Website search results - baby steps please

[mlou]

Added some alt tags, and found that they are replacing my mouse overs; I need to work on this some more.

The search results are astounding, and encouraging me to work harder on my web page! Thanks Mary Lou.

What are you trying to do with the mouseovers?

You alt tags should be the same as without the mouseover...
<div id="mouseovers">
<img src="image/rose.jpg" id="rose1" alt="one dozen roses" border=0>
<img src="image/rose2.jpg" id="rose2" alt="one dozen roses" border=0>
</div>

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[Theresa]

Hi, I was making a description and price point, but I have to rethink this, since it is not very clear how to order.

thanks!

 

[mlou]

Hi, I was making a description and price point, but I have to rethink this, since it is not very clear how to order.

thanks!

Let me make your life simplier...
Don't use javascript mouseover...too much code bloat.

this html code will give you the same mouseover effect.

<IMG SRC="box of roses_sm.jpg" title="Dozen premium long stem roses boxed $70.00, Half dozen long stem roses boxed $50.00" alt="Dozen long stem roses delivered by local flower shop in Amanda OH">

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[mlou]

12Bucks...
Where did your question go?

Anyway, here's an example of using "titles" in your html code to create mouseovers...

This shows one title over one image...
http://www.ilocalflorist.com/floral-design-illinois.htm

If you look at each state in my USA map, you see how to use multi titles on one image...
http://www.ilocalflorist.com/

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[Theresa]

ah....thanks for pointing this out. Yes, your mouse over/alt tag code is much simpler.Thanks!

 

[12BucksFor2Dozon]

...Anyway, here's an example of using "titles" in your html code to create mouseovers...

This shows one title over one image...
http://www.ilocalflorist.com/floral-design-illinois.htm
...

.

Oh you mean tab-tips, not true "rollover" images. A real "rollover" image is where an entire other image is displayed with a mouse-over event, not just a pop-up text.

I was wondering about that...no way that the HTML you posted would create a "real" rollover image, although I think the tab tip thing is pretty cool!

 

[mlou]

Oh you mean tab-tips, not true "rollover" images. A real "rollover" image is where an entire other image is displayed with a mouse-over event, not just a pop-up text...

12Buck
There's a number of mouseover tricks besides image 1 being replaced with image 2 or "rollover" images as you call it. With your being a programer, you are thinking of more complicated coding. Theresa is just wanting text mouseovers at this time...

I have a suggestion...Why don't you start a thread about the use of different types of mouseovers with the code and examples

I still beleive that as we educate the florists about websites and search engines, more will begin to develop their own websites.

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[mlou]

We are still moving up!!!

Here's your ranking today...

florist Amanda
Google - not found (9/21)
Google - not found (10/5)
Google - #26 (10/9)
Google - #12 (10/22)

Yahoo -not found
Yahoo - #33 (10/5)
Yahoo - #46 (10/9)
Yahoo - not found (10/22)

MSN - not found (9/21)
MSN - not found (10/5)
MSN # 51 (10/9)
MSN #16 (10/22)


florist Amanda OH
Google - not found (9/21)
Google - #46 (10/5)
Google - #52 (10/9)
Google - #13 (10/22)

Yahoo - #56
Yahoo - #19 (10/5)
Yahoo - #23 (10/9)
Yahoo - #25 (10/22)

MSN - not found (9/21)
MSN - not found (10/5)
MSN - not found (10/9)
MSN - #8 (10/22)


flower shop in Amanda
Google - not found (9/21)
Google - #39 (10/5)
Google - #14 (10/9)
Google - #5 (10/22)

Yahoo - not found (9/21)
Yahoo - #2 (10/5)
Yahoo - #3 (10/9)
Yahoo - #1 (10/22)

MSN - not found (9/21)
MSN - #15 (10/5)
MSN - #16 (10/9)
MSN - #3 (10/22)

florist Lancaster OH
Google - not found (9/21)
Google - not found (10/5)
Google - #35 (10/9)
Google - #33 (10/22)

Yahoo - not found (9/21)
Yahoo #33 (10/5)
Yahoo #48 (10/9)
Yahoo - not found (10/22)

MSN - not found (9/21)
MSN - not found (10/5)
MSN - not found (10/9)
MSN - not found (10/22)

4 top 10 out of 12 searches (33.33%)
Time to do some more work

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[mlou]

OK, I assume you don't like ALT tags since you haven't uploaded any...

