My First Web Site, any help appreciated

[andrewfyfe]

Hi there,

This is my first go in the E'Osphere and http://www.usbornebooks2u.co.uk is my first serious go at a website. All my own doing, so would love some feedback:

Here is some information:

The website first release is completed
The site was launched a few months ago
Ive just started on the linking due to school hols
I have linked to several web dirs including yahoo
I have started to exchange links with quality relevant sites
I am targeting the "Usborne Books" and "Childrens Books" phrases
My target audience is parents, nurseries, schools and libraries
The purpose of the site is to sell Usborne Books
The second purpose of the site is to provide some added value via a simple web directory, etc.
The site contains the full 1000+ range of books, etc.
The shop is secure
I would appreciate any suggestions, including design, SEO, etc.

At present we have a PR of zero, which isnt unexpected, how long before this is likely to start changing any idea of what the PR could be?

Thanks

Andrew

[A.N.Onym]

PR depends on the quality and the amount of links you get. Quality over quantity, of course.

Did you mean you have linked 'from' some directories? Linking to directories does very little, really.

What I'd suggest is providing quality product descriptions, list the benefits of reading your books (probably by category or even for individual book in the description). Placing content, based on the interests of your target audience, will get targeted traffic and links, too.

Also, you need to place your keywords right for them to make effect.

A lot to do, actually.

Don't worry about PR, worry how you can get your value in front of your target audience. Forget about the search engines (not completely to ignore basic SEO principles, though).

[fisicx]

Ready for this!

You are using frames - the search engines do not like frames and will ignore the site.

You use rollowver links for all your navigation. These links are invisible to the search engines - they will not be able to follow the links. All the search engines reccomend at least one static link on each page - that means replicating al your links as simple <a href="URI">text</a> type links (no images).

The homepage focus is on you not the customer. I don't care about you at all. All I want is the free stuff you promote at the top of the page.

The online shop contains the full Usborne catalogue and uses SSL technology and Protx in association with Lloyds TSB Cardnet to ensure a safe & secure buying experience, allowing you to shop with confidence.

Who cares? Cerytainly not your customers - tell me about your special offers.

When I clicked on 'online shop' the whole style of the site changed. All the homepage links dissapeared and I got this 'amazon' style shopping page. And I can get 'a horse for the summer' cheaper at amazon. And I can't find a lnk to take me back to your home page.

And as ANOnym says, linking to others will do nothing for you. Getting them to link to you is better. But DO NOT do link exchanges - that's bad bad bad.

There's your starter for 10

Graham

[andrewfyfe]

Sage advice folks, lots to ponder

To clarify ~

The website directories linking is from them to usbornebooks2u.co.uk, with deep links from usbornebooks2u.co.uk

Some extra thoughts/queries ~

How do I get folks to link to usbornebooks2u.co.uk without link exchanging?

What sort of traffic should I be aiming at in the first year?

Any thoughts most welcome

Cheers

Andrew

[fisicx]

You are asking the wrong question.

You need to ask: how can I produce a website that people want to link to.

And the answer is: provide informative and interesting content rich pages that people want to visit.

If you do that then the directories, blogs, search engines etc will find you and link to you. Do not ever link swap - it will hurt you. You can submit to directories but many will charge for your submission.

However you need to fix the site as suggested in my last post - the links are going to block you every time until you fix them.

Traffic? At the moment zero. With an optimised site it could be thousands but be prepared to spent hours and hours getting the site working properly. In reality don't expect more than a couple of hundred visitors a month.

And even the very best sites only convert 1-2% of their visitors. And for new sites this will probably be less than 1 in a 1000.

The key point is that you are facing some very stiff competition - amazon takes 90% of all online books sales. This means that you are fighting every other online book store for an already small percentage.

I wish you luck but don't expect to make a lot of money - amazon ran at a loss for years before they showed a profit.