New Ecommerce Website - Need Help With SEO

[sortedgifts]

Hi there

I recently created an online retail website selling gifts but now I have come to a point where I need to advertise/market the website.

I am not particularly familiar with this area and naturally, do not have much of a budget for advertising due to it being a new start-up. I would be grateful for any hints/tips preferably that are free/low cost.

Many thanks

 

[fisicx]

...do not have much of a budget for advertising due to it being a new start-up.

And this is the biggest problem most start-ups fail to take into account.

Marketing costs need to be built into your business plan. There are thousands of people selling gifts just like yours, some will be spending hundreds of pounds each week promoting their websites. Invest £100/month in adwords and you will at least get the products in front of people. If you can't afford £100/month then you will struggle to get any traction as SEO will cost you a lot more than that.

Quick question: are you dropshiping or do you have your own warehouse?

 

[SabriM]

Absolutely right fisicx, but even at a £100/month traction will be limited in a busy marketplace.

 

[ZipserSir]

naturally, do not have much of a budget for advertising due to it being a new start-up

How much time to do you have available? Resources are not just about budgets; if you have the time and inclination learning how to DIY marketing can be the best investment you make.

 

[fisicx]

DIY marketing won't be enough - not if you want to make money from the site. For example, it could take 12 months or more to get decent ranking across a range of products. You could then discover you get the visitors but not the conversions so spend the next 12 months optimising the site only to discover a competitor is now selling the same products at a lower price.

Internet selling is big business and companies spend millions on marketing (including SEO), the days when you could launch a site do a bit of low cost marking are long gone unless you have something niche and desireable (which the OP doesn't).

 

[CoolHandCol]

Before investing in SEO, I would try adwords or Google shopping to test how well your products sell (or not!) once you get people onto your website. You have total control of how much you spend each day

 

[Tin]

Hi there

I'm afraid you've done this completely the wrong way round (don't worry, you're not alone, as many people do) but you really needed to think about your marketing budget prior to setting up.

You've also jumped into a very expensive market where only an extensive budget is going to see you remotely compete with the big boys for any of the money making 'gift' keywords and outside of Adwords it's going to take you quite a while to get anywhere near to page 1 for primary based keywords.

Ok, that's the bad news out of the way, so now you need to pick yourself up and try to find a way around things.

With limited/zero budget available you're not going to get anywhere for the big traffic keywords but there's nothing stopping you from doing some extensive keyword research and digging out any low hanging fruit, for example you have a bungee bird feeder product, it seems you have just the one type of product but why not have a look at the keywords related to bird feeding and see if there's anything you could try to home in on, for rankings.

Your next problem is that the visitor (assuming you get rankings) will not hang around for long because you don't offer them much choice on the topic of the keyword that brought them into the website. Ancillary sales may be an option once folk have landed on your site but, I think it's likely to be marginal I'm afraid.

Adwords may be an option but often it'll depend on whether your product margins are enough for you to pay for traffic coming from an ad, straight into the site?

I don't sound like I have much that's positive to offer, the bottom line is you sound like you've jumped into the lions den (gifts) and may be eaten alive if you try going forward on a 'guns a blazin' approach. Try moving forward by choosing your keywords wisely and once there's an income coming in, maybe think about plugging some profit into opening the box a bit on your marketing options.

Apologies here, I've concentrated my thoughts towards online marketing. There'll be offline marketing approaches you could take with little or low budgets like running ads in local magazines that get popped through everyones letterboxes on a regular basis. There's one that comes through my door each month and you could run a full colour half page ad in it that'd reach 10,000 people for around the £150 mark.

Think your next steps through very carefully.

Ray

 

[sortedgifts]

Thank you everyone for your input, they have been rather enlightening (and slightly disheartening) to read. Don't get me wrong its good to get honest opinions!

I did imagine that this would be difficult to start with a minimal marketing budget - I guess it is due to the fact that I have never tried Adwords and just assume that it is only a money making exercise for google with little benefit for myself.

Anyway, having read through the comments it is clear that I will need to at least attempt google adwords. That said, what would be the best approach for a startup website - I assume that allocating £100 to begin with would go rather quickly and would only attract a few hundred visitors. Essentially, would there be any long term gains in using up £100 now and google looking favourably to my webpages in future searches?

Many thanks

 

[ZipserSir]

One practical observation is that you don't seem to have a description of your website in your meta tag for description. This is basic SEO and you could write up to 160 characters describing what your website is about, for example "Sorted Gifts, gift sets with great packaging made in England". There is no shortage, on this website and elsewhere, of tips for SEO and maybe you could take a look at some of these before you start spending money on adwords. Adwords are great but a basic appreciation of SEO can be a helpful first step towards committing yourself to online advertising.

