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Need help with my established website...

by edco
13 replies
  • WEB DESIGN
    • |
Hello.

My name is Ed, and I own cockapoocrazy dot com. I am not much of a web developer, and this site has become somewhat popular (4000 real fans on FB, up to 1,000 page views per day.) It is about 1 1/2 years old, with over 100 original articles, yet remains somewhat badly ranked in search and PR, much lower than many others, so I am wondering what I can do to improve upon it.

This may make my request slightly different than the norm. I am not trying to make a niche site and leave it be, this site is a daily passion. I update often, interact with fans multiple times per day, etc: I am devoted to cockapoocrazy dot com, and proud of what my wife and I have built there. Yet, I know that we must improve it in ways we are not experts in, in order to survive and thrive.

Aside from getting more backlinks, which I am still learning about and working on, how can I boost traffic, make the user stay longer, get better PageRank (currently 2), etc? I have done my best to do on-page SEO, but my skills are limited. I also wonder about general layout, search engine friendliness, Adsense placement, colors, logo, meta junk, content, and navigation...all of it. I need to know what I am doing right, what I am doing wrong, and how to fix it.

I am willing to do what I can to make corrections, but have limited HTML experience. I am also willing to hire out if the person is dependable and the price is right, but honestly, I have no idea which services and companies are reputable and which are not!

I am open to your ideas, critiques, and suggestions. You all have a much better idea about this sort of thing than I do, so I have come with an open mind and eager eyes, so please share what you are willing to share.

Regards,
Ed
#established #help a dummy #html #seo #website
  • Profile picture of the author Seoboxes
    Hello

    We can help you with your problem, we propose help for very low prices.

    Regards
    Seo boxes team
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    • Profile picture of the author edco
      Originally Posted by Seoboxes View Post

      Hello

      We can help you with your problem, we propose help for very low prices.

      Regards
      Seo boxes team
      That's great, but as I mentioned, I am uncertain who or what is and isn't reputable or effective for what I need. If you could make a proposal related to my specific site (cockapoocrazy dot com), or give examples of what it is you might do, I would be better informed.

      Meanwhile, I am relying on the good nature of WF members to help me make the best decisions for my site. All replies are appreciated, even if it is just to point some small thing out that I may not have noticed.
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      • Profile picture of the author steliodj
        Hi Ed,

        Just gave fast look to the source code of you website and it doesn't look really SEO optimized.

        As i can see you are using blogger...am i right?
        Something that would probably make a difference to your rankings almost immediately is to install wordpress and use a really SEO optimized theme and move your current content to their, you will need to get your own hosting for this.

        For example i don't know if it blogger or just the theme that you use at blogger that does this but your blog posts titles are treated as h3 which this tells google that this text is not the most important thing on that specific page...there are some things like that, that a good wordpress theme would solve.


        Kind Regards,
        Stelios
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        • Profile picture of the author edco
          Originally Posted by steliodj View Post

          Hi Ed,

          Just gave fast look to the source code of you website and it doesn't look really SEO optimized.

          As i can see you are using blogger...am i right?
          Something that would probably make a difference to your rankings almost immediately is to install wordpress and use a really SEO optimized theme and move your current content to their, you will need to get your own hosting for this.

          For example i don't know if it blogger or just the theme that you use at blogger that does this but your blog posts titles are treated as h3 which this tells google that this text is not the most important thing on that specific page...there are some things like that, that a good wordpress theme would solve.


          Kind Regards,
          Stelios
          Thanks for looking, Stelios. Yes, the site is on Blogger. Here's the thing...I'm really bad at website design, and moving everything to Wordpress, from what I've read...well, it sounds scary. At least for someone with my skills.

          So I guess my next logical question would be, is it possible to make a site like this work on Blogger, or is it simply not feasible? Perhaps I can optimize some things on Blogger to make it closer to being "like" a Wordpress theme? Or is it really going to be easier to just move the entire 156 page site?

          If so, I've got some studying to do...or I have to think about hiring someone. Also, do I risk losing anything we have currently got...PageRank, search engine results, backlinks, etc, in the move? Let me know what you think.
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          • Profile picture of the author steliodj
            As i understand by pages you include posts and everything right ? WordPress has an option for importing that content from blogger.

            So if you hire someone he will be able to grab those and then work on the theme, widgets,plugins etc.

