any obvious SEO errors on new site?

[MobileTechie]

I redeveloped my site recently. The new one (same domain name) has dropped from number 2 for my main search term (berkshire computer repair) to about 8th I think. Now I've lost some deeper links due to the fact my old site was all .php pages and this one isn't but all the same I'm wondering if the keywords etc are not right.

If anyone who knows could check it out I'd be grateful. Any other comments on it would be gratefully received too - the more brutally honest the better.

Cheers

MT

 

[Methical]

I redeveloped my site recently. The new one (same domain name) has dropped from number 2 for my main search term (berkshire computer repair) to about 8th I think. Now I've lost some deeper links due to the fact my old site was all .php pages and this one isn't but all the same I'm wondering if the keywords etc are not right.

If anyone who knows could check it out I'd be grateful. Any other comments on it would be gratefully received too - the more brutally honest the better.

Cheers

MT

Nice site !

This line here looks rather 'light' to me

  <meta name="keywords" content="Berkshire, computer, repair" />

 

[JosephLeo]

Let's see...

<!-- JoomlaWorks "Ultimate Content Display" Module (v1.1) starts here --> 
<style type="text/css" media="screen"> 
		@import "http://www.mobile-techie.com/modules/mod_jw_ucd/mod_jw_ucd/jqueryfader/mod_jw_ucd.css";
		ul#ucd-instance.ucd_jqueryfader li {height:156px;background-color:#F7F7F8;}
</style> 
<!--[if lt IE 7]>
<style type="text/css" media="screen">
	* html .ucd_jqueryfader_bottomfade {background:none;filter:progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.AlphaImageLoader(src="http://www.mobile-techie.com/modules/mod_jw_ucd/mod_jw_ucd/jqueryfader/bottomfade.png", sizingMethod="scale");}
</style>
<![endif]--> 
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.mobile-techie.com/modules/mod_jw_ucd/mod_jw_ucd/jqueryfader/jquery.js"></script> 
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.mobile-techie.com/modules/mod_jw_ucd/mod_jw_ucd/jqueryfader/jquery.innerfade.js"></script>

CSS and JavaScript should be declared in the header.

Also, NONE of your images have ALT tags which means this page doesn't even validate.

 

[tminer]

as methical said you keywords are kinda light

i would change to: "Berkshire computer repair, another phrase, another phase, etc" without the commas between bershire and computer as you have now, because commas seperate phrases.

note 1: dont put in any keywords that are not on your page
note 2: the keyword meta description isn't used by google anymore but some other still use it

a drop from 2 to 8 isnt uncommon as algorithms change from time to time, next week you could be back to #2. however since you changed you site structure and have outside links pointing to php pages that no longer exist you are losing that popularity you once had so this could be a factor in dropping rank. To fix it create 301 permenant redirects from old php pages to your revelvant new pages. This will pass the power of the links to your new pages.

 

[MobileTechie]

Let's see...

<!-- JoomlaWorks "Ultimate Content Display" Module (v1.1) starts here --> 
<style type="text/css" media="screen"> 
		@import "http://www.mobile-techie.com/modules/mod_jw_ucd/mod_jw_ucd/jqueryfader/mod_jw_ucd.css";
		ul#ucd-instance.ucd_jqueryfader li {height:156px;background-color:#F7F7F8;}
</style> 
<!--[if lt IE 7]>
<style type="text/css" media="screen">
	* html .ucd_jqueryfader_bottomfade {background:none;filter:progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.AlphaImageLoader(src="http://www.mobile-techie.com/modules/mod_jw_ucd/mod_jw_ucd/jqueryfader/bottomfade.png", sizingMethod="scale");}
</style>
<![endif]--> 
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.mobile-techie.com/modules/mod_jw_ucd/mod_jw_ucd/jqueryfader/jquery.js"></script> 
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.mobile-techie.com/modules/mod_jw_ucd/mod_jw_ucd/jqueryfader/jquery.innerfade.js"></script>

CSS and JavaScript should be declared in the header.

Also, NONE of your images have ALT tags which means this page doesn't even validate.

I've no idea how I would delare CSS and JavaScript. I just used Joomla to build this. I did zero coding.

 

[JosephLeo]

I've no idea how I would delare CSS and JavaScript. I just used Joomla to build this. I did zero coding.