 

[globby]

Hi

I like your website - Magento I presume?

Do you mind me asking how much that cost you to make

Thanks

 

[fisicx]

...would there be any long term gains in using up £100 now and google looking favourably to my webpages in future searches?

Yes. It give immediate feedback on the effectivness of your website. Use the adwords to direct people to specific products, you can keep the costs down and will know if the product pages lead to conversions. If you discover that people are clicking on the adverts but not buying then you need to change the website. I can see a whole range of issues with the site that would put me off buying from you. Website reviews are only for full members so can't provide feedback here.

But if you get lots of clicks and lots of sales and still make a profit after the adwords costs keep investing money. For example £100 could get you £200 profit. Investing £1000 would then bring in £2000 profit and so on. You then spend time refining and optimising the adverts and the website to bring adwords costs down and conversion rate up.

The website is not something you can just launch, it takes a lot of time and effort to get it working smoothly, many ecommerce sites got trhrough 2-3 major iterations before they find the sweet spot and even then there will be hundreds of minor tweaks needed over the next 12 months.

The product range is OK if nothing special so you could make some money if you spend some cash on marketing.

 

[Tin]

I did imagine that this would be difficult to start with a minimal marketing budget - I guess it is due to the fact that I have never tried Adwords and just assume that it is only a money making exercise for google with little benefit for myself.

You're right, it is a money making exercise, so as long as you keep that in mind it'll help you but there are a few things to consider. You need to keep your eye firmly on the ROI and your profit margins and before you start you need to look at those profit margins carefully and ask yourself "can I sustain the spend?"

Anyway, having read through the comments it is clear that I will need to at least attempt google adwords. That said, what would be the best approach for a startup website - I assume that allocating £100 to begin with would go rather quickly and would only attract a few hundred visitors.

I'm afraid that it's unlikely to bring in even 100 visitors for the big keywords. What you'll need to do is some extensive keyword research at product level and to try to pick off the low lying fruit first.

Essentially, would there be any long term gains in using up £100 now and google looking favourably to my webpages in future searches?

Many thanks

If you're asking will spending on Adwords now mean that Google will look favourably on your site with the organic listings then the answer is no. Officially, there is no connection between the organic listings and Adwords.

As Fisicx says, running Adwords will help you to get an idea of how your website is performing and what sort of traffic is out there for your keywords.

Keyword research is going to be paramount to this, backed up with a fair bit of market research (as I said before, you've done this the wrong way round but it's not too late).

Grab a coffee and a Google adwords account and spend some serious time working through Google's keyword planner tool (it's under the Tools menu), although again you need to accept that these figures should be used as a guide only.

Take that "bungee bird feeder" I mentioned before, Google is saying that there are 50 (rounded up figures) searches a month for this. Grabbing the low level fruit like this one can all add up.

 

[fisicx]

Take that "bungee bird feeder" I mentioned before, Google is saying that there are 50 (rounded up figures) searches a month for this. Grabbing the low level fruit like this one can all add up.

Exactly. Taking your time to create the adverts can pull in some very targeted visitors who are already in buying mode (because they clicked on an advert). If you have the right combination of keywords > advert > landing page you can make a mint. If you aren't then one or more of the three stages is wrong.

 

[antropy]

I would be grateful for any hints/tips preferably that are free/low cost.

Buy a good book (sort by customer review on Amazon) about online marketing for ecommerce.

 

[Kathy Gib]

I have been using Facebook as a marketing tool at a low cost. Sometimes for free. I believe social networks help a lot to advertising and promoting. Inbox me if you want to know few such strategies.

 

[tylnewcastle]

You can start posting blogs on your website and post them onto various web2.0 sites, Social Network, forums.

Social network is the best tool for promoting website. Use them extensively for any communication. It surely will help your website. Also, try posting a blog atleast once a week.

 

[fisicx]

I believe social networks help a lot to advertising and promoting. Inbox me if you want to know few such strategies.

Social network is the best tool for promoting website.

Nope and nope. Social Networks are for socialising and sharing, that why people use them. What they aren't good for is self promotion. So don't use them to market your products.

The has been a lot of good emprical research on the use of SM, and it all reports that it's great if you want to make friends but pants if you want to make any money - unless you pay for adverts (even facebook tells you this in their documentation).

