Advice on Website SEO Work

[dmck252]

Hello,

Our website pooltablesonline.co.uk was recently effected by the google EMD algo change. We have lost some ranking although just about clinging onto page 1 for our main term pool tables.

The site obviously requires some SEO work doing on it. We are a bit reluctant to go with a large SEO company promising the world as we have found in the past that we soon become just another customer and don't get the results.

Does anyone have any advice, recommendations on SEO companies that they can pass on?

Also what do people feel would roughly be the correct amount of monthly spend to get decent results?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

 

[ask sally]

I have just checked and you only have 3 back links to your website. You need to increase these. There are a lot of books about it

 

[MikeInTheMiddleAgain]

I agree with the increase backlinks advice from dmck252 - be careful where they are from and how they are linked though - don't go for one of the "buy 10000 links to your site for 10$" type offers as they can be very low quality and actually harm your ranking...

I'd take a look a the SeoMoz beginners guide to seo for your starter for ten - some good general advice in that.

Dependent on your dev costs (inhouse? / 3rd party solution?) I'd also look at more SEF (Search Engine Friendly) url structure for your site eg instead of pooltablesonline.co.uk/products.asp?cat=39 should be something along the lines of pooltablesonline.co.uk/Pool-Dining-Tables - same goes for your product page urls.

I'd look at what you can optimise on the site for natural SEO first (read the SeoMoz guide 1st) before working on the backlinks

 

[DPOM]

As per what Mike said, SEO Moz has alot of good information to get you started and indeed you need to look at backlinks (but not just loads of low quality links from the spend $100 for 1000 backlinks type deals). Although it doesn't just stop there either but SEOMoz has quite a good "learn SEO" section that will help you understand whats needed and give you a basic understanding so you can qualify some SEO firms better.

Then get some recommendations for SEO companies but make them work for it, ask lots of questions too and ask for examples / speak to their clients.

 

[dmck252]

Hello all,

Thanks for the constructive replies they are really appreciated. I will certainly take time to read the guides that have been listed and take on board the good advice provided.

As mike suggests I think we need to get the on site SEO up to speed and then look at the backlinks issue.

I guess the hard bit after that is finding the correct SEO company that will actually do the work required. I must get 10 calls a week from companies promising the earth but just don't know who to trust. We have also considered hiring an in house SEO expert to work exclusively for us a few days a week. Again the problem is finding someone relaible who can do the job required

Anyway really appreciate the comments.

Thank you.

 

[Matt121]

If you're planning to hire SEO workers but don't want to spend too much. You can find freelancers online. A lot of people will be willing to do the job, just make sure you get the right one that will do only white hat seo methods.

 

[webgeek]

Hello all,

Thanks for the constructive replies they are really appreciated. I will certainly take time to read the guides that have been listed and take on board the good advice provided.

As mike suggests I think we need to get the on site SEO up to speed and then look at the backlinks issue.

I guess the hard bit after that is finding the correct SEO company that will actually do the work required. I must get 10 calls a week from companies promising the earth but just don't know who to trust. We have also considered hiring an in house SEO expert to work exclusively for us a few days a week. Again the problem is finding someone relaible who can do the job required

Anyway really appreciate the comments.

Thank you.

Ask for referrals, then call the referrals. If real companies with real addresses have been using using the firm for 12 months and can provide a glowing referral about the results vs price, then that's a great starting point.

Generally a quick search can reveal companies who have had issues (some having had so many issues they had to rebrand themselves after Penguin 1.0)...

 

[Mystro]

First thing you need to do is get a site audit

The first thing people say is backlinks, in your case that is not the issue, EMD yes they got hit but there was also many that did not budge.

you have canonical issues on your site (www and non www) bring up the same page which could lead to an algorithmic penalty for duplicate content

you have no unique text on your home pages another sign of a poor site.

This are the things that a decent SEO would have you fix before embarking on anykind of SEO campaign as your just throwing money away and links alone wont solve that.

My advice and is the same as webgeeks is have a look through this forum read a few of the posts and then contact a few company's and if non even mention what i have said then pass them by as you want to be working with someone who has your interests at heart and not just your money

The changes you need to make are minimal to bring your site up to date and should not cost you a penny as they are very simple fixes and if you have worked with an SEO company in the past then sack them or never go back to them.


Also remove some of those outbound links especially to sites that have no trust or are related to you

hxxp://www.linkmarket.net/

 

[dmck252]

Again thanks for all the replies.

Really helpful advice Mystro. What we didn't want to do was just throw money at the problem by getting better links that may or may not make a difference.

We will look to get a site audit and then get the basics that are required done straight away.

I will also keep a daily check on this forum as I have had better advice here in the last few days than I have from many SEO companies used in the past.

 

[dmck252]

I Just have one last question if someone would be so kind to answer.

On our home page we have a more information button link which when clicked on opens a drop down page with relevant text about who we are and what we do. Would this be classed as homepage content or because you need to click onto the link would it not be seen as relevant to the homepage?

Would we be better having an actual text block on the page and if so would putting it at the bottom of the page be sufficient or does it need to be placed higher up the page?

Again would be most grateful for any help.

 

[Mystro]

I personally would have the text on the page.

You need to scale it down and loose the spammy content, on the home page which is the pool table page your are talking about the table football, this belongs on the table football page etc etc.

