Web Hosting Talk : Web Hosting Main Forums : SEO / SEM Discussions : My website is not getting any traffic

[Host Ghost]

My website has been online for almost four months, and I don't get more than 50 unique visitors a month, who all and only come, because they have seen an ad in a paper.

It is created in iWeb, which doesn't allow you to create keywords in the html code.

I have heard, that google, for example, searches websites for content.

Well, my content are photos, and I don't want to distract from them with too much text.

Is it the text you write on a webpage that gets you hits on a search engine?

What if I wrote that text, and set the opacity to 0%, so it is there, but cannot be seen by visitors. Can it still be seen by googlebot?

I never got a single hit from google, as show my awstats.

I feel like having opened a lemonade stand on the moon.

Any tips to get some hits by search engines? If you post a tip, please be specific how to do it, as this is Newfoundland to me.

Thanks!

[HostGamma]

If you want organic traffic you might consider redesigning your website with a more SEO-friendly template that would allow you on-site optimization.

[Bakie]

Originally Posted by Host Ghost

What if I wrote that text, and set the opacity to 0%, so it is there, but cannot be seen by visitors. Can it still be seen by googlebot?

Yes it can bee seen but if/when Google finds out they will heavily penalize you so it is not worth the risk.

What is you're site so we can give you some tips?

[Justin M]

Couldn't you change the index page to have a description of your website, and then links to the pictures and whatnot? That way visitors can view your photos without distraction but still find the site through a search engine.

[KevinJCohen]

Its all about the search engine, so I would redesign and try to make it google perfect.

[subzer0]

Serious question - what do you guys mean by terms like "google perfect" and "seo optimized" ?

Is there a certain type of coding you need to do? I thought it's just a matter of including the proper meta statements for keywords and description on every page of your site.

[dangermouse99]

Originally Posted by Starsky

Serious question - what do you guys mean by terms like "google perfect" and "seo optimized" ?

Is there a certain type of coding you need to do? I thought it's just a matter of including the proper meta statements for keywords and description on every page of your site.

There are no clear rules on seo optimized,

But I can tell you that you are more things to look at than just
"proper meta statements for keywords and description on every page of your site."

1. optimized each page on your site for anything between 1 - 5 keywords some people
will use more or less. you do not have to compete for the same keywords of every single page.

2. key words optimized,

This ranges from using the

h1. tag
bold text
highlight text
links and using key words within them internally & externally
using ald text but don't spam it.
And many more

3. Other parts of key words optimized.

Me making sure sure keywords are in dir & filenames including CSS
make good use of your header text for example don't use words like
hallo, to, by, and many more, you can find lists on the web
most likely can be found under stop world list search this google

There are so many things regards seo their is no simple answer or fix
seo takes time and efforts and more time to get some kind of success

Hope this will help you understand a bit more.

dennie

[subzer0]

Thanks for the info Dennie

[Host Ghost]

Originally Posted by sinohosting

If you want organic traffic you might consider redesigning your website with a more SEO-friendly template that would allow you on-site optimization.

I already ordered an HTML book, will learn html, and code the site by hand.

I just need to do something about the lack of traffic until I am through that book.

[Host Ghost]

Originally Posted by Bakie

Yes it can bee seen but if/when Google finds out they will heavily penalize you so it is not worth the risk.

What is you're site so we can give you some tips?

Thanks for the warning.

I guess I also have to be careful which keywords I put in.

It's a photography site, and I am trying to keep the amount of text as little as possible.

My first site was with a lot of text, and my research has shown, that actors, my main clientele, just want to see images, and not read a lot.

I am currently thinking of adding a text page, that is separate from the main pages, and I'll call it "for further reading" or "information in deatail or something like this.

[Host Ghost]

I researched books about seo on amazon, and here are three books that stood out for me. Ranking 1-2 from most to least likely buying.

Does anyone know any of these books?

1. How to Win Sales & Influence Spiders: Boosting Your Business & Buzz on the Web (Voices That Matter) - Catherine Seda

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...X0DER&v=glance


2. SEO: Search Engine Optimization Bible - Jerri L. Ledford

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...X0DER&v=glance

Sounds like overkill for me and my current needs.

3. How to Use the Internet to Advertise, Promote and Market Your Business or Website with Little or No Money - Bruce C. Brown;

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...X0DER&v=glance

[Host Ghost]

Originally Posted by J Tullock

Couldn't you change the index page to have a description of your website, and then links to the pictures and whatnot? That way visitors can view your photos without distraction but still find the site through a search engine.

By "index page" do you mean that index.html file, that isn't actually a page that viewers are seeing? And to put the site description into the meta tags? Which I could also do with a photos-only page...

Or do you mean a page with descriptive content, to which the photos are linked to?

[MegaByteHosting]

Originally Posted by Host Ghost

I researched books about seo on amazon, and here are three books that stood out for me. Ranking 1-2 from most to least likely buying.

Does anyone know any of these books?

1. How to Win Sales & Influence Spiders: Boosting Your Business & Buzz on the Web (Voices That Matter) - Catherine Seda

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...X0DER&v=glance


2. SEO: Search Engine Optimization Bible - Jerri L. Ledford

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...X0DER&v=glance

Sounds like overkill for me and my current needs.

3. How to Use the Internet to Advertise, Promote and Market Your Business or Website with Little or No Money - Bruce C. Brown;

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...X0DER&v=glance

read this Ghost it may help you http://www.google.com/support/webmas...n&answer=40349

[MrCat]

Try inlcuding alt tags - this would help your pictures get indexed by google...

[ElTino]

Originally Posted by Host Ghost

Any tips to get some hits by search engines?

I have already posted this suggestion in a thread here. Hope it helps you!