I Really Need Help

[Pamela]

Hello webmasters

I launched my site since March 2007. In May, I paid a so called SEO professional to do the optimization; he is more amateur than I am. After six months, I still get less than 100 visitors a month, making no sale. When I finally realized I was going nowhere, I did the optimization. After a couple months, I got a rank two. Ever since, I have done all my possible efforts to get better rank on Google and increase my traffic. Sadly, instead higher rank, last week, my rank jumps to 1. I have been spending for over a year in advertising, until today can’t make even 10 sales monthly.

I really need help. My store name is vitalfoodstore.com. Any webmaster here, please take a look and give me any suggestion.
Note: I am using volusion shopping cart.

[metasynman]

I haven't looked at your site, since I don't believe in forum consulting, but you should definitely take a look at the search volume for the keywords you're optimizing for. It's really easy to rank for keywords that nobody searches for. You may have to get more aggressive/competitive with the keywords you focus on in order to get more traffic.

Another thing to consider, has your traffic increased since you've been getting higher ranks for these keywords? If your traffic has increased, but sales have not, it could be more of a conversion problem than an optimization problem. Take a hard look at your site and decide if you would buy something from your site if you were a random visitor. Just driving traffic to your site isn't always the end-all answer... make sure your site does a good job of selling your products once the traffic arrives.

[beu]

I would add an HTML Site map, xml sitemap and a checkout process at your domain.

Also, clean up the spammy keyword stuffing in meta....

[JohnW]

>you should definitely take a look at the search volume for the keywords

Yep but in this case were talking about PageRank not rankings I think, this site is in a competitive high volume space and doesn't rank for any keywords.

>I am using volusion shopping cart.

Good place to start is with volusion, giving you a nice 302 redirect from vitalfoodstore.com to
www. vitalfoodstore.com/Default.asp?Redirected=Y

Fixing that won't solve all of your problems but it needs to be fixed. I didn't look at your pages but I looked at your links which are mostly part of the same article reprinted all over the place. You are in a fairly competitive space, I suggest spending about 200 hours reading this and other forums, then make a new plan.

[AussieWebmaster]

or concentrate on what you do best and hire someone to give a deep analysis and suggested ways of improving site - also a link building campaign for long tail terms would be a good thing to start

[beu]

I couldn't checkout without using Google Checkout. From a marketing standpoint, requiring users to sign up with a third party even if it is Google isn't a good idea in my opinion.

[sysconindia]

Hi

For now you may first check ur Keywords density and your Content or Concentrate on what you do best and hire someone to give a deep analysis and suggested ways of improving site.

Thanks

[Marcia]

Originally Posted by sysconindia

Hi

For now you may first check ur Keywords density and your Content or Concentrate on what you do best and hire someone to give a deep analysis and suggested ways of improving site.

Thanks

Thanks, but she already hired someone (which is the problem) and is asking here.

[Pamela]

Originally Posted by metasynman

I haven't looked at your site, since I don't believe in forum consulting, but you should definitely take a look at the search volume for the keywords you're optimizing for. It's really easy to rank for keywords that nobody searches for. You may have to get more aggressive/competitive with the keywords you focus on in order to get more traffic.

Another thing to consider, has your traffic increased since you've been getting higher ranks for these keywords? If your traffic has increased, but sales have not, it could be more of a conversion problem than an optimization problem. Take a hard look at your site and decide if you would buy something from your site if you were a random visitor. Just driving traffic to your site isn't always the end-all answer... make sure your site does a good job of selling your products once the traffic arrives.

thank you for your prompt reply

"has your traffic increased since you've been getting higher ranks for these keywords?"
my traffic and sales have increased, but making less than 10 sales a month i don't think it's not enough for a 1 year store.

[Pamela]

Originally Posted by sysconindia

Hi

For now you may first check ur Keywords density and your Content or Concentrate on what you do best and hire someone to give a deep analysis and suggested ways of improving site.

Thanks

thank you for visiting my site
i am planing to remove a few keywords and edit tags and meta tags.

"...and hire someone to give a deep analysis and suggested ways..."

the first guy who worked on my site had promised me heaven on earth before i hired him. once i signed the contract, he did completely different from what he promised. i just need a couple professional advice and do the work on my own, if i can. i have been spending for over a year on the website without making any profit, i can't afford to pay more.

