New Program; website help! (11 posts)

Topic tags: marketing, SEO, website
  • Hi Everyone;

    I just launched my first all-star cheer program! I have had decent success so far on twitter and facebook, but the website hasn’t really taken off as expected… I don’t know much about SEO and any advice would be great! Here’s a link

    http://www.iceallstarcheer.wix.com/main

  • Hi @chelsie-waller

    I’ll give you one tip and more when I have time to look later.  

    Page title does not not have your most important words which should include   “cheerleading camp”  or “cheerleading coach”.

    Your title now is:   ICE ALL Stars, All Star Cheer Program in Duluth, MN |Wix.com

    If someone is looking for ‘cheerleading’ it won’t come up in natural search. Will people be searching for ‘ice all stars?” Probably not if they are looking for “cheerleading coach.” 

    It might be better as :   Cheerleading Coach Program – ICE ALL Stars – Duluth MN  

    I also did not see any photos of cheerleading teams.  That would be a visual clue that someone had found the right place too. 

    Just a quick first glance – one step in the right direction.

    Eileen

  • Hi @chelsie-waller

    The primary reason why you are not seeing traffic from search engines is because your website is created using Wix that uses Javascript. Search engine robots can’t read Javascript content.

    To help you understand better, head over to http://www.webconfs.com/search-engine-spider-simulator.php and enter any URL on your website. Compare the results with another URL (perhaps the New York Times or Social Media Examiner’s). You will notice that the latter generate more words as compared to your website. This is because search engine robots can read text generated PHP or HTML documents but not Javascripts.

    You might want to check with Wix on whether they offer a website version that allows your content to be indexed by search engine. If they don’t offer it, you may want to consider using a different website builder or content management system.

  • Thank you both!!!

    I’ll look into the HTML options for sure! I was wondering why it didn’t pick up!

    As far as the title; we’re not really a camp. I’m thinking people will seach “Duluth all star cheerleading” we’re the first program in the market, so there is a lot of potential! Also they may search “competetive cheerleading duluth mn” so i’ve been debating adding the word “competetive”

    Does anyone know of any good HTML free hosting sites? Being a start up we don’t have a lot of capital for extra expenses.

  • @chelsie-waller WordPress.com For a small fee you can have your own URL. Then you can move up from there when the time is appropriate. These are great site with many possibilities for special features. WordPress is great for SEO, because you can build it into the site very easily. And these sites are easy to use and build for a newbie.

  • Hi Chelsie,have you tested your keywords on google’s free keyword toollhttps://adwords.google.com/o/KeywordTool
    you’ll get an idea of how many people search for the term “Duluth all star cheerleading”..I’m afraid I didn’t get any results for my search on this term while “cheerleading mn” produces 3.600 searches per month…..so maybe a good idea to do a little research on your keywords using this tool.

    You want a keyword that has low competition but good number of search results….there’s a lot more to it than that but it’s a good starting point…If you’re interested I can dig out a good video tutorial that tells how to interpret and further explore the result.Best of luck.

  • @chelsie-waller
    The biggest reason why your site not be getting any search traffic yet is because it’s brand new. You haven’t built up any trust or incoming links.
    You may want to check out this recent article I wrote on Why Can’t I Find My Website In Google?
    To reduce the time it takes to build trust, lean heavily on social media for now, and invest some money in some PPC ads.
    DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT go with free or even cheap hosting. Trust me on this. Free or cheap hosting is the most expensive mistake a company can make. 
    I know you’re a startup, but find the money. Beg, borrow and steal to get decent hosting, invest some money in some targeted Google Adsense and FB advertising, and make yourself appear as established and professional as possible.
    Eat Ramen noodles for a year if you need to. Entrepreneurship takes sacrifice, but IMHO it’s worth it! :)
    Good luck!

  • @chelsie-waller Don’t you just love this club? Members are so generous with sharing their expertise — as evidenced by those above.

    I agree with  @rich-brooks — entrepreneurship takes time and sacrifice. But if it is built on a solid, credible foundation, and nurtured with diligence, the anticipated growth and success will happen.  It may take more than one year of Ramen noodle diet, a few missteps and tears!

    To that end, I will add that you also invest in developing and posting well-written content of interest to your target audience. Do you have success stories you can write up as case studies? Are there “how-to” tips you wish to share in videos or articles?  If you already have some content on your other social media platforms, create links from there to your website. Content creation can be expensive in time and other resources (for example, if you outsource your copywriting), but quality content tends to have long shelf life/marketing reach.

    Good luck and be sure to share when that breakthrough happens!

  • HI @chelsie-waller  —  

    If you want to be taken seriously, do not use free hosting. Those places do no let you “own” your content.  Also, nothing says ‘amateur’ like hosing that adds spammy ads to your website. The only way to get free is with a blog (as Amy stated above) but there again, if they decide to take down your website, you lose. You can’t “sell” at a WP free hosted site either.

    I did not check the code and am not familiar with WIX so didn’t realize – Read what @wayneliew linked to and the article from @rich-brooks to see what they have to say. Going cheap or no cost just doesn’t work well.  You’ll be much better off in the long run if you do it right now. There are three of you to split the expense, right? There is hosting out there for less than $5.00 per month that will work well enough.

    SEO is not a secret by any means and understanding the jargon of what to do will come with time spent working the website (whatever platform).  Forums like this one can teach you a lot.  When you have some money in the pot, hire a designer/developer/consultant (one of those) and go from there. SEO is all important but keeping your potential customers on the site is paramount too.

    Eileen :D

  • @wayneliew is correct, your page content is delivered via script and cannot be picked up by the search engines. 
    @amyhallbiz made a great suggestion, go with WordPress as it is low cost, easy to use and great value.
    And like @rich-brooks said, some things are worth the sacrifice, your web site is one of those assets. After your site is built, make sure to submit it to search engines and directories so the site can begin to appear in engines and directories.
    Also, make sure to add Google analytics to the pages to track user activity and try to incorporate Social Media buttons that reference your other networks and allow visitors to +1 and share your site.
    Best of luck to you!

  • Use video as well,  videos can  be easily optimized and will give you good rankings if properly set up. 


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