Traffic Blazer Blog - Free Web Site Reviews and SEO Best Practices

Our blog has a new home!

Sean — Tue, 19 May 2009 00:38:00 GMT

Our blog has moved to a new location. Please click here to see our latest posts and leave comments.

Review My Site - John Brooks

Jim — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 20:27:00 GMT

General Comments
The Lone Star Custom Homes site has a luxurious feel. Black or dark sites are wonderful when you want to show off bright and colorful photographs, and this site does exactly that. This site has a simple layout that is clear and concise, navigation at the top and accreditation at the bottom. They even have a newsletter sign-up form on every page. Excellent!

Specific Positives
The layout of JohnBrooks.com is very impressive. The website flows very well and visitors should have a pleasurable experience while visiting the site. Some of the specific positives are:

Use of header tags
Rotating images to display properties
Linking to other internal pages with keyword rich anchor text (Link Text)
Q&A section for visitors
Contact information on every page
Features page that links out to vendors

Specific Problems & Solutions
JohnBrooks.com has some major problems that are keeping it from ranking high on search engines.

Problem: META Description Tag
In this case, JohnBrooks.com doesn’t use description tags. When sites don’t specify the description, Google pulls a snippet of text from their page to use for the description. Unfortunately, Google is using the navigation menu for the description. The result looks like this:

Green Home Building in Indianapolis and Carmel Indiana
HOME; WHO WE ARE. PRINCIPALS · PARTNERS. WHAT WE DO. GETTING STARTED · ARCHITECTURE · CONSTRUCTION · INTERIORS · QUESTIONS & ANSWERS · FEATURES & BENEFITS ...
www.johnbrooks.com/ - 14k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this

From a potential visitor's point of view, there is little to entice a visit. Not having a description can result in a 20-50% loss in traffic!

Solution
Fixing this problem is easy. Create a META description tag for every page on the site. A typical description tag will:

Consist of 10-25 words
Describe the contents of the page
Be persuasive

You want potential visitors to become excited when they see your search result. An example of a proper description tag is:

"Lone Star Custom Homes specializes in Green Homes located in the Indianapolis & Carmel areas of Indiana. Visit our site for more information."

Problem: Heading Tags not SEO Friendly
When browsing through the site, it becomes apparent that the title tags are virtually the same.

Green Home Building in Indianapolis and Carmel Indiana

The goal of every website is to rank for multiple keywords in order to "cast a wider net." Typically, your title tags should explain the content on the page but also contain the most important keyword on the page.

Solution: Change the Title Tags
Look up keywords similar to those already being used, such as eco-friendly homes, earth friendly homes, earth conscious homes, etc. and incorporate into title tags.

Problem: Low Google PageRank
The current Google PageRank for JohnBrooks.com’s home page is 2 (out of a possible 10), while the other pages on the site all have a PageRank of 0-1. PageRank is an assessment of the total link popularity for a website. By increasing the total number of links pointing to a site, you may be able to change the overall PageRank score. Keep in mind that not every website can achieve a PageRank of 10. Every market will vary according to competition levels.

Note: Although PageRank is a Google-specific concept, other top search engines use similar methodology when reviewing Web content.

Solution: Build Links
Building links can be a simple task or a time-intensive process, depending on how you go about it. Joining business groups like the local chamber of commerce is a great idea. Typically, business groups will list your website for free once you've paid for your membership. Another idea is writing a press release and distributing it online. This can be a valuable source for links. If you don't have a story for a press release, you can create an article and post it on one of the many article websites out on the Internet (e.g., the Home Improvement section of ArticleCity.com). Remember to keep your link building out of spam territory. Some webmasters resort to forum spamming or comment spamming which can get a website banned by search engines. Make sure you are always creating valuable, relevant links.

Problem: Javascript Menu
Javascript menus look great, and the functionality helps visitors easily find pages on the website. The problem is that Javascript menus are not SEO friendly and most spiders have a problem reading links contained in these menus.

Solution: Create a Sitemap Page
The easiest way to make your pages SEO friendly while keeping the Javascript navigation menu is to create a sitemap page on your site. The sitemap page should contain a link to each page in your website. By organizing your links, it becomes a useful resource for visitors navigating the site. Also, the home page should link directly to your sitemap page. This enables search engines to find links to your important pages and properly index the entire site.

Please note, this review is purely informational and GoDaddy.com accepts no liability for the content of this review or for the consequences of any actions taken on the basis of the information provided.

Review My Site - Brewster by the Sea

Jim — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 22:11:00 GMT

General Comments
The home page of Brewster by the Sea has a great layout and plenty of pictures. The images of the inn looks fantastic, and visitors will find the site appealing when looking for a B & B. Visitors can view every aspect of the inn from reservations to spa services. All in all, this is a very convenient site for those searching for a scenic and relaxing European styled inn.

Specific Positives
Internal Links: The internal linking structure is great. The site has a clear navigation panel on the left and additional text links at the bottom of the page for search engine spiders.

Use of award icons: The display of award icons is a great way to help conversion rates go up. Visitors can see what honors the inn has won and see why they should stay there.

Deals: Everyone likes a great deal, and Brewster’s page prominently displays a large specials button. The specials button takes visitors to a page listing great deals.

Reservations: Visitors can directly book a room from the Web site. This is a critical function for any hotel Web site. Without the ability to book a stay, online visitors are more likely to leave the site.

Gift Certificates: Many B & Bs offer gift certificates to visitors, and Brewster by the Sea is no exception. Brewster by the Sea offers gift certificates and adds indulgences like champagne and chocolates, making the gift certificates more attractive to buyers.

Specific Problems & Solutions
Most of the issues with Brewster by the Sea cannot be seen by the average visitor. The creator of this site spent too much time on the META data and could have spent more time on other important aspects of SEO like title tags, header tags, and a functioning sitemap page.

Problem: Over-optimization of META information
We see this mainly from older sites, but in this example, we see that the creator of Brewster by the Sea has used almost every META tag in the book. Now that’s not to say that this will hurt the site’s ability to rank in the search engines, but it can add to page loading times or could be seen as a form of spam.

Here are the current tags being used:

Title
Keywords
Robots
Bed
Classification
Page-topic
Page-type
Audience
Author
Revisit-after
Publisher
Content-language
Copyright
Distribution
City
State
Email
Contact

Solution
Most search engines only look at a few specific META tags because people used to keyword spam this section. The general rule of thumb is to have the following META tags on your page:

Title
Description
Keywords

Most search engines disregard the keywords tab, but it can be left in for good measure.

Problem: No Heading Tags
None of the Brewsterbythesea.com pages use heading tags. Keywords found in heading tags are generally more valuable to search engines than large fonts.

Solution: Use Heading Tags
Heading tags vary in size from <H1> (largest) to <H6> (smallest). Using heading tags rather than font tags will better emphasize the importance of the heading and subheadings on the site’s pages. Be sure to include your keywords in these segments.