ALT tags are not displayed for the consumer to read...only search engines read them and they make your site accessible to the visually impaired.

In case you're having trouble creating the ALT tags, here is an example:
This is how your coding reads now...
<td bgcolor='#CCCCCC' ><img src="images/shim.gif" width='130' height='1'></td>

images/shim.gif is an image used to create space (also called a spacer or space saver)

Let's use this image to our advantage by adding an ALT tag
<td bgcolor='#CCCCCC' ><img src="images/shim.gif" width='130' height='1' alt="Amanda florist delivers to Lancaster OH"></td>

<td bgcolor='#CCCCCC' ><img src="images/shim.gif" width='130' height='1' alt="flower shop in Amanda delivers to Lancaster OH"></td>

If I remember correctly, you have 16 images on your home page that could be used to your advantage...remember to pick keywords from your title, description and keyword meta tags in your <head>

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[mlou]

Theresa,
you will rank better if you remove the coma in your <h6> tag on your home page...also you have a coding error (the </h3> should be </h6>)
<h6 align="right">Buy flowers online from Amanda, OH flower shop</h3>



Part 3

your next baby step... Main text

Where do you put your keywords in relation to the other text on the page?

Sorry, I should have talked about "Keyword Proximity" sooner...
The "Keyword Proximity" means how close keywords are to each other.
Put your keywords as close together as possible, but make sure your sentences are clear to the consumer.

Here's an example:
1. Blooming Flowers, florist in Amanda, has been one of Ohio's finest flower shops for over 3 years.
2. Blooming Flowers, florist in Amanda Ohio, finest flower shops for over 3 years.
The three keywords used are "florist", "Amanda" and "Ohio." If the consumer searches for "florist Amanda Ohio," the second sentence will rank higher because its keywords are closer to each other.

Effective use of "keyword proximity" would be to use your keyword phrase in both forward and reverse proximity...
"florist Amanda Ohio" and "Amanda Ohio florist"

florist Amanda vs Amanda florist return much different results.

florist Amanda
Google - #12 (10/22)
Yahoo - not found (10/22)
MSN #16 (10/22)

Amanda florist
Google # 7 (10/22)
Yahoo #19 (10/22)
MSN #3 (10/22)

florist Amanda OH
Google - #13 (10/22)
Yahoo - #25 (10/22)
MSN - #8 (10/22)

Amanda OH florist
Google #13 (10/22)
Yahoo #17 (10/22)
MSN #6 (10/22)

OK, back to Main text

In my opinion, the search engine places more weight to keywords in your title, description, left side navigation (top to bottom), first paragraph, footer and main body text of your web page and in that order:..

keywords in your <head> title and page title -done Amanda Florist, Blooming Flowers, buy flowers online at #1 flower shop in Amanda for delivery, guaranteed - Ohio (OH)

keywords in your <head> description -done Amanda Florist, Blooming Flowers, Florist shop - Ohio (OH) Weddings, Sympathy, all events, Order fresh beautiful flowers delivered by a trusted local florist, Blooming Flowers. Our flower shop delivers to Amanda OH, Lancaster OH, Canal Winchester OH, Stoutsville OH, Circleville OH, Lithopolis OH with extended delivery to Carmel East Hospital OH. We offer free delivery to local funeral homes, churches, nursing homes and hospitals. 43102

keywords in your left side navigation (top to bottom) -missing, but if you add alt tags to the spacer in the navigation bar this would be covered.