That's what I don't like about Joomla

There is a module out there called CssJsCompress that does just this for you. It's REALLY helpful for non-Joomla developers.

 

[MobileTechie]

Funnily enough that is what I like about Joomla!

I've installed it now. Has it made any difference?

 

[tminer]

The 301 redirects will make a bigger difference than all of the css not being in the head tag.

I dont think you'll be penalized for not having all the css in the head. Links to css style files should be in the head but inline styles are ok outside of the head tags.

 

[MobileTechie]

The 301 redirects will make a bigger difference than all of the css not being in the head tag.

I dont think you'll be penalized for not having all the css in the head. Links to css style files should be in the head but inline styles are ok outside of the head tags.

Thanks guys.

I just tried doing the redirects through cpanel but it seems to have not worked.

 

[tminer]

Thanks guys.

I just tried doing the redirects through cpanel but it seems to have not worked.

I dont use cpanel so not sure how to do it there. did you make blank files for your old php pages that had links coming to them?

For instance if you had an old page with incoming links called index.php, make sure you have a blank page called index.php and then 301 redirect it to index.html

 

[JosephLeo]

The 301 redirects will make a bigger difference than all of the css not being in the head tag.

I dont think you'll be penalized for not having all the css in the head. Links to css style files should be in the head but inline styles are ok outside of the head tags.

While you won't get penalized for not having the CSS & Javascript in the header you will be critisiced for it as it's not the standard way of doing things.

HOWEVER, Google and other big search engines will penalize you for multiple request- i.e. CSS Files, Images and JavaScript files which is why you always ALWAYS should have 1 master JavaScript file with all your javascript- 1 master CSS file for your layout, color, and typography (while working on them separately in a non-production enviroment) and 1 IE specific CSS & Javascript file contained in a IE Condition comment.

It's also best to not have a lot of images- or use a trick known as "CSS Sprites" where you take your entire sites images and put them into 1 image and then placing those images in the background and use the background-position css tag to position them properly. This also makes LESS request on your server.

Doing those tricks can take your site from 20 seconds to live all the way down to 5 seconds to live...there are additional ways to compress your website as well like Gzip compression- removing comments and whitespace out of javascript, css & html, instead of placing EVERYTHING in a div (i.e. a navigation) learn to use the display:block command in css, etc...doing that can shave a second or two off- but it's usually not worth it unless your planning to roll out a huge website (Social Network, News/Blog/Magazine, etc.)

 

[MobileTechie]

OK I just tried that with one and now all I get is the blank page. So it would appear the redirect as done using the hosting firm's control panel does not work.

 

[MobileTechie]

While you won't get penalized for not having the CSS & Javascript in the header you will be critisiced for it as it's not the standard way of doing things.

HOWEVER, Google and other big search engines will penalize you for multiple request- i.e. CSS Files, Images and JavaScript files which is why you always ALWAYS should have 1 master JavaScript file with all your javascript- 1 master CSS file for your layout, color, and typography (while working on them separately in a non-production enviroment) and 1 IE specific CSS & Javascript file contained in a IE Condition comment.

It's also best to not have a lot of images- or use a trick known as "CSS Sprites" where you take your entire sites images and put them into 1 image and then placing those images in the background and use the background-position css tag to position them properly. This also makes LESS request on your server.

Doing those tricks can take your site from 20 seconds to live all the way down to 5 seconds to live...there are additional ways to compress your website as well like Gzip compression- removing comments and whitespace out of javascript, css & html, instead of placing EVERYTHING in a div (i.e. a navigation) learn to use the display:block command in css, etc...doing that can shave a second or two off- but it's usually not worth it unless your planning to roll out a huge website (Social Network, News/Blog/Magazine, etc.)

Can you tell if that plugin has worked?

BTW since you have a good design eye....are there any suggestions on things I can do to make the site look better?

Thanks

 

[JosephLeo]

Let's see here.

The logo itself looks "blurry" or "static" as if your stretched it and the text underneathe it looks to "crisp" or "dynamic" in contrast of the logo. Also the logo's reflection is very '07.

In the navigation area, instead of a silver hover effect why don't you go with a lighter orange effect? It's a little to drastic of a color change in my personal opinion.

