Inspired of the last blog entry I was thinking about valueable landing pages for my own product. The problem is to find names that fits to what the customer searches. There's my idea.
I have monthly statistics of my web page for the most used search phrases. What about taking these search phrases for buying new domain names?
by GS
Thursday 31 July 2008
Tuesday 29 July 2008
When you've got 2 product sites for the same product?
Now that I've got a new website for MDBSecure, I'd like to ditch my old site.
Change my pad file and set the new location in the old file.
I can hear you saying already, "you don't want to do that" you have an existing / established site, with inbound links and is already on a lot of software download sites. Also got several alternative keyword pages.
Or maybe I'm just giving you to much credit ;)
I do appreciate these points and I'm not 100% sold on the idea of ditching the old site.
I think the idea of promoting the new site with a pad file is a good idea and I think I'll struggle is I don't do this.
I guess another idea is to re-brand the product and give it a new name.
Although I think this is a bit of a shame as I like the name.
From a cost point of view I would like to get rid of the old site eventually.
Although I'm not sure how I could add my keyword pages from the old site into the new site without making the new site look unprofessional.
So lots to talk about there and lots of crucial decisions to make for me.
HELP!
by JM
Change my pad file and set the new location in the old file.
I can hear you saying already, "you don't want to do that" you have an existing / established site, with inbound links and is already on a lot of software download sites. Also got several alternative keyword pages.
Or maybe I'm just giving you to much credit ;)
I do appreciate these points and I'm not 100% sold on the idea of ditching the old site.
I think the idea of promoting the new site with a pad file is a good idea and I think I'll struggle is I don't do this.
I guess another idea is to re-brand the product and give it a new name.
Although I think this is a bit of a shame as I like the name.
From a cost point of view I would like to get rid of the old site eventually.
Although I'm not sure how I could add my keyword pages from the old site into the new site without making the new site look unprofessional.
So lots to talk about there and lots of crucial decisions to make for me.
HELP!
by JM
Monday 28 July 2008
Getting Quality Inbound links
In a comment on an earlier post there was a question about getting inbound links. Well, getting links to a website is one of the most time-consuming and difficult activities when first trying to make a site rank well in SERPs. Although web directories are not as useful in this regard as they were a few years ago, they can still be a good way of getting backlinks. I've come across websites that have a PR of 3 and don't appear to have backlinks from anything other than web directories.
When it comes to submitting your website to a directory, you soon find the process a bit laborious if you do things totally by hand. There's a lot of copying and pasting and selecting of categories - it takes a long time. The alternative is to pay someone to do the job for you. The problem with this is that you can never be sure they put your sites into the best categories. You might also want to be in control of the sites you submit to. For example if you hire someone to submit to 500 directories and you only get accepted in 10% of them then you need to avoid submitting to the same directories in the future.
SliQTools now offer a free directory submission tool that combines the best of both worlds. The tool greatly speeds the process of submitting to directories. You set up your website details with a number of alternative descriptions and titles (anchor text) then start loading directories one by one. All you need to do is enter any required CAPTCHA to complete the submission process. Sometimes there isn't even a CAPTCHA to enter. The directory submission software will also help you select categories. You can specify up to 6 possible categories that SliQ Submitter will try and match when loading a directory page. Currently the tool support 450 directories but will support up to 2500 in a release later this month.
by ML
When it comes to submitting your website to a directory, you soon find the process a bit laborious if you do things totally by hand. There's a lot of copying and pasting and selecting of categories - it takes a long time. The alternative is to pay someone to do the job for you. The problem with this is that you can never be sure they put your sites into the best categories. You might also want to be in control of the sites you submit to. For example if you hire someone to submit to 500 directories and you only get accepted in 10% of them then you need to avoid submitting to the same directories in the future.
SliQTools now offer a free directory submission tool that combines the best of both worlds. The tool greatly speeds the process of submitting to directories. You set up your website details with a number of alternative descriptions and titles (anchor text) then start loading directories one by one. All you need to do is enter any required CAPTCHA to complete the submission process. Sometimes there isn't even a CAPTCHA to enter. The directory submission software will also help you select categories. You can specify up to 6 possible categories that SliQ Submitter will try and match when loading a directory page. Currently the tool support 450 directories but will support up to 2500 in a release later this month.
by ML
Does traffic drop in the summer months?
