Going round in circles. What should I focus my efforts on?

Have you submitted your sitemap to Google, Bing, and other search engines?

Focus on writing good, original content. As time goes on you will learn more and find effective ways of getting traffic to your site.

Some people will actually write a lot of content and get the site "perfected" before they build any backlinks or share their sitemap. That way they hit the ground running. It's actually a pretty sound idea.

Since your site has no alexa ranking, you are going to have to be very patient about your content getting ranked on Google. That's just the way it is with SEO and completely new websites.

Get a SEO course if you really want to continue with your site. Or go into paid advertising Glev suggests.

First off change the permalink structure from the default VTX by Troy Barbell 275 lb. Bumper Plate Set User Review | The Home Gym Manual so that you can optimize each post for the keyword.

Second like tritrain said, be sure to submit your sitemap's.

Also, start doing some serious video marketing, that way you can post them to your site as well as start getting traffic from video directories.

Another thing, make sure to be using your H1 H2 and H3 tags throughout the content so for instance the first post should start with <H1>What are bumper plates?</H1>

Also, before you upload your images make sure the rename them the keyword. Then after upload use the keyword in the title and caption. Then make sure to change the link from
http://homegymmanual.com/wp-content/...ic-lifting.jpg
to your affiliate link to the Amazon product.

That's what I would recommend just taking a quick look.

I think patience is definatly needed. The reason so many people fail in IM is because they give up too early. You don't need to pay someone to optimze your site as all the necessary info on how to do it yourself can be found online.

Your site is decent. On the sidebars though, the text looks too pale and isn't easy to read so id work on improving the design. Also, in your reviews you only have one text link to amazon. Id recommend adding at least two text links to improve your CTR. Plus consider slightly increasing the text size, but only a little bit.

Well, since you're using Wordpress, take advantage of a few of the many fantastic plugins available.

SEO by Yoast, there's a sitemap submission plugin, also a form plugin if you want to take questions or get email subscribers, there are a couple really good WP security plugins, and there's a "Google keyword ranking" plugin (that I can't remember the name). It's the one that allows you to add keywords and it'll check every few days to see if your rank has improved in the SERPs, and then provide you with statistics and history.

Just log into your admin console, go to plugins, add plugin, and then 'popular'. There you will find many of the best plugins to start out.

Site looks good buddy but I done a quick look up and noticed it has no backlinks. In order to rank on Google, you not only need to make sure your posts are keyword targeted but you also needs to start building backlinks. Start submitting articles to directories, building web 2.0 sites, get involved with social media and comment on other related sites. You will get there eventually.What keywords are you trying to rank for? Have you put together a list yet?

wordwizard has got a good point. Building an email list is an important part and offering a freebie is a good way to do this.

In my opinion, if your goal is to make money with your website, you should focus on the "making money" part first. What offer are you going to use, then test to see if it converts with some paid traffic.

You can build the most brilliant website/blog, increase your SEO, banklinks etc etc but then how are you going to make money? You have to focus on that first if this is the main goal.

I have seen so many people wanting to make money online with a website or blog and completely putting all their focus and attention on building banklinks, SEO, content etc but then giving up in the end as it won't bring in money. You will need a strategy first on how you are going to make money with your site.

Cheers,

Reno

Try the wordpress plug in called "All in One SEO" it allows you to choose the title and descriptions for each post and it also submits your site's index.
Also, you may want to open an account with Google Webmaster tools and register your site, this will get your site indexed faster and will also give you a ton of information like keywords your site is ranking for, backlinks, etc..
Last but not least, add an optin form, you need to start building a list as soon as possible..

Allen

Focus on standing still lol. Your making me dizzy.

I like the site it's nice a informative, when people google exercise equipment they're looking for reviews and personal experiences to see if it's worth buying. You should put your affiliate links in for the products you're reviewing and if you're using wordpress you can get an seo plugin and optimize it yourself. Do keyword research and market in forums and discussion boards that are popular in that niche. If you use Aweber include an opt-in form on your pages so people can get you latest blog and newsletters right in their inbox so you can continue to market to them even after they've left your page.

Your robots.txt contains two sitemaps (which should be fine according to the specs, but I prefer listing only one for the more braindead crawlers):

cdn.attracta.com/sitemap/3269954.xml.gz
homegymmanual.com/sitemap.xml

Google XML Sitemaps, the plugin that created the second sitemap, is a solid addition to your site.

But I'm not too keen on that Attracta addition. Look at some of the mess it's added to the sitemap:

homegymmanual.com/wp-login.php
homegymmanual.com/wp-login.php?action=lostpassword
homegymmanual.com/wp-login.php?redirect_to=http%3A%2F%2Fhomegymmanual.c om%2Fwp-admin%2Fpost.php%3Fpost%3D209%26action%3Dedit&reau th=1
homegymmanual.com/wp-login.php?redirect_to=http%3A%2F%2Fhomegymmanual.c om%2Fwp-admin%2Fpost.php%3Fpost%3D159%26action%3Dedit&reau th=1

So maybe do this:

1. Remove that Attracta software.
2. Fix the permalinks, as others mentioned. See here for the most common ways of doing it:
yoast.com/articles/wordpress-seo/#permalink-structure
3. Rebuild the sitemap in Google XML Sitemaps.

And then this:

4. Possibly remove the sidebar / clear the widgets. There are pros and cons of doing so from an SEO perspective, but I have a hunch that the whole "Wordpressy" look overwhelms most visitors.
5. Use a related-posts plugin to get more internal linking happening. Yet Another Related Posts Plugin (YARPP) is a nice and simple one.
6. Use a social-sharing plugin to encourage people to spread your content to Facebook, Twitter, etc. My current favorite is Slick Social Share Buttons. Also, you've currently got non-configured social buttons at the top right of your site. I'd remove those ones if you're not going to make any social accounts for your site.

