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What more can I do to optimize my site? 1

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ilovestickers

ilovestickers

Programmer
Jul 2, 2005
29
CA
Hi there!

I've been trying since the end of Jan to optimize my site ( but nothing seems to work. My goals are to get a good search engine position (specifically for Google), and to get a reasonable page rank. However, as it stamds I am not even on the top ONE THOUSAND google results and my page rank has be stagnant at 2 for half a year and a few PR updates.

I have got lots of links, worked on my meta tages, title, etc, and improved my keyword ratio but it never makes the slightest difference.

This is my first website and I know I must be doing somethign wrong or not doing something as I have yet to see an improvement - especially not even being in the top 1000 results! I also have an ad words accounts.

I would very much appreciate anyone's advice!! Thank you all very much!

Krissy
 
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LINKS:
Yahoo = 48
MSN = 34
Google = 4

Make sure your links don't just come from your other sites if you have more.

I don't feel that is lots of links. If you have more links than that then they are unable to be found by SE's.

Validate your code: W3 Validator

I had to force a Encoding type to even try to validate your site. You also have <HTML> tage within your page. Many sites have bad code but clean code reduces the chance SE's get confused by your code.

Your JavaScript Menu System is not helping. You have other links to the pages but they have session ID's in the links(WHY?) Dump them.

xtendscott
Web Site Design | Cryosurgery | Walla Walla Portal
 
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Nothing you do right now will make the slightest difference in Google for another 3 to 5 months, because of the aging delay that is applied to new domains.

One thing you must absolutely do is to get rid of the session ID that are shown to initial visitors. These are definitely a problem for SEs and can result in penalties being applied in some cases.
Your javascript menu is also a problem as this cannot be seen by crawlers.


Chris.

Indifference will be the downfall of mankind, but who cares?
Woo Hoo! the cobblers kids get new shoes.
People Counting Systems

So long, and thanks for all the fish.
 
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Thank you very much Chris and xtendscott for responding so quickly! I very much appreciate it!

In answer to your comments:
I do not have any other websites, so all of my links are from other people. I agree that it isn't a lot of links for a typical site, but for my site's topic I find it very difficult to find links for any relevant sites...I meant a lot for my subject.

Chris - does that mean that one has to wait about a year (in total) for my domain with the "aging delay" for Google? I haven't heard of this before?


If possible could you please let me know how i "dump my session ID's". I am still learning and I am not sure how to do so (I wasn't even aware I had any).

Thank you again so much!
Krissy
 
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I worked this evening and did a bunch of reading and I removed my session ids successfully!! Thanks to everyone for bringing this matter to my attention as I was completely ignorant to it! THANK YOU!

Is there anything else that anyone can recommend for me to do to better optimize my site please?

A BIG thank you again!

Krissy
 
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Hi Again!

Sorry I forgot to also ask what, if anything, I can do about my javascript menu such that it can be seen by crawlers?

Thank you so much,
Krissy
 
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Proper use of Title, Meta, h1 and h2 tags. You don't have any h1. The graphics with text should be converted to text and if it "titles" the page topic it should be an H1. Use styles to size and color them as desired, don't be too worried about the font style not being as pretty as an image. Look at competitors for what KWd's are in their Titles, navigation and on page to see if your missing something.

Review "keywords" your targeting. You should focus one page on two to three "kwd's" per page. Create a better navigation and you could just indent the links (always visible) rather than use the javascript menu. Try to use the targeted kwd's in text links pointing to the desired pages, create new pages for additional kwd's, rewrite current pages.

General kwd pyramid theme:
Home - Broad Kwd's
|- 2 to 3 kwds secondary kwd's
|- 3 to 5 kwds

Theme Pyramids - This has been around a while but the logic still is there.

Hope this helps.

xtendscott
Web Site Design | Cryosurgery | Walla Walla Portal
 
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Just curious, might it be the competition? A search in Yahoo for 'stickers' returns over 25 million hits. 'children's stickers' returns over a million hits and 'children's cartoon stickers' returns 121,000 hits (Google 256,000).

Seems to me that type of competition is pretty hard to beat without paying some $$$ or someone using very specific search terms.
 
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I am, more specifically, trying for the KWs sticker club and stickers of the month, which has actually quite few returns :)
 
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Hehe Kids...not a market you have a use for I doubt, but the kids find it.
 
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Even a specific search of say "Yogi Bear stickers" returns 5510 hits and one more popular "dinosaur stickers" returns 211,000 hits. Star Wars stickers is almost 700,000 hits. Even using secific search terms returns a large number of hits.

