Part Two - Links, the lifeblood of the internet

There has been lots happening since last time.

We have a new member join the course – Samantha Entwhistle. Welcome Samantha.

Lots of you have created your websites and they are (in no particular order):
Fran Anderson http://sites.google.com/site/orielherbs/Home
Sarah Beard http://sites.google.com/site/herbalmedicine4u/
Jane Gray http://sites.google.com/site/janegrayherbalist/Home
Christine Brock http://sites.google.com/site/borehamwoodherbalist/
Elizabeth Brooke http://sites.google.com/site/elisabethbrookeherbal
Annabel Todd http://sites.google.com/site/leicestershiremedicalherbalist/Home
Paul Hambly http://sites.google.com/site/theherbalmedicinetrust/Home

Jane has kindly provided feedback on her experiences on the site-building process and this is attached (and will hopefully encourage those who have yet to set their sites up).

Some of you already had websites and advised me of the urls:

Nikki Hawkes http://www.hhcentre.co.uk/
Pamela Spence http://www.medical-herbalist.net/
Ann George http://www.anngeorge.co.uk/
Julie Dore http://www.hedgerow-herbals.co.uk/
Max Drake http://www.maxdrake.co.uk/
Hannah Charman http://www.panaceaholistichealth.co.uk/
Sorrell Robbins http://www.chamomileclinic.co.uk/Chamomile_Clinic/Welcome.html
Janet Hall http://willowherbs.co.uk/default.aspx
Sarah Firnberg http://www.sf-naturalhealing.co.uk/
Heather Griggs Hardie (who is an observer on this course) http://www.aucupariabotanicals.co.uk/Welcome.html

And just to show willing I have done my own website where I will be putting all the “modules” of this course http://sites.google.com/site/nimhpr/

If you are still working on your site please let me have the url as soon as possible.

Your next task is to create a section of your website where you put the above links (as working links). This is important because Google search engines rate the importance of sites according to a formula that includes the number of incoming and outgoing links (and rates the value of an incoming link by the number of links the original site has – if that doesn’t sound too complex!). You might say I don’t want to clutter up my site with lots of irrelevant links, and that is an entirely valid view (and of course, you are in charge of what goes on your site) but by being generous with your links you can expect reciprocation, and the total number of cross links we can generate is about 400 – not bad for people who are mostly just starting out.

You should also link to the NIMH website as much as possible – http://www.nimh.org.uk/

Once you have put the urls on your site you will need to test them to see that they actually work (and if they don’t you’ll probably have to do them again). Testing is essential as I am sure that by now you have realized that glitches often creep in). Test and test and test again.

If you look at my site on http://sites.google.com/site/nimhpr/ you will see I have put all the links upfront on my Home page, but you might want to create a separate page to put yours (perhaps call the page Useful Links). To create the links list I went into Edit Page and just cut and pasted them in and the links formed automatically. If this doesn’t work go into the Links option in the bar at the top, select Web Address on the left and then in the box that appears you need to manually type in the url. If for any reason this doesn’t work send me an e-mail and we will do some trouble-shooting.

And from now on your site will greatly benefit if you get into the habit of putting a new page on your website at least once a week, and always always in that new page include one or two relevant links, especially to the nimh website. I know finding new ideas for pages is hard, but I am sure that as medical professionals you have generated hundreds of pages of text over the years, possibly much of that already in electronic format – plunder this treasure trove of “content” and put it on your website. The more you grow your site with interesting content and relevant links the more Google will reward you with increased traffic (and the more medical herbalism will grow as a presence on the internet).

Next time I will be writing about the importance of branding and consistent brand identity – not just applicable to your website but useful for every facet of the way you communicate with patients, potential patients, the media etc.