William Long explains "My passion for dancing drove my photography"

Originating from the UK, William Long studied both the performing and visual arts. Starting his professional life as a performer, resulting in a 17 year career as a Principal Ballet Dancer with The Scottish Ballet.

William's photographic career effectively began in 1975, quickly establishing a niche market in Europe, within the highly specialised field of ballet & performing arts photography. His work evolved to include a varied range including corporate, commercial & advertising photography.

The  1990's brought about a permanent move to Australia, forming Longshots Photography; concentrating on the exciting and varied world of Corporate, Industrial, Advertising and Studio photography.

How long have you been picking up a camera?

Amazingly its been over 35 years now. I’m not sure if I’m surprised as to how old I am, or the fact that in photography, there is always something new to discover or learn, so you barely notice the time going by.



Did you always know that you wanted to be a photographer?

No. I wanted to be a dancer from the age of 5. And after a similar style “Billy Elliot” story, I joined a leading theatre school in London, moved to Rambert Ballet School as a student, joined Northern Ballet as a soloist, and then moved on to become a Principal Dancer with The Scottish Ballet. It was because of the move from Northern to Scottish, that I had 4 weeks holiday wages due to me from Northern, and I was starting with Scottish. So like any other young guy with too much money in my pocket, I blew it all on a whim of wanting a camera. A Nikkormat with a 50mm lens. Brilliant, the thing was bomb proof it was so well built.

What is your speciality as a photographer?

Well I bought the camera, because I was frustrated by photographers not understanding the technicalities of dance/ballet. And I innocently believed that I could have a go, considering I did understand ballet. I soon found that other dancers, and then other dance companies were buying my work or commissioning me to shoot their next production. And because of that, I began to have a dual career, as a ballet dancer and performing arts photographer.



Once my camera was bought, almost immediately, I started to photograph my fellow dancers in rehearsals and class, and it was like a light bulb moment, when I decided after the 2^nd or 3^rd roll of film, that I was going to be a dance photographer. And thats what developed, a speciality market, where my dance training, experience and knowledge gave me a much higher edge over any non dancing photographer . And so I now photograph heavy industrial sites and buildings...... ah the never ending journey of discovery.

When your not shooting for clients, what kind of images do you like to shoot?

Most of my work would now be labelled as “Commercial”.

I love architecture, and heavy industry, but I enjoy shooting just about anything really.



You have been an international judge for many years now, how did you first get into judging?

I remember it was about 17 or 18 years ago, I was asked if I would like to judge at Qld Pro Photography Awards, and then I think the same year at APPA. I've been a deputy chairman of jurors at APPA’s and chairman of jurors at Qld level numerous times. I also panel chair at National and State awards. I enjoy judging at any level.

Do you think there are extra considerations to be made when entering an International versus Local competition?

Not not really. The formula, if there is one, to ensure that what you’re entering is the very best work you can enter, and that its flawless in the production. At the end of the day, the subject matter can be hugely subjective and what will appeal to one judge, may not appeal to another. Which is why I think that the APPA and IAA judging systems work so well.

It's been said many times that entering a competition is more than just winning. What do you take out of a competition when you enter?

What I get out of it is the satisfaction of continuing that photographic self motivation, that constant push to produce something that would be an award image, not just in my eyes, but in the eyes of the judges.

What are the first 3 things you look at in your images when you enter a competition?

Composition, Subject Matter, Light.



What advice would you offer photographers entering a competition for the first time?

Have a go. Check everything. Put your print up on the wall and stare it for a week or longer. Seek alternative viewpoints, and importantly don’t justify your reason of liking it, just listen to all views and opinions. Some of the best advice I’ve received is from those who have no involvement in photography. Although I never thought I would say this, winning isn’t everything, taking part is the most important part. Photographic competitions aren’t similar to a simple athletic race, but are judged on so many subjective variables, that a winning image from one competition isn’t necessarily going to be judged as high in another.



You can find out more about William at http://www.longshots.com.au

Entries to The 2010 International Aperture Awards close on 15th October.

6 ways to improve your photography website.

In my last post about photography websites I wrote that I'd give you 6 easy to understand ways that you could look at adopting to get your website traffic moving again.

A few of the most important things to consider in the assessment of your site is the user experience.