Example:
<H1> Cape Cod Bed & Breakfast</H1>
<H2>A2Z – Unique European Bed & Breakfast</H2>

Problem: Low Google PageRank
The current Google PageRank for the Brewster by the Sea home page is 4 (out of a possible 10), while the other pages on the site all have a PageRank of 3-4. PageRank is an assessment of the total link popularity for a Web site. By increasing the total number of links pointing to a Web site, you may be able to change the overall PageRank score. Keep in mind that not every Web site can achieve a PageRank of 10. Every market will be different according to competition levels.

Note: Although PageRank is a Google-specific concept, other top engines use similar methodology when reviewing Web content.

Solution: Build Links
Building links can be a simple task or a time intensive process depending on how you go about it. Joining business groups like the local chamber of commerce is a great idea. Typically business groups will list your Web site for free once you've paid for your membership. Another idea would be writing a press release and having it distributed online. This can be a valuable source of links. You might not have a story for a press release, so another tip would be to create an article and post it on one of the many article Web sites out on the Internet. Whatever your choice is, remember to keep your link building out of spam territory. Some webmasters will resort to forum spamming or comment spamming; this could get your Web site banned for good with search engines, so make sure you are always creating valuable, relevant links.

Problem: Broken Images and pages
During our site review, we found a broken site map page, a broken links page, and several broken images. The users’ experience can be ruined if they run into too many of these problems.
Solution: Run Traffic Blazer Site Analysis

Traffic Blazer’s Site Analysis Tool will spider your site and provides a list of pages with broken links. Once you run the analysis, just click the “+” .

Then, you will see a list of the broken links for each page. You can then locate these links and fix them in your HTML Editor, or you can send the details to your webmaster.

Legal Notice:
Go Daddy® makes no claims, promises or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacies of the advice offered on this Web site and expressly disclaim liability for any errors and omissions. Go Daddy accepts no liability for the consequences of any actions taken on the basis of the information and advice provided. Go Daddy provides no guarantee that such advice will lead to better search engine placement, nor does Go Daddy guarantee increased traffic or revenues from any improvements in your search engine placement. Every effort is made to provide accurate and complete information.

Review My Site - A2Z Home Inspections

Sean — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 00:43:00 GMT

Web Site Reviewed: http://www.a2zpa.com

A2Z Home Inspections

General Comments
On the A 2 Z Home Inspections site we see that they are well respected and have multiple certifications pertaining to home inspections. Visitors are always looking for a trust factor and A 2 Z builds visitor trust by displaying their certifications on the home page. The layout of the Web site is very easy to navigate and there are plenty of resources for visitors looking for a home inspector. Contact information is also easily accessible at the top of every page, so if a visitor has any questions they don’t have to go far for a phone number. Also, attached to the website is a blog which is regularly updated with information pertaining to home safety. This is a well thought out Web site that will keep visitors informed and hopefully generate some home inspections for the company.

Specific Positives

There are plenty of informative pages on the Web site that can help people locate a home inspector in Pennsylvania. The site also has specific codes for different counties.
Plenty of ways to contact the company along with a home hints email capture form.
Intuitive, logical site navigation -- The pages on the a2zpa.com Web site are logically linked via the main menu, which enables easy navigation between the various segments on the site. The links in the main menu are all crawlable for search engine spiders, allowing search engines to visit and review all pages on the site.
Geo-targeting is setup for multiple counties in Pennsylvania with links to specific counties with regulation information. This is an excellent way to improve local visibility.
Home page indexed by all three top search engines — All three of the Internet’s top search engines – Google, Yahoo!, and Live Search (MSN). Currently the website is not showing in Ask.com.
There are a large number of certifications which let the consumer know that the company is well respected and can do the job right.

Specific Problems & Solutions
Some of the immediate issues we see with the website is on-page over-optimization. Specifically, the Meta Title and the Meta Keywords have over 3,400 terms. This can cause the Web site to be seen as a malicious attack on Google’s ranking system., known as keyword stuffing. Eventually it got so bad that Google and the other search engines had to stop relying on page tags alone for ranking. While the title tag is still the most important tool for on-page optimization it is still a good idea to properly format all of the other tags in good faith.

Problem: Over-optimization of Meta Information
Over-optimization is present throughout the Web site. The Title, Description, and Keywords Meta tags are not properly optimized for any of the primary keywords. Secondly, we see an enormous amount of keyword stuffing under the keyword and description tags (the Keywords Meta tag contains 3,490 words). This can easily be seen as spamming to any search engine. Since search engines show a limited amount of information for each tag, it’s important to optimize these tags to fit within the limits of each search engine. The example below shows the current result when searching for A2Z Home Inspections and our suggested optimized result for the Title and Description Tags.

Current Google search results:
A2Z Home Inspections - Your Peace of Mind is Our Business Serving ...
A2Z is independent, we work for you. The business of inspecting homes is all we do - we do not perform repairs on the homes we inspect, eliminating conflict ...
www.a2zpa.com/ - 75k - Cached - Similar pages

Example of optimized search results:
PA Home Inspections by A2Z – Serving all Northern Counties
A2Z Home Inspections provides comprehensive commercial and residential inspection services including pre purchase and post purchase inspections.
www.a2zpa.com/ - 75k - Cached - Similar pages

Solution Optimize Site for Specific Keywords
While it will take time to fix all of the pages, it’s worth the reward of improved search engine ranking. The simple rule of thumb is that each page on your Web site should contain different information along with relevant titles, keywords, and content. Essentially, each page’s meta information should be specific and relevant to the content on the page.

Define Your Main Keywords
Use the Traffic Blazer Keyword Generator to find search counts for your main keywords for the past 30 days. The primary focus of the A2Zpa.com Web site is “PA home inspections” or “Pennsylvania home inspections” for people in that area that need an inspection. Additionally, they could target all of the major counties and cities. Keep in mind that there will be a limited number of searches for small towns or areas with low populations.

Once your keywords are defined the next step is to insert them into the website’s tags and content. You can either draw out a map of your website and group similar keywords together or you can create new pages based on keywords you haven’t yet targeted. This works well when targeting smaller regional areas.
Optimize Keywords Meta Tags
You should limit the number of keywords per page to 5-15, and any keyword that is used should be in the content of the page. For example, one phrase found in the keyword tag is “carbon monoxide hemoglobin” which doesn’t appear anywhere in the actual page content. Adding keywords in the keywords Meta tag which don’t appear on the page will dilute the reliability of the keywords meta tag on your page. Think of your Web site as a net. Each page is designed to capture a specific audience. Your job is to make sure that the right people get to the right pages. If carbon monoxide hemoglobin is important, it should be worked into the content on a page related to carbon monoxide and other issues/solutions, and only then added to the keywords meta tag.

