Ratings slipping - Advice appreciated

[UsedMacs]

Hi.

I'd appreciate any advice on my site www.usedmacs.us.

I have a list of phrases that I check my rating on Google every once in a while. About a year ago I came in the top 10 for most of them eg "sell used g4". I'd been checking every couple of weeks and nothing ever changed so I let it slip for a while. When I checked at the end of last summer I'd really fallen behind. Now every time I check I've slipped a little more. I was #103 for "buy used powerbook" a couple of days ago. (from #20 a year ago.) Today I don't show up at all.

I'm a 'one man band' so it's really hard to stay up on SEO and take care of everything else. The business hasn't been doing so well so paying someone hasn't been an option.

The site runs on a PHP content management system so I'm kinda stuck with some aspects of the site.

Any advice or pointers would be greatly appreciated.

Thx.

David.


PS.
There was a time when I came ahead of these guys macofalltrades for many phrases but now they list at #1 for almost all the terms I check. They have few keywords and little content (Like myself.) Can anyone tell me why they rank so high?

[docholiday]

<TITLE>incEngine - Making eCommerce and Website Management Easy!</TITLE>

This is your #1 concern:

Your website is redirecting to /incEngine, which has _nothing_ to do with macintoshes, as evidenced by the title there.

I'm not sure if you realize it, but that's exactly why - because you can't even get to the root without being redirected.

[RFA]

when I click on your domain name, I got that

http://www.usedmacs.us./incEngine/

and it is an ecommerce website.... don't see what it has to do with macs...

[UsedMacs]

Incengine is the 'content management' system. It's the period in the url that must be screwing with it. Try www.usedmacs.us
thx.

[incrediblehelp]

Guys it is redirecting to the ecommerce website because of the . in the URL. Try it without the . and you will go to the correct website:

http://www.usedmacs.us/

Any ways search engine algorithms change all the time and each search engines uses different weighting for ranking. As for Google they rely a lot of backlinks. Maybe while your busy doing some other stuff your comp caught up to you by getting some better more relevant links.

Remember SEO is a on-going process and once you reach #1 you don't just get to stay there.

1. With that being said why would you feel your website should rank for "sell used g4" when I don't see that phrase together in the page title or content anywhere?

2. Please also consider shortening up the title tag a little bit and adding more useful content to each page.

3. You say your rankings have dropped but have your sales?

4. What is the deal with 302 redirecting the root domain to http://www.usedmacs.us/incEngine/

5. What is the deal with the links at the bottom of your pages?

Find Pro Audio gear at Digital Audio Graphics Top Sites - Computers & Electronic

I smell link farm SPAAAAAAMM!

Maybe this is the root of your issues.

6. Many of your pages are considered duplicates or are in the supplemental index:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q...usedmacs.us%2F

in Google.

[scanmonkey]

Hey UsedMacs,

Your site is top heavy with code. Put all the css and javascript in external .js and .css files. Also get rid of all the meta tags expect the description and keywords.

With google it is all about the links. Get more links from relevant pages with your keywords in the anchor text.

macofalltrades.com is showing 921 links in msn againt 12 for link:http://www.usedmacs.us/incEngine/ So that's the story there.

You can get free directory listings check here (you can autofill to save time with the manual submissions)

http://www.best-web-directories.com/...irectories.htm

There's a list of High Ranking Directories where you can acquire links here in this very good WPW thread.

http://www.webproworld.com/viewtopic.php?t=21900

try this Directory list http://www.pheedster.com/directories.php
recommended by ctabuk

Incredibel pointed out a lot of minor seo problems. They really add up to pull you down. Definitely fix all of that.

[UsedMacs]

Thanks for your reply incrediblehelp. I've been reading through the forum all day and read many of your and others helpful posts. I've already learned a lot so thanks to everyone that contibutes to the forum.

1) I used "sell used g4" as an example of one of the terms I search for but you're right thanks.

2) I will shorten and try to get unique page titles. Useful content? Any suggestions :)

3) No, web sales have increased a lot since I put a phone # on the site in Oct last year. I used to think of it as more of an 'advertising tool' than an ecommerce site (Probably cause I rarely sold anything!). Site stats are dropping though now and sales are slowing.

4) That must be something to do with the 'content management' hosting multiple sites I guess.

5) Yeah one's a friends site and the others are junk. Top Sites shows as one of my few backlinks on Google tho. I worked on backlinks last year and had quite a few but they seem to have dissapeared? Any ideas as to how to get more?

6) I noticed that myself earlier today and tried to sign up for a Google Sitemap in the hope I could change it. I don't have access to put the file to be verified where it needs to be or the sitemap for that matter. Do you think unique page titles could help this? (Something else I have no access to :( )

[UsedMacs]

Thanks for your post scanmonkey and the links.

There's not much I can do about the code. I will harass my friend Mr incEngine to fix it but I'm at his mercy :)

I got listed at DMOZ when I first created the site but stalled there. I guess I have some work to do.

[incrediblehelp]

Usedmac sounds like you are VERY new to SEO. Please check out the newbie section on HR forum.