keywords in your first paragraph - done Buy flowers online from Amanda OH flower shop

keywords in your footer - we need to add a footer below your navigation bar across the bottom ..
Example: <h6 align="center">local florist delivers to Amanda OH, Lancaster OH, Canal Winchester OH, Stoutsville OH, Circleville OH, Lithopolis OH and zip codes 43102, 43130, 43103, 43113, 43154, 43110, 43112 and 43136.
Site Copyright Blooming Flowers, Amanda Florist</h6>

or

Example: <h6 align="center">Blooming Flowers, Amanda Ohio (OH) Florist located at: XXXX Cedar Hill Rd Amanda Ohio 43102
24 Hours a Day Toll Free: 1-888-401-SEND, Local: 740-475-8856</h6>

keywords in your main body text - we need to add text below your navigation bar and .jpg in the middle of your web page. ..
use your light gray
Example: <h3 align="center">Amanda Florist, Blooming Flowers, Florist shop - Ohio (OH) Weddings, Sympathy, all events, Order fresh beautiful flowers delivered by a trusted local florist, Blooming Flowers. Our flower shop delivers to Amanda OH, Ashville OH, Groveport OH, Lancaster OH, Canal Winchester OH, Stoutsville OH, Circleville OH, Lithopolis OH with extended delivery to Carmel East Hospital OH. Amanda Florist offers free delivery to local funeral homes, churches, nursing homes and hospitals in 43102</h3>



This should keep your ranking moving up!!!

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[Theresa]

coding error

you will rank better if you remove the coma in your <h6> tag on your home page...also you have a coding error (the </h3> should be </h6>)
<h6 align="right">Buy flowers online from Amanda, OH flower shop</h3>

Good eye, Mary Lou! ouch...not only was that error on the first page, but I copied it to other pages.

Thanks!

 

[mlou]

Your NUMBER ONE for florist amanda ohio this morning on Google!!!

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[Theresa]

thank you

Hi Mary Lou, thank you again so much, I feel very blessed to be a part of this forum.

Yesterday, I also got an internet order...Hooray! Thanks for getting my website back to a visible, ranking position!


Theresa

 

[mlou]

We still have a coding error with your home page...you need to remove the colon : after description and replace it with "

your code reads:
<meta name="description: content="Amanda Florist, Blooming Flowers, Florist shop - Ohio (OH) Weddings, Sympathy, all events, Order fresh beautiful flowers delivered by a trusted local florist, Blooming Flowers. Our flower shop delivers to Amanda OH, Lancaster OH, Canal Winchester OH, Stoutsville OH, Circleville OH, Lithopolis OH with extended delivery to Carmel East Hospital OH.
We offer free delivery to local funeral homes, churches, nursing homes and hospitals. 43102">

your code should read:
<meta name="description" content="Amanda Florist, Blooming Flowers, Florist shop - Ohio (OH) Weddings, Sympathy, all events, Order fresh beautiful flowers delivered by a trusted local florist, Blooming Flowers. Our flower shop delivers to Amanda OH, Lancaster OH, Canal Winchester OH, Stoutsville OH, Circleville OH, Lithopolis OH with extended delivery to Carmel East Hospital OH. We offer free delivery to local funeral homes, churches, nursing homes and hospitals. 43102">

.

 

[mlou]

Your next baby steps...

Your other web pages do not have a <head>

Develop each page in your website using a different focus:

<html>
<head>
<title>...</title>
<meta name="description" content="...">
<meta name="keywords" content="...">
</head>

Example...your next web page (per your navigation links) is Celebrations

You could use...