            I really believe that you would finish faster by trying yourself to move this to wordpress than trying to fix the current one. It would be better if you can afford to hire someone that knows what he is doing but you could try doing it yourself as well.


            Stelios D
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            • Profile picture of the author steliodj
              About you current rankings, links etc...this would be helpful: http://www.doitwithwp.com/blogger-to-wordpress/
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              • Profile picture of the author edco
                Thanks for the link, I'll give this a good read. Maybe the move isn't so hard, after all...
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            • Profile picture of the author edco
              Originally Posted by steliodj View Post

              As i understand by pages you include posts and everything right ? WordPress has an option for importing that content from blogger.

              So if you hire someone he will be able to grab those and then work on the theme, widgets,plugins etc.

              I really believe that you would finish faster by trying yourself to move this to wordpress than trying to fix the current one. It would be better if you can afford to hire someone that knows what he is doing but you could try doing it yourself as well.


              Stelios D
              Yes, I meant posts and pages. Very cool that WP can do all that.

              The trouble with hiring (definitely the best option) is even worse than the affordability, it is finding people who come recommended and trustworthy, and know what they're doing. Because I myself know little about this stuff, it is hard to understand whether I am making the right hiring choice. How can I know if the person is skilled and making good choices for my site, if I myself lack those skills. That's what worries me...if it even makes any sense.
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              • Profile picture of the author steliodj
                It does make sense
                The last 3 days i'm fixing websites that other guys hired to create and by fixing i mean re-doing from scratch....the bad thing that clients online do is they choose the lowest price whether the truth is that in our industry you get what you pay

                Don't get me wrong, I don't complain, at least i'm making a living fixing their mistakes


                Stelios D
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        • Profile picture of the author edco
          Hey, kinda cool...I just fixed the h1 vs h3 tag issue, it was like that in the template. Anything else I can do to optimize this, or is it a lost cause?
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  • Profile picture of the author Madam X
    Hello Edco,

    Here's my two cents. I do local website design installations - including the writing & the SEO & backlinking. Just telling you this to let you know that I have local clients that pay me every month. I ONLY build on Wordpress because it's the best framework for search engine optimization & plug-ins can make it even more awesome.

    I recommend that you move to Wordpress. I think you should pay someone to design your website and move your site. Look for websites that you like and make sure that you can look around the website and that it's intuitive. When you want to find something on the site - it should be where you think it should go. Nothing fancy.

    You could go to Fiverr & get a Logo made there. A lot of designers will make four or five logos for you. After your site is built, start - studying how you can backlink (no blackhat stuff - just honest work).

    Naturally, you wouldn't be able to get your website made at Fiverr- at least i wouldn't go to Fiverr for a website. Lol. I have an affiliate website that I made 18 months ago that I haven't even looked at in 6 months (not kidding). A writer friend & I worked on it about an hour a day (maybe a little less) for six months. We haven't touched it since & it's starting to send us money from the Ads I put up there.

    I only told you this because you should probably start to see money out of your website by now & I see that your Semrush ranks your website as being worth $548. So, you absolutely have done a good job here. But, you probably already know that the dog market is a HUGE niche market that you can really cash in on.

    Also, I noticed that while you have a "Dog Book Series" on Amazon - really cool - by the way - do you collect e-mail addresses? It might be a good idea to do that & start sending your subscribers a bi-weekly email. Have good information in there & then put a sales link or two in the emails. Your subscribers won't mind at all as long as you provide valuable information. There are tons of WSO's on e-mails & auto-responders.

    I wish you well & I love Cockapoos - they are so cute!!


    Best of Luck ~
    Madam X



    Originally Posted by edco View Post

    Hello.

    My name is Ed, and I own cockapoocrazy dot com. I am not much of a web developer, and this site has become somewhat popular (4000 real fans on FB, up to 1,000 page views per day.) It is about 1 1/2 years old, with over 100 original articles, yet remains somewhat badly ranked in search and PR, much lower than many others, so I am wondering what I can do to improve upon it.

    This may make my request slightly different than the norm. I am not trying to make a niche site and leave it be, this site is a daily passion. I update often, interact with fans multiple times per day, etc: I am devoted to cockapoocrazy dot com, and proud of what my wife and I have built there. Yet, I know that we must improve it in ways we are not experts in, in order to survive and thrive.

