Hi Robert,
Thank you very much for the response. Some of what you say makes complete sense. Let me explain further.
This site was built in or around 2007, it is my uncles store, which is a bricks and mortar store as well. From 07 to Sept 2011, they basically didn't know how to run a website, and were burnt several times by SEO firms and also by the people who built the site and continue to do the updates we request for it. Its a very limited site and needs updating fast, as the features just are not there to help us grow. Take H1 for example, I have no control over this, the company that done this site is a multi million pound firm, owned by a national newspaper in the UK.
When I came in in Sept 11, I changed a few things and do it for free. As they have been stung for so much on the past, so they are already playing catch up on their budget and on their competitors, who have had all that time from 07-11 to build themselves up.
£500 is a going rate in the UK, and I would happily pay it. But the problem is that I don't think the budget is there to pay it without getting results. A company who have redesigned the competitions 2 sites and done a full SEO package for them, we looked at, almost went with but decided to try me to just start getting more visits and sales first. To see us through past Xmas. Our competitor are now dropping that SEO firm, who are a big company, becuas ethey are not getting them any results and are paying them a fortune, well over £500 a month.
Since I took over in Sept 11, our visits have gone up some 40%, our sales from Sept - Dec are up 40% on the same time last year. But for Jan and Feb, we seem to be dropping back down in sales. Our Twitter account has gone from 50 to 850 followers, we now have a FB page and on over 250 Likes. We have just set up a blog and a YouTube channel also. So we are progressing and growing.
The problem I see is we have a week were sales are great, then we die off for 4-6 days, then it picks up, then it might go dead for a week, then another bust.
When I first took over, I did the www. thing in Google, I have selected the www version. I have told the web design firm to 301 to that. So I am not sure why its web5, I will pick this up with them. They are a nightmare to work with and considering that site cost £15,000, yes £15,000 its an absolute joke for what they got in return. It feels like basic OsCommerce to me. Terrible stuff.
The title tags I am in the middle of changing, I know they are too long. When I first started I did them to just get stuff online, as the products didn't even have a title and were overloaded with keywords (like 30 words). So I am slowly but surely changing titles to fit into the 70ish characters.The descriptions, I do try to mix them up. With so many products and all similar bar the colour, it becomes hard to get this. eg. 10 t-shirts, same make, model and style, yet only colour is different. By the 5-6th one, your struggling to something totally unique.
The Like 2 Fight ad was put up for a friend, as we have big customers from the professional boxing, MMA, UFC etc... come in store. It will be gone soon. Thats another thing with those images, I have no control to say pop up in new window. I agree totally about that point, I hate that myself.
We get decent traffic through the Creative Recreation Trainers and various style keywords, same with Cruyff Trainers, certain style we rank well for.
I guess I am trying to do too much too fast.
As I say, we are willing to pay but the company is on a tight budget, it can't afford another failure at this, 4 years of failure has left them lagging online. The store does very well but online, things need to change. So I would rather learn this stuff myself and help for free at this moment, than risk them signing up a £3000 campaign that could see them go under.
If I drew up a list of tasks such as
-shorten titles
-try harder on descriptions
-get rid of like 2 fight ad
-sort out the www problem
-get the H1 shorted, what would your advise be on this? Throw the H1 on a keyword phrase?
Thanks again for the response.
If anyone else has any pointers, I welcome them.
Thanks Will