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Making a website......
Comments
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The best source for learning about this sort of thing is wc3schools.com
for instructions on keywords and other metadata for search engines please see http://www.w3schools.com/tags/tag_meta.asp
(BUT as already stated things like google are actually far more complicated than just this...)
e.g.
<head>
<meta name="description" content="Free Web tutorials">
<meta name="keywords" content="HTML,CSS,XML,JavaScript">
<meta name="author" content="Ståle Refsnes">
<meta charset="UTF-8">
</head>0 -
This is a long post but I do this for a living so it should be helpful. Its great you have your own domain name and that you have used wordpress. Both these things mean you can develop and improve the website over time without losing any of your investment.
The page loads really slowly which readers and Google don't like so you need to make it faster as a priority. This is a useful tool; http://gtmetrix.com/reports/dkjacklin.com/rdswjPJZ
I suspect if you made the mole image smaller or saved it in a way optimised for the web your page would load faster. An optimised image with have the same physical size but the file size is a lot smaller and therefore faster to load.
The mole image is so big that there is nothing for people to read before they use the scroll bar. This is another really bad thing for both your readers and the search engines. I would make the image physically smaller and include some text in the top half of your page.
You need to have a title tag on each page with some unique text. This is not for people to read so it does not appear on the page but it is in the source code as it is for Google (and other search engines). The title tag tells Google what each page is about and helps your page be returned for relevant searches. If there does not seem to be anywhere to add this in the admin of your wordpress template then use one of the top rated seo plugins - choose one of the ones with ‘simple’ in the title.
For more information on title tags read this;
http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2154469/How-to-Write-Title-Tags-For-Search-Engine-Optimization
To get the website returning for searches you need two things – text on the website that contains words and phrases people would search for and links to your website that give it ‘votes’ making it stronger than your competitors so it appears above them in the search results. In terms of the text write grammatically correct, informative paragraphs on the relevant pages. Read over it and make sure it includes things people would search for and a range of different terms. Keep it natural; do not be tempted to include long lists of key phrases as this can result in your website getting penalised or dropped from the search results entirely.
In terms of getting links to your site don’t be tempted to buy lots of rubbish cheap links – Google penalises sites it identifies as having done this. It might never return your website for searches meaning you have to start again from scratch on a new domain name. As your area is not competitive you will not need many and there are several free, quality places you can get a listing that will not be penalised by Google. I would sign up to these sites and spend half a day putting up a decent profile on each; Hotfrog UK, freeindex UK, yell and get a Google places/local listing too. Do not copy the text you have used on website, write unique copy for each listing. Its also worth doing a google search for 'S!!!!horpe business listings', 'S!!!!horpe directories', 'Yorkshire directories' and other relevant local searches. See if there any good local directories that real people might actually use and get your website listed.0 -
The best source for learning about this sort of thing is w[STRIKE]c[/STRIKE]3schools.com
If you still live in 2004, yes.
Regarding the website - I'd use a smaller image; the current one is too overpowering and would be a problem for people using mobile devices (like many people do now).0 -
Agree about the size of the mole pic. I've been clicking the links in the menu and concluded that they didn't work because nothing was changing. In fact the page was changing but the huge mole was the only thing I could see. Also you might expect to see a mole on the page about moles, but not when the subject is mice or tractor work.
If the extra large banner pic is a feature of the theme you have chosen - and you don't yet feel able to modify it - you might do well to explore some alternative themes. There are thousands of free themes available and it's easy to switch in different ones until you find one you like.
And yes, the site is abnormally slow. One cause is the mole, which is 1500x1124 pixels. Another may be the hosting - is it free hosting?0 -
Michael2391 wrote: »There is now better and cheaper builders out there but avoid onces that use alot of java like wix.com as its an SEO nightmare.
I agree, but disagree too. I dislike Wix, but to be fair it can often produces a great professional site for people, especially ones that have limited web knowledge, and produce it quickly too with no training.
If you are doing SEO one definite set of things to include are your towns and villages - the area you cover0 -
This is a long post but I do this for a living so it should be helpful. Its great you have your own domain name and that you have used wordpress. Both these things mean you can develop and improve the website over time without losing any of your investment.
The page loads really slowly which readers and Google don't like so you need to make it faster as a priority. This is a useful tool; http://gtmetrix.com/reports/dkjacklin.com/rdswjPJZ
I suspect if you made the mole image smaller or saved it in a way optimised for the web your page would load faster. An optimised image with have the same physical size but the file size is a lot smaller and therefore faster to load.
The mole image is so big that there is nothing for people to read before they use the scroll bar. This is another really bad thing for both your readers and the search engines. I would make the image physically smaller and include some text in the top half of your page.
You need to have a title tag on each page with some unique text. This is not for people to read so it does not appear on the page but it is in the source code as it is for Google (and other search engines). The title tag tells Google what each page is about and helps your page be returned for relevant searches. If there does not seem to be anywhere to add this in the admin of your wordpress template then use one of the top rated seo plugins - choose one of the ones with ‘simple’ in the title.
For more information on title tags read this;
http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2154469/How-to-Write-Title-Tags-For-Search-Engine-Optimization
To get the website returning for searches you need two things – text on the website that contains words and phrases people would search for and links to your website that give it ‘votes’ making it stronger than your competitors so it appears above them in the search results. In terms of the text write grammatically correct, informative paragraphs on the relevant pages. Read over it and make sure it includes things people would search for and a range of different terms. Keep it natural; do not be tempted to include long lists of key phrases as this can result in your website getting penalised or dropped from the search results entirely.
In terms of getting links to your site don’t be tempted to buy lots of rubbish cheap links – Google penalises sites it identifies as having done this. It might never return your website for searches meaning you have to start again from scratch on a new domain name. As your area is not competitive you will not need many and there are several free, quality places you can get a listing that will not be penalised by Google. I would sign up to these sites and spend half a day putting up a decent profile on each; Hotfrog UK, freeindex UK, yell and get a Google places/local listing too. Do not copy the text you have used on website, write unique copy for each listing. Its also worth doing a google search for 'S!!!!horpe business listings', 'S!!!!horpe directories', 'Yorkshire directories' and other relevant local searches. See if there any good local directories that real people might actually use and get your website listed.
I have looked into what you have said and I logged on to gtmetrix.com and have now got a Page Speed Grade of 94% (A) and a YSlow Grade of 84% (B).
the page still loads up at 8.97 secs and I am not sure what i can do to speed it up.
On the page speed breakdown I have 2 things that are a C and D (Minimize redirects and Leverage browser caching)
On the YSlow breakdown I have 2 things which are F's (Add expires headers and use a content delivery network)
That is as far as I have gotten today and will be looking at implementing the rest of your post tomorrow.
This is much appreciated
Andy0 -
madfrogdesign wrote: »I was going to take a look at it to help you out but it doesn't appear to exist anymore?
:spam: and reported. Touting for business.
(When I first joined MSE using my preferred username I was quickly banned because they determined - wrongly - that I was using it to tout for business. They should apply the rules consistently and fairly).0
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