Tips for Doll Sites: How to Make a Successful Website

What does it take to have a good doll website?

The purpose of any website is to give people information and resources. If you want your website to be successful and attract web traffic you'll need plenty of good content that's updated often.

Show Off Your Strengths :: Engage Your Visitors :: Don't be Annoying :: Be Predictable :: Coding

Show Off your Strengths

The number one thing that you can do to get people to visit your site is improve your artistic skills. It doesn't matter how many dolls, bases, and resources you post- if they aren't good people aren't going to use them and they aren't going to bookmark your site. If you are a good traditional artist, you're going to be a good doller. Take head drawing and figure drawing classes. Doodle and sketch often. You learn best by doing.

Study tutorials and dolls of your favorite artists. See how they shade hair. Notice the way they treat fabric folds. And always stretch yourself. Try to branch out and doll on bases that pose a challenge. Spend more time on each doll perfecting details and add a few props. The more impressive your doll style is, the more people will flock to your site for more!

Know your limitations and be smart about what you post. If you come up with a better shading style don't be afraid to retire old dolls or move them into an archive section. This way people will see only your current best work. Also, if you aren't good at anatomy, don't make your own bases. This actually pushes people away from your website. No one uses bad bases and your site will remain in your visitor's heads as "that site that wasn't that great". Some people have a great doll section and no bases. But that's okay! Because they know their limitations and they know how to market their strengths. Also never trace other people's artwork or photographs and turn them into bases without permission. This is recently become a big no-no in the colling community and people will label you for it! It's best just to avoid it all together.

Engage your Visitors to Keep them Coming Back

People enjoy engaging interaction online. Viewing a gallery of dolls can be fun if the work is good, but people don't use dolls. They use bases, props, patterns, and palattes. They enter contests and write on tagboards. They look to see if you have updated your website and put up that Site of the Month award for the new month yet. Update at least once a month. And once you start a contest keep to it! Don't go on hiatus in the middle of it! Otherwise people will feel they have wasted their time entering your contests and they won't be quick to do it again. Find ways to keep your users engaged and give them something to do while they are on your site.

Don't be Annoying

There are many ways to be annoying that I see frequently on doll websites. here's a list of other things you should avoid:

  • Don't *itch at your visitors. It gets old... really. « Please, I beg you to learn why
  • Never Disable Right Click « Learn Why
  • Never Use Frames « Learn Why
  • Don't have doll and base sections pop up in a new window « Learn Why
  • Don't use a splash page « Learn Why
  • Avoid having links that only say "coming soon" when you click on them

    If you don't have a section ready don't advertise your lack of content. It looks bad to say "oh look over here- just kidding there's nothing here!" Only offer links to the sections that are up in your website.
  • NEVER Use random graphics for your navigation without telling your visitors what they link to!

    (Bad navigation!)
  • Please don't put everything you are possibly interested in on ONE website (This is just tacky. Have a separate website for your dolls and another for your great cookie recipies and family photos.)
  • Don't have a website that only works for one screen resolution or browser (PEOPLE WILL LEAVE YOUR SITE if they can't view your content. Be sure to test your site in all screen resolutions and browsers before you release it!)
  • Never change the file name of your homepage (Then everyone's links break! Use the standard default.htm or index.html file names for your homepage)
  • Don't use a free host that forces adds on you. It looks bad not to have your own domain, and I can't even begin to describe how many ways ads annoy your users. (I suggest using lunarpages. It's only 7 bucks a month for nearly unlimited bandwidth and space!)
  • Don't have the "real" link to your dolls or bases hidden in the middle of a long list of rules and terms (so that when they click "I agree" they don't get anywhere- bad navigation- and seriously rude!).
  • Never have bases exclusive to close friends only (this will ensure a lot of people get annoyed at you as it makes them feel left out). Providing bases to the public is a great way to get your site recognized, one of the best in fact!

Another thing you should avoid is making your best work unadoptable. Bad idea! If you make your work undaoptable you've just ruined a wonderful chance for people to find your work online. The dolling community is a network of links and exchanges. Be sure you take advantage of every opportunity to integrate yourself into this network.

Be Predictable

Have a website that follows the norm. Here are some content ideas that are common in dolling community websites:

  • Home (a page to keep your visitors up to date on what you've been doing)
  • Dolls (a gallery of your work and an adoption page of dolls you like)
  • Bases (a gallery of bases usually broken off into sections by base name)
  • Resources (a collection of props, palattes, tutorials, and patterns for people to use)
  • Contests (a place to host your contests and a place for visitors to view current entries)
  • Terms or Rules (a set of rules for people to obey of what they can and cannot do with your work)
  • Links (a collection of dolling links or link buttons and directions for visitors on how they can link to you)
  • About ( a page about you)
  • Tagboard (this is usually located on the home page

You also may have heard of dollmakers. Generally these have fallen out of favor with the dolling community. Also as I've stated before, don't use a splash page. This is no longer considered good practice on the web.

Coding your Website

I suggest coding your website in strict XHTML and CSS. Be sure your code is free from errors and warnings and that your CSS validates. Don't know anything about coding a website? Get a knowledgable friend to help you and you can use my free web templates. It's not geared towards dolling but it can be if modified.

As an alernative to frames, use server-side includes. This way you can have your menu saved as a separate file. So as you need to add or subtract links, your entire website updates instaneously. This is great for headers and footers. Best of all you don't need to use javascript, just write your menu as XTHML. You will need to be sure that your hosting company supports SSI though.

Also be sure to use divs instead of tables for your layout as tables have been deprecated.