In the last 2 or 3 weeks I've noticed a significant (20 or 30%) drop in traffic on my websites. At the same time I seem to be moving up in the SERPs for my keywords.
The only thing I can think is happening is that people are going on holiday now that summer is here and spending less time online. I can also imagine that with the kids off school, there's less time available to spend at the computer. Do you have any experience of a drop in traffic in summer in previous years?
by ML
The only thing I can think is happening is that people are going on holiday now that summer is here and spending less time online. I can also imagine that with the kids off school, there's less time available to spend at the computer. Do you have any experience of a drop in traffic in summer in previous years?
by ML
Top link taking an unfair proportion of PR?
On SoftTester, one of the highest PR inner pages is http://www.softtester.com/keywords-a.shtml. Strangely this page is almost the first link on every page, i.e. the link nearest the top of the page. I remember reading a while ago that the position of links on pages can influence PR pass through. I wonder if this is happening on SoftTester?
The second highest link is the KMF ad. Does this get an unfair kick of PR?
I wonder if SERPs would improve if the "Search by Keyword" phrase wasn't a link? could it be changed to a radio button or checkbox that is actioned only when the Search button is pressed? Alternatively, could the Search group of controls, or even just the Search by Keywords link, be moved below the main category links?
Unless the blog is drawing a significant amount of traffic I'd be tempted to move that lower down the page too - perhaps to the footer.
I'd also nofollow the Advanced link in the Search group of controls. The page it links to is a bit of a dead end in terms of spreading PR back through Softtester.
by ML
The second highest link is the KMF ad. Does this get an unfair kick of PR?
I wonder if SERPs would improve if the "Search by Keyword" phrase wasn't a link? could it be changed to a radio button or checkbox that is actioned only when the Search button is pressed? Alternatively, could the Search group of controls, or even just the Search by Keywords link, be moved below the main category links?
Unless the blog is drawing a significant amount of traffic I'd be tempted to move that lower down the page too - perhaps to the footer.
I'd also nofollow the Advanced link in the Search group of controls. The page it links to is a bit of a dead end in terms of spreading PR back through Softtester.
by ML
Friday 25 July 2008
MS Access Database Security site design complete :)
I've only got a couple of small fixes to do then I'm ready to start doing some SEO.
I've also got to do my white paper.
Suggestions?
by JM
I've also got to do my white paper.
Suggestions?
by JM
Thursday 10 July 2008
Affliates Setup
I've been logging into my affiliate accounts and having a look around to see what we have to do to add buy now links to our sites and if we have to do anything in the accounts themselves.
SWReg.org seems a bit odd, but it makes sense from their point of you, you have a basic url and you added an afliate id you make up yourself, when you get your first sale, they create and account for you with that id. The password is the same too.
More info here.
http://www.swreg.org/affiliate_system.htm
Heres some example urls
https://gbp.swreg.org/cgi-bin/sitm35.cgi?s=51509&c=GBP&x=1
SWReg.org seems a bit odd, but it makes sense from their point of you, you have a basic url and you added an afliate id you make up yourself, when you get your first sale, they create and account for you with that id. The password is the same too.
More info here.
http://www.swreg.org/affiliate_system.htm
Heres some example urls
https://gbp.swreg.org/cgi-bin/sitm35.cgi?s=51509&c=GBP&x=1
Tuesday 8 July 2008
First implementation of Shareware Site Improvements
I've implemented an Editor's Picks section listing recommended software downloads on the homepage of SoftwareLode. The list is populated with programs I personally recommend after review. I've coloured the background of the Editor's Pick section to make them stand out a bit.
I'll probably choose the programs to list based on whether authors ask to be listed and/ or they give SoftwareLode a backlink. I won't automatically list a program just because someone asked - I'll review the programs first. I'll also list programs I come across that I think are neat. I'm reviewing titles as they get submitted by authors so I can decide whether to linger on a review after getting a first impression of a submitted title.