1. Am I giving people a reason to visit my site?

2. Am I giving them a reason to come back?

3. Am I making it easy for them to tell others about me and my site.

Put yourself in your visitor's shoes. You visit websites don't you? Well think about the sites you visit often. What is it that appeals to you about those sites? Is it the content, or the ease of use or the community they attract?

Now look at your site. What appeals to you about your site, apart from the fact that your name is splashed across it.

Does it tick any of those boxes that you find so attractive in your favourite sites? I hope so.

When assessing your site you have to look past the pretty pictures and think like a visitor.

Ok here come those promised tips. No need to hold onto your seat for startling revelations, or to get out your abacus for advance calculations on predicting web traffic. Most of this information relates to common elements to think of when implementing a website but are quiet often forgotten.

1. Why are they here? - Why are people visiting your site? "How the hell should I know?" you say. If you don't have a website traffic statistics program on your site this is the first thing you should look at implementing. If you don't know why people visit your site and what they are looking at, how are you going to improve their experience? "Ummm,  I do what to what now?" Implementing a stats program sound super technical? Well its not. One of the easiest to implement is Google Analytics. All you need to do is create a Google account. You can add your website to your profile and then you Cut & Paste a section of code into the bottom of your website pages. This is probably beyond most people's web skills but your web developer can implement this for you in under an hour. If it takes them longer you may need to look for a new developer. Nudge, Nudge, Wink, Wink, Know what I mean, Know what I mean.
2. Make it easy to use - Find it hard to navigate around your own site? How do you think your users feel. If your familiar with your site and still find it hard to use your users are going to be completely lost. Make your site navigation obvious, having funky clever navigation is great, but if it's impossible to find or use you are going to lose visitors.
3. Give them a reason to come back - Why would anyone visit my site more than once? This is an important question to ask yourself. A great way to build your traffic is by increasing your chance of returning visitors. If someone visits you more than once they are more likely to recommend you to others.One of the easiest ways to increase the likelihood of returning visitors, is to add a blog to your website. "But I have nothing to stay!" Huh! You do so. You shoot jobs don't you? Why not post one or two of the images from each job on the blog with a short description. No one ever said you had to write an essay. This gives you multiple benefits. The client from the job has something to share with friends, family or co-workers. Its a great showcase of your skills to general web traffic and having new information on your website all the time shows Google and other search engines that your website is active and they will push you higher up the rankings over more dormant websites.
4. Sharing is easy - Have you ever visited a website and thought "Oh Jane would be interested in this, I'll send it to her." Adding sharing links to your site means that it is easy for people to spread the word. Most people think about sharing websites or articles but if they have to manually copy links and address' it usually becomes to hard and they don't bother.A really easy way to add the ability to share your website pages is by using AddThis. Addthis is another free easy to implement widget that can be placed in any part of your website. Create a free account and choose your button style. All you have to do is cut & paste a small section of code onto your page. Again its a quick job for your web developer to implement. Add this will give your users the ability to bookmark, print and share your pages on all major social networking sites.
5. Network - Social networking can be a great way of driving traffic through to your site. Get on Facebook. Create a Facebook fan page for your business. Start tweeting. Facebook and Twitter can be great ways to bring in addition traffic to your site. On the flip side they can be a great way to waste huge amounts of time. God Damn you Bejewelled!!!!! But if you treat them like a marketing tool instead of endlessly catching up with friends from primary school you can tap into huge viral networks. Put follow me on Facebook and Twitter buttons on your website (that's right make it easy for your visitors.) and then post links to the latest information or happenings related to your business.
6. Offer Incentives - This relates back to giving people a reason to visit your website. Offer exclusive website discounts and promotions. If your customers know that you offer online deals and specials it will soon grow your website traffic and your sales.

Think about the ideas that have been put forward here. Make your site easy to use, encourage your users to talk about and share your site and give them a reason to keep coming back.

And remember if you don't know what your visitors are doing when they visit you website you are working blind. Adding visitor statistics is not hard to implement or understand and it will make a big difference to understanding your audience going forward.

What do you give a man who has done everything? An Interview.

Bill Hurter started out in photography in 1972 in Washington, DC, where he was a news photographer. He even covered the political scene, including the Watergate hearings. After graduating with a BA in literature from American University in 1972, he completed training at the Brooks Institute of Photography in 1975.

