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Hi Wayne,

I've recently had a friend launch a ecommerce site on Big Commerce. From everything I've read, and everything my friend tells me, they are fantastic. I had a bit of a play around with the backend and it's really easy to use too.

Prices start at around $25 a month and I'm pretty sure there are no locked in contracts.

Cheers

Yes but by giving them a few basic tips they'll increase both traffic and their DA.

Hi,

Overall the design of your site looks quite nice, so well done there. My tips would be:

1. Upon looking at your link profile at http://www.opensiteexplorer.org/links?site=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.babskibaby.com you have very few links coming in and from only 15 domains. A few of these look like spammy comment type links so I'd concentrate first and foremost on gaining links from reputable sources. Try mum type forums, blogs and sites. Perhaps donate some of your products to a reputable mummy blogger in exchange for an honest review and a few links? We do this in the cookware niche and it works wonders.
2. I notice you have FB, Twitter and Pinterest pages so that's good. I'd also add a Google Plus page. Spend less than an hour on it and you have yourself a nice looking page with some links back to your site. Add the icon next to other social media icons in your header.
3. Your blog seems to be focused all around your site. The aim of it should be to give hints and tips in your niche. Try blogging about other topics that mums/dads would relate to. Write great content that deserves to be shared and the links will come.
4. Your page titles look way too spammy and long. E.g. for the Baby Sheepskin Boots page the page title is "Baby Sheepskin Boots, Sheepskin Baby Boots, Baby Sheepskin Booties | Merrry Berries, Inch Blue, Skibz, Beauty And The Bib". It should be less than 70 characters and focus on just 1-2 key terms. Also, your content is pretty light on. You only have 2 lines of text on that page, and you can tell it's written for Google and not the user. Add more useful content.

Hope that helps!

Hi,

It's possible it will just take a while, how long ago did you submit them?

FYI - I came across a great tool that tracks your rankings for videos, can be found at: http://voot.net/. Might help in the future if you're submitting a large number of videos are trying to optimise for them.

Cheers

I have to agree with John.

Just another thing to consider, in the past when we've launched a new domain we've 'acquired' (through hard work, not through $) a few very high quality links and not bothered with any low value links. We will then let those links sit there for some time (1-2 months) before trying to target other links.

Because your domain is quite mature (in a sense), you should be fine, especially if you are hiring a highly reputable SEO firm. Just make sure they are very transparent in what they do. Good luck!

Hi,

I was browsing a magazine recently and came across an advert that had a text of:

domain.com.au/facebook

When you visit this address you are automatically redirected to their Facebook account. It got me thinking, is there any benefit to this? It's the first time I've seen it and I presume they get links from outside sources to their FB account to go to domain.com.au/facebook rather than facebook.com/sitename

Thanks

I'd also love it if SEOmoz was slightly more accommodating towards sharing G+ profiles.

A while ago on my personal G+ profile I suggested that all the brand representatives from http://www.seomoz.org/article/recommended should have their G+ accounts listed, in addition to their LinkedIn, Twitter and Blogs. This would make it easier to connect with these professionals. Of course, we can simply search for them on G+, but I still think links to G+ profiles on this page would be a good addition.

Hi David,

Just a few little pointers:

1. Add a Pinterest 'Pin It' button to your site. You've got some interesting images on there, let users be able to pin them easily directly from your site.
2. The tourirst/travel niche seems ideal for Pinterest, so as well as point 1 above, create a Pinterest page and start sharing images of your favourite travel spots, people travelling etc
3. Create a Google Plus page and start posting
4. Your page titles are very basic - for that page it's just "Temples in Nagur". Try adding some secondary terms.
5. Likewise your meta descriptions are pretty boring - they don't really inspire me to visit the page: "TouristLink features 7 temples in Nagpur. The most popular temples in Nagpur are Koradi Temple, Shri Vyankatesh Temple and Ramtek Temple. Also of intertest are Ganesh Tekdi, Dhapewada Vithoba Temple and Adasa Ganpati Temple." - I'd rewrite these.
6. There's no external links to this page - http://www.opensiteexplorer.org/links?site=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.touristlink.com%2Findia%2Fnagpur%2Fcat%2Ftemples.html - develop some great content and get some links!

Thanks,

Brad

| MozPoints: | 1001 |
| Level: | Authority |

Well done Francisco! You've personally given me top-notch advice before, so thanks on a personal level.

Hi Sacha,

This was recently asked here: http://www.seomoz.org/q/blogs-are-best-when-hosted-on-domain-subdomain-or

I agree with Alan and Todd in that thread, you should go for www.domain.com/blog

Thanks

I organise mine similar to what Ryan said, however I then go one step further and have a separate folder for frequency (for blogs etc, not for tools).

So if it's something I'm likely to check multiple times daily (e.g. the SEOmoz Q+A forums), I'll have that in a folder called 'Daily'. If it's something like Mashable's SEO topics (http://mashable.com/follow/topics/SEO/) I'll only check that every couple of weeks, hence it will be in a different folder.

