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MattF
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Just stick to the standards and use clean code, meaningful titles etc. SEO is a vague term. Good content and clean, semantically correct webpage code will usually do you far more good than owt else. Speed has become an issue these days where the search engines are concerned too, so things like optimising images and making your code mobile friendly help too. If it has content worth a toss and the search engines can index it cleanly, it'll generally sort itself. With regard the HTML side of things:
http://www.w3schools.com/tags/default.asp
Also read up on accessibility. Simple things like alt tags for images, for example, where possible.
Validator for checking code:
https://validator.w3.org/unicorn/
Comes in handy for reference, to find out what things need tweaking. Some suggestions you can ignore though.
Google's, (link to downloadable PDF), website search engine optimisation guide:
http://www.google.co.uk/webmasters/docs/search-engine-optimization-starter-guide.pdf
http://www.w3schools.com/tags/default.asp
Also read up on accessibility. Simple things like alt tags for images, for example, where possible.
Validator for checking code:
https://validator.w3.org/unicorn/
Comes in handy for reference, to find out what things need tweaking. Some suggestions you can ignore though.
Google's, (link to downloadable PDF), website search engine optimisation guide:
http://www.google.co.uk/webmasters/docs/search-engine-optimization-starter-guide.pdf
Tom Orrow L
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Exactly what Matt said.
& please.. I beg you. Do not buy backlinks from some random guy of fiverr.. If possible don't buy them at all.
& please.. I beg you. Do not buy backlinks from some random guy of fiverr.. If possible don't buy them at all.
I won't be buying anything . Lol
It's a free website I have set up mainly so I can list my own second had stuff for sale. It's first use is so I have everything in one place and can use it to copy and paste on a regular basis to Facebook pages which can sell stuff if you post at the right time.
Sadly within minutes of posting your add it's gone half way down the page never to return unless you bump it.
Anyway I thought if I can get the site known it might encourage people to list their items before they cross post to Facebook pages..
My problem is I don't write the html as it's a free script install so i really have to work with what I have got......
MattF
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So it's something like a free-hosting site? If so, pretty much anything you do won't help you much. Do you have to use their interface to create pages, or can you upload pages of your own? A clearer idea of exactly what you're working with would help. 
You'll be fighting an uphill battle with something like that, btw. Not meaning to sound pessimistic, but breaking people away from either their routine or what they know/recognise isn't easy. It's a thankless task generally requiring lots of time and work, which can show little to no benefit on many an occasion, usually more oft than not.
You'll be fighting an uphill battle with something like that, btw. Not meaning to sound pessimistic, but breaking people away from either their routine or what they know/recognise isn't easy. It's a thankless task generally requiring lots of time and work, which can show little to no benefit on many an occasion, usually more oft than not.
Another tip DON'T EVER employ a SEO company to improve your ranking. Most of their techniques will get you de-ranked or dropped by the algorythmn's the search engines use to rate the relevance of a website.
The days of white on white text blocks at the end to spam the search engines are long gone.
As Matt says, just put a honest descriptive page together, try to keep the bells and whistles reliant on javascript libraries to a minimum and make sure it looks ok on a variety of computers (win, mac, android, and browsers firefox/ie/opera).
TL,DR; SEO is a scammers game. No matter how the company selling it tries to dress it up.
The days of white on white text blocks at the end to spam the search engines are long gone.
As Matt says, just put a honest descriptive page together, try to keep the bells and whistles reliant on javascript libraries to a minimum and make sure it looks ok on a variety of computers (win, mac, android, and browsers firefox/ie/opera).
TL,DR; SEO is a scammers game. No matter how the company selling it tries to dress it up.
No NO its on a paid for server. Its with Host Gator. I have a reseller account.So it's something like a free-hosting site? If so, pretty much anything you do won't help you much. Do you have to use their interface to create pages, or can you upload pages of your own? A clearer idea of exactly what you're working with would help.
You'll be fighting an uphill battle with something like that, btw. Not meaning to sound pessimistic, but breaking people away from either their routine or what they know/recognise isn't easy. It's a thankless task generally requiring lots of time and work, which can show little to no benefit on many an occasion, usually more oft than not.
I am using OSclass https://osclass.org/ .
As i said above I have most of the coffeecup software as I got it on a massive discount after moaning to Scott Swordski. This incliudes Website Insight.http://www.coffeecup.com/website-insight/ but I dont have a basic tutorial yet...
