Please review site

[Datagg]

Hello all...And thanks again Paz for the invite. I can see this forum will grow by leaps and bounds

Anyways...

i have 2 sites that id like of possible your take on.

http://girlfriendslingerie.com

and

http://ymproducts.com

Search engines have been tough. Ive done allot fo work as far as modules to try to improve the site. i posted allto of info in the HTML forums here on some new stuff i just did.

Anyways, your reviews on these sites would be great. Looks, presentation,SEO wise etc would be greatly appreciated....

Take care ,

Dan

[Paz]

Hi Dan,

Welcome to the forum!

This is one site review I'm very much looking forward too... who said SEO can't be fun!!

I need a bit more background from you though. How old are the domains? Girlfriends lingerie looks quite healthy, but of course I have a few suggestions and I'll talk about those later.

Ym products seems to be struggling though. It could be because it's a new site, or as you are implying, because that Miva shopping cart doesn't seem very spider-friendly.

Also if you can tell us which keywords you are targeting, and any other info such as how you've planned your backlink campaign etc. would help us too.

Cheers,
Paz.

[Datagg]

Hello Paz....

Girlfriends Lingerie is about 2 years old now

YM Products is about 8 months old now....

Girlfriends Lingerie which is exclusive to Lingerie and accessories......

YM products are lingerie also, yet will also be about Jewelry and other products of various degrees

Both sites as of now im targeting “Lingerie” or “Sexy Lingerie “as the top keywords.

As you know Paz, I have just spent allot on some modules to convert all pages into static and a few others things posted here http://forums.digital-m.co.za/showthread.php?t=51

Girlfriends Lingerie has gone under allot of changes, even has gone thru a few servers. It original was a yahoo store site, yet I began to get tired of the Yahoo way ...So then we repackaged the design and moved to out new server. I chose Miva for I used it in the past before, plus my provider had it for use for $35.00 for each domain....

I did have girlfriends lingerie about 6 years ago also, yet we ran into some fraud charges that pretty much drained my enthusiasm.... It did very well though in the engines back then. So my bro and I decided to open up the doors again.

This time around, it just isn’t doing well in the engines... Since we began it, it hasn’t even been in the top rankings for any of the keywords.

So for he last few months I have been buying modules to help improve the chances. Modules that shorten the urls, modules that insert descriptions, titles on all dynamic pages on the fly etc.....

I purchased a link program also, that is completely automated..That’s about a month old now.

Both sites have the same thing as far as modules go. The other day I spent quite a bit on a module for both sites that turn all into static pages. And thus the surfers are looking at static’s, then only when they purchase they go into the Miva side of things.

I began a froogle campaign for both sites.... Also bought a moogle module that quickly creates xml to upload to the big boys.

The lost goes on and on..... Yet the engines just don’t seem to like. All be it that the big modules such as the static was just bough 2 days ago, so im sure they need time to work.

Also there is that domain alias I was talked into by the name of Girlfriends-lingerie.com which I originally intended to put some content into, such as an index or something. Yet upon those thoughts, my web host provider suggested that I delete the domain from the list, and add it as an alias to the original site girlfriends lingerie.

Also per the designer of the optimizer(static module) he said to makea robot.txt file(which I did have allready) but this time to keep the engines from crawling the /Merchant2 folder, which is the dynamic pages of miva. While i did this, i also instructed that the engines not crawl other folders of non importence. This as the static module was just implemented 2 days ago.

Whoa sorry if im being long winded here, im just trying to give you all the facts on the inception of these 2 sites.

Another thing that is supposed to help, yet I have no idea on how to do it is to add an .htaccess to make all dynamic links refer to the static pages only. For the surfer can break out of the static side by choosing a few links that go to Miva....

All in all, this is all because im desperately trying to not only get into the engines, but to increase sales across the board.

Thank you all for your time and patience with this long winded novel here.

Bless

Dan

[Paz]

Hi dan,

believe me it helps enormously to have such a thorough background to the history of the site.

