[dotf]

Hi all,
Can i have some feed back on a site i have created, i dont have any html know how and used serif plusx2 to create it. Im also really struggling with the seo concept, just cant get my head around it.

desiresoftheflesh.co.uk

Many thanks

[gonzogone]

Hi dotf well, now I know what 'dotf' stands for

Where to start... This is the type of site that shows you can get a long ways without really knowing much about site development, HTML, CSS and SEO. Unfortunately, that's not necessarily a good thing.

From the standpoint of just how the site looks visually, it looks like a whole lot of other toy sites out there which off the top will make it tough to compete. The toys market is pretty competitive. Visually, it's pretty busy to look at. There is so much going on, it's almost difficult to realize that there are some products in the middle.

The navigation is a bit tough to read and the popup subcategories generally have too much text to look at. Clicking to an individual item, there needs to be more text for the SE bots to chew on. You've got just the very basics for the couple descriptions I looked at.

Looking at the code structure, you've got waaaaaaaaaay too many keywords stuffed into a page and all the pages seem to have the same keywords and description. Neither of those will do you any good with the SEs. The closest thing you've got to SEO is page names matching products and page titles. There are no headings on the pages I looked at and each page really needs it's own set of keywords and a description that is not the same on every page.

I just noticed that when clicking to a product page, there is no consistency between the index page and the product pages. Has similar colors and all, but the navigation went away, so no clue how to get back to the main index. The only navigation I saw took me to a master page of similar products...

Don't mean to be harsh, but directness is needed for a good review. Just need to point out the initial issues that hit me. It looks like you've put a lot of effort into the site, but research needs to come before putting the effort into building the site.

Do a search on "Adult Toys" in G or Bing and take a look at the top results. Take in the structure and how the navigation works. Find out what you like and don't like, then go back and take a look at your site and you'll likely get a feel for where you need to get to.

In the end, there is little substitute for knowing HTML, CSS and understanding SEO. They take some time though. IMHO, you need to take a step back to do some research and planning, then return to how you want to put it together.

All that said, five for having the will to post the site and get comments. It's never easy, but it's ALWAYS the best thing to do!

I'm sure others will have some things to say. That's what I've got off the top.

[Tigger]

Don't mean to be harsh, but directness is needed for a good review. Just need to point out the initial issues that hit me. It looks like you've put a lot of effort into the site, but research needs to come before putting the effort into building the site.

glad Brent said that - OK blunt and to the point

I agree with everything brent said, but also

The logo / name - is too big and if you made it a lot smaller and a font that doesn't look so dated you could get another banner in the top section and balance the site up

The Free P & P looks like it came from a 10 year old site, plus the colours don't help either

The banner script your running at the bottom means yo have little control over whats being displayed at when I was looking at the site it was showing UK jobs! - is that something you really want on a adult toy site

The small banners at the top do very little for the site as you can't really make out what they are

Once into the site I'm sorry to say it gets even worse and I thought I'd left the site an gone onto another and it was only your header that told me I was still on your site

The SEO is poor & TBH doesn't really exists and Brent has addressed some key pointers so its pointless in going over those again - but one point the java menu you've used cannot be crawled so this means SE bots can't crawl the site and as you don't have a site map they are going to struggle with the site

----------------

OK so thats the bad crap out of the way and I hope you don't mind me being straight to the point - You really are running before you can walk and attempting to compete in a market that is so competitive I can tell you now you won't stand a chance as I know a lot of guys in the adult toy market and they are very switched onto both SEO & producing some very nice toy sites that yours is not

My advice would be to scrap the site as its got so many errors it would be pointless in trying to fix it - then rather than trying to compete in a massive marketplace start small by building a site around dildos, fetish toys, bondage equipment but anything that has a much smaller market then you MAY stand a chance, but I wouldn't hold your breath

Sorry if I sound negative but I just don't want you wasting your time and efforts

[gonzogone]

Originally Posted by Tigger

My advice would be to scrap the site as its got so many errors it would be pointless in trying to fix it - then rather than trying to compete in a massive marketplace start small by building a site around dildos, fetish toys, bondage equipment but anything that has a much smaller market

yup - another area where working in a specific niche can help to get the job done. Adding product reviews is never a bad thing either. Adds crawlable text to the site and you can do some extra linking between pages or have the product reviews on another site that's a blog, linking into the toy site.

[Tigger]

Agree, start small and you may stand a chance before you take a real players on and go for main adult toy keywords - like I said you need to walk before you run

[dotf]

Well, what can i say ? I asked and boy did i get told !!!!
If you just said the site is crap i would have been less hurt

Thanks for the honest advice and i will see what i can do.

[Tigger]

better to learn now than waste months trying to push it

as for hugs ...............no tongs

[gonzogone]

Originally Posted by dotf

If you just said the site is crap i would have been less hurt

here ya go

I know it may sting a bit, but it's all constructive, honest information that will hopefully help you get a productive site built