Website Tips? (how to link all your sites without going overboard)

[brienna]

I've been revamping my art website for ages, now adding links to ETSY, youtube, tumblr, deviantART, facebook, zazzle, twitter, flickr... etc., the list seems endless!

My question is what do you all recommend for button icons, widgets, and other ways of linking to your millions of social media sites including Etsy to make them all easily accessible without going overboard (I've just decided to leave out things like kaboodle, pinterest, digg, etc. as they don't seem to help my website or Etsy shop directly)? I tried little buttons, but I'm having trouble formatting, then I thought widgets, but they take up space... ultimately do you think this Media Links page works (example: http://www.brienna.net/id7.html )? Or should I simplify even more? I've also included links on the bottom of every page... is that a good idea? I've also got a whole page dedicated just to my Etsy shop which I love ;o), but I'd love to have other ways to link everything.

I'd love other sellers' advice ;o) thank you so much!!! Hope this is a good question for Etsy Success and hasn't been explored already.

Brienna

[Former_Member]

I'd love to know this too

[Former_Member]

Great question..... I'd love to figure this out too.... :)

[brienna]

aw, thanks littledogslaughs and crabandlion, hope we might hear some good answers from other sellers who deal with this as well. I do hope I've tackled it well enough on my site for now, would love a second pair of eyes, hah!

Brienna

[brienna]

hmmm, changed it a bit by adding the links at the bottom of the page and cleaning up the background image to simplify things... I think I'm happy with it, there are always a million things I still want to do, but I'm still curious what others have done or what others think ;)

Brienna

[JaneWearJewelry]

I've struggled with the same question! What I've done is to connect all of my different sites to one "hub" at http://laurahagan.com ... Each site that I have has it's own facebook, twitter, and youtube channel, and it's own newsletter... then with my main hub I also have a newsletter that reaches everyone who wants updated on all my stuff.

I looked at your site, and I like all your links at the bottom... grouped together is what most people are used to, so I'd keep them all together and maybe copy that to the top of your site somehow. Your most important links should be near the top, and links that keep your followers connected with you are so so important ;)

[brienna]

Laura, thank you so much!!! I've been reworking the site again, hah, and I think I'm even happier now with the links!!!

I also wrote out exactly what I discovered along the way to hopefully help others:

Buttons, Widgets, and more...
I've been scouring the web for ideas and I've come up with a few for myself and perhaps they might help you too ;o).

Widgets: I discovered Flickr has a lovely slideshow feature that you can embed as html code on your website (some computers won't show it though, so I check on my mac vs. pc vs. different servers, and I believe I might not have the most up-to-date software on some), additionally there are other sites that offer different codes for versatility (simple is usually best), but I always check to make sure they're free to use from the creator (often times I'll find upgrades to purchase if I want more advanced features).

There are also Facebook widgets, Twitter widgets, YouTube widgets, and even Etsy widgets all directly from the source... for examples of all, I've posted my own widgets on my website under Media Links and elsewhere too: ( http://brienna.net )

Buttons - there are follow me buttons and repost buttons all over the web (I always check to make sure they're free to use too as with anything), and they really have helped bring in more traffic... the key is that it makes sharing convenient ;o), so people are more likely to link back to you if all they have to do is click a little picture icon of their chosen social media site (i.e., Facebook, Twitter, etc.) - you can see examples of this at the bottom of all my website pages and even on the sides of all my blogs including : http://artschoolgrad.blogspot.com

I'm no expert (I don't know how to write my own html code, I just learn as I go), but I've found this to be very helpful and I hope you all will too! Any suggestions or extra features you've discovered along the way, feel free to share ;o).

(Also shared on my other thread: http://www.etsy.com/teams/8804/art-school-grad/discuss/6845905/page/9/?post_id=94629890 )

hugs,
Brienna

[brienna]

I'm super excited, I think these links are workings, 75 facebook shares, 12 tweets... etc., all from the main page, but there are more from other pages... I highly recommend this as a way to boost traffic ;o) or at least for fun as sharing our artwork with the world is so satisfying in itself.

hugs,
Brienna

[brienna]

Thought I'd just check one more time if anyone had other linking advice or suggestions?

Thank you all so much ;o)

Brienna