Optimize Keywords in Page Copy
As far as content goes this website has some unique content, but it could definitely use more. We like to see at least 300 – 500 words for each page. Additionally, you want to make sure that the keywords for that page are listed in the content. Assuming that Poconos Home Inspection is the main keyword for the homepage, right now we can see that it is listed only once on the entire page.

Optimize Keywords for Images
a2zpa.com has very few pictures and none of the images feature Alt attributes. Alt attributes are short descriptions of the images that display upon mouseover and when the image cannot be displayed in a browser. Alt attributes are also valuable to the blind and those with text-only browsers. Alt attributes should be concise and include keywords which provide enough description for readers to understand the image even if they can’t see it.

Problem: No Heading Tags
None of the pages on A2Zpa.com use heading tags for the boldfaced segments above the main page copy. Keywords found in heading tags are generally more valuable to search engines than large fonts.

Solution: Use Heading Tags
Heading tags vary in size from <H1> (largest) to <H6> (smallest). Using heading tags rather than font tags will better emphasize the importance of the heading and subheadings on the site’s pages. Be sure to include your keywords in these segments.

Example:
<H1> Pennsylvania Home Inspections</H1>
<H2>A2Z - Your Northern PA Home Inspection Company</H2>

Problem: Low Google PageRank
The current Google PageRank for the a2zpa.com home page is 2 (out of a possible 10), while the other pages on the site all have a PageRank of 0, which is the lowest possible. PageRank is an assessment of the total link popularity for a Web site. By increasing the total number of links pointing to a Web site you may be able to change the overall PageRank score. Keep in mind that not every website can achieve a PageRank of 10. Every market will be different according to competition levels.

Note: Although PageRank is a Google-specific concept, other top engines use similar methodology when reviewing Web content.

Solution: Build Links
Building links can be a simple task, or a time intensive process depending on how you go about it. Joining business groups like the local chamber of commerce is a great idea. Typically they will list your Web site for free once you've paid for your membership. Another idea would be writing a press release and having it distributed online. This can be a valuable source of links. You might not have a story for a press release, so another tip would be to create an article and post it on one of the many article websites out on the net. Whatever your choice is remember to keep your link building out of spam territory. Some webmasters will resort to forum spamming or comment spamming, this could get your Web site banned for good with the search engines so make sure you are always creating valuable, relevant links.

Review My Site - Margot Hayward - Harpist

Sean — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 19:30:00 GMT

Web site reviewed: http://www.haywardharp.com/

General Comments
Margot Hayward’s Web site -- http://www.haywardharp.com/ -- is a simple and nicely designed site, rich on informative, keyword-optimized content. However, because the site’s home page lacks page copy (it simply consists of links to the other pages on the site) and the internal linking between the site’s pages is poor, this Web site needs some work before Margot Hayward can expect to see search engine generated traffic on her site. For Hayward, the main objective is to ensure that her Web site is more spider-friendly. Also, because Margot Hayward’s services are specific to a particular geographic region, geo-targeting the site is highly recommended.

Specific Positives

Simple design – The Margot Hayward Web site is a pleasure to look at. It consists of six pages, including the home page. The layout is simple and pleasing. Gradients, stylistic fonts and drop shadows complement the color tones in the images and blend well with the overall layout.
Informative, keyword-optimized text – Each page on this Web site – with the exception of the home page – contains a segment of well-written and informative text, which clearly targets a well-defined audience.
Clearly defined market niche – Margot Hayward has a clearly-defined target audience for her site. Anyone interested in booking harp lessons, performances, etc. can find abundant information about Hayward, her career, education and services on the site. And because Hayward specifically targets audiences in and around Northeastern Ohio (where she works and resides), the Web site can easily be geo-targeted, thus carving out an even more clearly defined market niche.
The home page is indexed by three of the four top search engines. – Search engines Google, Yahoo! and Windows Live Search all include the home page of Margot Hayward’s Web site in their indices. None of the other pages (on which all of the textual content resides), however, are currently indexed. Ask.com currently does not index any pages from the site.
Inbound links in place – Several, topically relevant sites currently link to pages on Margot Hayward’s Web site. Although more backlinks (i.e., links that point to the site) would be opportune, Margot Hayward doesn’t need to be overly concerned with link building at this point in time.

Specific Problems & Solutions

Problem: Home page lacks copy
Because the home page of Margot Hayward’s site contains no actual page copy, but instead consists of hyperlinks to the other pages on the site, search engines have very little content to work with. Consequently, the search engines will consider the page of poor quality and relevance – indeed, the Google PageRank of the home page is 0, the lowest possible number for an indexed page. This means that except for a few, very specific keywords, such as “Margot Hayward” or the page’s URL, the home page will not show up in the search results of Google, Yahoo, etc. Conversely, the phrase “harp lessons cleveland” does not return this page within the top 100 results for any of the top search engines. In other words: the search engine users that actually find Margot Hayward’s Web site in its current state, most likely will know about Margot and/or her site already.

Solution: This can be easily remedied by adding a comprised version of the key elements of the other pages to the home page. One or two paragraphs which include biographical information, location, and services will help -- as the content is well-written and rich on keywords.

Problem: Title tags not optimized
All of the pages on Margot Hayward’s Web site include unique Title tags. However, all of the Title tags would benefit from being longer and more descriptive. Extending the Title tag content would also allow the inclusion of more keywords in the tags.

Solution: The home page currently has the following title:

Margot Hayward – Harpist

An updated title tag for this page could look like this:

Margot Hayward – Professional harpist in Cleveland, Ohio. Harp lessons, bookings, events

Problem: Description Meta tag not optimized
As is the case with the Title tags, the Description Meta tags on Margot Hayward’s Web site would gain from being longer and more descriptive.

Yahoo Search Result for “Margot Hayward”

Google Search Result for “Margot Hayward”

Both Google and Yahoo (as well as Windows Live Search and Ask.com ) occasionally use a Web page’s Description Meta tag to add a text segment to the search result. (If the keyword the user searched for is found in the page’s body text, the search engines often will use a snippet of the body text instead of the Description Meta tag content). In this case, the home page of Margot Hayward’s Web site lacks both page copy and an optimized Description Meta tag. Consequently, the text used on the search engines’ search results pages fails to provide the user with an accurate description on the Web page’s topic.

Solution: Add content to Description Meta tags on main pages of Web site. The Description Meta tag on the site’s home page is currently identical to the Title tag:

Margot Hayward – Harpist

To improve the tag content, consider adding some of the key elements of the page copy from the main pages on the site. For example:

Margot Hayward – Professional Harpist in Cleveland, Ohio. Harp lessons, performances and events. If you are looking for an experienced professional harpist for a wedding, private party or other special occasion, you have come to the right place. Harp lessons available for all ages and backgrounds.

Problem: Poor site navigation
Only the home page contains a complete list of navigational links to the Web site’s pages. All other pages include a link to the home page, but not to the other pages. This means that all navigation on the site must go through the home page.

