Posted: Wed Feb 11, 2004 1:13 am Post subject: Site review/suggestions
Well my wife and I finally got up the courage to ask for a review and suggestions. I know we got a long way to go and some sore spots. But any help you could give would be appreciated.
We have a #1 pr in MSN for country home. Such a general keyword, I can't believe we even rank Now if only we could get ranked in some others SE's.
Joined: 14 Jul 2003 Posts: 1761 Location: Bangor, Maine
Posted: Wed Feb 11, 2004 1:54 pm Post subject:
How long has your site been up? It looks pretty good.
A couple of smaller items...
lawn.html
You use the Underline tag. It makes me think that there are links there, when they aren't.
candles.html
Your UL tags for the "make your own candles" looks funny. If your editing the HTML yourself, remove the <P> tags in between each LI tag. _________________ Eric D. Burdo They Made $6,513 a day With Clickbank Doing This...
Your HousePlans page is rather hardsell ... unlike some of your other pages. I would refocus this page to a presell approach.
Your Lawn & Garden page has 3 articles on it ... I would break this up to 3 pages ... more chances to rank and be found.
Debs _________________ Learn how to turn keyphrases into quality, well-targeted articles your visitors and SE's will love with Gary Antosh's new ebook "Web Content Made Easy!"
edburdo, We've been up since Dec 03. We started working harder in Jan. Sometimes it gets a bit overwhelming. There's just so much improvement in every area we need to make, we don't know where to start. So we been trying to get more focused and take it one page at a time. Even at that we often run into a brick wall and move to another page. I think the small amount of traffic we've gotten recently has been uplifting to the point of making us get off our butts and get to work.
I originally had another niche I wanted to go with. The one we choose is definately highly saturated but with my time limitations I figured if I was going to do this I better find something my wife would help me with. So for better or worst we're in too deep now to turn back.
Joined: 14 Jul 2003 Posts: 1761 Location: Bangor, Maine
Posted: Wed Feb 11, 2004 5:42 pm Post subject:
The only reason I was asking, was because you look to have a pretty stable, well-rounded site. So you should be getting some traffic already if you have been around for awhile.
How many folks do you have linking to you? That will help boost your PR, and your SE traffic...
This is one of many areas I need to work on. I haven't had much luck here. I've got a few but haven't had a lot of luck or don't exactlly know how to go about getting quality links. Value Exchange has been pretty much useless. I've requested exchange with sites not in direct competition but have yet to hear back from a single one.
Joined: 14 Jul 2003 Posts: 1761 Location: Bangor, Maine
Posted: Wed Feb 11, 2004 7:29 pm Post subject:
Try Debs approach. Just start searching for sites that have topics related to yours, but not in direct competition, and ask them for a link. If they want a swap, then give them a link back.
She outlined the method somewhere he on the boards... if you search for it, you should find it. It works for Debs, and I have used it several times myself. _________________ Eric D. Burdo They Made $6,513 a day With Clickbank Doing This...
Joined: 08 Aug 2003 Posts: 205 Location: Assisi, Italy
Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2004 7:38 am Post subject:
Hi Charles,
I like your simple design, it helps take your site away from a template look.
Considering your theme, I would add pictures (lots of them) all throughout your site interwoven with your text - this will warm up your visitors and bring in color, and help them get their imagination running...
Also, don't be afraid to work with headlines that always reflect benefits and point your visitors towards desired actions. I saw that Debs mentioned that you seemed to be hard selling, I'm not sure what she was referring to, perhaps an inner page that I didn't see? Did you change the text on HomePlans since she wrote this post? I saw no hard selling.
And before I give you more advice, make sure you test everything - advice can be dangerous (including my own - though I have gotten very good at improving CR% generally) - listen to what others have to say, but put their suggestions to the cold hard test, watch your numbers carefully...
That said...
Don't be afraid to be more persuasive, or at least stimulating the idea of benefits in your visitor's minds. Always, always think of your MWR (most wanted response) for each page, and guide your visitors towards this response like a greased slide (this is a copywriter's term). This doesn't mean you have to hard sell, but you do need to be persuasive and inspire emotions.
Stuff like...
How to create a warm and welcoming entrance that will make ALL of your guests feel completely at ease the moment they walk in...
or
Design and build a deck and surrounding garden that becomes one of your most used "rooms" in your house that magically helps you and your visitors to temporarily forget their worries and enjoy the moment...
Etc. etc
This is where you can really have fun with your imigination, and try to feel the benefits that each section of your site/offer can transmit to your visitors. Your goal is to stimulate the imagination and trigger emotion, get them excited about realizing a project, excited enough to click...
Also, put some text near your banners that work in the above fashion.
For example, for the Dutch Tulips, explain what they will find if they click...
(I didn't click, but something like)...
I never dreamed that so many types of beautiful Tulips existed! If nothing else, you should check out this site, just for the beauty of the experience - it will warm your heart to see so many incredible colors, and if they warm your heart on a flat screen, think about what they can do in your garden!...
Think benefits! Don't be afraid to talk with emotion and enthusiasm - this isn't hard selling, let yourself get excited, really show how much you love to make things more beautiful - it will carry over.
better_man is right, links to linkfarms are not a good idea, and any link exchange service that requires a link back isn't worth dealing with, IMO. You are better off finding the links yourself.
Debs _________________ Learn how to turn keyphrases into quality, well-targeted articles your visitors and SE's will love with Gary Antosh's new ebook "Web Content Made Easy!"
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Now if only we could get ranked in some others SE's.