Hi Daniel,

We eventually went with:

With rave reviews and 20 year warranty, Swiss-made Bamix blenders are the very best. Buy today and enjoy personal service, free shipping and money back guarantee!

This way it illustrates why you should choose that product and why you should shop with us, plus a call to action in the sense of "Buy now..."

Thanks

Yep - I like that one. Only question is, do you think it matters that the individual product name is not in the meta tag? I.e. the example you just gave would then be the same for all Bamix blenders we stock.

Thanks again!

Awesome responses guys, thanks!

Daniel - if I am talking about a 'Bamix Classic Blender 140W' for instance, with the following features/attributes:

1. 36% off RRP
2. Includes chopping blade and bench stand
3. 20 year warranty
4. Made in Switzerland
5. 23 reviews for this product, 20 of them being 5 star (other 3 were 4 star)

As well as our standard 'across the site' features:

1. Free shipping over $100 (this product is over $100)
2. 30 day money back guarantee
3. Best customer service in the industry (yes, we do actually have the best service and dont just claim to)

Could I use something like:

- Bamix Blenders are the best in the world. Swiss-made with a 20 year warranty, find out why the Bamix Classic Blender 140W is preferred by professional chefs

- Made in Switzerland for 55 years, Bamix blenders are the best in the world. With a 20yr warranty, find out why the Bamix Classic Blender 140W is so popular!

- Swiss-made Bamix blenders are built to last. With rave reviews, a 20yr warranty and free shipping, find out why they are our most popular blenders!

Or do you have any other ideas?

Once again, thanks guys. Really appreciate it!

That's a great list Keri - thanks for sharing that. (bookmarked).

Charles - check out http://www.stockvault.net in particular from the page that Keri sent through, I had a quick look and some of the free images on there are pretty good for standard blog posts.

Hi All,

I recently heard a tip from a prominent SEO'r that meta tags should be custom written by professional copywriters. Well, I want to head down that path.

What are your thoughts on these two options:

Buy the top-selling <xyz product="">. 20 year warranty, 30 day money guarantee + free, fast shipping! Includes <1-2 features or included accessories of product></xyz>

or

Buy our top-rated <xyz product="">today</xyz> & save! Over 20 5-star rated reviews + free, fast shipping! Includes <1-2 features or included accessories of product>

Would you focus on the warranty, reviews, product accessories, money back guarantee, free shipping over a certain cutoff, customer service (which we have a toll free number for) or another factor? Are there any good articles out there outlining this? Do you think the way I've structured it is good/readable? What about the use of '+' instead of '&'?

Is the cutoff limit still 156 chars?

Any thoughts/views/ideas are most appreciated! Thanks

Hi Charles,

I use a site called http://www.thinkstockphotos.com/ - it's a monthly subscription service where you get 25 image downloads a day.

Depends how many images you want I guess, but if you require a lot, a subscription service like this works really well.

Cheers,

Brad

Do. Not. Buy. Links.

Develop your own content that deserves to be read/shared, make sure your site is properly optimised (without going over the top) and focus on your own site, not your competitors.

Hi Rhys,

I agree with everything that Alan stated regarding existing links.

Moving forward, I'd suggest the following:

1. Add the ability for customers to share your products socially. I don't see any social media icons on any of the pages, especially the product pages. Add FB, Twitter, Pinterest, Google Plus.
2. Do you have social media accounts for your site? If not, create the 4 above and start posting! You'll get more of a sense of community and people will be able to share what puzzles they've completed, which ones they want to purchase next etc. I'm not personally in to puzzles but I know people that are, and they can't wait to get their next one as soon as they finish one.
3. Highlight your competitive advantage more (on the item template, page titles etc). What makes you stand out? Free shipping? (BTW really really confusing having two free shipping points in dollars and pounds), best customer service, fast shipping, the latest puzzles etc.) Give people a reason to shop with you.
4. You've got reviews but none of the products I viewed had any reviews. I'd suggest emailing customers 3-4 weeks after purchase asking for reviews if you don't already. This would also tie in nicely with a social media pages. Reviews are great for original content.
5. Your blog has no entries and is dated from 2010? This doesn't look great...
6. If you're struggling to get good/unique content on the site try adding more pictures/videos/staff testimonials/staff favourites etc.

Hope some of that helps

Rand agrees with this approach too - just check out http://www.seomoz.org/blog/understanding-root-domains-subdomains-vs-subfolders-microsites/

"Starting a blog? I almost always recommend yoursite.com/blog over blog.yoursite.com. Want to launch a new section of content? Use yoursite.com/newstuff rather than newstuff.yoursite.com."

There's also this: http://www.hyperarts.com/blog/blog-hosting-external-subdomain-subdirectory-best-seo/ which may help as well.