Solution: Add complete site navigation – header and/or footer links, for example – to every page on the site. This will make site navigation more intuitive for visitors and facilitate search engine spiders’ access to all site elements.

Problem: Geo-targeting is incomplete
Because Margot Hayward’s harp lessons, performances, etc. are centered around Cleveland and Northeastern Ohio, geo-targeting this Web site is an obvious way of carving out a market niche and reach the exact audiences to whom the site’s content apply.

Solution: Add location information to all pages of the site. This may include body text, Title tags and Description Meta tags. Although search engines use searchers’ IP addresses to serve up region-specific content where applicable, spelling out a specific location will drastically improve the chances of reaching audiences in a specific region.

In addition to geo-targeting the actual site content, Margot Hayward may want to consider submitting the site to various local search services, many of which are free of charge.

Google Maps, for example, offers free local business listings, that allow description, Web site, contact information and directions to show up next to the regular search results in the Google search engine. (See the Local Search Engines section in Traffic Blazer for more information)

By following the recommendations above, Margot Hayward should soon be able to attract more search engine-generated and localized traffic to her Web site, http://www.haywardharp.com/

Review My Site -- Nancy D Jewelry

Sean — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 20:09:00 GMT

Web Site Reviewed: http://www.nancydonline.com

The Nancy D Jewelry Web site contains plenty of good content that has the potential for an opportune search engine ranking. Overall, the content is logically and intuitively distributed onto five distinct pages. However, each of the pages would benefit from targeted keyword research and optimization.

General Comments
Generally speaking, NancyDonline.com is not properly keyword-optimized. The key issues hurting the site, however, can be addressed fairly easily. As well, the site’s topic – nickel free earrings for nickel allergy sufferers – puts it in a fairly limited niche market, which makes it very possible to push the site toward the search engines’ top rankings. On a secondary level, the site could be positioned for the search engines for its Pacific Northwestern custom jewelry, which opens up another niche market.

The home page (and several other pages from the site) is already listed by the big four search engines: Google, Yahoo!, Live Search (MSN), and Ask.com. However, the site has very few back links (or “inlinks” as Yahoo! calls them). The lack of back links is a major obstacle to attaining top search engine rankings

Since nancydonline.com is already listed, we will focus on the changes which can be made to improve the ranking with these search engines.

See below for an overview of the specific positives and potential problems we found while reviewing nancydonline.com.

Specific Positives

Informative, well-written content -- The Web site consists of five pages – Home Page, About Us, Contact Us, Products and News – each of which contains informative and concise content.
Plenty of high-quality images – Each of the pages on the nancydonline.com site includes a selection of good-quality images of the jewelry offered on the site. The images provide a user with a clear idea of the type of products available from Nancy D Jewelry.
Intuitive, logical site navigation -- The pages on the nancydonline.com Web site are logically linked via the main menu, which enables easy navigation between the various segments on the site. The links in the main menu are all crawlable for search engine spiders, thus allowing search engines to visit and review all pages on the site.
Basic geo-targeting – Albeit on a very basic level, the Nancy D Jewelry Web site includes a number of references to the artist’s Pacific Northwest location. With a little more targeted approach, the Washington state locale could help define a local/regional niche market for nancydonline.com.
Intuitive shopping page – Nancy D Online contains an easy-to-use and nicely laid out shopping area that allows users to view and purchase Nancy D’s jewelry.
Home page indexed by all four top search engines — All four of the Internet’s top search engines – Google, Yahoo!, Live Search (MSN), and Ask.com currently list this Web site’s home page. (Ask.com lists the shop.nancydonline.com subdomain only.) Indexation with the top search engines is imperative to attracting traffic.

Specific Problems & Solutions
Overall, Nancy D Jewelry is poorly ranked for the main keyword phrase “nickel free earrings.” Although the site boasts a decent ranking in the Yahoo! search engine (#29), the site is not in the top 1000 search results in the Google and Live Search engines. Keyword optimization and link building are the keys to improving the search engine performance of this Web site. The nature of the product offerings on the site – i.e., nickel free earrings and other types of handmade custom jewelry – places the site in a niche market that should make it possible to climb closer to the top of the search engine’s search results.

Problem: Little or No Keyword Optimization
The primary problem with the nancydonline.com Web site is that it lacks proper keyword optimization. Main keywords for the site’s key pages have neither been defined nor added to the page content. Without targeted keyword optimization, search engines cannot accurately determine the topic of a given page and thus won’t consider it important and worthy of a high ranking.

Define Your Main Keywords
Use the Traffic Blazer Keyword Generator to find search counts for your main keywords for the past 30 days. The primary focus of the Nancy D Jewelry Web site is custom jewelry for people with nickel allergy. The Keyword Generator returned counts for our main terms as well as several variations. We picked the following terms for optimization based on their search count and their relevance to Nancy’s site.
- nickel free earrings (Yahoo! search count: 293)
- nickel free jewelry (Yahoo! search count: 295)
- nickel allergy (Yahoo! search count: 929)
- custom handmade jewelry (Yahoo! search count: 642)

Once you have defined your main keywords you will need to add those keywords to the Title tag, Description Meta tag, Keywords Meta tag, and page copy on your home page and any other page you wish to optimize. Consider applying keyword-optimized heading tags and image Alt attributes to key pages, as well.

Applying keyword optimization to this Web site is easy. Mainly because the site consists of a very limited number of pages (five) and the topic is easily described via a few, popular yet not overly competitive keywords and phrases.

Optimize Keywords in the Title Tag
The Title tag is one of the most important elements in the search engine optimization process. A well-optimized title tag must be descriptive, enticing and include the main keyword(s). The Title tag on the home page of the Nancy D Web site currently reads “Home Page.”

Results when searching at Yahoo! for "Nickel Free Earring"

Replace "Home Page" with descriptive and concise content for the Title tag and include top keyword(s), such as “nickel free jewelry” or “handmade jewelry.” Consider mentioning the Pacific Northwestern location.

Example:
<title>Nancy D Jewelry – Nickel free earrings and handmade jewelry in the Pacific Northwest.”</title>

Optimize Keywords in Meta Tags
All of the pages on Nancy D Jewelry lack Description and Keywords Meta tags. Although many search engines no longer rely heavily on the Keywords Meta Tag, the Description Meta Tag continues to be used when listing search engine results. If the major search engines do not find a Description Meta Tag, they use a snippet of text from the page (see example above). Adding an optimized Description Meta Tag allows you to manage your web site description and can also help to improve the overall ranking.

Example:
<meta name="description" CONTENT="Nancy D Jewelry -- Specializing in nickel free earrings for allergy sufferers. Nancy D Jewelry carries a great selection of nickel free earrings and other handmade custom jewelry made by artist Nancy Draper, in the Pacific Northwest, USA.">

Optimize Keywords in Page Copy
The copy on the pages of the Nancy D Web site is well-written, concise and informative. Phrases like “nickel free earrings” and “hand made jewelry” are included in the text. However, the copy could be further optimized.

