New Site Search Critique

[ocelot]

Hi

I am a huge fan of the SEOMOZ site and this great community which has helped me learn the current SEO skills I have now which are still very basic compared to the pros on the forum.

I have tried to follow best practice regarding onsite and technical seo when developing my new site www.cheapfindergames.com and I would really appreciate it if experts on the forum could spare a minute to critique the site from a search perspective please

This will give any elements of what onsite and technical SEO I done well and what aspects still need work.

I am currently trying to build quality links and social mentions into the site which will take time, and the site has been designed around usability and conversions.

Many Thanks

Ian

[kdaly100]

From a conversions point of view I do not think the  landing page encourages immediate action for people arriving there.

Your Title tag

Compare Prices – Best deals offers on computer games for PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, PC | Cheapfindergames

looks a bit wordy and I am not sure if it is focused on your keywords (which you don't mention but I assume are games.

Plus as an FYI our Wii/ PS3 / Xbox links are only directed to the home page at the moment so might be worth correcting (actually I wouldn't have them twice on the page

[ocelot]

Thanks yes the keywords are xbox 360, PS3, computer games, Wii and then the long tail keyphrase would be the likes of Best Price of Fifa 12 Xbox 360 which I cover in the details page

http://www.cheapfindergames.com/games-fifa-12-xbox-360/B005A2BDZY

- you mention " Wii/ PS3 / Xbox links are only directed to the home page" could you explain what you mean by this please?

ALSO if any other experts can locate anything I have missed with regard to onsite and technical SEO it would be great to know, or have I covered the 99% of what's required.

[kdaly100]

In the footer of the page you have 3 links to these loactions but the links are just to the existing page.

Also when you say you have 99% covered the fact of the matter is that you never have everything covered and for a nice like yours I would spend time every day looking at my content working on various aspects, checking my keywords, and a host of other items.

[ocelot]

Thanks Kieran I understand now

Totally agree and every day I try and improve it, I was just looking for additional insight into perhaps things i might have missed that would have an affect on rankings.

[RyanKent]

Hi Ian,

As you requested I have taken a look at your site and would share some initial items which can be improved from a SEO perspective:

1. You have duplicated pages. You shared your home page URL as http://www.cheapfindergames.com. If you select your logo in the upper-right corner of your page, it shows the URL as http://www.cheapfindergames.com/index.php. Both URLs load which is an SEO issue. Note: the HOME link in your footer has the same issue.

2. Your site lacks a 404 page. Provide a helpful 404 page with your site's navigation and search box.

3. Your robots.txt page blocks the /retailer.php page which is unnecessary since you have a redirect in place.

4. Drop the technology extension from your URLs. For example your "About" page URL is http://www.cheapfindergames.com/aboutus.php. It is not helpful to users nor search engines to know it is a "php" page. Additionally the technology may change in the future causing unnecessary redirects. Try the following URL instead: http://www.cheapfindergames.com/aboutus

5. Organize your social engagement. You have a large facebook block, a tiny twitter widget and then over off to the side is your G+ block. Try offering a single clean block for all your social sites.

6. Your home page text block has grammar issues "...from the major uk retailers to bring you’re the best price and deal."

7. As Kieran shared, the title should be adjusted. It's often best for your home page to focus your brand "Cheap Finder Games" and allow an inner page focus each of the many keywords you wish to target. If you decide otherwise, pick one keyword focus for your page.

8. Your mailing list seems to be the primary means for you to keep in contact with visitors. You may want to offer a clearer Call To Action for signup.

9. Your meta description is too long and a bit unfocused.

10. You can do a bit of code clean up and allow your code to validate.

These tips will hopefully give you some initial direction with your site. Best of luck.

[ocelot]

Hi Ryan

Thanks for the great feedback.  Coming back to some of your points

1.) How can I resolve this in the .htaccess file - what script is required so that it points to http://www.cheapfindergames.com therefore reducing canonical urls.

3.) Would this cause any damage if it is left as it is?

7.) Any suggestions on what you feel would work?  Perhaps

Video Games Price Comparison - Cheapfindergames.com ?

10.) Do you mean putting javascript and css in external files rather than inline?

+  What would you recommend to create an XML sitemap, as the site is a dynamic site which changes throughout the day

[RyanKent]

Re: item 1 - the answer can be found in the first response to this Q&A: http://www.seomoz.org/q/i-need-help-with-htaccess-redirect

If you would like to learn more about htaccess, an excellent resource is here: http://net.tutsplus.com/tutorials/other/the-ultimate-guide-to-htaccess-files/

Re: item 3, no damage

Re: item 7 - I did share a suggestion. I prefer to use the home page to target the site's brand. I use inner pages which are 1-click from the home page to target the site's main keywords. Your site can target 100s of keywords so unless one particular keywords is highly dominate over the others, this approach is my preference.

Re: item 10 - no. The W3C is the governing body for HTML/CSS code. I was referring to using their validator tool to ensure the code used on your site is valid.

Re: sitemaps, there are numerous software apps available to create a sitemap. Find one you like and set a CRON job to run as needed to generate a new sitemap.