Website sales plummet when ever slight are changes publish

Furlongs · #1 (**permalink**) 05-25-2006, 12:12 PM

We have noticed through the years that our website sales plummet every time we publish changes to our site. None of the changes are changes that would affect the visitor’s themselves. We cannot figure out what is causing it. We are unsure if it is Google that is reducing us, our web hosting company or what it can be. It is a fairly large site that presently is receiving constant new product pages and improvements to existing product pages. It is disheartening to know that improvements will equal loss of sales and inactivity equals increased sales. I’m hoping someone has some thoughts?

http://FurlongsPetSupply.com

davebarnes · #2 (**permalink**) 05-25-2006, 06:27 PM

Furlongs,

1. The first thing I noticed on your homepage was: "© 1999-2003". I can tell you that if I came to your website and read "2003", I would assume that you went out of business 3 years ago and that I looking at a ghost site.

2. I clicked on an item to buy it and wound up at this page: http://www.cartserver.com/sc/cart.cgi which does look like your website at all. Just having the logo is not good enough. Your cart needs to visually integrated into your website.

3. I noticed this "charset=windows-1252" in the source code. As if everyone uses Windows.

4. I did a search and wound up at generic-looking search results page. I wasn't even sure that I was still at your site.

5. I viewed this page: http://furlongspetsupply.com/palisades_dog_pack.htm using:
Windows - IE
Mac OS X - Firefox
Mac OS X - Safari
Mac OS X - Opera
and think that the layout is very difficult to understand.
I would suggest that you hire a usability expert to help you redesign the look & feel of your website.

6. I went to http://www.google-page-rank.net/ and checked your page rank. Three (3)! Something is wrong. You have lots of pages indexed and 100+ backlinks. (FYI - my own website has a rank of 7 and I have done ZERO with respect to SEO efforts.)

7. I went to http://www.webconfs.com and used some of the tools. In particular, I use the Whois Lookup (extended stats) and found that you have a very high Alexa ranking and yet MSN has only indexed 9 of your pages. Somewhat ironic given that you use FrontPage to create your website. Your site was also the slowest loading of the 6 sites I checked.
You might want to surf to http://www.keynote.com/sbl_forms/free_evaluations.html and get a free evaluation from Keynote. They are very good (and wickedly expensive) at providing real world performance information.

8. I went to Google and searched on site:http://www.furlongspetsupply.com and then checked the cache dates for about 10 pages. All had been cached within the last 30 days. Google seems to "like" your site.

9. I went to Google and searched on "pet supplies". Your website is not in the top 100 results. So, how are people finding your website? It does not appear that they are coming from Google. What does the analysis of your log data tell you?

,dave

Furlongs · #3 (**permalink**) 05-25-2006, 06:40 PM

I didn't see an actual answer to my question. Just a harsh evaluation of our site.

If anyone has a similar experience when they publish I would love to hear about it is it is actually regarding the topic and is constructive.

ProMarketer · #4 (**permalink**) 05-25-2006, 07:43 PM

Furlongs you asked for help on how to fix your problem that you are having and what a good web developer or seo expert will tell you is much the same as what Dave did.

They will determine what is going wrong by determining what is right. He was mentioning some good points about your site. You were here though to find out what is causing you problems when you deploy each time. Dave was trying to help and mention that it is not only when you deploy each time but is really on-going issues with different pionts on your site that if fixed will help with your problem.

I have some experience reading between the lines and seeing what most people cannot see when it comes to troubleshooting website problems. If you follow the suggestions Dave gave above then you should see improvement with your site.

You would be very well served as well to get a site analysis done on your site from an experienced seo professional one that can pin point your different possible problems. A good seo professional will also be able to give you ideas and ways that you can redesign or develop your website to better perform.

Furlongs · #5 (**permalink**) 05-25-2006, 07:51 PM

It doesn't seem productive to evalualate every site connected to a simple question..but hey if your life gives you the time then knock yourself out!

I still would rather just hear from those that have something to add to the subject!

Keimos · #6 (**permalink**) 05-25-2006, 09:10 PM

Hi Furlongs,

Don't get so anti, people are trying to help, believe it or not!

There are a lot of suggestions prior to mine that you should be thinking about. Take them aboard or discard them, that is your choice.

With the recent, albeit too many changes that google has made your coding is crap, MSN, Yahoo as well.