Rather than providing all of the page copy in one, lengthy paragraph, consider expanding the text and dividing it into multiple paragraphs. Doing so will allow you to add the main keywords once or twice to each paragraph without sacrificing the textual coherence.

Example:
Welcome to Nancy D Jewelry - - where you’ll find a great selection of handcrafted jewelry from the Pacific Northwest, including nickel free earrings and other custom jewelry made by artist Nancy Draper.

Nancy D Jewelry specializes in creating beautiful nickel free earrings for those who suffer from nickel allergy.

Nickel allergy sufferers may experience irritation or rashes when wearing department store fashion earrings. If you haven't been able to find nickel free-fashion earrings through traditional retailers, you have come to the right place.

All of my earrings are made using nickel-free ear wires, and my customers who have had problems with nickel allergy in the past are always satisfied and come back for more!

In addition to nickel free earrings, I create necklaces and bracelets made with quality components inspired by the breathtaking natural surroundings in the Pacific Northwest.

I use only high-quality components - - sterling silver, copper, gemstones, freshwater pearls, Czech glass, natural shells, tribal silver and more!

For retailers, I also offer my jewelry on consignment or at wholesale prices.

Optimize Keywords for Images
Nancy D Jewelry includes plenty of images but none of the images feature Alt attributes. Alt attributes are short descriptions of the images that display upon mouseover and when the image cannot be displayed in a browser. Alt attributes are also valuable to the blind and those with text-only browsers. Alt attributes should be concise and include keywords which provide enough description for readers to understand the image even if they can’t see it.

Example:
<img src=”http://shop.nancydonline.com/images/product_3_zm.jpg” alt=”Nickel-free deep blue Czech glass pendant earrings with black accents adorned with sterling silver and black glass beads”>

Problem: No Heading Tags
None of the pages on Nancy D Jewelry use heading tags for the boldfaced segments above the main page copy. Keywords found in heading tags are generally more valuable to search engines than large fonts.

Solution: Use Heading Tags
Heading tags vary in size from <H1> (largest) to <H6> (smallest). Using heading tags rather than font tags will better emphasize the importance of the heading and subheadings on the site’s pages. Be sure to include keywords in these segments.

Example:
<H1>Welcome to Nancy D Jewelry</H1>
<H2>Specializing in Nickel Free Earrings for Nickel Allergy Sufferers</H2>

Problem: Missing Link to Home Page
Although nancydonline.com includes an intuitive and prominently displayed main menu that links to all of the site’s pages, the menu lacks a link to the home page. A link to the home page should be added to the site's main navigation section.

Problem: Link to Online Store is Missing from Main Navigation
The shopping cart section of the nancydonline.com Web site is located on the shop.nancydonline.com subdomain. The main site does not include prominent links to the shopping section. This makes it somewhat difficult and tedious for site visitors to make a quick purchase. To resolve this issue, make the shopping section an integrated part of the main site and place a link to it in the main menu.

Problem: Low Google PageRank
The current Google PageRank for the Nancy D Jewelry home page is 2 (out of a possible 10) while the other pages on the site all have a PageRank of 1, which is the lowest possible PageRank for pages in Google’s index. Because the PageRank is the single-most important factor in Google’s ranking algorithm, a PageRank of 1 or 2 makes it very difficult to secure a top ranking for popular keywords.

Note: Although PageRank is a Google-specific concept, other top engines use similar methodology when reviewing Web content.

The PageRank is mainly based on link analysis: Quality back links (i.e., inbound links from highly-ranked, topically similar sites) are generally rewarded with improved PageRank. Thus: In order to boost a Web site’s PageRank, you must build links.

Solution: Build Links
Currently, Yahoo! lists a single back link to the Nancy D Jewelry home page. Google lists none. Because all of the top search engines consider back links critical to a Web site’s overall quality, lack of quality back links generally prevents a given site from attracting significant search engine traffic. Use the Link Popularity Report to track which sites are linking to pages in your site.

Link Building Strategies - Link building can be done in several different ways. Reciprocal linking and directory submission are the two most common methods of obtaining back links.

Reciprocal linking is the concept of exchanging links with another Web site. In order for reciprocal links to be effective, the sites that are exchanging links must be topically similar.

Having a Web site listed in a Web directory automatically creates a link to your site that may help improve PageRank and search engine ranking. Note that not all directories are ranked highly by the top search engines and that listings in those directories may have little or no impact on PageRank/search engine ranking.

Overall, nancydonline.com has the potential to take advantage of a prosperous niche market on the Web. However, lacking keyword optimization and absent back links combine to prevent the site from attracting search engine generated traffic. Targeted keyword optimization and link building will significantly boost the traffic flow to this Web site.

Steering Clear of Keyword Stuffing

Sean — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 21:10:00 GMT

In the earliest days of search engines – before Google® introduced link analysis as the key to matching search queries with truly relevant content – keyword stuffing was one of the most commonly used forms of search engine spamming. And it often worked. Without having to worry much about the consequences, Webmasters would toss keywords into Title tags, Meta tags, page copy, etc. Eventually, the search engines figured out that keyword stuffing was all-too-easy and all-too-common and they started cracking down on it. Web sites that included blatant keyword spamming not only wouldn’t climb to the top of the rankings, they would be penalized, even removed from the engines completely.

Keyword stuffing was, and is, fairly easy for search engines to detect. Therefore, most of today’s examples of keyword stuffing are, in fact, the product of accidental or otherwise benign overusage of keywords by novice Webmasters. Those that deliberately attempt to spam the search engines have long moved on to more advanced, more subtle methods of spamming. Nevertheless, search engines tend to crack down hard on blatant keyword stuffing, and sites that are considered to be spamming are often penalized.

The good thing is that keyword stuffing is quite easy to avoid. And, even if you have accidentally squeezed too many keywords into your page content, it is easy to alleviate the problem and get yourself out of trouble with the search engines.

What Is Keyword Stuffing?

Keyword stuffing is but one of several gray-area ways in which Webmasters have attempted to tip the scales toward their own sites in the search engine rankings. These days, advanced link spamming, IP cloaking and usage of doorway pages are more commonly used. However, search engines remain acutely aware of any attempts to spam them with keyword stuffing.

So what, exactly, is keyword stuffing? In a nutshell, the term covers any attempt to add keywords to various Web page elements beyond what the context renders reasonable. For example, excessive repetition of a particular word or phrase inside a Title tag, Description Meta tag or page copy almost always raises a red flag with the search engines.

Keywords can and should be used frequently in central page elements. But they should never be used at the expense of textual fluency and coherence. In other word, if the keywords break the textual flow, then you are most likely engaging in keyword stuffing. Conversely, ensuring that keywords appear frequently throughout your content is a crucial element in any successful search engine optimization campaign.