Going on to work at Petersen's PhotoGraphic magazine, he held practically every job except art director. He has been the owner of his own creative agency, shot stock, and worked assignments (including two and a half years with the L.A. Dodgers). He has been directly involved in photography for the last thirty five years and has seen the revolution in technology. In 1988, Bill was awarded an honorary Masters of Science degree from the Brooks Institute.

In 2007 he was awarded an honorary Masters of Fine Arts degree from Brooks. He has written more than 35 instructional books for professional photographers and is currently the editor of Rangefinder and AfterCapture magazines.

How long have you been picking up a camera?

I didn’t pick up a camera until junior year in college. I got hooked right away and took four classes with Washington Star-News picture editor, Don Moore, who suggested I pursue it further professionally. He helped me land a job with a small news agency in Washington, D.C., Reni Newsphotos, where I held U.S. Senate and White House press cards six weeks after landing the job.

Did you always know that you wanted to be a photographer?

No, not at all. Not until I was almost 20 years old. I wanted to be the great American author… Ernest Hemingway. Oh, well.

What is your speciality as a photographer?

I started out as a photojournalist, but enjoyed the structure of portraiture. After two years as a journo, I went back to school, Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara, CA and majored in Portraiture. It was the absolute right thing to do for me.

When you’re not shooting for clients, what kind of images do you like to shoot?

I like to shoot graphic images and images that have inherent stories. I was an English major in college and enjoyed all aspects of the narrative. When I got into photography, I thought the narrative element should be a part of every picture I took.



You have been an international judge for many years now, how did you first get into judging?

I first started judging here at WPPI, when they didn’t have enough judges to fill a panel. So I would sit in. I realized I knew enough from picture editing for the magazines (Rangefinder and AfterCapture) to be a pretty discerning judge.

Do you think there are extra considerations to be made when entering an International versus Local competition?

Absolutely. One has to discount a lot of one’s own cultural preferences in favor of a more open-minded approach to the images. This is especially true of wedding photography, where customs and rituals are different in every country around the globe.

It's been said many times that entering a competition is more than just winning. What do you take out of a competition when you enter?

Well, personally I don’t enter contests any more, but I think competitors should not rely on winning or losing for self-justification. It has always been my philosophy that one should enter print competitions to learn and as a quality check, to see how your work stacks up against your peers’ work.

What are the first 3 things you look at in your images when you enter a competition?

Trick question, isn’t it? Impact, impact, and impact. No, seriously, impact. An image has to, in some way, take your breath away. Surprise you or enlighten you. Aside from all the technical details being in tow, the image has to bring you to a higher intellectual or spiritual level by virtue of its existence.

What advice would you offer photographers entering a competition for the first time?

Roll the dice and see how you do. It’s not life or death, it’s a print competition. Your self worth as a person or a photographer is not at stake. But you can learn a hell of a lot from entering. Sometimes all of us are in a bubble of our own making and we need a reality check, usually provided by discerning print judges.

You can find out more about Bill at http://billhurter.com/ or http://billhurter.wordpress.com/

Entries to The 2010 International Aperture Awards close on 15th October.

Pixel Purity + Nikon D3S + Redrock Micro = Awesome!

As part of the lead up to the release of Pixel Purity, Dan and I are spending the week capturing a series of interviews with some fantastic well established Melbourne photographers across a range of specialty fields.

Kayell Australia have loaded us up with some amazing gear to do the shoots. Check out some of the behind the scene shots of us playing with the equipment and testing it all out in my kitchen last night.



It was a simple setup with a couple of old 500 watt tungsten lamps I had in the office. We used one to flood the background, and used a defuser  on our key light. Simple is best!



We were blown away by the quality of the output we got from the Nikon D3S on live capture video mode.  We had alot of fun setting up the shoot and playing with the gear.

The Gear list

1 x Nikon D3S with 28 - 70 2.8 lens

1 x Redrock Micro DSLR eyeSpy Deluxe

2 x 500 watt tungstan lamps

1 x Lastolight 1.2 x 2m collapsable background

1 x Lastolight triangular defuser / reflector

2 x Manfroto tripods

1 x Senheiser shotgun mic

1 x 4 channel powered audio mixer



Nikon D3s

12.1MP, Continuos Shooting up to 9FPS, HD Video Capture up to 24fps HD Video, Low Noise ISO Sensitivity 200-12,800, Dual CF Card Slots, Accurate 51, Point AF System, 3" LCD Monitor

Red Rock Micro eyeSpy Deluxe

The eyeSpy line of DSLR rigs are ideal for any filmmaker who wants a shoulder-mounted ergonomic support system for their DSLR. The eyeSpy Deluxe Bundle builds on the Standard Bundle by adding the combined convenience of counterbalance weights for a perfectly balanced system, and a follow focus for pulling accurate focus.