I also have http://www.coffeecup.com/sitemapper/ but again I have not had time to look for the basic tutorial on how to use it.
It would be easier if I wrote my own pages I guess but that would not give me what I want I .e classified site.
This is the site www.cyberbuyer.co.uk.
One thing confusing me a little is what I would actually type in if I was looking for a site to sell things........Ebay is the obvious place and most people use facebook to sell locally but you cant really list loads of things as they drop from view that quick...
MattF
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You wouldn't type something specifically in. Normally if someone were looking for a free classifieds site, something like "free classifieds" is the type of thing they'd type into somewhere like Google. However, the things people might type in whilst looking for that type of site could be almost anything. It could be related to the buying/selling option, it could be a search for the specific item they're looking for etc. You've not picked an easy nut to crack here. It's hard enough trying to get your site showing high up in search engine listings even if it's a fairly niche site, so something like yours is going to be a lot of work.
It's also a vicious circle. Unless you actively promote the site somehow and get people using it, there won't be constantly updated content, which means the search engines won't index it as frequently, which means that it won't rank so highly hence will appear lower down the listings, thereby less people will find it and use it, and then you're back to the first point in this paragraph.
There's a good reason why the likes of Ebay have little competition. Even coding, running, maintaining and advertising a small site isn't easy, but when you're aiming at something like this, it's literally a case of spending every spare moment you have trying to propmote your site, updating it, tweaking or rewriting the code to work exactly how you want it to etc.
Personally, if it were I, I honestly wouldn't even try with something like that. I really don't intend to come across as being a really pessimistic, gloomy sod, but unfortunately, that is pretty much the reality of what you're aiming for. The chance of success is slim to none unless you have both the luck of the Irish on your side, and God himself typing at your keyboard. All you can do is just try your best to get people using it, by making the site more widely known through word of mouth, so to speak, and hoping that it will gain some momentum. In truth though, you'll likely waste months or years of your time on it and swear never again when you finally give it up as a lost cause.
A good way to find out what you're up against is to go on any of the many forums out there which are intended for forum administrators, site owners etc., and look through their content regarding promoting and running a site. You'll likely lose the will to live after a while though, when you see just how cut-throat it is and to what levels some will go-to to promote a site. It's literally a full time business.
If this is just a pet hobby site, just do what you can, (going back to what I said initially), and hope it gains momentum. If you're seriously wanting to make it into a site which may eventually earn some revenue though, you have a long hard slog in front of you. Even as your site is now, there's nothing to differentiate it from most other installs of that software, as I'm guessing you haven't created a customised style? Even simple things like that can make a difference as to whether people notice and remember your site or not, and if you are planning on the site possibly becoming larger, well known at some point, the simple fact is that you will likely end up having to alter code, (whether that be simply the CSS else the underlying PHP code), or hiring someone to do it if you're unable.
Edit: Apologies for the length of that post, if you're still reading/lucid by this point.
It's also a vicious circle. Unless you actively promote the site somehow and get people using it, there won't be constantly updated content, which means the search engines won't index it as frequently, which means that it won't rank so highly hence will appear lower down the listings, thereby less people will find it and use it, and then you're back to the first point in this paragraph.
There's a good reason why the likes of Ebay have little competition. Even coding, running, maintaining and advertising a small site isn't easy, but when you're aiming at something like this, it's literally a case of spending every spare moment you have trying to propmote your site, updating it, tweaking or rewriting the code to work exactly how you want it to etc.
Personally, if it were I, I honestly wouldn't even try with something like that. I really don't intend to come across as being a really pessimistic, gloomy sod, but unfortunately, that is pretty much the reality of what you're aiming for. The chance of success is slim to none unless you have both the luck of the Irish on your side, and God himself typing at your keyboard. All you can do is just try your best to get people using it, by making the site more widely known through word of mouth, so to speak, and hoping that it will gain some momentum. In truth though, you'll likely waste months or years of your time on it and swear never again when you finally give it up as a lost cause.
A good way to find out what you're up against is to go on any of the many forums out there which are intended for forum administrators, site owners etc., and look through their content regarding promoting and running a site. You'll likely lose the will to live after a while though,
when you see just how cut-throat it is and to what levels some will go-to to promote a site. It's literally a full time business.If this is just a pet hobby site, just do what you can, (going back to what I said initially), and hope it gains momentum. If you're seriously wanting to make it into a site which may eventually earn some revenue though, you have a long hard slog in front of you. Even as your site is now, there's nothing to differentiate it from most other installs of that software, as I'm guessing you haven't created a customised style? Even simple things like that can make a difference as to whether people notice and remember your site or not, and if you are planning on the site possibly becoming larger, well known at some point, the simple fact is that you will likely end up having to alter code, (whether that be simply the CSS else the underlying PHP code), or hiring someone to do it if you're unable.
