Help for a struggling newbie

14 replies
  • WEB DESIGN
  • |
I am 8 months into internet marketing, and i just learned im doing everything wrong. I've been working on a lot of area's including grammar. But im struggling with web design. I had a site review done, and here is what i was told.


Site Structure

The navigation in this site isn't done in a web standard format. There are too many main navigation items when there should be main items and then subnavigations. This is throw's off the design and Google doesn't like this. Remove so many main subs and categories; this will help your structure and appearance of your site.
(What does web standard format mean?)


Design

The design has a dated look. You have 5 seconds to captures a users attention before they click away and if you succeed you might have them captivated for 30 seconds. With the current design there is no obvious attention grabber that creates a call of action. This should be created to give the visitor the knowledge of what they need to do when they get on your site.

(Again what does he mean by this?)

The images on the site are currently not web and device ready, meaning that they have not been properly saved and compressed for web devices.
(This is the main queston what does he mean web and device ready?) Also how do i do these things? Any help at all will be much appreciated thanks friends. I dont want to spam but if it helps to see my current site it is gonzotrucker.com
#newbie #struggling
  • Profile picture of the author dougb
    I am certainly no expert but the moment your page loaded I could not focus on your content, my eyes kept going to your background pictures of the semi and bike, I don't know if fading them down would help or not but it is very distracting.

    There are too many links on your page navigation at the top, it almost looks like a tag cloud. Try to create a general page title like, Trucking Jobs, then add the related pages as sub pages. It's easy to to. Just do a search for setting up Wordpress page navigation or something similar.
    Trucking Jobs (this is the link you would see at the top of your page besides the Home link)
    (sub page) - High Paying Jobs
    (sub page) - Oil Field Jobs
    Sub pages are drop downs from the main page link.

    By cleaning up your site navigation the search engines should be happier with your site because the navigation is organized now not scattered all over the place. Keep in mind that the search engines want to give the surfer the best most relative content to their users. Users want their content now and will not spend a lot of time looking for it.

    Think of it this way, if you order a pizza, who are you going to order from, the ones who deliver a baked crust and has the sauce, cheese and toppings all in their own separate containers that you will have to assemble and finish cooking, or the one where you open the box and everything is exactly where it should be and you can start eating right away.

    Web visitors are the exact same way. We want exactly what we are looking for and we want it now.

    About the design, the dated look comment is probably about the background images. It seems that the shift of simpler is better. Backgrounds are usually a solid color now it seems using pictures and videos on the pages or posts is the way to go these days.

    Personally, the content and answering what I am looking for is way more important than the look to me now. There are tons of great looking simple blog templates out there to use.

    No call to action. For me, although I am not a truck driver, there is no purpose, there is nothing telling me why I am at your site and what should I be doing to get the information I was looking for. If I clicked on your site for trucking jobs, give me that information or how to get that information within 5 seconds of entering the site and have anything related to my search in a nicely organized package that i can find and use easily as well.

    Sometimes we have to take a step back and look at the the big picture, meaning, and I know I'm guilty of this, it's not what we think the customer wants, it is listening, learning and knowing what they want and giving it to them the easiest way possible for them.

    There is only one way I know of doing that, doing research, what are truckers looking for to better what they do, and how do I give it them

    The Eagle header is great, maybe Photoshop a faded semi on each side of it, just a thought.

    About the images, if I was to guess, I think they mean that if I visit your site on my mobile phone the images would be full size on the phone rather than proportionate for mobile devices. That is a pure guess though.

    I hope you don't take my comments the wrong way, you are online, taking action and wanting to get better or you wouldn't have asked here. This is just how I see your site when I visited.

    You are not doing everything wrong, you are just learning how to do everything better.

    This IM, website, blog thing takes time and effort, and we as marketers have to be able to change and adapt to the ever changing needs of our visitors and potential customers.

