Search engines finding forum posts

[Ilaria Rosselli Del Turco]

I am experiencing a problem with my posts here on the forum, and I wonder if there is a solution.

As I am posting with my name, I have realized that if someone googles me my site is very low on the google result pages, while my posts here show at first place. ( Actuallly my website has recently disappeared from google searches, I guess I must do something to the index page subtitles)

Recently one of my clients, while looking for my website, has seen her daughter's portrait here while I was trying to sort it out with you all here, much before it was finished.
Again another client of mine has told me she has been reading all the comments of her son's portrait!
With the RSPP exhibition opening, if someone googles me I would like him to end up on my website rather then having a glimps behind the scenes.
I am actually thinking that a possible solution could be posting under my married name.
Any input?
Ilaria

[Allan Rahbek]

I believe that the WIP section is our own, members only, to look into. I think a little about that when I post.
Allan

[Michele Rushworth]

Forum posts are pretty much open to the public. Because of the high amount of traffic this site gets it's not surprising that these posts would show up fairly high in a Google search. To avoid that you could use your married name for Forum posts, if you like. Good idea actually!

[Claudemir Bonfim]

Nowadays some judges are considering theses posts virtual help. I think they are not going to cause any trouble, but it would be better if only members could access this area.

[Lacey Lewis]

Yes, I just looked at the forum index and there are 74 users online: 4 registered and 70 guests.

I think it is wonderful that other artists can view the threads and learn from what they see, but at the same time it would be nice if more areas, for example critiques, were for members only.

Using a different name here is a good idea. Is that allowed on this forum?

[Claudemir Bonfim]

Originally Posted by Lacey Lewis

Using a different name here is a good idea. Is that allowed on this forum?

Well, it would be funny, Beth has called me once Romeo, maybe I'd use this ID

[Steven Sweeney]

Originally Posted by Claudemir Bonfim

Beth has called me once Romeo, maybe I'd use this ID

You're kidding!

She calls me Romeo, too!

Actually, that's not true. But it's a good story.

[Elizabeth Schott]

Ah you're both my Romeo's...

Ilaria this is why I don't post for critiques here, I don't think any professional should be doing that for the very reason you have stated.

I know I have inquired and perhaps others too - to get a password protected area where the SOG Artist and/or Juried Members could post an issue like the moderators do on this forum.

I think we would all need to contribute more to Cynthia if she does do this, I am not sure it's a big deal but it certainly would be a big help. I think for her to change everyones names would be a bigger nightmare!


Oops... I forgot, Jeff when you did the Google did you notice if the sites that came up were designed and hosted by SOG? That could make a big difference too.

[Steven Sweeney]

Though the set-up was prior to my having 512KB removed from my memory when I turned 50 (which wasn't a recent event), my recollection is that the Works in Progress (WIP) topic was specifically created to block access to any non-members, for precisely this reason.

Without doubt, Google picks up the threads on the Forum that are open to anyone, members or not.

But do any of you have any experience in seeing Google pick up posts from the Works in Progress (WIP) topic? If so, then that would be useful information for Cynthia, I assume.

If not, then there's one solution -- namely, when seeking input on an ongoing commission, use the WIP topic. Unless there's a glitch in the software, access to that topic should be blocked unless a user has signed onto the Forum with a user name and password.

Theoretically.

Google spiders are very frequent "guests" on this site (there almost every time I look), as they are on every other site throughout the world. That's why you get 3,992,083 hits in .002 seconds for even a complicated natural language query on an esoteric topic.

It's actually a word to the wise. Artists who have, say, unflattering personal opinions about other artists and who publish those opinions on Internet forums (it has even happened here! -- though, thankfully, not recently) effectively publish them to the world, including the authoring artist's clients.

[Elizabeth Schott]

Steven thanks, I didn't know that about the WIP.