Keyword Stuffing in Title and Meta Tags

Keyword stuffing most often occurs in Web page Title tags, Meta tags and page copy.
Heading tags (e.g., H1, H2, H3 tags) are also sometimes used for keyword spamming. Using invisible text to add keywords galore to a Web page was once a popular method of spamming, but this practice has been all but eradicated.

The following is an example of keyword stuffing in a Web page’s Title and Meta tags:

<head>
<title>Pottermania — A Harry Potter® Site, Harry Potter, Harry Potter</title>
<meta name="description" content="The ultimate Harry Potter site. Harry Potter. Features a wealth of Harry Potter resources, including news, message boards, reviews, and multimedia. Harry Potter.">
<meta name="keywords" content="Harry Potter, Harry Potter Merchandise, Harry Potter, Harry Potter News, Harry Potter, Harry Potter Rumors, Harry Potter, Harry Potter games, Harry Potter, Harry Potter Fan Fiction">
</head>

Note that the keyword phrase “Harry Potter” is used far beyond what the context calls for. Neither the Title nor the Description Meta tag flows naturally, as the keyword has been thrown into the context without ensuring that it appears as an integral part of the text.

In the example below, albeit allowing for more repetition than any other page element, the Keywords Meta tag must still not include such excessive keyword repetition. In fact, a keyword should only be repeated in this tag as part of a number of different phrases.

Thus: “Harry Potter, Harry Potter News, Harry Potter Merchandise” is usually OK (although the Harry Potter prefix is unnecessary for phrases two and three in this example). “Harry Potter, Harry Potter, Harry Potter” is not.

Keyword Stuffing in HTML Comments

HTML comments are used to make notes in the markup and are not rendered by Web browsers. Search engine spiders treat these comments as markup and do not consider the words or phrases they contain. For example:

<table>
<tr>
<td>Harry Potter, a book written by J.K. Rowling…</td>

Stuffing keywords or phrases into the HTML comments can also bloat the page and ultimately do more harm than good.

Keyword Stuffing in Page Copy

Keyword stuffing in page copy is a bit dicier. There really are no exact guidelines that define how much keyword usage is too much. However, as is the case with the Title and Description tags, keywords that occur inside the page copy must never interrupt or break the natural flow of the text. Rather, the keywords should appear as natural elements of the context in which they appear. This means that unless the context specifically allows it, a keyword generally shouldn’t be included in every sentence on the page. Nor should it occur multiple times within a single sentence.

On the other hand; your main keywords should appear at least once in every paragraph of your page copy. And, depending on the length of the paragraphs, they can be used multiple times per paragraph.

How Much Is Too Much?

There is no finite maximum amount of allowed occurrences of a keyword in page copy. None of the top search engines reveal what they consider the ideal keyword frequency on a page. Nor do they make public how much is too much. What is permissible largely depends on the overall length and type of page text, as well as the nature of the keyword in question. The rule of thumb is that your Web pages should be built for humans, not for search engines. Search engines reward pages that include unique, informative, high-quality content. They penalize, de-list or ignore pages whose sole purpose is to gain top rankings.

Most search engines provide some form of Webmaster guidelines that give you an idea of what is considered acceptable and what is not. Some examples of Webmaster guidelines are set forth below. Reading and abiding by these guidelines is highly recommended

Google Design and Content Guidelines
http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=35769#design

Yahoo!® Search Content Quality Guidelines
http://help.yahoo.com/help/us/ysearch/deletions/deletions-05.html

Live.com Guidelines for Successful Indexing
http://search.live.com/docs/siteowner.aspx?t=SEARCH_WEBMASTER_REF_GuidelinesforOptimizingSite.htm

What to Do if You Get in Trouble

Ideally, you should eliminate any page elements that could possibly get you in trouble with the search engines before the search engines figure out that there is a problem. But what do you do if your search engine ranking suddenly plunges and you suspect that it’s due to keyword stuffing? Well, first of all you should take a careful look at the page and try to identify any elements that might be considered problematic. Once you have figured out where the problem lies, fix it. Rewrite your page copy; rebuild your Title or Meta tags if necessary. The main thing is that you act fast.

When you have updated your content, the search engines will detect the changes the next time they crawl your site. As they examine and index the revised content, you should be able to gradually regain your ranking.

Note that if you are feeding sitemaps to Google, you can heighten the priority and/or update frequency of the revised pages, thus ensuring that the engines will shorten their crawl cycle for that or those pages.

The bottom line is that although keyword stuffing isn’t as common as it once was, you can still get yourself in serious trouble with the search engines if you use keywords too generously on your Web page. Fortunately, keyword stuffing is easily avoided. And, if you do cross the line, keyword stuffing is also easily alleviated.

How Long Does it Take to Optimize a Web Site?

Sean — Sat, 20 Jan 2007 00:13:00 GMT

One of the many questions you may be asking yourself when you start using Traffic Blazer® is: How long is it going to take for me to optimize my site and get the search engine rankings I am hoping for? The answer is: “Well, that depends…”

In fact, it depends on a number of things, including the type of Web site you are operating, the competition you are facing, the search engines you are targeting, and your level of ambition. Lastly, it depends on how much time you are actually prepared to put into the optimization process.

At its most basic level, you can pick two to three keywords for your Web site's home page, include those keywords in Title tag, Meta tags, and body text; then submit the home page URL to the top search engines and sit back and wait for the traffic to come. You can probably do this in less than an hour. However, such a limited effort is unlikely to yield much in terms of a lasting traffic boost to your site. In fact, it is highly unlikely that you will score top search engine rankings for even remotely competitive search terms.

A more targeted and ambitious SEO campaign, however, requires patience, dedication and a good sense of what is a realistic goal. It should include meticulous and continual keyword research, copy writing, and link building, as well as tracking and assessment of the results of the campaign. Generally speaking, you should patiently prepare your site, rather than rushing through the process. The end results are bound to be better if you put the necessary time and effort into the campaign.

Top search engine rankings do not materialize overnight. The combination of intense competition and intricate search engine algorithms makes successful search engine optimization challenging, time-consuming and, at times, furiously frustrating. Indeed, it can take several months before you start seeing any results from the top search engines.

Then there is the issue of “sandboxing,” which can keep your site out of Google’s top rankings for as much as six months. Wary of link spamming, Google often buries newly-indexed Web sites in its so-called “sandbox” while it examines the site’s links. While sandboxed, Google deliberately prevents sites from reaching high rankings in its index. Your best chance of circumventing the sandbox is to patiently seek out and obtain back links from quality sites and refrain from buying or exchanging links that are irrelevant or misleading.

In closing, you must keep in mind that even a perfectly-optimized Web site will not yield instant results as search engines’ turnaround times (i.e., the time it takes to process submitted content for indexation) often exceed a month. Besides, the chance of actually hitting all the right notes right-away is fairly minimal. You will usually need to tweak parts of your site before you attain the search engine ranking you are hoping for. But, with patience and the right approach, the search engine rankings will eventually materialize, and the traffic will come to your site.