Before I talk about girlfriends lingerie, I should probably remind you that 6 years ago there was a lot less online competition for online sales. Also the search engines have gotten a little more sophisticated and difficult to manipulate in the last two or three years, so you've twice the battle!

It's a great looking site but there are a few problems we need to fix, step by step.

1) The sitemap link isn't a real sitemap; there are no links there. I know you have many 1'000s of pages and can't make a sitemap of them all, but you can make a list of a 100 or so product categories and put those links up. Also the sitemap should be linked from a static link in a footer at the bottom of the each page to give it some PR.

2)
You have a duplicate content problem in Google because you have two identical sites www.example.com and example.com. Google can't figure out which is the domain it should use and appears to be using a mixture - leading to a possible duplicate content penalty.

I would tackle this before anything else by adding an appropriate part to your htaccess file, but to tell you how to do that I would need to ask you which domain you want to use as the "main" domain? I would recommend the "www" one, but it's not so important.

3) You seem too reliant on exchange links, which makes you vulnerable in Google for a number of reasons. Firstly, google are increasingly trying to target sites that are involved in link exchanges. Your links are pretty relevant, but there are few non-relevant ones eg viagra that won't help you in Google, and will actually cause you a penalty as you'll see below.
Also some of your link partners have already removed your link or are putting your links on dynamic pages that won't help you as much as a good old static link.

A huge problem for you is that some of your partners are now banned in Google eg
http://www.upgasmileage.mybpbiz.com/
http://grand-online-casino.co.uk/

and there may be more. The problem with link to a banned site is that it puts a question mark on your site in the eyes of Google and you will be penalised for that, for sure. You need someone to check all your links to make sure they are relevant, on spider-friendly pages, and are not linking to banned site.

Also I would go for more directory submissions, free or paid, to help you diversify your backlink campaign. You can pay someone to get 300 backlinks for you for about 50 US. Also you can write an article, or get someone to write an article (1 to 5 cents a word) and submit it to the major articles directories out there.

4) Last thing for now, and probably the most difficult. You need a lot more text content on the pages. I know it's really hard to write something different on each page, but on this page
http://girlfriendslingerie.com/sexy-lingerie/EM5803.html

You could add an alt tag to your image, and write some more text with your keywords that you are targeting, eg corset, sexy, lingerie etc in english and not abbreviated. You're gonna fall off your chair when I say that 1000 words is about the ideal for SEO, but in practice if you can get up to 100 words without repeating yourself, you will really see the benefit.


So there's a lot to do! My feeling is that if you sort out those links to banned sites, redirect the "non www" to the "www" site, and add a decent sitemap with a static link you'll see big improvements within a few weeks. You can add the extra text content on a piecemeal basis later.

It is really is a great looking site though! Let us know when and if you've made the changes, give it a few weeks to work, and lets see what happens!

Cheers,
Paz.

[daniel]

Hey there

I must say that i think this is a great thread and a very thorough site review - well done.

On another note, a blog might work very well in this case, whereby you can write small articles, product reviews etc and add them daily. This will help increase the content and pages on your site.

Other than that, great site, let us know how it goes.

D

[Datagg]

Hi dan,

believe me it helps enormously to have such a thorough background to the history of the site.

Believe me there is allot of history too

Before I talk about girlfriends lingerie, I should probably remind you that 6 years ago there was a lot less online competition for online sales. Also the search engines have gotten a little more sophisticated and difficult to manipulate in the last two or three years, so you've twice the battle!

It's a great looking site but there are a few problems we need to fix, step by step.

1) The sitemap link isn't a real sitemap; there are no links there. I know you have many 1'000s of pages and can't make a sitemap of them all, but you can make a list of a 100 or so product categories and put those links up. Also the sitemap should be linked from a static link in a footer at the bottom of the each page to give it some PR.