To manage the Editor's Pick section, I've written an extra page in the admin section of the site. This lets me nominate a software title based on its program number and either set or clear its featured status. I can also choose to add my own comments about the program or just use the PAD file description. I've allowed the comments to include HTML tags so I can make my own comments on the program stand out a bit.
I'm still thinking of other improvements, e.g. a Recommended List on the home page. The Editor's Pick section will never contain more than a handful of titles but I may want to add a list - say up to 10 - of other titles I recommend.
On the program listing page itself, I can distinguish programs by giving them a 3, 4 or 5 star rating.
by ML
I'll probably choose the programs to list based on whether authors ask to be listed and/ or they give SoftwareLode a backlink. I won't automatically list a program just because someone asked - I'll review the programs first. I'll also list programs I come across that I think are neat. I'm reviewing titles as they get submitted by authors so I can decide whether to linger on a review after getting a first impression of a submitted title.
To manage the Editor's Pick section, I've written an extra page in the admin section of the site. This lets me nominate a software title based on its program number and either set or clear its featured status. I can also choose to add my own comments about the program or just use the PAD file description. I've allowed the comments to include HTML tags so I can make my own comments on the program stand out a bit.
I'm still thinking of other improvements, e.g. a Recommended List on the home page. The Editor's Pick section will never contain more than a handful of titles but I may want to add a list - say up to 10 - of other titles I recommend.
On the program listing page itself, I can distinguish programs by giving them a 3, 4 or 5 star rating.
by ML
Monday 7 July 2008
First Thoughts on Shareware Site Improvements
On SoftwareLode at the moment, the home page has a Featured program at the top. The script for this is a bit wonky though. It selects a program at random but the random number range is very small (1 to 10) and doesn't cover the full range of programs on the site.
In any case, I was considering changing the Featured feature to be a series of 2 or 3 panels that give:
A pick of the day
I would pick a set of good programs on the site and display these randomly for one day at a time. The programs might be those where the authors supplied backlinks for example.
A personal recommendation
This would be a program that I personally recommend after review. The wording for the description would be my own - not the author's. These programs might be those with which I have affiliation.
I'm still thinking these things through. One thing I might do is drop Google Ads from the right column on the homepage and use that for a list of table cells containing further recommended software.
by ML
In any case, I was considering changing the Featured feature to be a series of 2 or 3 panels that give:
A pick of the day
I would pick a set of good programs on the site and display these randomly for one day at a time. The programs might be those where the authors supplied backlinks for example.
A personal recommendation
This would be a program that I personally recommend after review. The wording for the description would be my own - not the author's. These programs might be those with which I have affiliation.
I'm still thinking these things through. One thing I might do is drop Google Ads from the right column on the homepage and use that for a list of table cells containing further recommended software.
by ML
Sunday 6 July 2008
The importance of good site design
When i setup my first websites, I knew that it was important to use light colours and make the users feel comfortable and not scare them off with nasty colours and horrid text colours or styles.
I then progressed a bit further and realised that those stock site design were a great idea and made your site look professional, I have a site with a smiling business woman at the top and office type images and the name of my web site / company.
Then I discovered it was important to have good content at the top of your page for search engine positioning.
Now, I've just thought that the most important thing is to consider that small window area using the most popular screen resolution size aka that first area that a customer will see when they find your site from a search engine.
If this area is full of graphics, your company name and doesn't give the customer the answer he seeks, without scrolling down, hes probably going to click back and look at the next search engine listing.
So not only do we have to worry about the SEO of our page, but site design, the list is never ending.
by JM
I then progressed a bit further and realised that those stock site design were a great idea and made your site look professional, I have a site with a smiling business woman at the top and office type images and the name of my web site / company.
Then I discovered it was important to have good content at the top of your page for search engine positioning.
Now, I've just thought that the most important thing is to consider that small window area using the most popular screen resolution size aka that first area that a customer will see when they find your site from a search engine.
If this area is full of graphics, your company name and doesn't give the customer the answer he seeks, without scrolling down, hes probably going to click back and look at the next search engine listing.
So not only do we have to worry about the SEO of our page, but site design, the list is never ending.
by JM
Friday 4 July 2008
Kids Math Shop - An Idea?
One suggestion I've read about encouraging visitors to come back to your site says that you should have games or puzzles on the site.
