a foster home. I would take her in a minute, but it says she (and that is the first problem, SHE) is used to being 'top kitty' and has a queeny syndrome. I don't think Bootie would care for a pampered female... :pray: :doh:
I would like to get him a friend tho...I am looking for a male kitten, one that he can 'raise'.
Merry Christmas to you all and thank you again. :hug:
Nanc....