Yes i agree..i need to make one that is statci. The .htaccess rewrite is able to convert all miva links to static, yet isnt able to touch non standard links. i need to redesign a site map for both sites

2)
You have a duplicate content problem in Google because you have two identical sites www.example.com and example.com. Google can't figure out which is the domain it should use and appears to be using a mixture - leading to a possible duplicate content penalty.


I would tackle this before anything else by adding an appropriate part to your htaccess file, but to tell you how to do that I would need to ask you which domain you want to use as the "main" domain? I would recommend the "www" one, but it's not so important.

I had no idea this was a problem. With the successful .htaccess now written for borh sites, how would I ad a line to do as you mention here. As for the www part, your the expert here and i value any decidion you believe is the right one.

3) You seem too reliant on exchange links, which makes you vulnerable in Google for a number of reasons. Firstly, google are increasingly trying to target sites that are involved in link exchanges. Your links are pretty relevant, but there are few non-relevant ones eg viagra that won't help you in Google, and will actually cause you a penalty as you'll see below.
Also some of your link partners have already removed your link or are putting your links on dynamic pages that won't help you as much as a good old static link.

Ahh the dreaded links. This has bee na sore spot for me for quite awhile. I originaly began the links by using a program called arelis. Did that for about a year...Still so much work. I just scraped that thoiugh for a fully automated system called " Linkmachine ". I chose this for it is completely automated, will exchange links on auto, will check my links and even drop those that arent legit in a 2 day period. They have to be staic links, or the sytem wont see them, then its supposed to drop them. its sends out auto emails, confirmations etc. Seems like a good program and pretty much hands free. As for the past, im sure there are allto of links that were generated on pages that i have no idea about anymore, for when i changed systems I basically started over.

A huge problem for you is that some of your partners are now banned in Google eg
http://www.upgasmileage.mybpbiz.com/
http://grand-online-casino.co.uk/

I didnt know about these 2 here and have deleted them from the link machines database table. If there are more out there in the world linked to me that is not in linkmachine, how woudl i get rid of those? other than asking them to remove me.

and there may be more. The problem with link to a banned site is that it puts a question mark on your site in the eyes of Google and you will be penalised for that, for sure. You need someone to check all your links to make sure they are relevant, on spider-friendly pages, and are not linking to banned site.

A tough task indeed since most im sure are out of my reach to control. .

Also I would go for more directory submissions, free or paid, to help you diversify your backlink campaign. You can pay someone to get 300 backlinks for you for about 50 US. Also you can write an article, or get someone to write an article (1 to 5 cents a word) and submit it to the major articles directories out there.

This sound like a great idea & I have done that in the past. yet the directories never seem to pick me up. I even had a submission company for awhile that claimed they did this, yet i saw no results and dropped them. if you knwo of anyone that can get my pages in those directories paz, i sure will take a look at them. or even to submit them..

4) Last thing for now, and probably the most difficult. You need a lot more text content on the pages. I know it's really hard to write something different on each page, but on this page
http://girlfriendslingerie.com/sexy-lingerie/EM5803.html

You could add an alt tag to your image, and write some more text with your keywords that you are targeting, eg corset, sexy, lingerie etc in english and not abbreviated. You're gonna fall off your chair when I say that 1000 words is about the ideal for SEO, but in practice if you can get up to 100 words without repeating yourself, you will really see the benefit.

yes this is certainly tough. 1 major problem though is this, miva is all dynamic. So in order to add verbage to each page is a taunting task to say the least. So, what ive done is try to help this by using modules. 1 is the copernicus meta tag module. What this does is on each page made, itit lifts words for the description and title tags to create a meta tag with some meaning. Miva out of the box doesnt do this, this is just yet another way ive tried to help this situation out.


So there's a lot to do! My feeling is that if you sort out those links to banned sites, redirect the "non www" to the "www" site, and add a decent sitemap with a static link you'll see big improvements within a few weeks. You can add the extra text content on a piecemeal basis later.

