I have done some optimization for the site but have allowed some things to not get optimized as 'deeply' as they can be because, like for somethings, it is more important for them to be clear and detailed versus as small as possible... think images,
I have sped things up by using cloudfare, I have tried to add a blog, post to FB and twitter, Added Like boxes to pages, Pinterest for images, added Metatag stuff (keywords, etc), SEO URLs, made the site mobile friendly, compacted the CSS as far as I dare with the template we use, etc.
But I feel I may be missing things since the traffic has actually slowed more then normal for the summer months and I am tired of trying to tweak things by myself.
So that brings me to the questions.... Do you see anything straight away on our site that makes you say "FOUL! That is the issue" or even when surfing that you see if wrong....
Next, is there a marketing company you feel is reasonable and you have good experience with getting more traffic?
Thank you,
Mike
cue4cheap not cheap quality
Followed demonstrates the fundamental ways to bring more traffic to your site: https://blog.kissmetrics.com/double-you ... a-traffic/ . From your website to social media websites, you can increase your site's reputation in no time.So that brings me to the questions.... Do you see anything straight away on our site that makes you say "FOUL! That is the issue" or even when surfing that you see if wrong....
Next, is there a marketing company you feel is reasonable and you have good experience with getting more traffic?
There are also countless extensions on the Opencart store you can lookup regarding the expansion of Marketing compared to what the core already provides, including social media extensions. One example would be this one which seem to be very reputable to propagate the products information towards Facebook: http://www.opencart.com/index.php?route ... on_id=5002
Dedication and passion goes to those who are able to push and merge a project.
Regards,
Straightlight
Programmer / Opencart Tester
The New Google guidelines Make sites Running ssl entirely having a better than sites Running without ssl.
You Have checkout already ssl, so small effort to put entire site under ssl.
Make sure you redirect All Traffic from http to https with a 301 redirect.
Use product tags in a better way, Make sure they are product related, and represent All major search keywords for that product.
It will Help the site search functioneren, but also improve seo.
For a cue use words like used material, Color, finish, also General words like cue pool biljart.
The More the better.
Koeltechnische deurrubbers eenvoudig online op maat bestellen.
Alle niet stekplichtige onderdelen zoals scharnieren, sloten, randverwarming en verlichting voor alle typen koelingen en vriezers.
https://koelcel-onderdelen.com
Before generically following this specific step, I would encourage forum users to rely on this topic: http://forum.opencart.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=165616 which is a working solution on the subject and can be found on the news announcement section of the forum.Make sure you redirect All Traffic from http to https with a 301 redirect.
Dedication and passion goes to those who are able to push and merge a project.
Regards,
Straightlight
Programmer / Opencart Tester
I read that a while ago but one of the big stoppers for me is I run in a multi-store configuration. Only a SSL for the main store. I could not for the life of me figure out how to get a multi-domain cert that would cover all the other stores. I read in a few threads it could be accomplished with the standard ssl for the main domain because multi-store actually run as sub-domains off the main one. Then I read, no that isn't the case, that you needed a multi-domain SSL that covers all the domain names. Since I couldn't figure it out I've left it as is therefore I was concerned that if I followed the process to put the entire main domain into being SSL it would mess with the other stores.victorj wrote:I would start to get your entire site Running ssl.
Insight to either / all scenarios?
That is a good idea. .. I will see if there is a way to automate (change) the current SEO script I have installed and see if there is a way to ID things in the description and automatically put them in the tags. Otherwise I'll have to go through each product and remove the part of the SEO script that automatically generates the tags.victorj wrote: Use product tags in a better way, Make sure they are product related, and represent All major search keywords for that product.
It will Help the site search functioneren, but also improve seo.
For a cue use words like used material, Color, finish, also General words like cue pool biljart.
The More the better.
Thank you,
Mike
cue4cheap not cheap quality
1) SSL for every site: If you are on a server that uses cPanel and CentOS 7, you can install more than 1 certificate per cPnel account so you can have each store secure. We have done this with labeshops sites (I'm sure you'll see her posts around the site).
2) I do not see a 'canonical' tag on your pages. This is really important to stop indexing duplicate pages. Which version of Opencart are you using?
3) Get rid of the keyword meta tag wherever you can. This is spammy and not checked by Google anymore. They stopped this years ago.
4) Add Rich Snippets. https://developers.google.com/search/do ... tured-data
These are just a few things you can do. If you want assistance with the SSL, feel free to send an email to sales[at]evolvewebhost.com
Making all of your sites SSL enabled is possible.
Reason: Edited email address format.
Opencart Hosting Plans, Domain Registration, Microsoft and Google Email and More
Visit our website for great deals and most importantly, fast and friendly support - www.evolvewebhost.com
1) So it would have to be one per domain versus one that covers all?EvolveWebHosting wrote:Here is more information for you:
1) SSL for every site: If you are on a server that uses cPanel and CentOS 7, you can install more than 1 certificate per cPnel account so you can have each store secure. We have done this with labeshops sites (I'm sure you'll see her posts around the site).