 

[tylnewcastle]

Nope and nope. Social Networks are for socialising and sharing, that why people use them. What they aren't good for is self promotion. So don't use them to market your products.

The has been a lot of good emprical research on the use of SM, and it all reports that it's great if you want to make friends but pants if you want to make any money - unless you pay for adverts (even facebook tells you this in their documentation).

I didn't mean through personal page. I meant from the business page. Share information about your business and products and it helps reach out to your fans who are looking for relevant information.

And sharing is promoting. Why do someone share on facebook? because they want their friends to know about what you did, which means you are promoting yourself.

It's my opinion, people may disagree/ agree to it.

 

[fisicx]

Share information about your business and products and it helps reach out to your fans who are looking for relevant information.

In other words, great for people who are ALREADY FOLLOWING YOU but not good as a lead generator. You specifically said it was the best tool for promoting website (sic) - it's not. And I can prove it, so my disagreement is based on facts not hearsay.

 

[william04]

In my opinion you need to blend each type of internet marketing - For example

1. Keep doing content marketing
2. Optimize your website for search engine and Human visitors
3. Do A/B testing to optimize conversions
4. Run Social media Advertisement (select according to your niche)
5. Try and test new creative internet marketing channels - [ Deal websites are best way to attract customers on E-commerce sites ]

The most important thing in process is data analysis and strategy building. You can hire a consultant for it.

 

[Donna77]

I'm not an expert, but having advertised on google adwords for a while, I would recommend that you ensure your ads are set to 'exact match' or 'phrase match' only - otherwise your budget will disappear quickly. Also, under 'devices' on adwords you can adjust how much you bid for searches made on mobile phones. If you don't think your site can convert mobile phone traffic, then perhaps reduce this bid to -90% or -100%. That way you'll get traffic from pcs, laptops and ipads only.
Don't start adwords until your google analytics account is running and you're very familiar with it. I'd also suggest that you think about how you've labelled your products - for example 'Florence Watering Can ....' Personally I would lead with the keyword in the title. People definitely aren't searching for Florence, but they might be searching for a watering can. I think you have a great range, but it's rather diverse. Customer profiling and becoming more niche may help when you're trying to decide your adwords strategy. For example, a huge collection of gardening gifts, or 20 products suitable for hen nights would make more sense to me. Only having one of each limits your chances of selling. The personalised gift market is very competitive, so you'll probably need to come from other angles. If you're paying Google for traffic from girls looking for Hen Night flip flops what else might they buy? Will they find enough choice? You've paid to get them there.
Best of luck.

 

[saga64]

Is there any software that can boost SEO?

 

[Cherrie Hub]

I agree, start with Google adwords to get the website off the ground, but do your research how to do it, as it is easy to lose money that way as well. Focus on few keywords and target traffic based on these keywords. Work on backlinks, get Facebook, Twitter and Instagram presence. Don't get disheartened by the amount of work, as here are people with years and years of experience who done all these things within many years, not all at once! If you focus on one thing first, then move to the next, and so on, you will get there

 

[william04]

Is there any software that can boost SEO?

Not really, SEO requires logical and analytical interpretation so software's could not resolve the same.

 

[sortedgifts]

Thank you everyone.

Here is what I tried and their results:

1. Signed up to google adwords and got the spend £25 and get £75 offer - £100 now used and got only a few conversions through it. I did this with 'broad match' but have now changed to 'exact match' as previously suggested (will let you know how it goes).

2. Signed up to bing ads and got the £75 offer - got zero conversions. Was using 'broad match' for this also but have since changed (will update you on how this goes).

3. Tried posting to twitter/facebook/pinterest - got quite a few referral visitors however did not get any conversions and noticed I would have to very frequently post to get a reasonable number of visits.

4. Most of the conversions have come through googles organic searches although I am unsure how as I have not carried out any link building strategies yet.

I note that some people have suggested additional advertising other than adwords - what companies would you recommend and any ideas on how I should go about it?

Also, I would like to improve my search ranking and understand that link building is very important - problem is it seems like a very time consuming thing. Are there any tips anyone can give me to get better links fast? Or any SEO services that are reasonably priced and get results?

Thanks!

 

[fisicx]

Fix the site!

Your efforts so far have show poor conversions. Which means people don't like the site. So before you do anything else, fix the site. Sign up as full member and get the site reviewed - there are loads of things you could do to increase conversions.

 

[LowPrices.uk]

The best form of cheap marketing is to make entertaining YouTube videos that show your products. This only costs your time, plus maybe a little investment in video equipment. The more entertaining you can make them, the better. If you can go viral, you're onto a real winner.

