Website Design Blog. Evoart

We should all be really grateful for the likes of CSS Remix, CSS Drive, CSS Mania, Web Creme and the other galleries out there, not just for providing us designers with bags of inspiration, but also for the help they offer when launching a new project, or a site for a client. In this article i’ll look at the benefits of gallery inclusions, how it can benefit you and your company and also compare some statistics.

Which galleries have the most weight?

I’d say there are over 60 galleries out there with new ones cropping up each day. With our lives getting increasingly more hectic you probably don’t have time to submit you newly designed site to all of those and its definitely not worth your time to do so. So which ones are the most popular? From my knowledge here are the big guns when it comes to CSS galleries. These sites are the most respected in terms of the sites they include, and the ones that give you the most hits.

• CSS Drive
• CSS Remix
• Web Creme
• CSS Mania
• CSS Beauty
• CSS Based

Backlinks

Lets talk PageRank. PR is a term that was coined by Google and each site is assigned a number between 0-10, 10 being the most popular. Your sites PR is determined by the number of sites linking to you. The sites listed above are almost all PR6 (PageRank 6) and above which means if your included in the CSS Drive showcase for example, you’ve got yourself a free link from a PR8 site. This can really help boost your sites traffic and increase your chances of being found in the search engine listings.

Getting an array of PR6 - PR8 backlinks really helps to boost your initial traffic. Although you get thousands of visitors you’re only likely to increase your exposure rather than your sales if you’ve got a product to sell. The traffic from the galleries isn’t really targeted - its all designers looking for inspiration. But its not to be ignored.

Exposure

So if you get included, how long does the traffic last? Collis of NorthxEast wrote a similar article where he compared traffic from the galleries his sites had been featured in over a specific time scale. For Evoart however im still receiving a good amount of traffic from the galleries this site got featured in. The traffic at first was huge and lasted about a month and a half. It got me the initial exposure I wanted and got a few people subscribed to my RSS feed.

Talking point / Selling Point - Networking

If your regularly getting 80-90% of your sites featured then use it to your advantage. At networking events you could casually mention this when talking about your company. Obviously don’t boast, but its something thats going to set you apart from other website designers at the event. When striking up a conversation with a stranger introduce yourself, and your company and ask them what they do. Ask them a few questions, for example where they’re located, the kind of clients they deal with and then out of courtesy they should start to ask you about your company. Thats your chance to talk about your services, and dropping in an acomplishment - like being rewarded for your design skills by being featured in design galleries will hopefully stick in the other persons mind.

So over all…

In my oppinion its well worth submitting your newly designed sites to the major galleries out there. They’ll provide you with a huge boost in traffic, which will eventually turn into a steady trickle, make a lot of people aware of your site, potentially increase your feed subscribers (providing your content is good) and give you a great feeling of satisfaction knowing your design was good enough to be included!