Lastolite Skylite Scrim

Medium Premium Kit 1.1m x 2m includes: 1.1m x 2.0m Frame, Sunfire / White Reflector, 1.25 Stop Translucnet Diffuser, Grip head, Handle, Bag

7" LCD Monitor

A portable high resolution 1.2 Mega pixels LCD monitor, offering HDMI and Composite video which is a perfect solution for HDMI output cameras, as well as DSLR. It has a strong and lightweight magnesium alloy shell, and easy to mount on top of camera as an additional viewing source.

Here's a sample of our shoot.

Tenacity, Passion and Self Belief...Catherine Hall talks about what drives her as a photographer.

Award-winning editorial photographer Catherine Hall is a masterful visual storyteller, powered by boundless energy, creative artistry, and a gift for connecting with others. With assignments as diverse as corporate/ industrial shoots, fine art portraiture, and fashion-lifestyle work, Catherine nimbly serves the needs of her broad-based clientele. Her projects to date have taken her to 30 countries within North, Central, and South America; Europe; Asia; and the Trans-Pacific.

Catherine's flair for building trust and connecting easily with subjects is prized by clients, as is her passion for perfection, easygoing nature, and out-of-the-box artistry.

While she gives her all for each and every frame she shoots, checking backgrounds, flattering angles, lighting, depth of field, and composition. She achieves her most dramatic results when she follows her heart and gut.

Catherine's award-winning images have been exhibited in galleries in Paris, New York City, the San Francisco Bay area, and Lestans, Italy, near Venice. Her work is featured regularly in prestigious publications, among them The New York Times, Sydney Morning Herald, San Francisco Chronicle, and National Geographic Traveler.

How long have you been picking up a camera?

I enrolled in my first photography class, a course offered by my high school arts department, when I was sixteen-years-old. The first image I ever shot and developed was a close-up of a horse’s marble-black eye, with several green farm flies buzzing within the frame in soft focus. At the time, I thought I was a renegade! Looking back, I blush at my naiveté.

Once, for an open house event, my instructor offered me the opportunity to curate a small exhibition of my own work—my first-ever solo show! At the event that night, I overheard a parent ask my instructor what he thought of my photography. “She’s gifted, but she’ll never make it as a professional,” he said. My reaction? I’ll show you, I thought.

And, ultimately, I did.

Did you always know that you wanted to be a photographer?

As a teenager, I always had an inkling that I might become a professional photographer. I didn’t realize it was possible, though, until I dove headlong intro transforming my passion into a commercially-viable undertaking. Negotiating that first commission requires courage—you have to believe in your gifts enough to place a worth value on them.

At the end of the day, photography is a labor of love for me. I’ve heard people say that they could never transform their passion into their business, as it would ruin their joy for the art form. I don’t find that to be true. I only fall more and more in love with every day that I spend honing my craft and growing my business. I wake up every morning excited to do what I love.

What is your specialty as a photographer?

I’m attracted to complex, diverse imagery. My editorial work exhibits an inclination towards a dark beauty. My professional wedding photography allows me to find psychological and aesthetic balance in sensual, wrapping light and the female form. It allows me to document the extreme fantasies of beauty.

When you’re not shooting for clients, what kind of images do you like to shoot?

To date, my photography has taken me to over 30 countries. Photography gives me the impetus—indeed, the license—that I need to immerse myself in another culture, learn through experience, and forge relationships I wouldn’t otherwise be able to.

You have been an international judge for many years now, how did you first get into judging?

Interestingly, it wasn’t my original intention to be a judge! At the beginning of my career as a professional photographer, I chose to be very proactive about entering a lot of competitions, as I desired to bring exposure to my artwork. This played a significant role in carving out my name in the industry, and my role as a judge came as a natural extension of that.



Do you think there are extra considerations to be made when entering an international versus local competition?

I am less concerned about the scope of a competition then the style. It’s important to educate yourself about the parameters and expectations of entrants. What is the contest about? Is it conservative? Do they prefer traditional lighting or are they open to experimental lighting? Do they prefer daring editorial photos or textbook, conservative photographs? The most important aspect of entering a competition is to gear your entries toward your audience.