Review My Site -- My Beautiful Blinds

Sean — Fri, 22 Dec 2006 01:11:00 GMT

Web site reviewed: http://mybeautifulblinds.com/

General comments
Generally speaking, mybeautifulblinds.com is a prime example of a well-built, well-optimized Web site whose search engine ranking unfortunately is hurt by one main factor: a lack of a quality back links.

Overall, the My Beautiful Blinds Web site content is comprehensive, informative and well-written. The content is logically distributed into several, individually optimized pages, each of which could attain a separate search engine indexation and ranking.

The home page (and several other pages from the site) is already indexed by the big four search engines: Google®, Yahoo! ®, Live Search (MSN®), and Ask.com®. This means that the main focus is to improve the site’s ranking in those search engines.

The mybeautifulblinds.com home page currently has a Google PageRank of 1 (of a possible 10). This rank is very low and might reflect the fact that the page was indexed very recently. However, the most likely reason for the low PageRank is that the page only has six back links listed in the Google search engine (i.e., links pointing to it from external sites). And none of the originating pages for the backlinks boast particularly high PageRanks themselves. All four of the top search engines consider backlinks critical to top rankings. Consequently, the main focus for the continued search engine optimization process for this Web site should be link building.

See below for an overview of the specific positives and potential problems detected while reviewing mybeautifulblinds.com.

Specific Positives

Well-rounded, well-optimized and logically arranged site — The Web site consists of several pages, each of which has a clearly defined topic and is optimized for individual keywords. Navigational links are placed in intuitive locations on site. The site is fully spiderable as all pages are connected with functional, crawlable hyperlinks.
Pages optimized with individual Title tags — Each of the main pages on the Web site features an individually optimized Title tag that highlights the specific content of the page in question. Applying individual Title tags to Web pages is key to attaining separate indexation and search engine rankings for multiple pages on a Web site.
Included sitemap helps users and search engines navigate the site — A sitemap enables visiting users and search engine spiders to gain a quick overview of all content on the Web site. A sitemap is particularly useful on a Web site that – like this one – includes a double-digit number of pages.
Plenty of informative, keyword-optimized page copy — Each page on this Web site contains informative, unique, keyword-optimized body text. The search engines, especially Google, tend to reward this type of page content (compared to generic or duplicate text).
Keyword-optimized Alt attributes on all images on site —Although Alt attributes are among the smaller factors in the search engines’ ranking calculations; they still provide Webmasters with an excellent opportunity to legitimately insert keywords into their Web site content.
Home page indexed by all four top search engines — All four of the Internet’s top search engines – Google, Yahoo!, Live Search (MSN), and Ask.com currently list this Web site’s home page. Indexation with the top search engines is imperative to attracting traffic. Once a Web site is indexed with the top search engines, Webmasters can focus on smaller, niche-oriented search engines and directories.

Specific Problems & Solutions

Problem: Very low Google PageRank
The current Google PageRank for the My Beautiful Blinds home page is 1, which is generally the lowest PageRank applied to fully-indexed content. (Other indexed pages have PageRanks of 0 indicating that Google has yet to complete reviewing them and assessing their relative importance.) Because the PageRank is the single-most important factor in Google’s ranking algorithm, a PageRank of 1 makes it very difficult to secure a top ranking for popular keywords.

Note: Although PageRank is a Google-specific concept, other top engines use similar methodology when assessing reviewing Web content.

Solution:
The PageRank is mainly based on link analysis: Quality back links (i.e., inbound links from highly-ranked, topically similar sites) are generally rewarded with improved PageRank. In order to boost a Web site’s PageRank, one must thus embark on a targeted link building campaign. Mybeatifulblinds.com currently has six back links listed in the Google index. Competing sites with top search engine rankings all have more back links and, consequently, higher PageRanks than this one. Link building should be a continual process that helps the Web site owner gradually improve and cement his/her search engine ranking. However, when the starting point is a PageRank of 1, this issue must be addressed immediately.

Problem: Few and low-quality backlinks
The home page for this site currently has six back links listed in the Google index. The originating pages are topically similar, but none of them boast impressive PageRanks.

Solution:
Build links. The only way to effectively improve a Web page’s PageRank is to create links to it. Link building can be done in several different ways. Reciprocal linking and directory submission are the two most obvious methods of obtaining back links.

Reciprocal linking is the concept of exchanging links with another Web site. Note that in order for reciprocal links to be effective, the sites that are exchanging links must be topically similar.

Having a Web site listed in a Web directory automatically creates a back link that may help improve PageRank and search engine ranking. Note that not all directories are ranked highly by the top search engines and that listings in those directories may have little or no impact on PageRank/search engine ranking.

Problem: Low search engine ranking for main keywords
This Web site is consistently outperformed by competitor sites on search engine results pages for applicable keywords.

Solution:
Topically similar, but higher-ranking Web sites generally separate themselves from mybeautifulblinds.com by having higher PageRanks. For most other search engine optimization factors, including Title tags, Meta tags and keyword-optimized page copy, the My Beautiful Blinds Web site is very competitive. Consequently, link building, again, is the key. See above for specific information about link building.

Problem: Crowded marketplace
It appears that the window blind/shutter playing field on the Internet is fairly crowded. This means that attaining a top search engine ranking for popular keywords can prove quite difficult and time-consuming.

Solution:
In addition to link building (see above), the most effective way to address is this issue is to focus on niche markets. This can be done by optimizing the Web site for keywords that are somewhat less competitive and generic than top ones like “window blinds,” “shutters,” or “shades.” Doing so narrows down the potential customer base, but makes it more realistic to secure a decent ranking.

Mybeautifulblinds.com is currently ranked no. 21 for the more specific and less competitive keyword phrase “discount window blinds” in the Google search engine. That is a good start.

Problem: Description Meta tags not composed as complete sentences
The Description Meta tags used on this Web site read more like Keywords Meta tags than actual descriptions. That is: The tags look like keyword lists, rather than actual sentences.

Solution:
Ensure that all Description Meta tag content consists of complete, cohesive sentences.

Legal Notice:
Go Daddy® makes no claims, promises or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacies of the advice offered on this Web site and expressly disclaim liability for errors and omissions in the contents of this Web site. Go Daddy accepts no liability for the consequences of any actions taken on the basis of the information and advice provided. Go Daddy provides no guarantee that such advice will lead to better search engine placement, nor does Go Daddy guarantee increased traffic or revenues from any improvements in Your search engine placement. Every effort is made to provide accurate and complete information.

