Hi,
My website(www.mdegills.biz)has been up a running for 2months now and I've seen very little traffic. I've sent out the grand opening email to family and friends. I've done the search engine submission with earthlink and I am still not seeing the traffic that I thought I would. What should I do now?

Thanks in advance!

Marsha Gill
www.mdegillsaccessories.net

Traffic to a website does take time, but can be jump started with many of the suggestions listed in your replies. My first indication that something is going wrong is with the search engine submission by earthlink.

Submitting your site only gets your site indexed by search engines, so now they know your there.

What you have not done is tell them what your site is about: There is no content (text). You are using images for content. As a web developer and Search Engine Optimizer what you are doing is not separating Design from content, by doing this you are not "telling" Search engines what your website is about.

Dan La Bate
Creative Director/SEM
engines of creation web design
518.693.7451
sales@enginesofcreation.com
http://www.enginesofcreation.com

So how do I fix this?! Should I add content to the index page? If so what should it say?!
thanks

Marsha Gill
www.mdegillsaccessories.net

Fixing the problem is not just a tweak of one part then another. SEO is best done from the ground up, in this case it requires a re-design. Part of the reason is you are using non-semantic markup. There are guidelines for HTML, your HTML is not currently valid and includes over 22 errors according to the W3C. Are you using a site builder to make the website?

If you want to know what to fix as far as content look at other websites that sell what you sell and do it well.

What are the keywords you want to be found in search engines for?
ex) accessories, jewelry, etc.

As a company we specialize in re-designs, we can discuss an SEO option for you as well. There is just too many factors discuss and would constitute writing a course outline on web design & SEO.

Check out the W3C validation site at http://validator.w3.org/ to see about the HTML errors.

There are many sites dedicated to discussing SEO as well, Google has a lot of resources. http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/

What I tell every single person about SEO is that anyone can do it, but it takes a lot of time, research, learning, and doing to become proficient at it. If you can afford to practice with your website then don't worry, if you want to be set up correctly from the beginning so you can concentrate on selling then contact a professional. Sure you will spend money to do this, but you have to calculate the amount of revenue lost by not receiving traffic you would have if you contacted an experienced SEO.

Best regards,

Dan La Bate
Creative Director/SEM
engines of creation web design
518.693.7451
sales@enginesofcreation.com
http://www.enginesofcreation.com

I would add content to the index page. Splash pages (what you have) are not helpful (even according to Google) and imo are annoying.

You need to tell customers what you sell, what sets them apart, etc.

I had a hard time with content too. I suggest reading google's webmaster guidelines and writing articles about accessories,etc. I wouldn't just use an article from someone else, as you risk duplicate content (something that could get you banned from search engines).

This site has a free SEO course and a lot of great articles on getting quality traffic to your site:

http://www.gnc-web-creations.com/seo-optimization.htm


Good Luck!
Renee W
http://small-business-911.blogspot.com/