It's been said many times that entering a competition is more than just winning. What do you take away from a competition when you enter?

Participating in the Aperture Awards competition has been particularly influential for me as a photographer. Typically, contest judges make their decisions behind closed doors, without offering feedback after the winner is determined. One of the great things about the Aperture competition is that the judges have the option to comment.

Several years ago, two Aperture Award judges provided me with commentary about one of my entries, explaining that while my image was wonderfully composed, the lighting was flat. These judges are respected photography professionals, to whom I looked up. While I already intuitively knew that my images were flat, the message finally hit home when coming from the judges.

Learning why I hadn’t won proved even better than winning—it challenged me to begin exploring lighting techniques that have transformed my images for the better. It’s not winning that matters; in the end, the point of life is personal growth.



What are the first three things you look at in images when you judging a competition?

When judging, for me the three most important components of an image are - the lighting, composition, and expression. It’s something technical and, at the same time, something psychologically gripping.

What advice would you offer photographers entering a competition for the first time?

Seek feedback from others—family, friends, and, most importantly, colleagues and peers who are also photographers. Don’t just enter what you think is good, because all artists are biased about their work. And it’s crucial to listen. Often, it can make all the difference to let go and trust the insights of others.

You can find out more about Catherine at http://www.catherinehall.net or http://twitter.com/catherine_hall

Entries to The 2010 International Aperture Awards close on 15th October.

Is your photography website a lame duck?

A question I am asked more and more often is “Why doesn't my website get any traffic?” A simple question with a complex answer.

In the online world or Interweb as my grandmother calls it, the phrase

“If you build it they will come.” is wrong. What it should be is

“If you build it, market it and keep it fresh they will come.”

This article could be applied to any website. But inline with the fact that we work almost exclusively with photographers in developing websites and competitions, I am going to write a series of articles on how to take control of your photographic website, understand why you're not getting traffic and give you some practical tips and information to get it moving again and turn it into the marketing tool is was most likely designed to be.

Where to start, where to start?

The first thing I usually ask when developing a site for someone is “Why are you here?  Who sent you?  Are you from the government?”

Once I get my paranoia out of the way I ask “What is it, you want this site to do?”

Now the answer to this question gives me a good idea on the direction the site needs to take and the framework it will need to support it.

"I want my site to showcase my amazing photography."

"I'm not sure, my friend told me that I must have a website. So here I am."

"I want a way to interact with my clients."

"I want a blog, they look cool and I want to share my thoughts and knowledge."

"I want an online gallery where I can sell my images."

If I build a blog style website for someone who wants to sell their images online I'm going to have an unhappy camper.

But further to that the clients going to have a website that they will push into the too hard basket because it doesn't do what they want it to do.

Ok now's the point where you pause and think about your site.

Does it do what you want it to do? Is it hard to use? When was the last time you looked at it? Do you know how many hits you get?

If the only reason you have a website is so that you have something to put on the bottom of your business card or a reason to get excited when you Google your own name (Don't pretend you haven't. We all have at least once.) you should probably stop reading now.

For the rest of us here is some basic information on where traffic comes from for the average under performing website.

Google Search 65%

Returning Visitors / Direct Traffic 15%

Referral Traffic  10%

Other Search Engines 10%

As you can see getting your site indexed and optimised correctly for Google is one of the biggest factors that will affect the success of your website.

Your now thinking yeah it's all well and good to say I need to be optimised for Google, BUT I'm no webhead! I cant spell html! And I don't go by the online name of Lovemachine768.

An easy way to gauge how well your website has been setup is to go to Google and type in your name or the name of your business.

Are you on the first page of results? Are you in the top 5 results. How much is the top spot on Google actually worth?

According to data from the Chitika network, it’s worth a ton – double the traffic of the #2 spot, to be precise.



Reference: http://chitika.com/research/2010/the-value-of-google-result-positioning/

So how does Google work out your ranking? Your ranking is calculated based on a number of factors but the major ones to pay attention to are;

Meta Data or Meta Tags

I know your thinking “Speak english man! “

Meta Data is the hidden information in the head of each page of your website. Its made up of the Page Title, keywords and a short description of the page content.

Page Content

This is the text, videos, galleries, images and links that make up each page of your website.

