Am I an SEO Failure?

[accelerator]

Hi Guys

Not so long ago, I went to the trouble of writing this ladies dressing gowns page ... and yes, the .co.uk and .org. uk are gone lol.

I am only at the bottom of page one of Google for this term, and don't seem to be able to get it any higher. Does this make me an SEO failure? Can anybody help with a link exchange so that I can get this ranking No. 1?

Thanks

 

[ratboy]

It comes back to what google is looking for doesnt it - can you really say that site gives the user a great experience?

In simple terms its a few paragraphs and a shed load of affiliate redirects...

 

[Tricky1]

Agree with everything Ratboy has previously said but have you ever checked your coding for validation, this one breaks all records for a single page - http://validator.w3.org/check?uri=http%3A%2F%2Flowprices.co.uk%2Fladies-dressing-gowns.php&charset=%28detect+automatically%29&doctype=Inline&group=0

 

[Blossom]

Agreed with revising the text and ads ratio on the page.

Also, you're going to need a lot more than a link exchange to compete with Debenhams, Next and similar! If you're having difficulty finding links, start off with some decent fashion blog commenting and directory links.

You seem to have both http://www. and http:// versions of the address working...one should be redirected to the other.

 

[accelerator]

It comes back to what google is looking for doesnt it - can you really say that site gives the user a great experience?

In simple terms its a few paragraphs and a shed load of affiliate redirects...

How would you improve the user experience then?

You are right in your summary though. My aim is to get the user onto the page, then get them out on an affiliate link. There are issues with the page design, I would like the logos more central for instance, but now I just intend to scale the number of pages I have, as I think that will be the best investment.

Rgds

 

[accelerator]

have you ever checked your coding for validation

No, but I am aware this is one technique that can be used. I might look for "easy wins", but I won't try fixing complicated stuff. I am hopeful that I can rank the page purely by getting more links in alone. Anyone want to help me out with links?

Thanks

 

[accelerator]

You seem to have both http://www. and http:// versions of the address working...one should be redirected to the other.

Why should they?

Thanks

 

[boxfish]

Why should they?

Thanks

Else they appear as 2 separate pages with the same content on

 

[davedevelopment]

How would you improve the user experience then?

You are right in your summary though. My aim is to get the user onto the page, then get them out on an affiliate link. There are issues with the page design, I would like the logos more central for instance, but now I just intend to scale the number of pages I have, as I think that will be the best investment.

Rgds

Your site is ideal for your aim, but does google think sites like that are a good choice for their users? The Google webmaster guidelines state:

If your site participates in an affiliate program, make sure that your site adds value. Provide unique and relevant content that gives users a reason to visit your site first.

I don't think your page adds any value to the affiliate links. Price comparison has to be the bare minimum value add in my eyes.

 

[ratboy]

How would you improve the user experience then?

Well for a start if i was a lady looking for dressing gown... would I jump straight off the page? Or does it provide me with pictures of dressing gowns? Different shapes, colours, materials? I don't think people read text? If you were buying a dressing gown would you be researching it reading about it? Or would you want lots of pictures, prices etc - shop like you might in M&S or whatever.

It all comes down to keeping people on your site - that it seems is what G is looking for now... they want to deliver people into a site which ticks all their boxes... not one that fires people left right and centre to pages they could have got to anyhow... I've been learning the hard way recently with all of this!

 

[boxfish]

Warning, this will blow your mind:

If your page is already on the first page it is just a case of getting links to it to move it up

Mind = Blown

 

[Edwin]

Others have already touched on it, but the "ideal" affiliate site also makes for a very poor "Google" site! Basically, the more "stuff" you add in between an affiliate and the click out to an ecommerce site, the less clicks and sales you're likely to make - but Google's algorithm hates "thin" affiliate sites with a passion. And every algorithm update makes the mini-site strategy less and less feasible.

So rather than being a "jack of all trades" it's probably best to pick 2-3 niches maximum and really pour effort into being the best. In other words, people shopping for X will be in fits of joy after stumbling across your page, because it makes the whole process so much clearer/simpler/more understandable/other USP than "regular" shopping sites do. Failing that, you're going to find it harder and harder to get traffic and decent rankings.

