Optimizing a site for Google, etc

[mxtras]

First - I am sorry if this is in the wrong forum - please relocate if a different forum is more appropriate!

I am curently having a new site created and need pointers on what I need to do to get my site to hit near the top of the list when folks search for my product - which they might not know even exists.

I used to be able to do this myself, but it changed about two years ago or so and now I find myself behind the times in a bad way. I have my kewords and meta tags in place and I used to hit at the top of the list for relevant search terms but it all changed and I am now lost. My site has been around for 8 years and now Google will not even list my site when I try to find myself using the same terms previous customers used to find me. It's a bit irritating.

I spent several hours looking at this last night (SEO - Search Engine Optimization) and it's quite concerning to me. It seems to me that the search engines are more geared towards social sites and porn than they are for actually locating decent and appropriate or related web site content.

I have seen services offered that will do all this stuff for me, and I am leaning in that direction but I thought I would pose the question here and see what suggestions anyone can offer, keeping in mind that I am not all that swift with this stuff.

Can anyone suggest an affordable service for this or any other suggestions for my new, upcoming replacement site? I am probably more interested in paying someone to manage it for me than I am in actually making it happen myself.

Scott

[Zappautomation]

It really depends on the type of site you have, also if it is a shop, it will be database driven and the links to the products will not reflect the name of the products,

Like this:
site.com/product_info.php?products_id=69

I added a mod that lets me show the type of product within the link.

Like this:
slidesandballscrews.com/20mm-profile-rail-p-132.html[/url]

This makes a big difference.

Also have good relevant content and change it regularly or add more products.
Get linked to from other sites, and also link back as well.
The more links you get the more likely bots will index your site.
Use banner adds to promote your product, and consider selling on ebay and linking to your site from your ebay shop.

Keep an eye on you trafic, and checkout the referal sites, so you can see where your vistors are coming from.
Also keep an eye on the search terms that people used when searching and then getting to your site, so you know what products are being indexed well.

Originally Posted by mxtras First - I am sorry if this is in the wrong forum - please relocate if a different forum is more appropriate! I am curently having a new site created and need pointers on what I need to do to get my site to hit near the top of the list when folks search for my product - which they might not know even exists. I used to be able to do this myself, but it changed about two years ago or so and now I find myself behind the times in a bad way. I have my kewords and meta tags in place and I used to hit at the top of the list for relevant search terms but it all changed and I am now lost. My site has been around for 8 years and now Google will not even list my site when I try to find myself using the same terms previous customers used to find me. It's a bit irritating. I spent several hours looking at this last night (SEO - Search Engine Optimization) and it's quite concerning to me. It seems to me that the search engines are more geared towards social sites and porn than they are for actually locating decent and appropriate or related web site content. I have seen services offered that will do all this stuff for me, and I am leaning in that direction but I thought I would pose the question here and see what suggestions anyone can offer, keeping in mind that I am not all that swift with this stuff. Can anyone suggest an affordable service for this or any other suggestions for my new, upcoming replacement site? I am probably more interested in paying someone to manage it for me than I am in actually making it happen myself. Scott

[mxtras]

I find it obsurd that links and back links are what primarily drive the search results these days.

Why should a business site have to rely on others to link to them? This is completely out of my realm of comprehension. It's basically basing your ranking on popularity? Like in high school? C'mon. There is more emphasis on your web presence than the validity of your site.

It just defies logic. I am not saying that you are wrong - I know from my recent research that you are exactly right, so please do not read this as attack on your comments.

The search engines are obviously based on a high school mentality and it is just rediculous.

What happened to basing the search results on site content and relevance? What the heck was wrong with that?

Thanks for the input, by the way. Keep it coming, please. This is my primary focus at the moment and I need to get the results rolling this year.

Scott

[Geof]

Originally Posted by mxtras ...What happened to basing the search results on site content and relevance? ....Scott

I think the number of links in and out is taken as an index of relevance. You need to take this up with the Google guys.

[mxtras]

I know, I know.

It's just that you guys are more fun to complain to!

I am just venting.......

BUT - how are links an indication of relevence? What I meant was if I searched for something using a specific search term and the search engine does not locate a specific site that contains relevent content with respect to the search term, something is definately wrong with the searching system. Agree?

Scott

[Blaine]

Scott,

Basically, Google is looking out for itself.

If you have a lower rated site, from Google's rating perspective, the way to get relevant hits with Google is to use Google Adwords.

This takes care of the links, (Their relevance barometer), provides Google with revenue, and makes your site show up earlier in their searches.

Keep in mind, the majority of their money is made by advertising, the search engine thing is just one vehicle that is being used for them to accomplish their goals.

Good luck with your venture,

Blaine

[Zappautomation]

Though external links is how the bots find your site and rank it, i am guessing that it sees your site more popular if there are more links to it.
Also popular also means that there is more relevant information on the site.
Do you advertise online? if not try it, go to a bike forum and ask the owner if he would put a banner up (For a Fee) If the forum is busy, you should get quite a few hits, and also bots will start to index your site.
Looking at your site it looks like a standard HTML site so you should have no problem with the bots indexing your site, but add more details to the site, get distributors or re sellers to link back to your site.
Without all this you are going to find it hard getting up the listings.
It can be frustrating, especially if you have a good product and Google refuses to show your site.
You may also want to start selling on your site, this does not actually cost that much to set up, and will attract people to your site.
When i look for something on the net and i find ten sites for that product, and only 5 of them sell on line, i will drop the ones that don’t sell online, i can’t be bothered phoning them, after all i would most likely be looking outside office hours, so phoning would mean i would most likely get no answer, and why should i wait till the next day, when i can order on line with one of your competitors?

Originally Posted by mxtras I find it obsurd that links and back links are what primarily drive the search results these days. Why should a business site have to rely on others to link to them? This is completely out of my realm of comprehension. It's basically basing your ranking on popularity? Like in high school? C'mon. There is more emphasis on your web presence than the validity of your site. It just defies logic. I am not saying that you are wrong - I know from my recent research that you are exactly right, so please do not read this as attack on your comments. The search engines are obviously based on a high school mentality and it is just rediculous. What happened to basing the search results on site content and relevance? What the heck was wrong with that? Thanks for the input, by the way. Keep it coming, please. This is my primary focus at the moment and I need to get the results rolling this year. Scott

[Zappautomation]

How can a Google bot decide if your site has relevant information on it, that would require human intervention.
When search engines used meta tags and descriptions and key words, lots of people just put loads of irrelevant keywords in to get more hits, this does not work anymore.

Originally Posted by mxtras I know, I know. It's just that you guys are more fun to complain to! I am just venting....... BUT - how are links an indication of relevence? What I meant was if I searched for something using a specific search term and the search engine does not locate a specific site that contains relevent content with respect to the search term, something is definately wrong with the searching system. Agree? Scott