Backlinks

“Hold up there propeller head, I thought I warned you about that tech speak!”

What are backlinks? Backlinks are links from other websites that are linking back to your website (Referral Traffic).

Once you get your Google optimisation sorted out this is your next challenge. I'll go into methods of increasing your backlinks in a future article.

Freshness

What do I mean by freshness? What I mean is how often do you add new content to your website? Blog entries, videos, image galleries, links, news, seminars, workshops, etc.

If not prompted to do other wise Google will come and look at your website (Spider) every 10 – 14 days. If your site hasn't changed or had any new content between this visit and the last your website will either stay at its current ranking or even drop positions.

As you can see creating your website is only the beginning. In the next article I'm going to focus on 6 easy to understand steps that will help your site to start climbing the Google ranks towards that Number 1 spot.

N@

Is your website a lame duck?

A question I am asked more and more often is “Why doesn't my website get any traffic?” A simple question with a complex answer.

In the online world or Interweb as my grandmother calls it, the phrase “If you build it they will come.” is wrong. What it should be is “If you build it, market it and keep it fresh they will come.”

This article could be applied to any website. But in line with the fact that we work almost exclusively with photographers in developing websites and competitions, I am going to write a series of articles on how to take control of your photographic website, understand why your not getting traffic and give you some practical tips and information to get it moving again and turn it into the marketing tool is was most likely designed to be.

Ok, where to start, where to start?

The first thing I usually ask when developing a site for someone is “Why are you here? Who sent you? Are you from the government?”

Once I get my paranoia out of the way I ask “What is it, you want this site to do?”

Now the answer to this question gives me a good idea on the direction the site needs to take and the framework it will need to support it.

I want my site to showcase my amazing photography.

I'm not sure, my friend told me that I have to have a website. So here I am.

I want a way to interact with my clients.

I want a blog, they look cool and I want to share my thoughts and knowledge.

I want an online gallery where I can sell my images.

If I build a blog style website for someone who wants to sell their images online I'm going to have an unhappy camper.

But further to that the client is going to have a website that they will push into the too hard basket because it doesn't work the way they want it to do.

Ok, now is the point where you pause and think about your site.

Does it do what you want it to do? Is it hard to use? When was the last time you looked at it? Do you know how many hits you get?

If the only reason you have a website is so that you have something to put on the bottom of your business card or a reason to get excited when you Google your own name (Don't pretend you haven't. We all have at least once.) you should probably stop reading now.

For the rest of us here is some basic information on where traffic comes from for the average under performing website.

Google Search 70%

Returning Visitors 10%

Referral Traffic 10%

Other Search Engines 10%

As you can see getting your site indexed and optimised correctly for Google is one of the biggest factors that will effect the success of your website.

Your now thinking yeah its all well and good to say I need to be optimized for Google, BUT I'm no webhead! I cant spell html! And I don't go by the online name of Lovemachine768.

An easy way to gauge how well your website has been setup is to go to Google and type in your name or the name of your business.

Are you on the first page of results? Are you in the top 5 results.

How much is the top spot on Google actually worth?

According to data from the Chitika network, it’s worth a ton – double the traffic of the #2 spot, to be precise.

Reference: http://chitika.com/research/2010/the-value-of-google-result-positioning/

So how does Google work out your position? Your position is calculated based on a number of factors but the major ones to pay attention to are;

Meta Data

I know your thinking “Speak english man! “

Meta Data is the hidden information in the head of each page of your website. Its made up of the Page Title, keywords and a short description of page.

Page Content

This is the text, videos and images and links that make up the page.

Backlinks

“Hold up there propeller head, I thought I warned you about that tech speak!”

What are backlinks? Backlinks are links from other websites that are linking back to your website.

Once you get your Google optimisation sorted out this is your next challenge. I'll go into methods of increasing your backlinks in a future article.

Freshness

What do I mean by freshness? What I mean is how often do you add new content to your website? Blog entries, videos, image galleries, links, news, seminars, workshops, etc.

If not prompted to do other wise Google will come and look at your website (Spider) every 10 – 14 days. If your site hasn't changed or had any new content between this visit and the last your website will either stay at its current ranking or even drop positions.

As you can see creating your website is only the beginning. In the next article I'm going to focus on 6 easy to understand steps that will help your site to start climbing the Google ranks towards that Number 1 spot.

N@