Sure is, and i will get busy on them. Allready deleted 2 banned links you mentioned above & will begin on site maps soon. If you can help me with that added line in the .htaccess that will allow it to see the www side only, that would be great. i assume this wouldnt mess up the working .htaccess i finally have working now for the miva redirects to the statics?.

It is really is a great looking site though! Let us know when and if you've made the changes, give it a few weeks to work, and lets see what happens!

Cheers,
Paz.

I am so happy you invited me to your site here Paz....Youve got a great site here. You all have been so helpful to me and i look forword to the future .

Bless

Dan

. .

[Datagg]

EDIT.......

I just finished site maps for both sites. Both have a link at the footer to there respective pages.

How they look??

Now out of that list Paz, i need to do the .htaccess www thing, which i have no idea how to do.

i took out those bad links you mentioned....


Thanks again,

Dan

[Paz]

Hi dan,

the site map looks terrific - I'm sure it will help your visitors too, as well as help geting you spidered.

I would suggest you redirect all traffic to the www domain, even though it's scheduled to be deprecated - but at the rate the ww3c are going I don't think it'll happen this century. People who link to you will tend to use the www version, and that's the important thing in my experience.

Here's the code you need for the .htaccess - make you sure you test it thoroughly and if there are any problems, give us a record of your errors.log file (somewhere in your logs directory). Obviously the more descriptive you can be of the problem the better we can figure out what's going on!

RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} .
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} !^www\.girlfriendslingerie\.com [NC]
RewriteRule (.*) http://www.girlfriendslingerie.com/$1 [R=301,L]

This will take some time to work in the search engines, but trust me when I say you won't regret doing this!

About the links to banned sites. It's not a problem if they link to you - if you think about it you can't control the actions of another webmaster, and Google tend to agree with that.

The only problem comes when you put up a link to a banned site on your website. As far as Google is concerned, you are putting your neck on the block when you link to any site, so you should check your outbound links periodically.

Hope I haven't missed anything and let us know if you have any more questions. :cool:

Cheers,
Paz.

[Datagg]

Paz can this coexist wit the otehr .htaccess without interferring..

i understand it will all be on 1 .htaccess.....


EDIT...... Paz you are a genious sir......It works....... I sent this up to both site..Now both read, no matter where a click, no matter where it goes the www version on both...

You are good man..... im so glad i met you..

Thanks for the kudos on the site maps..... Do you see anythign else , othe than mroer words via pages that need to be done?

i have my bro now adding mroe text to all new pages...of course when he does these there all in miva side. Yet when i convert them to static the changes are made....

Also the owner of the optimizer module emailed me today...seems he is a really good guy and wanted to make sure his rewrite was working also, which it is..... he gave me a few pointers also..i have always had a robots.txt, yet i gave the spiders full access/ Bruce told me i should block /Merchant2 which is miva side, and all other non important folders so the engines can thrive on only the static ones. Seeemed logical, as ive seen Google try to index soem of my miva side urls that are about 5,000 miles long...Ive seen indexed my shopping cart pages in miva, which obviosuly is a wasted thing...

So now with those folders blocked, all your help, the optimizer, the rewrite stuff...... and all the rest im hopeing i will see a huge increase...

Coincedence or notm weve had 12 orders in the last 3 days.....this isnt odd really, yet at the same time this all begun...coincedence, im thinking not.


Thanks Paz again...and all else..

you guys are great...

Oh what you huys think about http://ymproducts.com///// oh wait, its now http://www.ymproducts.com..hehehe thanks paz

Bless

Dan
Thanks

[Datagg]

Paz i ran into a big snag..yet it is corrected at the moment

The rewrite for www worked like a charm.....yet..when we tried to log into our miva control panel, it wouldnt work...

