Free SEO Makeovers by TheHoff

C-Shuler

C-Shuler wrote in post #9247297
I've been following this thread, along with many others, and have found it very useful. I've made some changes to my website and hope it helps with my ranking. Will definitely have to look into the link exchanges, as that is one thing I have not done yet. If you have a chance, you can take a look at my site http://www.forevermome​ntsphoto.com, keywords are:

portrait photography, portraits, photography, Lockhart, Texas, baby photos, infants, children, maternity, family, pets

It looks like your changes haven't been re-indexed yet: http://www.google.com …oto.com&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8 So give that a week or two and see how it affects your ranking. From what I saw on the home page, it looks like you made very good additions. You can always add another paragraph, too.

That is a good question and it has an easy answer. Put yourself in the shoes of your prospective client -- what are they searching for? What do they actually type in Google when looking for your services?

They might start out typing "photographer"... and then realizing that is too broad they might narrow it down by location ("Lockhart, TX photographer") or they might narrow it by type ("portrait photographer", "family photographer") etc.

Simply take what your clients are searching for (or what you think they are searching for) and make that your primary keyphrase. There are also tools out there (Google for "keyword suggestion tool") that show you the popularity of various keywords and related phrases.

nappsack

Nappsack Photos wrote in post #9248351
Hello Hoeff, my target market is Architectural and Portrait photography so here is the link to my website for you to critique.

www.nappsack.com

Thank you for your time.

W.

Why this is an easy one your site appears entirely and totally blank to Google:

http://www.google.com …ack.com&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

The only thing it knows about your site is what you put in your meta tags and it doesn't give much weight to that. Otherwise your page is blank. All it has is Flash and Google isn't too fond of that. Go to your site and then go to your browser's top menu and "View Source"... all that is there is Javascript and flash code. No text, no title, nothing.

So what will you do about it? Are you open to putting up an HTML version of the site? Do you have a designer you work with that can help? Can you shop around for an HTML template site instead?

Hello, my target market is 'action' sports/party photography thank you for critique my site/helping me.

http://www.freakphotog​raphy.com/

*sorry the site is down, i placed the tags in side the index, if need i can upload a working site w/ out the my pics. im still working on the site so like ya.

Thank you for your time.

www.mdkauffmann.com
and the new www.mdkauffmann.com/up​dates

how now brown cow?

TheHoff wrote in post #9254802
Arman

Actually, yes. I didn't see the HTML mirror page at first but now that I've gone looking for it, I still don't see it in Google:

http://www.google.com …ography.com&aq=​f&oq=&aqi=

Do you see any of your HTML site pages there? Here is the HTML site: http://www.armansphoto​graphy.com/?load=html

Unfortunately it looks like the main page uses Javascript to load it! Which makes it entirely worthless for Google unless you get another type of link to it so that Google knows it exists. Basically Google sees the Flash site but is never forwarded to the HTML version. So what Bludomain has sold you is a crock of sh*t. Perhaps it can be changed but it shouldn't have to be. Go to Bigfolio or Prophotoblog.

Thanks Hoff, I like the Bigfolio concept but $450 to set up the page is

Armans Photography wrote in post #9256691
=Arman's Photography;9256691]Th​anks Hoff, I like the Bigfolio concept but $450 to set up the page is

I think you may be "spoiled" by Bludomain's far-too-cheap pricing. But you get what you pay for, eh! Right now, your ultra-cheap site is invisible to Google. I'm a web developer by trade and what Bigfolio offers for the price is very fair.

How much is being found in the search engines worth to you? Right now it will be nearly impossible. If you spend a little money on the site, you only need to book 1 or 2 more weddings the next season to make it worthwhile, right? There is no reason to do all the work on your site to maintain it if it can't be found.

^^^ not ignoring you guys with the sites up above; I'll have some free time later today.

Thanks Hoff, really appreciate your invaluable advice on this thread. Hope you get lots of great work during the Olympics! I definitely miss the beautiful Vancouver area (having lived in Seattle for 8 years, we always vacationed near Vancouver).

TheHoff wrote in post #9257021
I think you may be "spoiled" by Bludomain's far-too-cheap pricing. But you get what you pay for, eh! Right now, your ultra-cheap site is invisible to Google. I'm a web developer by trade and what Bigfolio offers for the price is very fair.

How much is being found in the search engines worth to you? Right now it will be nearly impossible. If you spend a little money on the site, you only need to book 1 or 2 more weddings the next season to make it worthwhile, right? There is no reason to do all the work on your site to maintain it if it can't be found.

I know, you are right, still $450 is a lot of money, but I guess it is worth in the long run.

TheHoff wrote in post #9170765
OK at first I thought your site might be penalized. This THREAD is outranking your site for your intended keywords:

http://www.google.com …+photography&st​art=0&sa=N

Why? Your keywords don't appear anywhere on your home page! Before I go too much further into this one, take a look at your home page. How many times do the words "Sheridan high school sports photography" appear on the page and in the title?

Zero!

Fix it

Okay, I've added the keywords to my home page. When you get a chance, can you take a look at it again? Thanks so much, Hoff. Have a Merry Chrismas and a wonderful New Year!

I'm pulling my hair out trying to get my site up on google, all its seems to find is: http://photogmatt.phot​ium.com when it should be http://www.mattpetersp​hotography.co.uk

I have just editied my keywords and tags so this might help me?

Thanks, Matt

AceSG

Hey, just let me know when the final site is available.

AceSG wrote in post #9255321
Hello, my target market is 'action' sports/party photography thank you for critique my site/helping me.

http://www.freakphotog​raphy.com/

*sorry the site is down, i placed the tags in side the index, if need i can upload a working site w/ out the my pics. im still working on the site so like ya.

Thank you for your time.

MDKauffman

Great, now you're getting more text on there! I would work on the home page text, though, to make it more natural sounding. You've taken the keyword repetition to the extreme -- you don't have to repeat the exact keyphrase each time. Mix it up; make the text more natural if possible.

With the blog, are you going to do image posts as well? Like you make one post about one event that you covered and include the best images from the day. It doesn't have to be a new event, you can also blog the last weddings you completed to start it out.

flashmedic wrote in post #9255861
www.mdkauffmann.com
and the new www.mdkauffmann.com/up​dates

how now brown cow?

Matt Peters

Hey Matt, yea you do have a bit of an issue with your domain. For whatever reason, Google has indexed the site on Photium.com and has deemed that the original and your actual domain as a copy. The easiest way to fix this is going to be through Photium's tech support; contact them and let them know what is going on:

They need to put something in the server's .htaccess, or the code of the site, so that it does a "301 redirect" to your domain if someone hits the site on "photium.com" instead of "mattpetersphotography​.co.uk".

Matt Photog Peters wrote in post #9278232
=Matt 'Photog' Peters;9278232]I'm pulling my hair out trying to get my site up on google, all its seems to find is: http://photogmatt.phot​ium.com when it should be http://www.mattpetersp​hotography.co.uk

I have just editied my keywords and tags so this might help me?

Thanks, Matt

TheHoff wrote in post #9281743
Matt Peters

Hey Matt, yea you do have a bit of an issue with your domain. For whatever reason, Google has indexed the site on Photium.com and has deemed that the original and your actual domain as a copy. The easiest way to fix this is going to be through Photium's tech support; contact them and let them know what is going on:

They need to put something in the server's .htaccess, or the code of the site, so that it does a "301 redirect" to your domain if someone hits the site on "photium.com" instead of "mattpetersphotography​.co.uk".

Great stuff, I will get onto that, thank you very much!