    Have a good day.
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  • Profile picture of the author gonzotrucker
    I took nothing the wrong way. All great information, and helpfull. I am going to revamp the whole look of the site, and you gave me some great ideas thanks.
    Im still not 100% sure what keyword to use. What truckers want is more money, and to be home more. So i've been trying to teach them how to make more money. I have a trucking job that pay's at the top of the pay scale for my industry, and i can teach them how to earn the most. But how do i translate this into something of value to them. Also i want to teach new truck drivers about the industry, and some entertainment post as well. Lot's of work to do im starting from step 1 again but that is ok im learning. Than you very much for all the help i will pass it on one day.
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  • Profile picture of the author xtrapunch
    Your site seriously needs a revamp. You can learn a few tricks from this website: securityguardtraininghq.com
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    • Profile picture of the author gonzotrucker
      My biggest problem is the tech stuff! I dont know how to create the pictures or put them on the pages like that website about security guards. That is why my site looks so terrible because that is all i know how to do. Im going to start playing around with it, and try to figure some things out. I barely know how to set it up. I have no tech skills on this sort of thing. What im thinking is simple like that but with words at the top explaining what i do. Take out the picture of a truck, and motorcycle leave blank.
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      • Profile picture of the author tobyddd
        My honest opinion - ditch that WP theme and ditch the front page adverts.

        Not sure how you are trying to make money from this site, but if it's from Google ads or Amazon - I don't think you'll get very far - sorry

        Get some SEO done on the site - I use Yoasts SEO plugin (free) which will guide you as to what the basics.

        If you really don't know any tech stuff - I'd almost be tempted to have a look on the forums for somebody to build you a nice looking WP site and then you can add your posts in after - if you need help with how to use WP and with adding pictures, etc - there are plenty of free tutorials out there on the web - or even for a few pounds/dollars - video tutorials.

        Hope this helps - and good luck
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        • Profile picture of the author gonzotrucker
          I dont understand how do i make money then if not from ads, and selling a product? Yes i will have someone build it for me im not any good at html or coding or seo. I just have all this knowledge in my head from over 20 years in the industry. But i dont know how to put it on the web.
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          • Profile picture of the author tobyddd
            Originally Posted by gonzotrucker View Post

            I dont understand how do i make money then if not from ads, and selling a product? Yes i will have someone build it for me im not any good at html or coding or seo. I just have all this knowledge in my head from over 20 years in the industry. But i dont know how to put it on the web.
            I'd write a few ebooks - save them as a PDF and market them. Break it down into parts and give away the 1st one or two parts for free - in return for their email address. Then see if they would like to buy the rest of the course. Don't try charging too much though - to start with - get your membership list to a decent size. After a while, maybe a monthly newsletter - within, you could have an affiliate ad to some truck related product - or get companies to advertise in the newsletter. Just a few ways to get started
            If you really must put Google Ads and Amazon links in there - don't bang them on the front page - it's such a turnoff IMHO, fine on a post - or a time lapsed post (by time lapsed, I mean the post has been on the site for at least a month before I add any form of affiliate advertising) - but I NEVER have them showing on the front page.
            Hope this gives you a few ideas
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            • Profile picture of the author gonzotrucker
              Great information it all seems so overwhelming for me. My compatition is already doing these things, and i dont see how i can compete. The guy's in position 1 through 3 have over 1 million backlinks how is that possible?
              Every thing you said about the ebooks is already out there, and have been for years can i still compete with them? If i write an ebook it will be almost a carbon copy of there ebook. So my question is do you think i can still compete, and make sales. Also i dont plan on staying in arizona long im moving to philippines this year so that is why im trying to learn internet marketing so i dont have to rely on a bussiness there. Im not trying to get rich off this i just want to earn $600 usd. If i can learn how to earn a couple hundred a month off this 1 site that will give me the confadence to start a few more sites in diffrent niches. That is my goal just to earn a little for now to boost my confadence before i give up.I also cant find a good keyword in the trucking niche i use traffic travis, and google addwords tool both say every truck driver keyword is extremly difficult.
              Sorry to be such a bother but im a rookie with 1 million questions in my head.
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              • Profile picture of the author tobyddd
                Originally Posted by gonzotrucker View Post

                Great information it all seems so overwhelming for me. My compatition is already doing these things, and i dont see how i can compete. The guy's in position 1 through 3 have over 1 million backlinks how is that possible?
                You can always compete - but it may take some time to challenge him for No.1 spot. However, links aren't everything - get some unique content on your site - Google loves it, give some stuff away, get a Facebook Fan Page set up - again - just a few ideas.