 

[ratboy]

So rather than being a "jack of all trades" it's probably best to pick 2-3 niches maximum and really pour effort into being the best. In other words, people shopping for X will be in fits of joy after stumbling across your page, because it makes the whole process so much clearer/simpler/more understandable/other USP than "regular" shopping sites do. Failing that, you're going to find it harder and harder to get traffic and decent rankings.

Agreed. You now need a special reason for people to visit your site over the millions of others doing exactly the same thing.

 

[accelerator]

Thanks for all the comments guys. I don't want to appear as if I'm not listening, because I am, but with the number of sites I now maintain it's pretty hard for me to adapt all my sites optimally, but to answer some points:

- I can sometimes do price comparison by adding a link as follows:

http://www.lowprices.co.uk/productlist.php?q=ladies+dressing+gown&rb=4-0

but this particular query doesn't give results, only:

http://www.lowprices.co.uk/productlist.php?q=dressing+gown&rb=4-0

does.

Agreed that lots of images is good. I might add a separate "ladies dressing gowns" gallery page somewhere. Easy Content Units is another alternative although I would prefer to push traffic into the sites price comparison engine.

My main issue with my page is that I would prefer the merchant logos to be slap bang in the middle, but I don't want to rejig my template (just want to roll out pages now and not keep tinkering).

I have made a handful of sales from this page ... believe it or not!! That's why I want Google No 1. That's the first priority for the page.

Thanks

 

[newguy]

I'd try removing some of the affiliate links (or adding more on site content). Everything seems geared towards the affiliate links. That's fair enough, but I feel that the amount of outbound links overwhelms the level of content that is present on the site.

 

[accelerator]

I'd try removing some of the affiliate links (or adding more on site content). Everything seems geared towards the affiliate links. That's fair enough, but I feel that the amount of outbound links overwhelms the level of content that is present on the site.

My thinking is it's supposed to list all the best shops for buying a ladies dressing gown. That's where I see they value in the page, it means you get a summary of where you could buy the product. If anything there are more I need to add, but I understand where you are coming from.

Rgds

 

[Blossom]

My thinking is it's supposed to list all the best shops for buying a ladies dressing gown. That's where I see they value in the page, it means you get a summary of where you could buy the product. If anything there are more I need to add, but I understand where you are coming from.

Rgds

But it's not offering anything different. If I were to think of places off the top of my head that sell dressing gowns, shops like Debenhams, Next and John Lewis would be near the top, I don't need your site to tell me that I can buy dressing gowns from there. If I were looking for dressing gowns from those places, I would've clicked them from the first page of results for ladies dressing gowns anyway.

Offer something like a list of top rated dressing gowns, dressing gown reviews, unusual dressing gowns, best dressing gowns for summer and winter, etc., anything to give it a different angle would help.

Edited to add: Having said that, I don't think content is the issue here ultimately. I agree with Boxfish, you need plenty of backlinks.

 

[springer]

As already suggested, your page adds no value to visitors. The text is boring (which is to be expected given the subject matter) and I doubt any visitor would read it.

What I would find useful as a visitor would be the ability to browse and compare dressing gowns from different retailers in one place. Take a look at Frank's underwear.co.uk for some inspiration (notice it is not heavy on content, just does what a visitor would want - shows them underwear).

 

[Edwin]

Thanks for all the comments guys. I don't want to appear as if I'm not listening, because I am, but with the number of sites I now maintain it's pretty hard for me to adapt all my sites optimally

I think that was kind of my main point - better to have an optimal 2-3 large sites than sub-optimal dozens/hundreds of tiny sites.

 

[accelerator]

I think that was kind of my main point - better to have an optimal 2-3 large sites than sub-optimal dozens/hundreds of tiny sites.

I do have 3 or so large sites which get most of my attention.

This particular page is just an attempt at a little bit of niche SEO. The page actually gets a fair amount of traffic for longtail terms because of the amount of text I put on it. That's the idea really. Unfortunately, it isn't converting that well. Half the plan is it's a cheap way to introduce people to LowPrices.co.uk as a brand, but whether they'll ever remember it, who knows!

Rgds