I wonder if the kids mask and math software sites could do this? If you think some of your software has gone a full cycle then perhaps the software has a future in a different form. You could use mask drawing as an online game to keep children visiting a site.
Perhaps you could have simple online versions of the software - not enough to discourage a download or purchase of course - but perhaps enough to occupy a 5 or 6 year old for a while and encourage repeat visits over a few weeks. I know my kids get fascinated by the simplest of drawing or word games online.
The other thing that might be missing from the site is Adsense. If you did encourage people to visit again they might be tempted to click on ads.
I'm not sure this idea fits exactly with an online shop but I thought I'd mention it anyway.
by ML
I wonder if the kids mask and math software sites could do this? If you think some of your software has gone a full cycle then perhaps the software has a future in a different form. You could use mask drawing as an online game to keep children visiting a site.
Perhaps you could have simple online versions of the software - not enough to discourage a download or purchase of course - but perhaps enough to occupy a 5 or 6 year old for a while and encourage repeat visits over a few weeks. I know my kids get fascinated by the simplest of drawing or word games online.
The other thing that might be missing from the site is Adsense. If you did encourage people to visit again they might be tempted to click on ads.
I'm not sure this idea fits exactly with an online shop but I thought I'd mention it anyway.
by ML
New Children's Maths Education Shop Site - First SEO Tips
I've just taken a quick look at the new kids math store - looks nice and clean. I see you also modded the older shop site to match.
First thing I noticed in terms of textual content was that the homepage title was a bit short. Try to fit 3 keywords in if you can. Use WordTracker to check out good phrases. Off the top of my head I'd start looking at:
and so on ...
The homepage description meta tag is also a bit light on keywords. The sentence:
"We also supply a range of products which compliment our software."
is very non-specific and takes up too many words in the title. Also "compliment" should be "complement".
by ML
First thing I noticed in terms of textual content was that the homepage title was a bit short. Try to fit 3 keywords in if you can. Use WordTracker to check out good phrases. Off the top of my head I'd start looking at:
- Maths Software for Younger Children
- Preschool Maths Software
- Math Games for Kids
- Math for Kids
and so on ...
The homepage description meta tag is also a bit light on keywords. The sentence:
"We also supply a range of products which compliment our software."
is very non-specific and takes up too many words in the title. Also "compliment" should be "complement".
by ML
Wednesday 2 July 2008
Keyword dense page names which are no longer relavant
Last week I setup a new shop site and copied over my existing product from my old site, as the new site had a better domain name. So I then decided to put some different products on my old site.
So I now have an old site with PR2 on the front page (which is obviously a good start and extremely useful), but I also have several pages which have keyword dense page names, have PR1 etc, which hold no relevance to the products I'm now going to add.
At the moment this "lost pages" just show a link to a missing product. I guess when I add the new products this will show a new / unrelated product.
Is this OK?
is it the best use of such a lost page?
And ideas?
by JM
So I now have an old site with PR2 on the front page (which is obviously a good start and extremely useful), but I also have several pages which have keyword dense page names, have PR1 etc, which hold no relevance to the products I'm now going to add.
At the moment this "lost pages" just show a link to a missing product. I guess when I add the new products this will show a new / unrelated product.
Is this OK?
is it the best use of such a lost page?
And ideas?
by JM
Tuesday 1 July 2008
Keep Nagging For a Purchase
When I first thought about selling shareware I read all sorts of different advice about how to encourage people to purchase. The problem was that lots of advice conflicted.
One piece of advice I got was never to stop people using the software package, i.e. don't have a trial period. Let them use it forever - maybe one day they'll decide to buy! This is a Winzip kind of scheme - but it hasn't made me purchase Winzip after 3 1/2 years of seeing the nag screen.
The same people who made me paranoid about unlock codes made me paranoid about the Winzip scheme.
In the end I went for a trial period with a nag dialog showing when the package starts. The nag dialog serves 2 purposes - it lets people know I'd like them to purchase and it also lets them know how long they've got left on the free trial.