In the left sidebar the CompTia logo looks too tall- or just generally stretched in one direction. You should look into getting a better logo stock. Also, the "Get qualified repair..." should be a sans-serif font. Serif fonts generally look horrible on screen and only good in print.

In the "For help call [phone number] / email info..." area use a darker grey for the sub-text instead of light grey. Make it more noticeable.

The Copyright area shouldn't have those little images, if you can remove them- but if you can't do that then move them to a "sub-footer" underneath the entire site in the whitespace or in your case the "blue-grey space"

Finally, in the blog. Consider taking the Date, Blogger and Print buttons information and shrink them down to 11px for font size. Also consider getting rid of the border and using a border-bottom:dotted 1px instead of a border:solid 3px.


Those are the best tweaks I can possibly come up with. Hope I was of some help

 

[MobileTechie]

That's all good stuff.

So do you think I should lose the reflection entirely?

 

[JosephLeo]

So do you think I should lose the reflection entirely?

Yes- it was cool and fresh 2 years ago, but sadly as all trends go, they die out fast. That's why I avoid trends as much as possible since it leads up to redoing your work every 6 months. Right now oversize headers and "ribbons" are the cool thing.

Ribbons are where you take your blog title, or article title and put it in a brightly colored block that goes over the content block itself and then "folds" under it.

Another popular thing that I hope dies very soon is "hand drawn" style. So many gaudy cliche' websites are using it right now- but that's okay since they're gaudy and cliche...but PROFESSIONAL websites are using it

 

[tminer]

While you won't get penalized for not having the CSS & Javascript in the header you will be critisiced for it as it's not the standard way of doing things.

HOWEVER, Google and other big search engines will penalize you for multiple request- i.e. CSS Files, Images and JavaScript files which is why you always ALWAYS should have 1 master JavaScript file with all your javascript- 1 master CSS file for your layout, color, and typography (while working on them separately in a non-production enviroment) and 1 IE specific CSS & Javascript file contained in a IE Condition comment.

It's also best to not have a lot of images- or use a trick known as "CSS Sprites" where you take your entire sites images and put them into 1 image and then placing those images in the background and use the background-position css tag to position them properly. This also makes LESS request on your server.

Doing those tricks can take your site from 20 seconds to live all the way down to 5 seconds to live...there are additional ways to compress your website as well like Gzip compression- removing comments and whitespace out of javascript, css & html, instead of placing EVERYTHING in a div (i.e. a navigation) learn to use the display:block command in css, etc...doing that can shave a second or two off- but it's usually not worth it unless your planning to roll out a huge website (Social Network, News/Blog/Magazine, etc.)

Im not sure that google or others will penalize for multiple css files, i doubt they do. A single css file (or javascript file) would keep it simpler (centralized) and less files to load on the server, but we're talking minimal time here for simple sites.

Although i do generally go through and removed excess white space lines, with todays internet sppeds it not near as problem as it was with dial-up. Having said that his code does have alot of blank lines. It wont hurt but looks bad.

It has been announced that google will start (in the near future) taking into account how fast a page loads, in its ranking. For MOST sites the main thing you can do for your pages is opimize (compress) ALL your graphics. This is generally the biggest loading time for a standard site. I personnaly use adobe fireworks and find that most jpg and gif file are best at around 70%. Also having a good quality server with a fast connection is helpful.

If a site takes 20 second to go live, im not staying on that site. His came up in 5 seconds for me, it could probably be a little faster but it is acceptable.

FYI, my professional background is web development and management, i have several sites that rank in the top 1-5 for pretty competitive niche keywords and they have stayed there for over 7 years straight, so i have a good idea of what works and what doesn't.

 

[JosephLeo]

FYI, my professional background is web development and management, i have several sites that rank in the top 1-5 for pretty competitive niche keywords and they have stayed there for over 7 years straight, so i have a good idea of what works and what doesn't.

I dropped out of the professional "league" around a year and a half ago. So I know where you're coming from. But even with todays amazing speeds I still have that demon on my shoulder called "perfectionist" nagging me.

Honestly I think page load speed is already implemented in Google page rank since most first page results show up faster than say- 10th page results. Although that could just be from different budgets in quality hosting.