<title>Celebrations Flower Arrangements and Bouquets - Flowers, Balloons and Gifts by Blooming Flowers can make your's a success</title>

<meta name="description" content="Celebrations, Amanda OH florist, a full service provider of flowers, balloons and gifts to Amanda OH, Lancaster OH, Canal Winchester OH, Stoutsville OH, Circleville OH and Lithopolis OH">

<meta name="keywords" content="Celebrations, Celebrations Flower Arrangements and Bouquets, Amanda, Ohio, OH, Blooming Flowers Florist, flowers, ballons, gifts, Amanda OH, Lancaster OH, Canal Winchester OH, Stoutsville OH, Circleville OH and Lithopolis OH">

So your new <head> would read... (the red shows change to your web page coding)

<html>
<title>Celebrations Flower Arrangements and Bouquets - Flowers, Balloons and Gifts by Blooming Flowers can make your's a success</title>
<meta name="description" content="Celebrations, Amanda OH florist, a full service provider of flowers, balloons and gifts to Amanda OH, Lancaster OH, Canal Winchester OH, Stoutsville OH, Circleville OH and Lithopolis OH">
<meta name="keywords" content="Celebrations, Celebrations Flower Arrangements and Bouquets, Amanda, Ohio, OH, Blooming Flowers Florist, flowers, ballons, gifts, Amanda OH, Lancaster OH, Canal Winchester OH, Stoutsville OH, Circleville OH and Lithopolis OH">
<meta name="MSSmartTagsPreventParsing" content="True">
<STYLE type="text/css">
<!--
form.nospace { margin-bottom:0; line-height:0; padding:0px; margin:0px; }
TD { font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; color: #000000; text-decoration: none;}
A:hover {color:FF0000;}
.txtGreyb {text-decoration: none;font-family:Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight:bold; font-size:11px; color:#666666; }
.txtBody { font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; color: #333333; text-decoration: none;}

.topNav1 {font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; font-weight: normal; color: #660000; text-decoration: none;}
.topNav2 {font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; font-weight: normal; color: #333333; text-decoration: none;}

.serviceHead1 {font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 8pt; font-weight: normal; color: #999999; text-decoration: none;}
.Heading {font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; color: #999999; text-decoration: none;}

.SECtextERROR {font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 9px; color: #FF0000;}
.SECtextB {font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 9px; font-weight: bold;}
.SECtext {font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-weight: normal; color: #660000; text-decoration: none;}
.black8B {font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; font-weight: bold; color: #000000; text-decoration: none;}
-->
</STYLE>
</head>
<BODY bgcolor="ffffee">

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[Theresa]

a web page with city name

Hi Mary Lou,
I was wondering, since the order gathering sites use a portal page to get listed high on search engines for each city...

Can I make a page for my webiste that includes my city and state,
something like www.mywebpagename.net/mycityname and nameofstate?


Thanks, I will be working on the descriptions for the other pages this coming week.

Theresa

 

[mlou]

Simple answer...yes.

One of the most important steps of SEO (search engine optimization) is to pick a keyword rich url name...
domain name, sub-menu names and web page names.

Keep it short and simple!
Make it easy to remember!
Relate it to your flower shop!
Use keywords!

Ninety five percent of the consumers find florist sites by querying the major search engines.

HINT: if your website does not appear in the first twenty to thirty results, it may as well not be there.

I was wondering, since the order gathering sites use a portal page to get listed high on search engines for each city......

Yes, high placement with several keywords is possible with the use of portal pages. Portal pages are web pages designed to place high in one particular search engine for keywords or phrases, then link to the rest of your website. Yes, some people call these pages doorway, bridge page, gateway page, entry page, zebra page or landing page...but these pages were developed for different use with different principles. The difference are so minor that most people consider them all to be the same page.

Most portal pages have now been replaced by the site map.
Here is an example of a portal page...
http://ilearn.senecac.on.ca/lop/


I think you should use the landing page approach...
"landing page" jargon began with e-mail adversiting...meaning the web page you land at...(also called jump or splash page)
This page would be optimized for a keyword term to rank in search engines and the consumer would "land" on that web page instead of your home page.

BTW, your Just Because links don't work...