[UsedMacs]

incrediblehelp I guess that depends on your perspective. From your point of view yes.

It's been 18 months since I did any SEO work and was feeling a little overwhelmed when I posted. After reading through the forum and refreshing my memory I regretted my posting but couldn't take it down.

I'd already made changes when you checked the site. I'd changed my landing page from the 'store' with a bunch of products but little text and keywords back to the 'home' page that you see now that does have keywords and text (& needs work). I included a site map that Google has already crawled and changed my page title and will continue to make improvements from information I've read here.

Thanks for all the links, great advice & info on this forum.

[incrediblehelp]

usedmacs I love helping everyone out, but when they ask questions on "Useful content? Any suggestions :)" you might want to reconsider why a page is ranking in the first place. 3 core points that will always lead you to rankings:

1. Getting as many naturally relevant links to your website, using varying anchor text.

2. Great content for your end users on this website.

3. Offering the best possible service/products comparable to everyone in your market. This sets yourself apart. Or finding a niche or new idea that has not been exploited as of yet.

[UsedMacs]

I thought it might have been that that p'd you off. Hey, gimme a break, I'm lazy like everyone else. The comment was also a little tongue in cheek that's why I put a smiley :)

Seriously, my problem there is that I designed the site badly so that's it's going to be difficult to add content without a site redesign. I'm also at the mercy of the content management system which I have little control of.

It was sooo much work putting it together that the thought of a redesign scares the hell out of me. It also means I feel have to move toward a more standard layout and I get a good response about the current site from clients.

I was probably lucky when I first put it together cause I got great SE results. But now I got some work to do.

Thanks for your help.

[jackson992]

Depnds on what you consider to be content. For sales sites often there's not a lot of content except for the descriptions of what you're trying to sell. Long winded sales letters just make a page look spammy and would turn visitors off.

As for the links, is this as much a priority as it used to be? Lately I know there has been a lot of talk about reciprocal linking not doing much good.

[jackson992]

I'm still getting redirected. Is this what you want?

[UsedMacs]

Jackson992, I think you're still using the URL with the period in it? There is a 302 redirect as incrediblehelp pointed out from the root to the content management system Usedmacs.us > Usedmacs.us/incEngine/ which I hate but cannot change.

I didn't want the site to be 'spammier' than it already is. I also didn't want it to be full of 'out of stock' products like some competitors do. I also have a problem where my inventory constantly drops off the site when it's sold as most items are singles.

Perhaps it was a Google update cause I now show up for some terms that I didn't a couple of days ago? ie "buy used Powerbook" I now show up at #6 & 7 from no result 2 days ago when I first posted. Some other terms have had good increases too.

I decided to sign up for Google adwords and focus on specific phrases that I didn't rank anywhere for (ie used mac). Hopefully it will send me some buying traffic but not yet. I also signed up for MSN as Mr Incredible suggested in another post but am waiting for a response.

Damn, listing in directories is soo boring :) Back to the grind.

Again, thanks for all the advice.

PS.
There was another site usedmacs.ca that had copied my page title and was coming ahead of me for some terms. I now see they've dropped back/off and I've moved forward. Perhaps that had something to do with it?

[Heal3r]

The language used by too many seo's or webdesigners is self centered vs customer or visitor centered. Theirin lies the path to mediocrity. Look at the statement about "redesigning the site" and what a bother that is. Sure it is, but not as much a bother as not having an income, or wanting to spend money on a product and struggling with a site.

Notice how the site shows up in your speaking (writing) as about you. Not very inspiring. Try on, "I am going to redesign my site to meet my the needs of my customers. It will blow their mind and blow the competitor sites away." Now that is a mindset that will go a long way to getting you to the top of the SE heap. Quality content, backlinks, and site size. Clean code, age, and freshness. Booyah!

[UsedMacs]

Heal3r Thank you for your post. That was the spirit I had when I first created the site and still try to keep. Site 'content' was not an area I've ever focused on. I was never happy with the 'home page' and it was basically something I put together as quickly as possible to fill with keywords as I had nowhere else to put them. I know it shows. I need to create a structure to be able to add content to the site and home page without it looking 'out of date' if I don't have time to update. It's always been a tough area for me as I have no training in any aspect of writing, graphics, design or marketing and I just try to learn more and do the best I can at the time. It is time to update and add some content. I'm still not convinced about a complete redesign :)

I think incrediblehelp hit the nail on the head with his first response "
Remember SEO is a on-going process and once you reach #1 you don't just get to stay there."
I did have great results and I didn't continue to work at it.

Happy Easter

[UsedMacs]

I know I should let this thread die but I thought I'd post a quick message to let you know things have dramatically improved (fingers crossed).

Here's some differences in google results since the 10th, although results were lower, but I didn't record them, when I posted this thread on the 12th. If anyone's interested in specifics I'd be happy to post them.

292 > 12
224 > 9
198 > 3
125 > 5
231 > 14

I'm amazed. I was even reluctant to post as I thought I might jinx myself :D

Thanks for all your help.