Are you an amateur seismologist? As the tragic events that unfolded in March 2011 in Japan demonstrate, seismology is an important topic that can affect people’s lives. It is not surprising then that interest in seismology and earthquakes is on the rise. To many, this kind of interest is best expressed through a personal website devoted to your involvement with seismology. This is especially true if you have been motivated to buy or build your own seismometer – the most important tool for the amateur seismologist can have.
Often, an amateur seismologist will want to put their own seismometer online, especially if it was built from a kit. If you are dedicated enough to seismology to run your own seismometer, you will certainly want to share the data with others. You can do so with a live video link on your website that continually monitors your seismometer. Several sites across the country already are set up this way.
If you are going to get serious about a website, you need to follow three rules to be successful:
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Design Intelligently – Your website should have an evocative domain name and be designed to educate visitors. A well designed site will have a set of standard pages that establish the look and feel of the site, including the home page, about us, and a blog. There are a number of software packages available to set up a website, but a WordPress website seems to work the best for the most people. WordPress is easy to use, is cheap or free depending on the flavor you choose, and you can select from hundreds of free themes.
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Use Excellent Content – If you go through the trouble of creating your own website, then you will surely want to populate it with excellent-quality content, whether you write it yourself or you use a freelance writer. You need to select a set of keywords for each page, and then make sure your content contains several references to each keyword. Your content should be grammatical, lively, and free from error.
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Optimize for Search Engines – You want the public to find your website, right? Search engine optimization (SEO) is a set of techniques for increasing the Page Rank of your website in the results of a search engine query. You will want to make sure there are backlinks from authoritative websites pointing at your site. You can check backlinks with an online tool that describes each link and the Page Rank of the linking page.
If you are really into earthquakes and other seismological phenomena, you will enjoy the sense of community you get by creating a seismometer information website and communicating with individuals sharing your interest in the topic.