Seems the rewrite even changes the extension in the miva side also...so at the moment it doenst understand and the miva side of things wont work.....

i also confirmed this by trying to buy something...it wouldnt work either..so for now i removed that part of the rewrite..

i wrote a ticket to my provider on this to seeiif they can readjust MIVA to see and understand the www extension....

if by sonme chance they cant, or it turns out to be a big huge deal, woudl i be able to use that rewrite to say for it to drop the www parts.....

if the sites are being indesed 2 ways, then i assume the purpose is for it to drop 1 of them...so if this turns out to be a huge thuing to fix, would it be best at that point to allow it to see the site minus the www..... so i would take your rewrite and drop the www parts....

Hopefully ill have news on this tommrrow..... but i had to take it down for now, for even ordering couldnt happen on site....that www part just isnt reconized asa correct path into miva.....

[Paz]

Dan,

BIG PROBLEM with the htaccess!

I typed in http://girlfriendslingerie.com and I was redirected to
http://www.ymproducts.com/

that's not what I meant! http://girlfriendslingerie.com should redirect to http://www.girlfriendslingerie.com not to another domain.

I'll explain why it's a problem later, but for now can you take the relevant part of the htaccess out ASAP and we can come up with a solution for you later.

Cheers,
Paz.

[Datagg]

Dunno why Paz..both have there own url;s in there resepctive rotos for eacg domain....

one odd thing is that wit the rewrite xwww....i cant log into miva or no one can order anything..i wrote to my host on this, but they are stuiped evidently and are no help....



Dan,

BIG PROBLEM with the htaccess!

I typed in http://girlfriendslingerie.com and I was redirected to
http://www.ymproducts.com/

that's not what I meant! http://girlfriendslingerie.com should redirect to http://www.girlfriendslingerie.com not to another domain.

I'll explain why it's a problem later, but for now can you take the relevant part of the htaccess out ASAP and we can come up with a solution for you later.

Cheers,
Paz.

[daniel]

Thats very weird.

I do know that some hosts will not allow the non www domain to be redirected, they feel this is a security risk on the server.

Find another host , if you ask me

Thats how important it is.

D

[Datagg]

Tonight, me and one of the smart fellas over at my host ironed this all out.....

all sseems to be working now..... even the optimizer is writng the staics in www also, prior to the rewrite for www

the loging for miva, was the certificate not allowing us t olog in..now that has been corected also....

Finally....

thanks all for your help....


hopeful them engines will begin to do there things...

[Datagg]

last straw broke..switching all sites to hostasuarus...should be propagates sunday , early mon

[daniel]

Hey Dan

How did the server move go ?

Im keen to see if all went ok and if the site was indexed ok, also, did moving the IP address cause any issues or did it stay on the same range.

Daniel

[Datagg]

Hey Dan

How did the server move go ?

Im keen to see if all went ok and if the site was indexed ok, also, did moving the IP address cause any issues or did it stay on the same range.

Daniel

Hiya Daniel... Sorry it took so long for me to reply......

The move went very well. Hostasaurus did it without a lick of downtime. Im really impressed with then and would recomend them to anyone. As for the rest, well my site sorta fell of the charts with google. Ive been discussing this in another thread with Paz and others. Paz ordered me(LOL) to stop messing with the site design and concentrate on further content, links exchanges, blog etc......

And that is what me and my bro are doing...... PAZ doesnt know it but he gave me a vacation in so many ways, as im nuts on changing the design to the site each time i see it.... I just want to make it look good, and for some reason when it does, it dont the next day..lol....perhaps im just insane, i dunno.... :o

Anyways, i hope it all looks good now...Ive done allot of what Paz and others have suggested and hope in time things will pick up.....

if anyone of you see anythign else I should add, or whatever please let me know. i just added some info to all my checkout screens to try to help the proccess along. i also put my ssl license on auto float on the bottom right of all pages..... i did this for it was origainaly in the left nav, which I didnt display in the checkout screeens as i didnt want anyone to get distracted......

Anyways, thanks Daniel for the question.....

I must say I love you guys... You all have been so very helpful in this journey & i look forword to the future...