[Pamela]

Originally Posted by beu

I couldn't checkout without using Google Checkout. From a marketing standpoint, requiring users to sign up with a third party even if it is Google isn't a good idea in my opinion.

thank you for visiting my website.
currently, i am using Google checkout only. are you suggesting me to add another merchant account?

[Pamela]

Originally Posted by AussieWebmaster

or concentrate on what you do best and hire someone to give a deep analysis and suggested ways of improving site - also a link building campaign for long tail terms would be a good thing to start

thank you for your reply
for the link building you're talking about, in the last 3 months, i submitted 3 articles to 42 article directories; i am going to submit 17 more this month. do you think that's gonna help?

[Pamela]

Originally Posted by beu

I would add an HTML Site map, xml sitemap and a checkout process at your domain.

Also, clean up the spammy keyword stuffing in meta....

by tomorrow, i will start remove a few keywords on the homepage and each category.

...would add an HTML Site map...
since i am using Volusion shopping cart, the Google Sitemaps are automatically generated in V5.
when you say, "would add an HTML Site map". do you mean to add a site map link at the footer of the site?

and, what you mean by "a checkout process at your domain."?

[Mel66]

Originally Posted by Pamela

and, what you mean by "a checkout process at your domain."?

Not to speak for beu, but I think he means add another checkout option besides Google Checkout. You should get a shopping cart that allows checkout by Visa and Mastercard at a minimum - there are many out-of-the-box carts that will do this for you.

Without looking at your site, it definitely sounds to me like a conversion issue rather than a ranking/traffic issue. Spend some time improving your site and removing barriers to conversions, then you can focus on SEO.

[AussieWebmaster]

Originally Posted by Pamela

thank you for your reply
for the link building you're talking about, in the last 3 months, i submitted 3 articles to 42 article directories; i am going to submit 17 more this month. do you think that's gonna help?

You need to vary the articles a little to each submission place.... have a fuller and more detailed answer on your own page when they click on a link at the aggregator sites.

[beu]

Originally Posted by Pamela

thank you for visiting my website.
currently, i am using Google checkout only. are you suggesting me to add another merchant account?

Yes, not all buyers have Google Checkout...

[beu]

Originally Posted by Pamela

by tomorrow, i will start remove a few keywords on the homepage and each category.

...would add an HTML Site map...
since i am using Volusion shopping cart, the Google Sitemaps are automatically generated in V5.
when you say, "would add an HTML Site map". do you mean to add a site map link at the footer of the site?

and, what you mean by "a checkout process at your domain."?

A "Google Sitemap" is an xml file. You can create your own xml sitemap free at:
http://www.xml-sitemaps.com/
Save the xml sitemap as xml and then ftp it to the root of your domain. Then sign up for a Google Webmaster Tools account and provide Google with the URL of your xml sitemap. After that submit your sitemap URL to Yahoo Site Explorer.

In addition, create a "site map" like the one below and add a link to it in the footer of each page.
http://www.google.com/sitemap.html

In terms of "checkout process at your domain", offer Google Checkout but also offer a way for users to checkout at https www yourdomain dot com.

[Pamela]

Hello Beu,
I have followed your advice. I re-optimized the site, created the site map, and submitted it to Google and yahoo. You said, “ In addition, create a "site map" like the one below and add a link to it in the footer of each page. http://www.google.com/sitemap.html “
I tried, but can’t do it. Do I have to save the sitemap in Htlm ext.? If you could tell me how to start, that would help me out.
Thanks

pamela

Originally Posted by beu

A "Google Sitemap" is an xml file. You can create your own xml sitemap free at:
http://www.xml-sitemaps.com/
Save the xml sitemap as xml and then ftp it to the root of your domain. Then sign up for a Google Webmaster Tools account and provide Google with the URL of your xml sitemap. After that submit your sitemap URL to Yahoo Site Explorer.

In addition, create a "site map" like the one below and add a link to it in the footer of each page.
http://www.google.com/sitemap.html

In terms of "checkout process at your domain", offer Google Checkout but also offer a way for users to checkout at https www yourdomain dot com.

[AussieWebmaster]

Just make a page with all your pages on it.... tag them with some keywords (use a keyword as the link to the page) ... it is a good back up to the google webmaster central and other engines will find it