Rgds

 

[Karen Bennett]

If you log into google adwords but don't set up an advert they should email you or get back onto you with a free voucher. This could allow you to play around with some adverts to see what works and what doesn't. I do agree with the above comments though, you need to make sure the site is as customer friendly as possible. Also I do call the google adwords help line often enough if I have any simple questions. They do want you to start using adwords but I have found them quite helpful.

 

[DesignerNick]

Have you thought about affiliates?

 

[JamesMcG25]

Social media is free and will help with you SEO. Open accounts on all channels and begin posting. But remember some channels are more accepting of frequent posts than others, make sure you measure your post count against the platform.

 

[Spring Pham]

It takes time to be popular. The most important thing is you know who are your customers and how to get close to them. Start with your friends, family, relatives and ask them share your website/social channels to help you spread your business.

 

[Spock]

Your photos on marshmallows. Um, now I think I've seen it all!

 

[HooktoWin]

Hi sortedgifts,

I'm sorry you've been having a rough time. Here are a few things that I've noticed when visiting your site.

I didn't receive clear direction, or instructions.
Customers arrive on site with specific wants. Are they looking to buy a Christmas gift or birthday present? There are featured items, sure but is that what the customer is looking for?

There aren't a whole lot of reasons for visitors to trust the site.
"Where are you located? Is there a phone number I can call if something goes wrong? Why do I have to request an RMA number to get a refund? What is your return policy, 30 days, 60 days, zero? Who are the people behind SortedGifts?"

I haven't seen anything in the way of risk reversals, or objections. I haven't seen anything in the way of uniqueness.

Here's another (bigger) problem.

Sortedgifts is designed like an ecommerce store that sells must-haves.
But all of your products are novelty items or impulse buys. Customers don't have to buy a personalized cat bowl. They choose to.

This means your site should be designed to do two things:

1. Keep users on the site and...
2. Increase the impulse to buy.

Fancy.com is a great example. They answer the "where am I and what can I do here" question right away. But the home page (and site) is designed to keep you scrolling, to keep you on the site. They do other things well but this is the main point I'd like to drive home.

Hope this helps,

Andrew

 

[StevePoster]

Is there any software that can boost SEO?

Why do you want to use software to boost SEO? to sit down and relax then wait for the results?

 

[sortedgifts]

Many thanks for your reviews/helpful tips.

I understand there are some issues with design on the website (but this is work-in-progress). I have taken note of your comments and have changed the homepage significantly. Hope you can drop by again and let me know what your views are on the new design.

That said, I do wish to draw more visitors to the website. Whilst I understand a new website takes time to gain trust in google's eyes i.e. to rank well, but there must be ways to advertise a website.

Correct me if I am wrong, I find Adwords/Bing Ads are the only advertising methods without committing a large sum of money upfront.

 

[UKSBD]

I see these gift type sites all the time so wasn't even going to bother looking.

Glad I did though as that's one of the nicest gift sites I've seen in a while.

 

[jagger_elf]

I am experimenting with SEO myself. I know there are a lot of companies out there, but I am "working to learn, not working to earn" at this point we a website called smartpresentationskills(dot)com. Just trying basic white hat methods, such as contacting universities with resources pages to see if they want to list it for their students etc. Anything to create some decent backlinks. I am probably on the wrong thread, new here - but any tips are welcome. Reading the thread above is very helpful.

 

[ronnie7272]

Your website is really slow. I forced myself to be patient just to look at a few pages. Is your website normally slow?

I used to make a lot of money from the gifts niche via Adsense in the days when Adsense was like printing your own money. Google used to phone me to encourage me to make them more money before the landscape changed with made for Adsense sites.

Be very careful with using Adwords for this sector. Even if your site converted well, I can't imagine you will make enough margin from single product sales and there's not enough of a product range to encourage multiple product sales to maximise the average profit of a shopping basket or encourage repeat sales.

 

[Andriusgr]

I can provide basic seo plan for 100 pounds a month I have my own blog network so can provide you with lots of guest blogs eventually plus I've been doing seo for a long time so I know what I am doing! Iwill start my seo blog soon so if your interested you can follow me. I'd say you better invest money in seo aas its continuously coming traffic to your website, I would only use PPC fpr single product or email marketing to get email addresses or so

 

[fisicx]

I can provide basic seo plan for 100 pounds a month I have my own blog network so can provide you with lots of guest blogs eventually plus I've been doing seo for a long time so I know what I am doing!

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!

This is a joke isn't it?