I've since read that the best strategy is to nag more often, e.g. when the package is closed as well as when it starts. I've also read that long trial periods are useless - if people buy they usually do so within a day or two. I did have a trial period of 60 days initially and found that a fair few people - 50%? - actually waited the whole 60 days before buying so I'm not sure this advice is good.
Any thoughts?
by ML
One piece of advice I got was never to stop people using the software package, i.e. don't have a trial period. Let them use it forever - maybe one day they'll decide to buy! This is a Winzip kind of scheme - but it hasn't made me purchase Winzip after 3 1/2 years of seeing the nag screen.
The same people who made me paranoid about unlock codes made me paranoid about the Winzip scheme.
In the end I went for a trial period with a nag dialog showing when the package starts. The nag dialog serves 2 purposes - it lets people know I'd like them to purchase and it also lets them know how long they've got left on the free trial.
I've since read that the best strategy is to nag more often, e.g. when the package is closed as well as when it starts. I've also read that long trial periods are useless - if people buy they usually do so within a day or two. I did have a trial period of 60 days initially and found that a fair few people - 50%? - actually waited the whole 60 days before buying so I'm not sure this advice is good.
Any thoughts?
by ML
Improving Shareware Unlock Code Mechanisms
On my software I initially had an unlock code scheme where the user's email address was used to generate an unlock code. The user entered their email address and unlock code into the software's registration dialog and bingo they were up and running.
I then became a bit paranoid about people sharing unlock codes. The situation really is that other people became paranoid for me and thought I should tighten things up. In the second version of the software I switched to a code that was generated using specific features of the user's PC. A different unlock code was then used for each PC. I knew this was unadvisable but went ahead and did it.
The inevitable has now happened of course: when users change PCs they need a new code and email me. As the user base grows this is getting somewhat tiresome.
The other aspect that make this scheme undesirable is that whenever anyone asks for a new unlock code, I almost always give them one. There's no way I can distinguish between a genuine PC change and the user wanting to run a second copy. In any case, if someone wants to run a second copy I've no problem giving them a code - I just don't want them sharing codes with their friends.
I can easily change the software unlock mechanism in a future release and make it backward compatible with the present method. Question is: what's the best thing to do?
by ML
I then became a bit paranoid about people sharing unlock codes. The situation really is that other people became paranoid for me and thought I should tighten things up. In the second version of the software I switched to a code that was generated using specific features of the user's PC. A different unlock code was then used for each PC. I knew this was unadvisable but went ahead and did it.
The inevitable has now happened of course: when users change PCs they need a new code and email me. As the user base grows this is getting somewhat tiresome.
The other aspect that make this scheme undesirable is that whenever anyone asks for a new unlock code, I almost always give them one. There's no way I can distinguish between a genuine PC change and the user wanting to run a second copy. In any case, if someone wants to run a second copy I've no problem giving them a code - I just don't want them sharing codes with their friends.
I can easily change the software unlock mechanism in a future release and make it backward compatible with the present method. Question is: what's the best thing to do?
by ML
Examples of Searchworthy Categories
Back in the post Searchworthy Categories I talked about having other categories that had a better chance of matching keywords people actually search for on Google etc.
A lot of shareware sites these days seem to have moved past the top level Business, Audio & Multimedia, Desktop categories and they now include other major categories that reflect what people tend to look for online.
To illustrate what I mean, I've added 3 new categories over at SoftwareLode - Free DVD Software, Free Photo Software and Free MP3 Software. Clicking on these links lists all related software with those keywords in the PAD file. The titles of the pages also match the search term, as do the page URLs. Hopefully, in time, these pages will do well in searches.
To see what I mean about search volumes for these terms, try looking at "Free DVD Software" etc. using Wordtracker.
by ML
A lot of shareware sites these days seem to have moved past the top level Business, Audio & Multimedia, Desktop categories and they now include other major categories that reflect what people tend to look for online.
To illustrate what I mean, I've added 3 new categories over at SoftwareLode - Free DVD Software, Free Photo Software and Free MP3 Software. Clicking on these links lists all related software with those keywords in the PAD file. The titles of the pages also match the search term, as do the page URLs. Hopefully, in time, these pages will do well in searches.
To see what I mean about search volumes for these terms, try looking at "Free DVD Software" etc. using Wordtracker.
by ML
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