2) I do not see a 'canonical' tag on your pages. This is really important to stop indexing duplicate pages. Which version of Opencart are you using?
3) Get rid of the keyword meta tag wherever you can. This is spammy and not checked by Google anymore. They stopped this years ago.
4) Add Rich Snippets. https://developers.google.com/search/do ... tured-data
These are just a few things you can do. If you want assistance with the SSL, feel free to send an email to sales[at]evolvewebhost.com
Making all of your sites SSL enabled is possible.
2) 1.5.6.4
3) I can do that. So you feel it might count against me? If so I can canx that pretty quick.
4) I thought I did that... maybe I did only on the default template... I'll have to re-check.
I may do for the SSL. As always it is one thing to know if it could be done, but also to know how much it would be to maintain. I saw a multi-certificate SSL where it was 3 to 100 domain names but it was slightly confusing reading on how to do it, costs, etc.
Thank you,
Mike
cue4cheap not cheap quality
Hi Mike,Cue4cheap wrote:1) So it would have to be one per domain versus one that covers all?EvolveWebHosting wrote:Here is more information for you:
1) SSL for every site: If you are on a server that uses cPanel and CentOS 7, you can install more than 1 certificate per cPnel account so you can have each store secure. We have done this with labeshops sites (I'm sure you'll see her posts around the site).
2) I do not see a 'canonical' tag on your pages. This is really important to stop indexing duplicate pages. Which version of Opencart are you using?
3) Get rid of the keyword meta tag wherever you can. This is spammy and not checked by Google anymore. They stopped this years ago.
4) Add Rich Snippets. https://developers.google.com/search/do ... tured-data
These are just a few things you can do. If you want assistance with the SSL, feel free to send an email to sales[at]evolvewebhost.com
Making all of your sites SSL enabled is possible.
2) 1.5.6.4
3) I can do that. So you feel it might count against me? If so I can canx that pretty quick.
4) I thought I did that... maybe I did only on the default template... I'll have to re-check.
I may do for the SSL. As always it is one thing to know if it could be done, but also to know how much it would be to maintain. I saw a multi-certificate SSL where it was 3 to 100 domain names but it was slightly confusing reading on how to do it, costs, etc.
Thank you,
Mike
You can use a UCC certificate but it can get quite expensive. I was suggesting a separate certificate for each site because you can get one for $15-25 each / year or you can go higher if you want more warranty or EV (Green Bar).
Are you using sub domains or unique domains for your additional stores? This can change the type of certificate that you need.
Most UCC certificates cover 2-3 domains (or SANS as they're often referred to) and they use to be my go to work around when cPanel would only accept 1 certificate per cPanel account.
You can get an idea of some of the prices here: https://www.evolvewebhost.com/comodo.html
I apologize and I missed the canonical tag for your site. It is there.
If you can remove the Keyword Meta quickly, I'd do it personally.
Also, have you looked into speeding up your page load times? Your home page is taking 5-6 seconds to load on a desktop and I would imagine it's slower on a mobile phone.
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Visit our website for great deals and most importantly, fast and friendly support - www.evolvewebhost.com
They are unique domain names but sub-stores. i.e. using the multi-store feature with opencart, same database, different domain names. As an "add on domain" but as I set it following one of the post on how to set up multi-stores, it actually also created subdomains. So that is my confusing answer.EvolveWebHosting wrote: Hi Mike,
You can use a UCC certificate but it can get quite expensive. I was suggesting a separate certificate for each site because you can get one for $15-25 each / year or you can go higher if you want more warranty or EV (Green Bar).
Are you using sub domains or unique domains for your additional stores? This can change the type of certificate that you need.
Most UCC certificates cover 2-3 domains (or SANS as they're often referred to) and they use to be my go to work around when cPanel would only accept 1 certificate per cPanel account.
You can get an idea of some of the prices here: https://www.evolvewebhost.com/comodo.html
I apologize and I missed the canonical tag for your site. It is there.
If you can remove the Keyword Meta quickly, I'd do it personally.
Also, have you looked into speeding up your page load times? Your home page is taking 5-6 seconds to load on a desktop and I would imagine it's slower on a mobile phone.
For speeding up the site.... It is odd. I am using cloudfare, enabled compression, disabled product count, etc. I can go to my site and it loads under 3 seconds while others, you for one, indicate it is slower. I have a fear of moving to another hoster, or as they have offered, to the cloud or to another plan. Reason: As it is set-up, it ALL works (every part of it), but if there are changes made and it breaks things I would be afraid of the hassle getting everything working again.