Edit: Apologies for the length of that post, if you're still reading/lucid by this point.
After having sat on a couple of web sites for some time now its fairly obvious I am getting no traffic to them.
Not really bothered about the classified site for nowbut I need to shift some RC gear as its in my way now.
http://www.mistatees-rc.co.uk can anyone see anything why people cant actually find it ...any suggestions other than advertising it on facebook pages...which is frowned on..lol
I have thisprogram but cant find a tutorial on how to use it. lol
http://www.coffeecup.com/website-insight/
I will persevere though..as I have a lot of second hand gear that is not really worth putting on ebay but too good to chuck..
http://www.coffeecup.com/website-insight/
I will persevere though..as I have a lot of second hand gear that is not really worth putting on ebay but too good to chuck..
Tom Orrow L
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I haven't looked into it but have you any back links? whats your domain authority? have you set your meta tags / keywords / description?
Have you considered other sales channels connected to your site such as google shopping, ebay, amazon etc..?
Have you considered other sales channels connected to your site such as google shopping, ebay, amazon etc..?
What's a back link... what's a domain authority...not set meta tags..
The site used to linked to Ebay via open bay pro...but I never got one sale via the shop only ever Ebay. It also cost 10 quid per month to be linked/mirrored.
My problem is the vast majority of my stuff is second hand, even down to the part worn tyres.
The thing is I need to catalogue it to be able to keep track of prices and what gets sold. So it's easy to use a spread sheet and upload to shop site automatically.
Passing the URL for the shop site to interested individuals on Facebook....deleting stuff from shop site if sold on ebay or Facebook etc
Omniata
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I had an internal site within a firm that read from a csv file held in a sub folder...
The page refreshed every minute and any changes to the CSV updated automatically...
If you can sort the formatting yourself, you should be able to pull data from the CSV, anything can go in, links, filenames, etc...
Invariably I put filenames for description content for a file containing descriptions so I could still use commas and punctuation without issue...
The page refreshed every minute and any changes to the CSV updated automatically...
If you can sort the formatting yourself, you should be able to pull data from the CSV, anything can go in, links, filenames, etc...
Invariably I put filenames for description content for a file containing descriptions so I could still use commas and punctuation without issue...
tomsutton529
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What absolute rubbish, I do web design in my spare time and have charged clients for my time and effort, my mate runs a very successful web design company, he spends a lot of time updating skills and going seminars about the direction SEO is going in. He is very good at what he does and regularly posts evidence of his work getting clients of his from page 2 of google to within the top three on page 1, he has many clients that pay him monthly to keep on top of things and make sure they are near the top.
SOO, I do recommend paying people to improve your ranking but make sure you research the company, some out there are charging to top dollar with a great sales pitch but a quick google will give you plenty of reasons not to use them.
You have to be *MASSIVELY* careful who you would entrust to do this as PageRank (the google algorythmn used to rank pages) picks up the vast majority of attempts to raise a page, and it is continually updated so that consultant has to be spot up to date or risks going down instead because google etc moved the goalposts again, a point yourself you have acknowledged and ukracer is already encountering.
If someone needs to find out about SEO from a welding forum, they're not equipped to sort the good from the bad, and they're not talking about spending the sort of money a real consultant will cost, so will probably end up with a snake oil salesperson.
They're at this point better off concentrating on making a website that parses cleanly and validates cleanly on the w3.org validator, isn't full of "tricks" that get things massively down ranked by PageRank, submits it to google, and just making a honest site with verbose text descriptions and alt text on image links so the spiders pick them up correctly.
But, absolute rubbish. I think I need a internet holiday again.
WorkshopChris
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This is something i have looked into and most of the people i spoke to came to the same conclusion, with a bit of work you can get any web page you chose close to the top. But to keep it there is almost a full time job.
Something that seams quite effective is lots of links back to your site, spread throughout many different sites and also forum links.
tomsutton529
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So now you are saying they should pay.. but be careful.. good advise but goes against your first post. what you say about having a clean website is spot on and that alone can make make a huge difference, if google doesn't like the look of a site it will go elsewhere.