    Aside from getting more backlinks, which I am still learning about and working on, how can I boost traffic, make the user stay longer, get better PageRank (currently 2), etc? I have done my best to do on-page SEO, but my skills are limited. I also wonder about general layout, search engine friendliness, Adsense placement, colors, logo, meta junk, content, and navigation...all of it. I need to know what I am doing right, what I am doing wrong, and how to fix it.

    I am willing to do what I can to make corrections, but have limited HTML experience. I am also willing to hire out if the person is dependable and the price is right, but honestly, I have no idea which services and companies are reputable and which are not!

    I am open to your ideas, critiques, and suggestions. You all have a much better idea about this sort of thing than I do, so I have come with an open mind and eager eyes, so please share what you are willing to share.

    Regards,
    Ed
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    • Profile picture of the author edco
      Originally Posted by Madam X View Post

      Hello Edco,

      Here's my two cents. I do local website design installations - including the writing & the SEO & backlinking. Just telling you this to let you know that I have local clients that pay me every month. I ONLY build on Wordpress because it's the best framework for search engine optimization & plug-ins can make it even more awesome.

      I recommend that you move to Wordpress. I think you should pay someone to design your website and move your site. Look for websites that you like and make sure that you can look around the website and that it's intuitive. When you want to find something on the site - it should be where you think it should go. Nothing fancy.

      You could go to Fiverr & get a Logo made there. A lot of designers will make four or five logos for you. After your site is built, start - studying how you can backlink (no blackhat stuff - just honest work).

      Naturally, you wouldn't be able to get your website made at Fiverr- at least i wouldn't go to Fiverr for a website. Lol. I have an affiliate website that I made 18 months ago that I haven't even looked at in 6 months (not kidding). A writer friend & I worked on it about an hour a day (maybe a little less) for six months. We haven't touched it since & it's starting to send us money from the Ads I put up there.

      I only told you this because you should probably start to see money out of your website by now & I see that your Semrush ranks your website as being worth $548. So, you absolutely have done a good job here. But, you probably already know that the dog market is a HUGE niche market that you can really cash in on.

      Also, I noticed that while you have a "Dog Book Series" on Amazon - really cool - by the way - do you collect e-mail addresses? It might be a good idea to do that & start sending your subscribers a bi-weekly email. Have good information in there & then put a sales link or two in the emails. Your subscribers won't mind at all as long as you provide valuable information. There are tons of WSO's on e-mails & auto-responders.

      I wish you well & I love Cockapoos - they are so cute!!


      Best of Luck ~
      Madam X
      Thanks for all the info and advice, which you obviously considered in detail before replying. This is a great community, I'm glad I joined.

      Yes, I have written 4 books about dogs, 1 free and 3 for sale. They aren't best-sellers, but they do alright. I make most of my income from book sales, not ads. The website is a bit of a platform to sell the books, while still giving useful free info to people about something they (and we) love. And offer a them the chance to join a community of like-minded folks. Win-win-win.

      We do make some AdSense revenue, but honestly I'm mostly after better rankings, not ad revenue (although those are obviously nice, and help make everything possible.) I feel that we offer more to most readers than some pages out there that rank higher, are very poorly designed, and/or only have a few brief articles, and just want the search engines to someday reflect that.

      Regarding the logo, we have hired and gone through several logo iterations, but all our logo fussing never seems to change anything traffic-wise. Should we go for a compact, professional logo, or keep it fun and light, or a bit of both? I'm assuming the one we have now is less than ideal. =)

      That SemRush thing is neat, yet odd...what does that value represent? That we would have to pay $548 for the traffic we got for the year, if it were not organic? Just curious.

      I used to have an email sign up form on the site, but only some 30 people ever signed up. I found that the FB group grew SO fast (over 4,000 now) that I spend a lot of time interacting and promoting there, and just removed the email sign up. Perhaps I will look into it again.

      I will look deeper into the WordPress and web designer idea. That is a very big step for me to do, as I have learned to build sites through blogger, been the only one doing the site design and updates, and now need to consider handing it over to someone else. But I know there are far more skilled people out there to do this than me, so I will be considering it.
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  • Profile picture of the author edco
    Just did a redesign of the logo, hoping that this would look professional enough. It is 37kb, you can see it on the main site...is that about the right size for a header? Any comments on the redo?
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