Author Website Complete
I have completed this website. Well, almost. It has taken me eight weeks to get everything where I want it. There will still be things to add and I'll get new ideas, but most of the heavy lifting is done. I played with the colours for about four weeks. No kidding. It started off blue, then it was light green, and finally I settled on this colour scheme. Brown, green and blue. I hope it feels comfortable. That was my intention.
Search Engine Optimization
I did spend time optimizing so that Google ranks me appropriately. SEO is very detailed work. When I first went live, Google listed me half way down page four of their results for: "Gordon W. Miller". Now, they rank me near the beginning of page two, or result number eleven. They had me at number four at one point, but I must have changed something important to drop further down. But, if you type my name plus the word "writer" or "Nanaimo" in Google, then I absolutely RULE. Number one and two respectively. They even put a picture along with the results. I feel good about the search engines for now. Things should only get better as I continue to blog and add useful content to the site. Search engine optimization is part of everything I do now.
Pen Name?
About five weeks ago, I thought seriously about writing under a pen name, to dominate the search results. But I decided against it. It would be cool to make up a name like "Gordon Milson" or something, and be number one overall, but the main reason I'm doing this project is to leave a legacy. Long after I'm gone, there will be a science fiction novel out there on someone's bookshelf, with my name on it. Gordon W. Miller will be the name on my book.
Fun Work
Websites are fun to create from a blank page. Understanding the psychology of colours is something I never thought I would learn. Writing a blog is a hell of a lot fun as well. It's like writing a diary. Personal websites are intricate work, time consuming, and are never truly finished. But recording this event accurately and consistently is what I am going for. When I'm eighty, I can look back on all this, and feel good about what I've done.