You are entering a new world where proper coding works, especially for search engines other than G.
G also takes this into consideration.

Do your homework. By the way, the colours do not work. The rest has already been said.

Keimos

Furlongs · #7 (**permalink**) 05-25-2006, 09:26 PM

It's too bad it is no longer a site where a question can be posted without it becoming covered up with people trying to make others feel the way they do!

There is a section on here where you guys can try to find alittle power as you rip on others sites. I was just hoping to find other's opinions regarding my issue.

Such waste of what was once a good site!

toolameforyou · #8 (**permalink**) 05-25-2006, 11:10 PM

It's true that the heart of your initial question was not answered directly... I'm not sure there is a satisfactory answer to it either btw. But the responses you got could prove useful. I know, for me, it's very difficult to see weak spots in my own site - I even know a few by heart but it pains me to look in their direction.

That said, you did post a specific dilemma: "our website sales plummet every time we publish changes to our site." This doesn't make sense to me unless those changes kill linked product/info pages that have already been indexed by search engines. If the changes do this, then I can understand the lag. If they don't, then I'd like to hear the answer as well! What is the nature of these changes?

fwiw, I thought the site looked pretty good (looks like a lot of work goes into it)

colr · #9 (**permalink**) 05-26-2006, 04:25 AM

Dave'as post was not blind criticism, it was constructive criticism.

People who can’t stand constructive criticism shouldnt ask for help.

People who can’t stand constructive criticism shouldn’t be in business (in my opinion.

Personally I think its a disgrace that you asked for help and were given so much, only to whine about it afterwards. What is the problem, is it not what you wanted to hear?

colr__

roam_dx · #10 (**permalink**) 05-26-2006, 04:52 AM

Furlongs, treat this as hearsay, and I don't think you'll like this idea any more than the ones above, but since all you want is an answer to the question you asked, here goes -

I've heard some places that you should create a page once, with the correct URI the, the correct content and everything and just leave it there. Change as little as possible and don't change anything as far as possible.

I don't take much heed of it as these are short term ranking fluctuations and I don't change a page till I know this time its for good. Maybe once a year or so when I do this, it usually totally a different page as far as SE's are concerned, so its fair to rerank it, its something I account for.

I have seen my pages change positions when changes are made to the content. Usually return to a better position, but they do even disappear for short periods, sometimes even a month or two. Might differ depending on the trust level of the page/site - IMO.

I've always taken it to be the way things work with SE's, and they should, a changed page is a different page that might be ranked differently, either better or worse.

So IMHO, dump the regular updates to pages, start making long term overhauls to the website or sections of the site instead. You already know where to start with that.

andy_art_trigg · #11 (**permalink**) 05-26-2006, 04:53 AM

I agree, the reponse you got was harsh but very valuable. The guy who wrote it clearly spent a fair bit of time looking at your site and highlighted some things that seriously need dealing with. Chances are that it was done out of a genuine desire to help, but even if it was for reasons you imply (which I doubt) it still gives you valuable free information on your site.

I personally sympathise with how you feel because it's tough being shown that a site you've put so much time and effort into is not as good as you thought it was. I've been there believe me. If you can bring yourself to re-read the post with a different approach I'm sure you will benefit from the advice there.

Remeber, what doesn't kill us makes us stronger :-)

Furlongs · #12 (**permalink**) 05-26-2006, 07:31 AM

I agree the information is good, but it distorted my post. In fact I have the post saved and plan on presenting it to SEO professional to help with the changes should I find someone competent.

What bothers me is my post is now about those that want to tell me how lousy my site is.

To keep each post a valuable resource there is a "evalulate my site" forum on here (funny as when I post in there no one replies).

I do need to point out that on Dave's site two links that I attempted were broken so I really didn't bother checking the rest of his site.

andy_art_trigg · #13 (**permalink**) 05-26-2006, 07:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Furlongs

I do need to point out that on Dave's site two links that I attempted were broken so I really didn't bother checking the rest of his site.

I'm sure he'd be grateful for that information :-)

Furlongs · #14 (**permalink**) 05-26-2006, 08:15 AM

That's not to say I don't respect his knowledge. I do. He could probably have a job assisting us if he actually wanted it.

