The ladies (Danna and Cheryl) have been bugging me to throw some search engine tips into the discussions for quite some time. After a little more nagging from Cheryl (thanks Cheryl) I have decided to do this in step process so everyone can take baby steps and learn as we go.
To start with, I do NOT know everything about search engines that there is to know. And anything I put up is only my interpretation of what I have read and learned. The search engines are always changing which is the current case with Google. They are currently supppose to be in the process of making major changes in how their search engine works.
BIO:
My name is Trent with tjwindart and my wonderful wife is Jodi, who's picture is our group avatar. I have been on the web since 1995 when I first began building and designing a web site called 'NetMooning.com' which isn't as bad as the name might make it sound.
Those of us who have been on the web for quite some time might even remember the up and coming joke site with several hundred cartoon jokes and text jokes of all makes and types.
At the time of the .com crash I decided that I needed to concentrate more on work and family than on the site so I decided to pass the site along to a techy friend of mine and he and I would just work on it together. Some how during the transition, an entity from Canada decided to to sneak in and steal the domain. To this day we are unsure how this took place but it did.
At that time the site was receiving over 200,000 unique (first time) visitors a month and had approx. 5,000 daily email subscriptions going out. Now I can only kick myself in the behind for letting it go because in todays standards the site, if still running, would be worth several million. 'OUCH'
So now I just keep driving my semi around the country and kicking myself every day I wake up. Operating Netmooning.com is where I gained most of my SEO(Search Engine Optimization) knowledge and started a couple of years ago to spend more time updating myself.
...End BIO
Now for the good stuff!
The information below was already put in a previous topic about Google Base. I decided to bring it out as a new topic so everyone can hopefully participate and learn from it.
The links back to your store that most of you are signing your comments with is far more important than you might realize.
A very important thing for SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is to get links to your store or website. The search engines do spider the groups and blogs of eBay and find those links that you have. The more links you get to your page the more emphasis the search engines will put on your products and pages.
Something that carries even more weight with the search engines is to some how get links up on like sites. This creates a better page ranking.
Many of the 'Auction Bump' FREE AUCTION ADVERTISING sites are linked to each other which has created a better page ranking for each of the sites because they are linked to a page with like or similar content.
Another very important thing when linking to your site is to be sure to add text links that have your key word or words in them. Example: Look at the FREE AUCTION ADVERTISING link above. If text links aren't an option then add an alt="your key words here" tag to your href command.
If you put your mouse over my banner below, you will see the alt tag that I have used with key words to my products.
Try these tips out for a while and see what happens with your traffic and with the search engines. NEVER expect these tips to work overnight. It takes months for any SEO tip to work but in the end it is well worth it!
Mr. tjwindart (Trent)
BALL CAPS, BOONIE HATS, and WIND SOCKS
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tjwindart ~ AAA Iowa Art Gift and Antique Store
Hey Trent,
Thanks for the excellent tips.
I am looking forward to reading and learning more.
msleo
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Trent,
I loved reading your BIO and I too am looking forward to some guided lessons. Thanks for doing this.
D
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Thanks for the comments, ladies.
Sorry, ds, for boring you with the BIO but I thought it might throw a little bit of relevance into things. I am by no means an expert but after studying search engines I did manage to make my old site virtually explode over night.
Sorry it took so long for my response but I had a busy weekend trying to get my load delivered from California to Wisconsin on time and then I got lost on my way home. Another one of those tight delivery schedules. Next time I get lost, I'll just have to yell out in here to see if anyone has spotted me so they might be able to let me know where I am. I do have plans to work on another edition on Wednesday about meta tags in your store.
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BALL CAPS, BOONIE HATS, and WIND SOCKS
Danna,
You will have to give Cheryl credit as well cause she was the one twisting my arm to do something and I finally yelled, "OK, I give." right before my arm was going to break. I'm telling you, she's got more strength than I would ever have guessed. ;-)
Mr. tjwindart
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BALL CAPS, BOONIE HATS, and WIND SOCKS
Trent,
Thanks for sharing! SEO is as much art as it is science sometimes. It's great to hear proven techniques from an "artist" :);):)
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Oh, I'm not an artist. I'm still a practicioner. ;-)
What you said is so so true. It can be a science but when you begin reading and understanding more and more it will gradually fall into place. I take it that you already know that there is NO overnight success with keywords and meta tags.
If I were an artist all of my sites would be number one in the searches. But I suppose if I had much more time to spare in order to get the links out there I might just be able to nip the top ones in the butt a little.
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BALL CAPS, BOONIE HATS, and WIND SOCKS
Cyndi,
You have done an excellant job of breaking down your categories to more specific products. I'm impressed. The name of your store is not nearly as important as what I may have mentioned. It just helps a little. Take eBay for example. ebay.com does not make mention of auction but if you search for auction guess who is number one in the searches. 😉
As to sales... don't get discouraged as sales are a little slow for most right now. Money is tight and the eBay pot has been shook up a little with so many changes being put into place all at once. Things should pull back together shortly. Taking a break right to recoupe is needed from time to time. Catch your breath and dive right back in after you catch your wind. ;-)
Mr. tjwindart
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BALL CAPS, BOONIE HATS, and WIND SOCKS
I figured that putting the information out a little at a time will allow people to learn it, practice, and ask questions. Also, it allows for others who might have some better information to debate and disect my info. so if I am making any errors, we will all learn from them.
Glad you are enjoying it and I plan to work on something some time next week.
Mr. tjwindart
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BALL CAPS, BOONIE HATS, and WIND SOCKS
Wonderful information.. can't wait to hear more tips on this... I have so much to learn....
Looking forward to more..
Blessings
Ruth
http://stores.ebay.com/Flint-Hills-Clothing-and-Treasures
Hello Ruth,
Glad you are enjoying it and learning from it as well.
I am hoping to get something put together some time next weekend. I have some other hurdles I need to get taken care of before I am able to get part 3 put together.
Mr. tjwindart
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BALL CAPS, BOONIE HATS, and WIND SOCKS
