My organic search % is currently 12%
I think the SEO is working

How are others doing on organic search %

Tell me where you are getting the numbers and I will share. I have Yoast SEO, webmaster tools and google analytics. I havent had a chance to get into them all in-depth. So far I have been monitoring indexed images and pages.

For me, organic search % is 34.6 %

It measures how well you are found in search engines. So it indicates your SEO

Would tell ya if knew where to see it. No pies or worldmaps on my dashboard. Have google analytics, yoast etc installed....

Quote from: zeamonkey on August 02, 2013, 07:16

Would tell ya if knew where to see it. No pies or worldmaps on my dashboard. Have google analytics, yoast etc installed....

Just in case people are looking in the wrong place, it's on the Google Analytics Dashboard, not your WP one.

If it's not already there, you can add a widget as a pie chart if you want. Mine's just a straight metric (and is currently 13%, for the record).

I looked on the wp dashboard, and the ggogle analytics in wp dashboard, but those are just settings, no pie charts. I am assuming you mean outside of wp altogether and on the ga site. I will look tonight.

For me I was willing to try it but the time it takes to both learn this web based technical stuff and still focus on shooting is not feasible for me.  Leo and the other developers must be highly commended and encouraged to do this type of work.

I am more looking for a ready made package or solution that only requires minor tweaks as a lay user.  Thats the main reason I have been toying with photoshelter and ktools.  They have ironed out huge the bugs and still have many.

I love the symbiostock model but I would have liked to see the integration of sites that are using other scripts be included into the network, then I believe that many more users would definitely be on board.  Not sure how that can happen though if it is not wordpress.

Quote from: fotomelange on August 02, 2013, 12:27

I love the symbiostock model but I would have liked to see the integration of sites that are using other scripts be included into the network, then I believe that many more users would definitely be on board.  Not sure how that can happen though if it is not wordpress.

The buying process is too clunky with SY/WP. I can't see the SY network taking off as a viable option for buyers when they have to register for every site they visit. I think the best option currently available is for photographers to join up with Photoshelter and merge together into a virtual agency, which has been done repeatedly by others. Their SEO is pretty weak, but the buying process being smooth is absolutely imperative and I just don't think there is a better option than a Photoshelter virtual agency at this time.

I believe that it is possible that the code for Symbiostock be changed so that registration is optional.

Quote from: ShazamImages on August 02, 2013, 14:19

I believe that it is possible that the code for Symbiostock be changed so that registration is optional.

Thats one of those things I'm trying to get to soon.

Leo:

That brings up a question.  You have stated that you are burnt out (and I don't blame you) and want to move onto other things.  I also notice that the code is at GitHub.  Is there any plan for a group of people to basically take over the coding and make generic changes to the code base?  What are your thoughts on this?

You have stated that you are burnt out (and I don't blame you) and want to move onto other things.

Yep! Most burned I've ever been in my life. Side effect of my whole reality being based on a monitor. But until the premium version is out I can't walk away or even ignore the forums, or its all for nothing.

The biggest encouragement has been seeing the network grow, so that keeps me motivated. After the premium version is out and confirmed to be stable, I will be letting things run themselves for a while. I guess there's a very good reason Symbiostock-type solutions never existed before! Their extremely hard to produce.

I heard of this thing called "kickstart" but I never looked into it

Quote from: djpadavona on August 02, 2013, 14:09

Quote from: fotomelange on August 02, 2013, 12:27

I love the symbiostock model but I would have liked to see the integration of sites that are using other scripts be included into the network, then I believe that many more users would definitely be on board.  Not sure how that can happen though if it is not wordpress.

The buying process is too clunky with SY/WP. I can't see the SY network taking off as a viable option for buyers when they have to register for every site they visit. I think the best option currently available is for photographers to join up with Photoshelter and merge together into a virtual agency, which has been done repeatedly by others. Their SEO is pretty weak, but the buying process being smooth is absolutely imperative and I just don't think there is a better option than a Photoshelter virtual agency at this time.

I believe that it is possible that the code for Symbiostock be changed so that registration is optional.

I have been with Photoshelter for three years. Sold 2 pics but spend almost a fortune  . They say their SEO, system, network reels in buyers. Well, not for me obviously. I didn't want to be without my own image website ready to sell, so I started looking for alternatives and had just started tinkering with CMS account Photo Video Selling Script when Leo announced the idea of Symbiostock. I instantly dropped the CMS account script because of the open source, community driven, networking, SEO features of Symbiostock. Never looked back.

Granted, there are still huge drawbacks to overcome, one of these being the registration process. But Symbiostock is not even half a year old and is being developed at a pace that can make people dizzy. Can you even imagine where we will stand by end of this year? I can't. But I am confident Photoshelter, kTools and co. will have a hard time competing. Just watch if you don't want to jump in now.

Here are the scenarios I see Symbiostock could developing into:

worst case: further development stops soon and virtually no image buyer cares. I will have virtually no sales but my images website at a fraction of the price tag of Photoshelter. Not too bad. But is it really worth the effort?

likely case: some of us are already there and reporting sales volume in the middle tier range. Quite possible Symbiostock will show such results for most of us soon. Good. Worth the effort? Maybe not saleswise but it feels good and gives you hope for the time coming when microstock falls apart for contributors because the best case scenario might come true some future day.

best case: Symbiostock develops into a game changer of this industry. Middlemen are cut out. Eventually even SSTK stock will crumble. Hilarious. Definitely worth the effort.

Back to work on ImagoBorealis now.

I have been with Photoshelter for three years. Sold 2 pics but spend almost a fortune  . They say their SEO, system, network reels in buyers. Well, not for me obviously...<snip>

If you ever go on the PS fora, there are quite a few threads on how cr4ppy PhotoShelter's SEO is. They're hoping that their new HTML5 based sites are going to improve SEO.

There's an active discussion thread on there at the moment regarding a forum discussion on LinkedIn and this is a copy and paste of one of the replies:

One comment from the photo buyers that replied to the thread that surprised me a bit (but shouldn't have) is that they do not use search engines like google/bing to locate images.

They first go to the big stock agencies they have accounts set up with.
Then they will try photographers they have previously dealt with and liked, or are refereed too.
Then they will try smaller places like photoshelter.
And as a last resort if nothing else works and they are desperate will try google.

Images returned in the search engines like google/bing are a big unknown,
unknown if available for licensing,
from unknown source,
unknown previous use,
unknown pricing.
Basically a lot of time and effort to track down the originator just to verify if the images are even for sale.
And time is something they usually do not have

...

Interesting from a Symbiostock point of view, no?

Interesting from a Symbiostock point of view, no?

They reach their target market very well. 

Another thing is that Photographers are sold / converted on the thing they appreciate most - VISUALS. A perfected photographer's site has little left for search engine optimization. A friend of mine here wanted to set up a photographer portfolio site, and he showed me a template he especially liked - certainly beautiful and flash driven. But 0 benefit for getting found - which is the whole point of having a site!

When I was laying the foundation for the Symbiostock project I had the exceptionally rare opportunity to talk to some key people in the business, who had enlightened me on how a few agencies / companies like this worked. I simply cannot go into detail on it.