Your content itself looks excellent.

Most important, as Reno X said, ensure you have a viable monetization strategy in place before obsessing with these implementation details. That's been one of my biggest mistakes, and it's really draining and discouraging to discover it too late.

Thanks for all your replys. I really appreciate it.
This is what I will do.
1. Remove attracta.
2. Fix permalinks. Rebuild site map.
3. Decide on a stratagy to earn money. I will write a ten ways to build muscle at home series of articles and give them away in a series of emails. This will create a list.
4. Improve my links to Amazon.
5. Improve the look of my site. Maybe change to a clearer theme.
I will concentrate on these and then look at backlinks and social media. Lots of skills to learn and work to do but I my target is to see results by the start of November.

Yes, you definitely want to change your permalink structure.
I'd recommend this: /%postname%/%post_id%/
Including the post id improves site performance.

You should also add the following pages: Contact Us, Privacy Policy, Terms of Use

Since you are using affiliate links, you might want to hide those from Google using the AffiLinker plug-in: http://wordpress.org/plugins/affilinker/

--Robert

Whatever you do, don't hire Attracta. I'm trying to spread the word since they ripped me off for almost $3000. Here's my story:

I was sent the timeline of progression first and then the Gold package info (July 19, 2013). After going over both documents, I agreed to enter into a contract with Attracta to get our business to the top of Google. I should have had my onsite content by Aug 9, according to the timeline they sent me. Instead I kept getting repeat emails of the Knowledge Packet over and over again. It was not until Sept 11 that I received the onsite content – a whole month late that I had to pay for. During this time, I also requested the additional service they offer for $300 to install the onsite content for me, as laid out in the original agreement. They ignored my emails and I was unable to receive this service. I had also asked some questions about editing my website. Those, too, went ignored. When they finally did send the onsite content, I was given two weeks to install it or the contract would be null and void. Because I was unable to get the additional service, I was unable to fulfill this part of the contract. Attracta had only ignored me and sent me repeat emails. I decided to cancel. Even after we agreed on a refund amount, Attracta gave me the runaround for months. This is the tame version of what they’ve put me through.
They offer a 60-Day-Guarantee or the customer gets their money back. They were unable to get us to the top of Google in 60 days because they couldn’t even get the onsite content done on time. They couldn’t even answer simple questions in emails. They couldn’t call me when they said they would. I spent days waiting on replies that never came. Even though they could not do their job, I never received any money back.
Attracta breached their contract 3 TIMES and completed no services for me. I paid them $2894, and I have not seen a dime returned. What little initial work they did was very low quality with misinformation and misspelling. I turned them into the Better Business Bureau, and they would not cooperate with them either. They have since had their accreditation with the BBB taken away due to the number of complaints they’ve had. I even tried to contact the co-founder, Ken Leonard, to which I still went ignored.
If you are a victim of the Attracta scam, here’s a few things you can do:
Google “Attracta Reviews” and leave your two-cents on every page you see so that others may be warned. Go to Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) | Home and report the business fraud/cyber scam to the IC3 division of the FBI. This is more time consuming but worth it! I’m working on my case there now. Report them to the Better Business Bureau. Part of my decision to hire them was because they were accredited on the BBB. Help future potential customers to know the truth by reporting your experience. Suing is certainly an option, but if you’re like me, you’re out of state and things get more expensive than they’re worth. That’s why I will spread the truth of what they did to me online. Also, I made an Angie’s List page for them. Feel free to leave a review there as well! Screw you, Attracta!

There are a lot of professional trainers, nutritionists, weight gain & weight loss specialists already well established in this niche. Naturally, it will be hard for you to rank against these guys/gals because they have all the tools to rank high on Google.

My suggestion is that you consider some/all of the following:

- Google keywords in your niche
- Research "Who's Hot" in that market (ex: Vince Del Monte)
- Become an affiliate to the top 5 or so Trainers, Nutritionists, etc...
- Utilize the marketing tools & knowledge they "give you" in the affiliate tools section after you become an affiliate (i.e. free rebrandable reports, permission to use videos, and other marketing materials)
- Target keywords with low competition (*Use Market Samurai or Traffic Travis)
- Rewrite or Create unique content around said keywords
- Index those articles on your site first
- Comment on their websites, blogs, and add a link to your site
- Offer content to those high ranking sites with a credit link back to your site
- Use cheap PPC methods to get paid traffic to your site

I don't want to overwhelm you, but I would definitely research the top trainers, and become an affiliate, if nothing less just to see how they market their goods through their affiliate tools sections, you will be amazed at the resources they will give you to promote their stuff. Plus, as a bonus...you get to see how it all works as an affiliate.

You can create a FREE Newsletter, give a way a free rebranded report, and start building a list with a simple webform from GetResponse (*auto-responder like $15 month after free trial)

Then, you can expand your marketing by promoting relative products via email, through social marketing, paid traffic back to sales/landing pages, etc...

It's very unlikely you will ever rank very high in the SERP's with major companies and fitness guru's alike already having massive amounts of content, and holding fast on top search pages. If you do rank at all it will have to be for LSI keywords or long tail keywords and phrases that are not in such high competition.

There too, make sure you are optimizing those articles with proper on-page SEO, which you can google to learn more about how to do "On-Page SEO" - but always try to write content for humans first, not some illegible garble just for search engines.

Lastly, diversify your affiliate promo's - Amazon is fine and dandy, but you can push digital products through ClickBank, and earn 75% commissions, which equates to way more money in your account!

Good luck.