SEO & Internet Marketing Blog

[derekjay]

Hi Guys

After much delay, I have finally managed to get around to setting up my blog at www.seobasicscourse.com/blog

If any of you are interested in SEO or internet marketing in general, please pop by, have a dig through the articles (which are minimal at this point!) and please comment! Comments are always welcome!

I hope to provide a weekly insight into either SEO or IM and would really like your input and feedback. So, if it interests you, check it out

https://www.seobasicscourse.com/blog

PS - Obviously its free. I had to mention that as a had someone who signed up for the free SEO course, emailing me that he was worried I was going to invoice him somewhere down the line..

[Dave A]

PS - Obviously its free. I had to mention that as a had someone who signed up for the free SEO course, emailing me that he was worried I was going to invoice him somewhere down the line..

Tell me about it. I suppose it's a compliment really.

[garthu]

Hi Derekjay,

Going through the course and picking up loads of tips.

Could do with some advice here!

I basically have 2 sites at one domain. midrand-electronics.co.za was the original site using WP. Recently i decided to go with online shop operation as well to see how it would work out - turns out to this point pretty good so all worth pursuing aggressively! I installed the ZEN Cart site into a new folder midrand-electronics.co.za/sound-and-lighting. The main page has links to it etc

I tried the xml site map generator you suggested in SEO 3, but it only maps up to /sound-and-lighting folder and no deeper than that.It maps all the 50 odd pages on the original site but no deeper than the home page of /sound-and-lighting where there are at least another 30 odd pages or so..

I am also guessing that if the site generator is having issues, then so would the search engines (thats an assumption) Suggestions on where this could have gone wrong if possible would be appreciated!

Thanks a stack!

[Mark Atkinson]

Nice to see a fellow South African blogger! There aren't enough of us.

Just a tip, with your affiliate links you should indicate that they are affiliates. Apart from building trust with your audience, I read somewhere (can't remember where) that there have been new laws passed regarding affiliate links to do with exactly that. Not sure whether they apply here or not but it's probably a good idea just to do it anyway.

[garthu]

This is quite amusing, posted on the google SEO help pages, an email sent to google:

"Dear google.com,
I visited your website and noticed that you are not listed in most of the major search engines and directories..."

Sound familiar?

[derekjay]

Hi Garth

Thanks for your comments and for signing up for the course

I've had a quick squiz at your site. My immediate recommendation, from a marketing perspective more than anything else, would be to either give the online store its own domain, or place it in the base of the site (ie, so that people don't need to click through the home page to get there). It's just a case of exposure, and ultimately looks better. So you might want to split the two up, or around.

From the XML side, the first question I would ask is whether or not Google is in fact indexing these pages. You can find out by just searching for the URL in Google. If it is, don't worry about it. Let me know what your outcome is...

PS - you can reply to my course emails with your questions

[garthu]

Hi Derek,

Thanks, theres alot going on in the back that i havnt mentioned so dont want to comment to much yet as alot of changes have been made last 10 days. If they not in google by this week, then i'll start to worry!!

Its own domain i will give serious thought and kinda expected that... it actually started as experiement and suddenly became something that needs attention!!

By moving domains, will i not damge the amount of work thats done already in promoting and is it easy to recover the work (it would involve some 330 redirects!!)

Cheers Garth

[derekjay]

The best bet is to load both domains on Google Webmasters (if you haven't already done this), and then use the "Change Of Address" option on GW.

This should, theoretically, carry over any "SEO credit" to the new site. You will still need to use redirects, but this ensures the smoothest possible transition.

[orpaspar]

Awesome, awesome, awesome!

Finally, I have found someone who knows what they are talking about as far as SEO is concerned and goes to great lengths to show some integrity. I have been trying to get the hang of SEO for years and after reading many of the "experts" have ended up more confused than before. To be honest, I haven't really had the time either. All I can say is well done sir. I have also signed up for your course and if the first part is anything to go by, it should be very helpful.

[garthu]

Thanks Derek... thats exceptionally helpful as i do have some major credit i wouldn't or rather couldn't afford to lose!!

This is good stuff.. thanks

[derekjay]

@garthu - I see you've broken the two sites up now. Looks much better.

Now the hard work begins... SEO maintenance for two sites as opposed to one hehe... The joys of internet marketing...

[garthu]

LOL, yup you not kidding, and they both as important as the other! Lotsa graft...

[robinsonwang]

can you introduce some useful and popular blog in south africa?
thanks