My first attempt at SEO. Please pick the bones and advise.

[dupy]

Hello

I'm currently building a eCommerce website via a paid platform, so while the actual website is pretty much taken care of, the SEO is still down to me to get right.

I will be selling used video games, consoles and accessories. I've never done SEO before and so trying to learn as much as I can now, so as to at least get the basics right to avoid having to revise 100's of products further down the line.

The following is what I have so far.

Image alt text

Game Title Microsoft Original Xbox Game

Page Title

Game Title | Microsoft Original Xbox Game | mydomain.com

Keywords

microsoft xbox games, xbox video games, xbox arcade, xbox classics, old xbox, used xbox games, second hand xbox games, preowned xbox games, xbox trailers, xbox game videos

Description

Game Title by Ubisoft - video game for Original Microsoft Xbox. Watch video, read full game description and buy at mydomain.com

Please advise what is good and what is not.

Some questions please...

1. Should I include the game time in the keywords?

2. Do keywords using plurals need to be repeated for non plurals? Example, notice in the keyword phases I've used 'games'. Do I need to repeat the same phases to include 'game' to have these show up in searches?

3. Apart from the game title and developer changing, the description will be pretty much the same for games. Is this a bad thing?

4. Is it advisable to include my domain within the title and description? I read that this is bad, but then a quick related search reveals pretty much all top ranked searches include domain in title/description which I have emulated.

Your answers along with any further tips or advise will be gratefully received, thank you.

 

[zigojacko]

Rule 1 of SEO: The keywords meta tag is useless in major search engines and won't affect organic search rankings.

 

[faradaykeynes]

Dont stuff too much keyword in meta tag keyword, not relevant any more.
Domain name after title on every page , not good idea
Every product should have friendly URL not based on product listing ID
Can you platform pick few initial lines of product description as meta description itself? if it can then it would be good.

As It based products have contents which get replicated millions times on net, its very hard to get e-commerce site rank well and fast but never the less keep trying with unique contents if possible

Data feed to google is another option, it use to be FREE but not any more, keep in mind you need to own the stock to do this, cannot data feed on drop ship model

 

[fisicx]

As already said, don't bother with keywords. If the stuff is used (secondhand/pre-owned) then use those words in the page title (it's what people will be searching for).

But...

It's the on page stuff that is just as important. Be creative in your writing and fully describe the product. Use headers for the features and internal linking to promote the pages.

The description won't help ranking but it may convince me to click on your link. So be creative:

MInt condition xxx game for xbox. £16.99 with free delivery. All games come with a 30 day return policy.

 

[Jonesycoast]

Similar to fisicx's point above - stress the unique selling point of the site. So if it's second-hand games, you want to be stressing "Cheap" or "bargain" in order to persuade people to click if you can beat other retailers on price. I'd also consider getting a merchant profile on Amazon & eBay if you can - it's where a lot of people are going to be looking for cheap games.

 

[jdluckhurst]

I 'third' the meta description as a selling point. Google pretends not to take the meta description into account (I personally believe that they do a tiny bit), but it is very useful in attracting visitors.

One thing I would say is that although getting keywords into the onsite optimisation is important, don't let it make your site look rubbish. The user is still important - after all, Google won't be buying from you, it will be the gamers. So look to give them something useful.

Good Luck!

 

[amphis software]

add a H1 tag per page and a few H2 tags with suitable keywords.

Tom

 

[Alan]

Most ecommerce solution out of the box will have a the product title as an H1.

Don't use the manufacturers title and description for the product, rewrite it as your own.

Depending on your niche, using the manufacturer part number / model number in the product title can work well.

 

[StevePoster]

The description has no substance and I would suggest to change it. Make it more appealing by stating on how to provide or to offer your targeted visitors and its just like interacting with them on how they will be benefited from your product. A brief and specific description that will represent your site in search results.

 

[peterorl]

I dont know if anybody mentioned this fact but firendly URLs are very important. It is also significat to have (main would be the best) keyword in your domain.

 

[zigojacko]

100% correct.
Matt Cutts (Google) advises that exact match domains are less effective. This is infact total poppycock
.
Exact match domains are still very effective.

When building links however you need to be careful with branded anchors as this can trigger PENGUIN slap. Focus on using naked URLS and compound keywords/LSI variants to keep your anchor text/backlink profile looking natural.

Just to clear this up.

Exact match domains lost a standalone weight as a ranking factor.

That means, buying a keyword rich domain and simply stuffing it with low quality and thin content (which used to be done quite a lot) will no longer be effective.

It's not to say that exact match domains won't still perform well if it contains great content, has authoritative backlinks and is legitimate/genuine.

This ensure that people can't just jump to the top of search engines with minimal effort based on the domain used alone.

And this is in fact, what Matt Cutt's and Google have said all along.

 

[peterorl]

The trick lies in convincing Google that your exact match domain is your brand name by using citations and brand signals.

Exactly
Keyword rich domain, well written title tags and original content are very desirable. Having authoritative, thematic backlinks would be perfect.

 

[dupy]

Fantastic response, thanks all. Lots to think about and try to understanding, baring in mind I am a complete newbie to SEO. I've opened Adword account to research keywords, but it's all very confusing at present. Seems like try and error might be the point of call here. I think for now I will just get the products up and live on site so my customers referred from my ebay/Amazon sells can at least start to buy direct.

With regards to the title, I'm sure really sure how I can add to this. My understand is that this is the most important, so surely it should include what the product is (game title) and compatibility (Xbox). With only 69 characters before title starts to get chopped, that doesn't leave much more space.

With regards to description, with your advise in mind, how about this for an improvement?

Description

Game title by Ubisoft - Microsoft Original Xbox. Used games, consoles & accessories at mydomain with same day dispatch and free UK delivery!

Thank you

 

[uberpromoters]

Tips:
Try to use a silo structure (domain/general-category/sub-category/sub-sub-category/post-name)
For every game create a short description (200-250 words with a keyword density of 1% + add an image with relevant alt text.).
Interlink entries.

 

[DexSmart]

Try and read as many stuff as you can on business forums like ukbusinessforums.co.uk. This will help you to understand things much better. Also Try Moz.com a very good SEO community. More then that, i wish you best of luck on your business.