Review My Site! -- The Twisted Wick

Mikkel — Thu, 16 Nov 2006 21:54:00 GMT

Web site reviewed: http://www.thetwistedwick.com/

General comments
This Web site offers a smooth, professional-looking design and the page content is refined and informative. Unfortunately, this site, in its current state, is unlikely to attain a top search engine ranking. The main problems with this site are:

Domain forwarding – The site’s domain – thetwistedwick.com – is forwarded.
Third-party page content – The target site is populated with a third party's (i.e., Gold Canyon) content.
Title tags not optimized – The site needs keyword-optimized Title tags on all pages.

Incorporating (some of) the suggested changes outlined below will help position this Web site for a decent search engine ranking for such keywords as "candles," "scented candles," etc. If this is not possible, paid search engine advertising and/or direct advertising (e.g., business cards, flyers, e-mail marketing, etc.) likely will generate more business than search engine optimization.

Specific Problems & Solutions
Problem:
Domain is forwarded: No actual content for search engines to work with.
The domain www.thetwistedwick.com is forwarded to mygccandle.com/twistedwick/HOME/tabid/21348/Default.aspx. This means that thetwistedwick.com contains a Title and Keywords Meta tag, but all actual Web site content, including product descriptions, etc., resides on the target site for the forwarded domain.

Solution:
Though domain forwarding certainly has its merits — it can be used when registering alternate spellings and/or top-level domain (extension) variations of a Web site's main domain, for example — it is not recommended in the context of search engine optimization. Generally speaking, a forwarded domain should NEVER be submitted to a search engine. Submit the target URL (the address to which the domain is forwarded) instead.

The easiest solution to this problem is to refrain from simply forwarding the domain and instead build an actual Web page for the thetwistedwick.com domain and link to the Gold Canyon content from there. That way, there will be actual, unique, and, hopefully, keyword-optimized content on thetwistedwick.com. A real Web page with real content will always outperform a forwarded domain that only contains a frame, a link and some HTML tags that will have little or no effect on the search engine ranking.

Specifically, thetwistedwick.com could be the home of one or more pages that describe the scented candles offered on the target site, the business philosophy and your own personal information.

Problem:
Third-party content on target site.
Most of the content on the target domain appears to belong to the Gold Canyon company.

Solution:
Search engines prefer unique content. Therefore, to the extent that the page content can in any way be personalized, it should. Only if the content on the target site for thetwistedwick.com is noticeably different from that of similar "independent demonstrator" sites will search engines consider indexing and rewarding the page with a decent ranking. If not, the best solution is the one described above: Building an actual Web page with real content and place on thetwistedwick.com.

Problem:
Title tag not keyword-optimized.
The Title tag used on this Web site is "The Twisted Wick," which includes no real keywords.

Solution:
Add one or two keywords — such as "candles" or "scented candles" — to the Title tag of at least the Web site's home page. Search engine users are considerably more likely to search for the word "candles" than for the phrase "the twisted wick." As a rule of thumb, company names do not belong in Title tags unless they have particular name recognition or happen to include one or more keywords.

Problem:
Description tag missing.
The forwarded domain and the pages on the target site include Title tag and Keywords Meta tag. However, they lack a Description Meta tag.

Solution:
Compose and add a concise, enticing and descriptive description Meta tag to each of the main pages on the Web site.

Problem:
Keywords not clearly identified.

Solution:
Ensure that Title tag, Meta tags, page copy, etc. include two-three carefully-selected keywords. Specifically, the words "candle" and "scented candle" (as well as any other words/phrases deemed appropriate) should be included in all HTML tags and at least once in every paragraph of body text. Each of the main pages should be optimized for two-three keywords.

Problem:
Ordering options are less than user-friendly, as the user needs to take multiple steps in order to place an order.

Solution:
Add an "Order Products" (or similar) tab to the main menu. Consider enabling direct link to products section from home page. The more hoops the buyer needs to jump through, the more likely he/she is to abort the process before having completed the purchase.

Problem:
No back links (i.e., links pointing to the site). Back links are of critical importance, especially as the on-page content on this Web site does not in itself secure a top search engine ranking.

Solution:
Build links. Get other Web site owners (such as customers) to link to the site. Links can be bought or exchanged. Exchanging links is usually a better idea.

Legal Notice:
Go Daddy® makes no claims, promises or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacies of the advice offered on this Web site and expressly disclaim liability for errors and omissions in the contents of this Web site. Go Daddy accepts no liability for the consequences of any actions taken on the basis of the information and advice provided. Go Daddy provides no guarantee that such advice will lead to better search engine placement, nor does Go Daddy guarantee increased traffic or revenues from any improvements in Your search engine placement. Every effort is made to provide accurate and complete information.

Review My Site!

Sean — Fri, 20 Oct 2006 17:11:00 GMT

Big News!
We are starting a review program to help customers optimize their web sites for the internet search engines. We'll start by reviewing one site per month. The turnaround time for site reviews is one week from selection. To submit your site for consideration simply send an email to reviewmysite@trafficblazer.com. Please include your web site address in the subject of the email.

What's in it for me?
If your Web site is selected, we'll review the site and make suggestions for optimizing it. The suggestions and recommendations will be posted on the blog so that you and other blog readers can review and learn
from them.

Legal disclaimer for Review My Site!
By submitting Your site to this blog, You agree that Go Daddy may, but is not obligated to, review Your site and offer advise on how to best optimize Your site for better search engine placement.

Welcome to the Traffic Blazer® Blog!

Sean — Thu, 28 Sep 2006 20:00:00 GMT

Hello and welcome to the Traffic Blazer Product Blog!

My name is Sean and I lead the Traffic Blazer development team here at Go Daddy®. We're launching the blog to keep in touch about the development of new features within Traffic Blazer and to share knowledge and expand on the SEO concepts outlined in the Traffic Blazer Help System.

To receive future posts via email, enter your email address in the form on the side bar and click "subscribe".

Before you comment, please take a moment to review the guidelines for comments and support requests.

Welcome again and see you soon!

Guidelines for Comments and Support Requests

Sean — Tue, 26 Sep 2006 17:45:00 GMT

This is a moderated blog to discuss Traffic Blazer®, its features, development, and search engine optimization in general. If you have comments on a feature you would like us to provide, how to improve an existing feature or just want to let us know how you’re using the program we’re looking forward to chatting with you.

Support Requests
This forum is only for Traffic Blazer. We're unable to answer support requests or billing inquiries about other GoDaddy.com® products. (So please do not send any account information within your comments.) If you require immediate assistance with Traffic Blazer, you can submit a support request or call us at 480-505-8877.

Moderation
All comments that are on topic and constructive will be posted. Normally comments and trackbacks will appear ,within 24 hours of being posted, but please allow us up to two days to respond. If we require further information about a comment prior to approval, we'll contact you -- provided you have submitted a valid email address.

Content
We don't allow obscene, racist, sexually explicit, inflammatory, or derogatory language, and may either edit the comment prior to posting, or refuse to post the comment entirely. Commercial advertising, links to sites irrelevant to the topic will be removed from comments/trackbacks prior to posting.