When I work with CSS I generally have 8 development CSS files

• reset.css
• layout.css
• color.css
• typography.css
• ie7.css
• ie6.css
• ie.css
• scratchpad.css

My reset is really a dual-use of reset and "unreset" or basicly setting my own person defaults. the middle 5 explain themselves and the last one scratchpad.css is where I develop in. I work on one feature at a time then split it up into the appropriate css file once I get it working in all browsers...one feature at a time (header > left side > middle > right side > footer)

My JavaScipt I do a similar scheme. For example, when I set it up like this.

• google.js
• jquery.js

then any specific javascript addons like if I need Javascript for the navigation I will make a navigation.js, if I need something for an ad banner I'll make an adbanner.js, etc.

My images I also like to do the same, when working with them I have them all seperate but then when I'm finished I modify the css to work with an image sprite. 1px backgrounds that repeat-x in one, 1px background that repeat-y in another, all the graphics including hover, blank, active states as well as the logo in another. Anything that needs an alt tag will be seperate.

Finally I take all my CSS, remove any comments, whitespace and check for any shorthand rules I can use- same with my javascript and then I take my sprites and images and compress them as much as possible (usually they're PNG's) and run the site from there.

I save about 30 server request, and 40kb on average which is about 3 to 5 seconds. Pretty much it's all up to render time and the webhost itself after that since there is almost no room for optimization once I'm done with my clients...or, ex-clients I guess.

 

[tminer]

I dropped out of the professional "league" around a year and a half ago. So I know where you're coming from. But even with todays amazing speeds I still have that demon on my shoulder called "perfectionist" nagging me..

Yeah i've been known to nitpick.

Honestly I think page load speed is already implemented in Google page rank since most first page results show up faster than say- 10th page results. Although that could just be from different budgets in quality hosting.

It could be in effect. Thats the thing about google (and other big se's) they dont give definetive details on how the inside (algorithm) works.

When I work with CSS I generally have 8 development CSS files

• reset.css
• layout.css
• color.css
• typography.css
• ie7.css
• ie6.css
• ie.css
• scratchpad.css

My reset is really a dual-use of reset and "unreset" or basicly setting my own person defaults. the middle 5 explain themselves and the last one scratchpad.css is where I develop in. I work on one feature at a time then split it up into the appropriate css file once I get it working in all browsers...one feature at a time (header > left side > middle > right side > footer).

Good idea about the seperate css file while developing, I usually build one big file and that can get hard to manage.

My JavaScipt I do a similar scheme. For example, when I set it up like this.

• google.js
• jquery.js

then any specific javascript addons like if I need Javascript for the navigation I will make a navigation.js, if I need something for an ad banner I'll make an adbanner.js, etc..

I use so little js code that mine is inline, usually java is only used by me if its for client side form validation. The search engines have been working on getting better to interpret java script but it not quite up to par imo.

Finally I take all my CSS, remove any comments, whitespace and check for any shorthand rules I can use- same with my javascript and then I take my sprites and images and compress them as much as possible (usually they're PNG's) and run the site from there.

I only use PNG for the initial design to retain a copy of the layers (for future needs or modifications), once happy with it....it gets exported at about 70% compression to a jpg (or gif) depending on the type of the image. PNG files are larger than a jpg or gif. Note i use fireworks over photoshop and fireworks seems to do a better job at the compression for web images.

I save about 30 server request, and 40kb on average which is about 3 to 5 seconds. Pretty much it's all up to render time and the webhost itself after that since there is almost no room for optimization once I'm done with my clients...or, ex-clients I guess.[/QUOTE]

 

[JosephLeo]

I only use PNG for the initial design to retain a copy of the layers (for future needs or modifications), once happy with it....it gets exported at about 70% compression to a jpg (or gif) depending on the type of the image. PNG files are larger than a jpg or gif. Note i use fireworks over photoshop and fireworks seems to do a better job at the compression for web images.

PNG Monster can shrink PNG image sizes by up to 90% without loss! So you get a JPG/GIF file size with the abilities of a PNG (Including Alpha transparancy and alpha blending) although you'll also have to add an IE behavior for IE6 and 5.5- TwinHelix IE PNG Fix is the best by far since it supports background images and repeat-x & repeat-y images. You can also make background :hover images work with an addon to TwinHelix' from Peter Ned called Whatever:hover. That script also enables you to add :hover to any element in IE instead of just a's (a.k.a. anchors, or links)