As said before its not a bad site, but has the impression of a non quality site and a few simple changes can turn that around

I just checked your page and the spider did not see that text, If you have a web masters tool account fetch the home page and it will show you what google bot can see, and that will answer that question

Im not too hot on hidden text so cannot answer that specific question but the tool i used did not see it

 

[dmck252]

Hi Mystro,

Again can't thank you enough for the really helpfull advice.

I will take all you have said on board and get the changes made. At least you have given us hope that all is not lost on the site.

Many Thanks

 

[Pete1999]

I am just starting out with my site: LifeSmartEbooks.co.uk I have looked over many companies offering promotion services and seo optimisation. This may be a difficult to answer but 'roughly' what is the cost to have a company optimise a website. I m sure the cost varies from site to site but a ballpark figure would be helpful.

 

[webgeek]

I am just starting out with my site: LifeSmartEbooks.co.uk I have looked over many companies offering promotion services and seo optimisation. This may be a difficult to answer but 'roughly' what is the cost to have a company optimise a website. I m sure the cost varies from site to site but a ballpark figure would be helpful.

If someone needs to rewrite your content, then you could be looking at a significant sum. If they just need to tweak titles, meta descriptions and a tiny bit of content, then you're looking at XXX's.

 

[letitia]

Directories and Social book marking are the two best ways of doing SEO.

 

[Mystro]

Directories and Social book marking are the two best ways of doing SEO.

Absolutely not, will get you banned eventually if you go down this route, do it properly and do it right , may cost more , but if you dont it may cost you your business

 

[atsad141]

Absolutely not, will get you banned eventually if you go down this route, do it properly and do it right , may cost more , but if you dont it may cost you your business

whats the wrong with those?

 

[Matt121]

Absolutely not, will get you banned eventually if you go down this route, do it properly and do it right , may cost more , but if you dont it may cost you your business

I'm with atsad141, what's wrong with social bookmarking and directory submissions? It's actually good backlink juice but you just have to know where to submit your links.

 

[webgeek]

Most bookmarking sites have a value (as identified by Ahrefs.com, or other similar tools) of 0.001 to 0.00001, if any.

Most free directories have either been de-indexed or had all their page rank stripped. Those that still survive are either properly moderated with editorial review or are living on borrowed time.

While a handful of bookmarks and free directories might have a wee bit of merit, there is also risk, because building links from properties which either are de-indexed or which become de-indexed can have a serious negative impact on your rankings.

You'd do much better to develop your own blog, an independent web 2.0 property, or guest posting on niche relevant sites.

There's no point expending effort on sites with little to no value, or which carry risk of negative impact when there are plenty of good opportunities out there.

 

[Mystro]

I'm with atsad141, what's wrong with social bookmarking and directory submissions? It's actually good backlink juice but you just have to know where to submit your links.

His message was

Directories and Social book marking are the two best ways of doing SEO.

They may pay a very small part they are by far the best ways

 

[eastvantage]

Hello,

Our website pooltablesonline.co.uk was recently effected by the google EMD algo change. We have lost some ranking although just about clinging onto page 1 for our main term pool tables.

The site obviously requires some SEO work doing on it. We are a bit reluctant to go with a large SEO company promising the world as we have found in the past that we soon become just another customer and don't get the results.

Does anyone have any advice, recommendations on SEO companies that they can pass on?

Also what do people feel would roughly be the correct amount of monthly spend to get decent results?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

Why don't you hire or outsource someone who can do the SEO for you? The hands on one.

 

[dsmpublishing]

The important part here is to make your seo as natural as possible. Don't go with 1000 backlinks all at once. Stick to the same amount day in day out and Google will take you a lot more seriously.

Also unique original daily content works brilliantly.

 

[Annoying Donkey]

The important part here is to make your seo as natural as possible. Don't go with 1000 backlinks all at once. Stick to the same amount day in day out and Google will take you a lot more seriously.

What about something interesting that goes viral? Do you think G would penalise someone who has published something that is so interesting many people want to link to it?

 

[dsmpublishing]

What about something interesting that goes viral? Do you think G would penalise someone who has published something that is so interesting many people want to link to it?

No, not all those that naturally link to you will get you good quality backlinks and keep you in Google for a long time to come.

I remember back in 2009 having a post of who to follow on twitter for business purposes and it was linked from pretty much every internet marketing blog going.

As a result roll on 3 years and I still get a lot of attention from Google for the original post even though all I did myself was social bookmark it.

kind regards


sam
X

 

[smallpond]

Simply observation: Your homepage is too cluttered. It lacks focus. I can only assume that your bouncerate isn't great.

 

[AndyMorley]

Hello,

Our website pooltablesonline.co.uk was recently effected by the google EMD algo change. We have lost some ranking although just about clinging onto page 1 for our main term pool tables.

The site obviously requires some SEO work doing on it. We are a bit reluctant to go with a large SEO company promising the world as we have found in the past that we soon become just another customer and don't get the results.

Does anyone have any advice, recommendations on SEO companies that they can pass on?

Also what do people feel would roughly be the correct amount of monthly spend to get decent results?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

You need to try and create a natural looking link profile, I assume you have done a lot of link building for that exact matched term?

If you target other terms, the URL.. click here.. website etc.. you are create the effect of a more natural looking profile...

I have seen this before, and trying to balance out the exact match hyper links with more natural looking hyper links has helped.

 

[webgeek]

You need to try and create a natural looking link profile

Erm, do you need a natural LOOKING profile, or a natural profile?