Welcome to the Q&A Forum

I totally understand, I've been spoiled by working with web designers that are very customer service oriented and who have not held their customers hostage...so this has been very disheartening on several levels.

All three of the clients have been referred to other web designers per my recommendation. One has moved, one is waiting for a little while, and the other has not decided yet.

I have managed to do some canonical meta work using the plug-in and appreciate your sharing the other options available.

Thanks for chiming in. Unfortunately, access is a big issue for the web design company and so the only changes I can get in are those I can do using the plug-in and some of the meta fields. Just attempting to prevent dilution and drive the link juice to the main content rather than the transient/time contingent information.

It is a private site design with integration on a Word Press CMS. I actually think the design work is awesome but without the access I am used to for doing my work, it makes it difficult to make adjustments as I need to.

Thanks for responding, already asked and they won't budge.

They also are using some of my seo nuances on a competitive site in the same market. Don't trust them any more with those seo details so hoping for other ideas.

In my work as an SEO writer, I work closely with web designers and usually have behind the scenes access.

However, the last three clients who hired me have web designers that are not allowing admin access to anyone else (including the clients) outside of their companies/small business.

Is there a work around for the Rel Canonical element that usually is placed in the header? I am using All-In-One-SEO plug-in to address part of this issue.

Sage advice or discussion on this is appreciated!

Thanks Ian...I'll take a look. Nothing I can do but depending what I see I can add it to the "to do" list.

Thanks Ian...I'll take a look. Nothing I can do but depending what I see I can add it to the "to do" list.

I'm not sure what you are discussing Highland. It would be great if you could clarify what SEO technique you are talking about.

Hi Aron,

Yes, I write original content and am focusing on unique information that has not been given. The big problem on this site is that there is little information, if any.

I think the idea of rating and commenting on products is a great idea for user generated content. Since I cannot do much from my end based on the limited access, I'll suggest it to the client.

He does have social media accounts set up with a couple of icons on the site but I think creating more interactions would be a great idea.

Thanks EGOL, yes I agree. One of the main problems of this site is the lack of optimized links to the categories and to the products. Your point about related links is a great one. If you like this product you will like this...but using the names is a good strategy.

Hi Stephan...no worries, I am just working on the brand and product pages but thanks for sharing your concerns.

Thanks again Ryan. No, the developer will not give admin privileges which is a pain but I do have URL, title, description, meta control and sent over canonical, 404 page instructions, htaccess edits, and a few other requests which he did and then billed the client for.

He actually billed the client for adding me to a non-admin access (which I did not need).

Most of the web designers I work with let me in to do my thing so this is a bit difficult and annoying. LOL I can't get to the images but do have access to some of the alt.

Big issue is that it is costing my client unexpected expenditures but we are doing are best to work around it.

I am heading to the X-Cart forums in the am for some other ideas and appreciate your consistent input--most valuable.

So, I am working on a shopping cart platform (X-Cart) and so far don't like it. Also, the web designer is not someone I've worked with before and he is understandably conservative about access--which limits what I can and cannot do from the back end.

One of the things I like to do is include text for the search engines. However, based on conversion, etc., I think the product images on a landing page (main brand info with specific products that show up) should show up first to move toward conversion first.

I am thinking of adding the text below the product images on the brand pages so the viewer sees the products first while still keeping the content seo. My practice is to use between 300-350 words minimum on a page.

Just wondering what best practices you have for a shopping cart. Care to share?

Any tips or hints? Thoughts on what I might do that would be most effective?

As always, thanks in advance for your sage advice!

I hate when I reply and it doesn't post!

Thanks Ryan,

Appreciate your sharing your experience in submission before posts are made. I would not have thought about doing one for subdomains--great insight and suggestion.

The site in question has been up a while and is pretty comprehensive so I thought it would be a good practice. Another site I am working on did not have one either and it will be interesting to see how the XML sitemap added today will impact it.

Thanks again to all of you for chiming in. Very helpful, I just had  not heard of someone declining to create one as a general practice before.

Todd, I appreciate your suggestion about the video site map. That is a great idea that I did not think of!

So, I must confess that I've been remiss about using Webmaster Tools but as my sophistication has increased, I am expanding my use of other tools for a more comprehensive approach.

Thanks Martijn,

I've mainly been an SEO writer until this last year or so and almost exclusively work on small business websites.

I take an initial look at the indexing of the pages on Yahoo, Google and Bing and then monitor it over time. Since I do a lot of work for web designers, my preference for XML sitemaps is just one of practice.

It seems that many small business sites do not include them and I like to work to get them an edge in many different ways. Many have horrible sites that need all the help they can get!

Here is another resource for you: Create XML Sitemap

So, I have a new client whose web designer declined to create an XML site map. They said that they would rather wait a year and let Google create one.

I am wondering what the opinion of other SEOMoz members is about this--do you create an XML right away or think there is an advantage in delaying?

Personally, I always prefer to have one right away--What is the best practice in your experience and why?