IMO, you need to develop a landing page for each keyword pharse in your home page "description"...that way you should end up with two pages in the SERPS (home page and one landing page...most SE only show two listings per website)

Example of page names
/amanda-florist.html
/flower-shop-amanda-oh.html
/sympathy-flowers.html
/weddings-flowers.html
/flower-shop-lancaster-oh.html
/flower-shop-canal-winchester-oh.html
/flower-shop-stoutsville-oh.html
/flower-shop-circleville-oh.html
/flower-shop-lithopolis-oh.html
/43102.html

/sympathy-flowers.html should cover funeral homes in the area
/get-well.html should cover hospitals, nusring homes and maybe retirement centers in the area.

Use different landing pages for different keywords.

Be careful, don't spam the search engines...

Create strong meaningful web pages, continue to use your keywords in your <head> and <body> as well as in your urls...

.

 

[mlou]

You quit working on your website...

We were just beginning to get your website to rank..now is the time to refine each web page When you add these same techniques to the other pages in your website, you will start ranking with two listings instead of one...

Example:
The keyword pharse "florist Lancaster OH" is in your description but not on your home page content. Theretofore, you don't rank well. If you add it to your home page content or add the pharse to one of your other web pages, your ranking should move up.

Here's your ranking today...

florist Amanda
Google - not found (9/21)
Google - not found (10/5)
Google - #26 (10/9)
Google - #12 (10/22)
Google - #11 (10/26)
Google - #7 (11/14)

Yahoo -not found
Yahoo - #33 (10/5)
Yahoo - #46 (10/9)
Yahoo - not found (10/22)
Yahoo - not found (10/26)
Yahoo - # 60 (11/14)

MSN - not found (9/21)
MSN - not found (10/5)
MSN # 51 (10/9)
MSN #16 (10/22)
MSN #17 (10/26)
MSN #6 (11/14)

florist Amanda OH
Google - not found (9/21)
Google - #46 (10/5)
Google - #52 (10/9)
Google - #13 (10/22)
Google - #15 (10/26)
Google - #7 (11/14)

Yahoo - #56
Yahoo - #19 (10/5)
Yahoo - #23 (10/9)
Yahoo - #25 (10/22)
Yahoo - #24, 26 (10/26)
Yahoo - #12 (11/14)

MSN - not found (9/21)
MSN - not found (10/5)
MSN - not found (10/9)
MSN - #8 (10/22)
MSN - #9 (10/26)
MSN - #1 (11/14)

flower shop in Amanda
Google - not found (9/21)
Google - #39 (10/5)
Google - #14 (10/9)
Google - #5 (10/22)
Google - #5 (10/26)
Google - #6 (11/14)

Yahoo - not found (9/21)
Yahoo - #2 (10/5)
Yahoo - #3 (10/9)
Yahoo - #1 (10/22)
Yahoo - #1, 6 (10/26)
Yahoo - #1 (11/14)

MSN - not found (9/21)
MSN - #15 (10/5)
MSN - #16 (10/9)
MSN - #3 (10/22)
MSN - #4 (10/26)
MSN - #4 (11/14)

florist Lancaster OH
Google - not found (9/21)
Google - not found (10/5)
Google - #35 (10/9)
Google - #33 (10/22)
Google - #27 (10/26)
Google - not found (11/14)

Yahoo - not found (9/21)
Yahoo #33 (10/5)
Yahoo #48 (10/9)
Yahoo - not found (10/22)
Yahoo - not found (10/26)
Yahoo #35 (11/4)


MSN - not found (9/21)
MSN - not found (10/5)
MSN - not found (10/9)
MSN - not found (10/22)
MSN - not found (10/26)
MSN - not found (11/14)


Notice, we have made the top 10 for 7 of the 12 keywords (8 of 12 for the top 20) we choose to watch...

 

[Theresa]

You're right!

You're right Mary Lou! Thanks for the kick start.

 

[Theresa]

Am I ready for a site map?

When you add these same techniques to the other pages in your website...

Got this done...finally! It took me awhile to think of filler alt tag words; not one of my strong suits. Thanks again for all of your help, Mary Lou.

Do you think I am ready for a site map? I tried using a free site map generator and the code looks like it lists my pages and the frequency they are updated (monthly), is that all there is to a site map, and where does the code go?