Category: Pictorem

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Resurrecting an old but popular Ocean City website.

A travel/business directory style site is being repurposed for local art and entertainment.

I am in the process of resurrecting an old travel/destination website, Visit Ocean City at www.OCtheBeach.com, that had a major server crash last year. I am also repurposing it to be an art and entertainment resource for the Ocean City area. We live two miles from Ocean City and do like the music/entertainment at many venues in the area. I will focus on our favorite entertainers and venues within the Beach Resort Area from OCMD to Bethany Beach and Rehoboth Beach because those are the ones with which we are most familiar.

The focus on Ocean City art will, of course, feature photography by me – and be billed/promoted as Bill Swartwout Photography and USPictures. For “Visit Ocean City” I have chosen to feature Pictorem as our POD (Print On Demand) fulfillment partner because they offer free ground shipping within the United States and Canada, where most of our site viewers reside. The produce high quality work and have a satisfaction guarantee. See the intro article here: Ocean City Art Gallery.

Bill Swartwout Photography Ocean City MD Header Image

For many years, OCtheBeach.com was a premier travel directory for the Ocean City area and provided information about local businesses and, of course, a way to book a hotel room. The original site was launched in Late May of 1999 and served for nearly two decades as one of the more popular Ocean City Websites. We were even a member of the Ocean City Chamber of Commerce for 11 years – until they started to directly compete in the hotel reservations market, which was our main source of revenue.

OCtheBeach.com is being “reborn” to coincide with its 23rd “birthday” and is, once again, providing value to Ocean City visitors. There are myriad other websites and (of course) Facebook sites and groups that extol the virtues of every place to dine, stay and play. Visit Ocean City will offer a slightly different “view” of the Beach Resort. We hope you, too, will find it useful.

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Initial Results from my Personal Daily Blogging Challenge

I am seeing growth in traffic and page views beyond my expectations.

Let’s begin with a caveat: One must keep in mind that I am comparing January numbers, one of the slowest sales months, to December and the holiday shopping season. Therefore, I believe any growth AT ALL is a significant increase.

Graph of User Growth USPictures January 2022
Graph of User Growth USPictures.com mid-December, 2021 though the end of January, 2022.

One is tempted, possibly because of innate vanity to describe success based on feelings or “what I think” is happening. That is all a feel good, pat yourself on the back, reaction and may be OK in general conversation. However, what follows is my sharing of actual data, the metrics of which are derived from the Analytics service from Google and from AWStats, an internal statistics package on my leased server space.

Remember the rationale for this is a rebranding of my USPictures domain and to create more SEO “juice” (search engine results) for my own sites – rather than for the stockholders of FB, Twitter or any POD with a forum.

While I have several blog/websites related to (supporting) several of my art photography collections, I have chosen to focus the first part of the year on my personal blog at BillSwartwout.com and my “rebranded” site targeting United States landscape/seascape images at USPictures.com.

USPictures.com was “moved” from being pointed to my premium site at Fine Art America to its own server space in mid-December so I could offer more choices for my customers, including the Free Shipping at Pictorem, another quality POD (Print on Demand) company. See “Rebranding and an Art Challenge.”

Therefore the numbers for USPictures.com and BillSwartwout are based on a comparison of daily averages, not one month vs another month. This is to keep things on an even keel, so to speak.

The Results Are In:

I am not sharing actual numbers, just percentages. The following percentages increases are for BillSwartwout.com & USPictures.com, respectively

Number of Visits: 124% and 189%

Page Views per Visit: 187% and 174%

SEO/Organic Search Results: 175% and 325%

Averaging all of those results yield an average growth in one month of “Daily Posting” of nearly 200% (195.6% to be exact).

But Wow, those Organic Search Results, a 250% increase, are far better that what I was hoping to see at the one-month mark. That means the longer I can keep growing the sites’ SEO the less dependent I am on Social Media.

Hey, these increases are after only one month of Daily Article Posting, or Blogging, if you like. Imagine what may/will happen after another couple of months. Or the whole year. Not too crabby, eh? – Er, I mean, not too shabby.

Yum - a Big Crab Claw Image Matted and Framed

Right?

Geno Prussakov, a long-time affiliate marketing colleague, about a dozen years ago, decided to try posting one new article every day for a solid year in order to help his business grow. He did and it did. AM Navigator at https://www.amnavigator.com is one of the best Outsourced Program Management Agencies in the world today. I am proud to call Geno a friend.

I would certainly appreciate any observations or comments you care to make (below). Your critique or insights may help me improve my outlook and or marketing strategy.

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I Never Met a Potato I Didn’t Like

My guilty pleasure is a bucket of fries on the boardwalk.

Yes, I’ll admit it. However, there are a lot worse foods to be in love with than a potato. French fries are not only American, but worldwide. Who does not like French fries? I have tried listening to stories of people who do not like French fries. I did not find anyone. Right?

A Bucket of Fries on the Boardwalk – just for you!

Very short story: Standing knee-deep in the Atlantic Ocean, our daughter, who loved to surf even as a three year old, demanded we get some French Fries. My son and I looked at her in disbelief. “Right now? There’s no way”, I told her. No one else was around; we were so far down the beach it was almost deserted, but still… they were French Fries .”Let’s go Daddy! Come on!” she pleaded. And then the smell hit us – freshly cooked French Fries only a few hundred yards away. Just imagine being there and having that olfactory awakening.

Here’s just another thought about lusting after some hot French Fries…

Remember, French Fries do not judge YOU – so you should not be one to judge them. Right?

Jigsaw Puzzle of French Fries Not Judging You
A Bucket of Boardwalk-style French Fries as a Jigsaw Puzzle.

Our French Fries photographs are food-grade (just kidding) and printed on archival photographic paper. You might consider framing – it’s durable, protects the image from scratches and moisture, and gives a rich, professional look to the prints. Mat and frame choices can be made to suit that perfect spot in your home or office.

Links to these two images for wall art (prints, framed or on canvas) and for home decor items. How’ about a throw pillow or a coffee mug? Or maybe even a beach towel?

Boardwalk French Fries Throw Pillow

Link: French Fries on the Boards Print

Link: Fries Do Not Judge You Print

Link to: Bill’s Gallery at Fine Art America

Link to: Bill’s Ocean City Gallery at Pictorem (w/ Free Shipping)

I remember a quote by Dolly Parton (if I’ve got it correct): Potato, potato, potato, I never met a spud I didn’t like.” I see nothing wrong with that. How about you? In moderation, of course. Yeah, right!

If you have a place at the beach.

Relax in your vacation unit and enjoy how you have chosen to decorate it. Our wall art prints and home decor items add a touch of color, style and life to dull walls (or cover up unsightly marks). Home decor items such as pillows, mugs or towels will help you surprise guests at your place or simply add a personal touch of glamour to your favorite place.

In Summary

I will admit, I am addicted to potatoes. I will eat them as French fries, as potato wedges, as potato chips , as mashed potatoes, baked potatoes or you name it – I love them. Especially French Fries on the Boardwalk. In Ocean City, MD that means either Thrasher’s French Fries or Boardwalk Fries. Yum.