Stumped about why competition is beating us

[SandafayreStamps]

Hi All,
Sorry if this question is too specific but I have exhausted all other options. I am optimising a site (www.sandafayre.com) for the key words 'stamps' and 'stamp auctions'. I get grade A for on-page, and off page shows we have way more links than the 2 sites who are beating us on Google UK. One of the sites who is beating me has the keywords in the URL, but the other site doesn't. Would anyone have any ideas as to what might be going on here? Thanks in advance for your help.
Nikki

[DanSpeicher]

Your page content is well-optimized, but the user experience (UX) could use a tweaking. There are flashing banners and categories, which make the website look spammy. Google's latest Panda Update has put an emphasis on UX, making time-on-page and bounce rate more important. Improving those attributes and having a graphic artist de-clutter your page layout would help.

The keywords in the URL isn't a big factor on its own. But since most people are lazy when in comes to anchor text, they only put the website name, which includes the keyword and gives that site a rankings boost.

[DanSpeicher]

Also as a general rule, category links should be at the top for easy navigation.

Hope that helps.

[SandafayreStamps]

Thanks Daniel, I agree 100% about the UX. We are in the process of redesigning the site but I think it's going to take a while before it comes on board.

[seanmccauley]

You could also make better use of your title tag. You're gaining little SEO in the repetition of stamp 3x in tag.

I would also advise a design of the homepage, because, even if you do manage to attain good position your bounce rate will be remain high. The page is not what it could be and is costing you £££s

[TroyCarlson]

One other thing to consider is that you have a lot of that text in graphics.  I would especially get your links on the bottom (sitemap, stamp atlas, help, etc) out of the images and onto the page so it can be read.  Check out Google Webmaster tools and view your page as Googlebot. That can really give you a good idea on the best way to optimize your site.