Not suprising 'free web site design' returns 164 million hits. 'free web site design seattle' narrows it down to 7.4 million. How do you compete with that??

The question I had is it possible that due to the large number of sticker sites out there that the competition is too strong to put your own site up at a reasonable rating regardless of how well the coding, keywords, meta tags, links, etc. are.
 
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I wouldn't class any of those as competitive terms

if you run quoted and intitle: searches to get the real measure of the competition, you will see a difference.
Nothing that a decent optimising job couldn't cope with. It looks to be a market place full of "accidental optimisation" so with some concerted effort it wouldn't be difficult to be showing good ROI.


Chris.

Indifference will be the downfall of mankind, but who cares?
Woo Hoo! the cobblers kids get new shoes.
People Counting Systems

So long, and thanks for all the fish.
 
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Hi Guys!

It's been a couple of weeks since my last post - but that was bc I was working on your suggestions to make my site ( better.

I put the line at the top of my html to validate my code, and then ran the validator program and fixed as many errors as I could. I added as many relative links as I could, I added more KW throughout my site, added a site map, etc.

Apparently Google just did the PR update and mine stayed exactly the same and I am not even in the first 1000 results in Google or Yahoo for a number of search engine results. I tried a few times in the past 4 months to submit to DMOZ but I am never accepted even though I have follwed all the guidelines to the T and a similar site was listed???

I have run out of things to do and I know PR isn't the "King" but I can't get ANYTHING right and my site goes pretty much unnoticed....even my alexa rating number increased by 600,000!!! ARG! lol

1) I was hoping that there is SOMETHING I can do to get my site noticed. Is there anything or am I pretty much out of luck (I don't have a web design degree).

2) As my javascript menu is also a problem as this cannot be seen by crawlers...is there anything I can do to fix this other than not having one?

3) My site was sandboxed, however, it was online in early Jan 05...so when will this stop having an effect?

4) Is there any thing I can do regarding my LOUSY search engine position (well I don't really even have a position), my lack of page rank, crappy alexa rating, etc (LOL).

I know this is long and a lot of questions, I just really value your advice and hope someone has maybe gone through this and has been able to turn it around...or knows how to??

Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!
Krissy
 
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I tried a few times in the past 4 months to submit to DMOZ but I am never accepted even though I have follwed all the guidelines to the T and a similar site was listed???
Click to expand...
No you didn't! You submit ONCE and then leave it alone. Extra submissions will result in overwriting your previous one, thereby push you to the back of the queue again and can result in the domain being "tagged" for the multiple submission.


2. a/ Build a site map (good idea anyway),
b/ use the <noscript> tag,
c/ get rid of the javascript and use a text link navigation styled with CSS. (There is one at SEO Consultants).

3. Sometime between October 05 and Jan 06 at an [almost] informed guess.

4. Nope apart from wait and possibly use adwords to get sales.




Chris.

Indifference will be the downfall of mankind, but who cares?
Woo Hoo! the cobblers kids get new shoes.
People Counting Systems

So long, and thanks for all the fish.
 
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1. PPC - Yahoo Search Marketing(Overture) or Google Adwords, is the only way to get noticed immediately.

2. Search for YpSlideout - Scripted to turn on and off a menu layer. I believe you get more internal KW text benifit if it is an actual text link.

3. Get more links and let MSN and Yahoo give you traffic.

4. Your still not using H1 tags. They should have similar KW'ds in them to your TITLE tags. Throw in a H2 on some pages as Yahoo seems to like them together, or its just a coincedence when I have used them. SE's seem to like pages that are marked up like a term paper. Title, Headings, information, footnotes and resources.

Your link text "Teens and Adult's Sticker Clubs", not sure how much of a search term that is but maybe a tight niche. Your on page information seems to be written for a real general market. Create additional pages and tighten the target phrase and give good information on sticker use for suggested projects and give examples of use.

It will take time for your pages to get properly indexed since you have made all the changes.

good luck.



xtendscott
Web Site Design | Cryosurgery | Walla Walla Portal
 
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Thank you for your advice Chris and xtendscott!

Chris "No you didn't! You submit ONCE and then leave it alone. Extra submissions will result in overwriting your previous one, thereby push you to the back of the queue again and can result in the domain being "tagged" for the multiple submission."

I submitted to the shopping and kids section which I were told are 2 different and separate things for dmoz ... so I hope that I was no misinformed.

Thank you,
Kris
 
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