Steelchord · #15 (**permalink**) 05-26-2006, 11:10 AM

Items six through eight that Dave posted do directly address your question, and the end sum was: not enough information. If you know how to check your server logs, great; if not, then check to see if your server provides an Admin tool such as Helm that will give you the option of analyzing where your traffic is coming from. If not, get a tool like AWstats; it's fairly easy to learn how to use. The goal is to find out who is sending the traffic to your site. Armed with that knowledge, a bit of thinking about what changes you're making will probably have you solving this yourself. If you want more help from us, we need to know a few more things:

a)Who is sending traffic to your site;
b)what changes you're making to the site.
c)the number of times this has happened, and
d)the approximate dates of the changes.

Dave is right about your pagerank, if it's 3 then it is very likely (but not 100% certain) changes need to be made to enhance the visibility/trust of your site. I haven't looked, so I don't know; the changes that he suggested (1-5) have very little to do with SEO, and everything to do with monetizing the traffic you do have. To that I would add analysing your keyword density, checking up on your inbound links, looking for other sites leeching off of yours, paying attention to the quality of your outbound links (were those the changes you made? Pointing to the wrong site will sometimes land you in "bad neighborhood" status), and all of the other SEO activities suggested in this forum.

The reason I asked for the dates is my suspicion that your "damaging" changes actually coincided with the bigdaddy changeover. That would have had exactly the effects that you described, but would not necessarily have been your fault.

D

Furlongs · #16 (**permalink**) 05-26-2006, 11:29 AM

I'm beginning to get the picture from alot of the responses here that our issue isn't with SEO.

I do have to say that when we change our site we do notice an instant drop in orders, then a large surge of orders come in.

Many of our pages were PR4 until we started our affiliate program w/Sharesale. At that point our main page went down to PR3, but the other pages remain at PR4. I assume we are being penilized for being linked to by shakey sites.

We don't have out going links except to our shopping cart, Paypal and a service that establishes a mail list for us. They do total 2174 external links though.

The way we get customers is by coming up high in the searches for specific products. "Backpacks for Dogs" and "Padded Dog Harnesses" are good examples of how our traffic is created.

This is a site created by a dog trainer (myself) and I am proud of the business it is, but will admit it lacks what a good web designer could have done.

If I get impressed I will I hire someone to assist us with making the changes, but at this point it isn't a priority as this is a growing business with plenty of other needs and I hate to say this, but the wrong individual can really screw us up.

davebarnes · #17 (**permalink**) 05-26-2006, 12:38 PM

I have found this http://www.vaughns-1-pagers.com/inte...ng-factors.htm to be useful with SEO.

,dave

P.S. andy_art_trigg, I am grateful. It reminded me to change the copyright date on my website.

Furlongs · #18 (**permalink**) 05-26-2006, 12:46 PM

I am in the process of deciding to hire assistance for the site or not. The harsh evaluation of my site at least pointed out serious problems I would like resolved. In fact if anyone can recommend such services I would appreciate it.

Keimos · #19 (**permalink**) 05-26-2006, 09:28 PM

Hi Furlongs,

You seem to be getting the gist of where the advice you have received is going. If we wanted to pull your site apart, that would have been to easy.

SEO is to a certain extent, keeping in touch with how various search engines actualy look for you.

I'll give you an example, for the last three updates my main site has dropped, to nowhere, then re-appeared the same or better. Patience is a virtue. If you know it works, do not change anything, tweak it.

The points that Dave and myself were trying to get across is that your ste is not geared for a good SEO search on any of the main players, accessibility wise, check it out. Looks are up to the individual, but I think that the majority of posters here, maybe the other forum, (review my site)agreee that your colours need to be sorted.

You have had some harsh criticism and fair play you have taken it like a wimp.

I get annoyed at stuff that people say, but I go back and look at what has been said and see if and where it is relevant. SEO and design are so close tha they can be intermingled.

Quote:

It's too bad it is no longer a site where a question can be posted without it becoming covered up with people trying to make others feel the way they do!

What do you mean by that comment?

We have tried in a roundabout way to provide you with some answers or at least something to think about.

The w3C validator found - Result: Failed validation, 92 errors

Keimos

PS Do you really want us to go to town and rip your site apart. There is no Kudos in doing that. because we are all on the same level. You either like what you see or not. Code is another matter. G, MSn, Yahoo are all on the accessibilty wave, be warned.

Furlongs · #20 (**permalink**) 05-27-2006, 08:03 AM

We like the color scheme, but thanks for the input!