                Originally Posted by gonzotrucker View Post

                Every thing you said about the ebooks is already out there, and have been for years can i still compete with them? If i write an ebook it will be almost a carbon copy of there ebook.
                I doubt it - personal perspective will mean it's unique. If everybody in business thought - there's competition - therefore I can't compete - there wouldn't be alot of businesses out there !!!

                Originally Posted by gonzotrucker View Post

                Im not trying to get rich off this i just want to earn $600 usd. If i can learn how to earn a couple hundred a month off this 1 site that will give me the confadence to start a few more sites in diffrent niches. That is my goal just to earn a little for now to boost my confadence before i give up.I also cant find a good keyword in the trucking niche i use traffic travis, and google addwords tool both say every truck driver keyword is extremly difficult.
                Sorry to be such a bother but im a rookie with 1 million questions in my head.
                You've already gained experience in what you've done - and you've done the smart thing in asking for advice. This industry is fantastic, in that people will gladly give help, without wanting anything in return - and I'm glad to add my two peneth to help someone, as people have been kind enough to help me along my way :-)

                My advice - keep going my friend, don't give up. It may be that this particular niche is hard to break into, but there will always be room for more people to break into it.
                Try reading Darren Rowse's Blog Blog Tips to Help You Make Money Blogging - ProBlogger and I highly recommend buying at least one, if not all of the books from them How to Build a Successful Blog: Must Have Resources (in particular the 31 Days to Build a Better Blog book).
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  • Profile picture of the author dougb
    Adsense and Amazon are not big regular payday ways to advertise to make a living. Most adsense information I have read mostly bases it on make a couple of adsense bucks per day X how many websites you will create to make the money you want. Amazon I imagine makes some money, I don't know a lot about Amazon except how to post ads and obviously I'm not making massive Amazon revenues.

    With all that knowledge in your head you should see the goldmine of possibilities: make use of all that information the average person doesn't.
    How about

    Mini Reports for a fixed price, limited recurring, full recurring

    How to ........ the right way the first time.

    Best ........ in Arizona, offline marketing

    Insider tips to .... from a 20 year veteran

    How I guarantee you can ......... Because I've done it

    Promote truck dealerships for a commission

    Trucking tips from a 20 year veteran who has been behind the steering wheel and the desk.

    1 page report, Arizona trucking rates / mileage. (share what each firm pays) for $5
    Best built rigs and why

    What are all those things you know what would make a beginner trucker's life easier, and is that information sooooo good that others would pay for it.

    That took about a minute or so. Write down what you know and share the common knowledge points as free content and sell the good stuff that only a few know about.

    Good Luck
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  • Profile picture of the author dougb
    You are raising the white flag in defeat before you even try. Your competition is well established, ask yourself realistically can you do what they are doing at least as well as or better yet can you do it better. If not, then don't waste your time.

    Start fresh and shift over to affiliate marketing, blogging or something a little more broad targeted.

    If you are relying on marketing online to support you, you need to slow down and start learning from the start.

    Learn the basics, start list building, build the relationship, market to them, repeat, then repeat and repeat again. Making money online rarely happens overnight to the masses, to the few I am sure it does, but to the majority nada.

    I'm not trying to kick you when you're down, but you can feel the frustration and anxiousness in your last post. Choose to either go up against the competition and build a better business model, or take a step back and start fresh and learn on the fly like most of us have. Be realistic though, although I believe that with 20 years experience you must have some "Insider type" information that truckers need to have that isn't common knowledge in the biz.

    Just my opinion though, please take with a grain of salt.

    Doug

    Learn, take action, get up when you fall, dust yourself off and keep moving forward. In the grand scheme of things it's really what makes the difference between the winners and losers.
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  • Profile picture of the author JanelleJ
    My advice would be to get a writer to help you put together all of your wisdom into a book and blog articles for your site, a web developer to fix up your site, and a marketer who knows how to craft it all together in a way that is appealing and profitable. I can do all of that for you. Feel free to PM me if you'd like to talk.

    Starting out is the coolest part of the adventure. Best wishes to you.
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  • Profile picture of the author chris032
    I would try and find a good writer on the internet or go to fiverr.com where you can get outsourcing done for $5.00 dollars.
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  • You can also go to oDesk and find contractors from all over the world who work fairly cheaply on projects.

    As far as content, look into using PLR materials -- it'll save you a ton of time.
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