Mike
cue4cheap not cheap quality
Mike,Cue4cheap wrote:They are unique domain names but sub-stores. i.e. using the multi-store feature with opencart, same database, different domain names. As an "add on domain" but as I set it following one of the post on how to set up multi-stores, it actually also created subdomains. So that is my confusing answer.EvolveWebHosting wrote: Hi Mike,
You can use a UCC certificate but it can get quite expensive. I was suggesting a separate certificate for each site because you can get one for $15-25 each / year or you can go higher if you want more warranty or EV (Green Bar).
Are you using sub domains or unique domains for your additional stores? This can change the type of certificate that you need.
Most UCC certificates cover 2-3 domains (or SANS as they're often referred to) and they use to be my go to work around when cPanel would only accept 1 certificate per cPanel account.
You can get an idea of some of the prices here: https://www.evolvewebhost.com/comodo.html
I apologize and I missed the canonical tag for your site. It is there.
If you can remove the Keyword Meta quickly, I'd do it personally.
Also, have you looked into speeding up your page load times? Your home page is taking 5-6 seconds to load on a desktop and I would imagine it's slower on a mobile phone.
For speeding up the site.... It is odd. I am using cloudfare, enabled compression, disabled product count, etc. I can go to my site and it loads under 3 seconds while others, you for one, indicate it is slower. I have a fear of moving to another hoster, or as they have offered, to the cloud or to another plan. Reason: As it is set-up, it ALL works (every part of it), but if there are changes made and it breaks things I would be afraid of the hassle getting everything working again.
Mike
If you're using unique domains for each, you'll want either a UCC or separate certificates such as a Comodo Essential SSL for each domain. cPanel creates what looks like a subdomain when you create an 'add on domain' even though you're not using it as a true sub domain.
As far as moving hosting companies, it's easier than you think. With cPanel, a complete backup is taken and all files, email accounts, emails, passwords, databases, etc are moved all at once and restored. The new hosting company can compare your current setup to let you know if there would be any issues (such as your current host using a different version of php or mysql).
Opencart Hosting Plans, Domain Registration, Microsoft and Google Email and More
Visit our website for great deals and most importantly, fast and friendly support - www.evolvewebhost.com
All the seo and optimizations aside, the best way to build a business is from word-of-mouth. This needs happy customers or visitors who like what they see so next time they need something, you're the guy. And for their friends.So that brings me to the questions.... Do you see anything straight away on our site that makes you say "FOUL! That is the issue" or even when surfing that you see if wrong....
For me, as a player of billiards for years (when I had time), I don't see anything that entices me. Billiards is ambience, concentration, making the carambole and leave something for the next turn, have a whiskey...
So I would work on better images in general: banners, product images that don't look like toothpicks and less whitespace. A nice background image to get visitors in the mood would help too.
Next or at the same time, make everything mobile friendly (I see you're using oc1) and as fast as you can. Easy checkout and why not, an ssl cert. to install trust and improve ranking. The latter is still mostly writing unique content for all pages, from home to product level. Get some testimonials, participate in local events,... you know the regular way of building a business
My 2 cents, hope it gives you some ideas
Cheers
Attn: I no longer provide OpenCart extensions, nor future support - this includes forum posts.
Reason: OpenCart version 3+
Thanks!
You hit quite few points... I'll see if I can reply to all.artcore wrote: All the seo and optimizations aside, the best way to build a business is from word-of-mouth. This needs happy customers or visitors who like what they see so next time they need something, you're the guy. And for their friends.
For me, as a player of billiards for years (when I had time), I don't see anything that entices me. Billiards is ambience, concentration, making the carambole and leave something for the next turn, have a whiskey...
So I would work on better images in general: banners, product images that don't look like toothpicks and less whitespace. A nice background image to get visitors in the mood would help too.
-I have quite a bit of where folks comment to us that they enjoy our service etc. but those also seem to be the ones that purchase once or twice a year but don't seem to follow the invites to submit reviews, etc. Odd but that is also an aspect we are looking at to see what we need to do to improve feedback.
-I changed the background, based upon your suggestion, to have a cloth-like look to it. I'll see how we feel about it in a few weeks.
-The banners, agreed... we'll make those bigger.
-The product images... I've added "CLICK ON IMAGE FOR LARGER" below the product image so folks will know there are larger images (a full size image) when the shown image is clicked. If you click on it you'll see you get a nice, big image for most things, especially for the cues.
-The current template is mobile friendly. If it didn't work for you, I would be interested in knowing. We have tried before, and just now, with an android phone, tablet, and two different desktops. it worked on all. The only difference is on the smaller screen desktop the background doesn't show as much but on the larger screen desktop the background takes up a lot more of the screen.artcore wrote: Next or at the same time, make everything mobile friendly (I see you're using oc1) and as fast as you can. Easy checkout and why not, an ssl cert. to install trust and improve ranking. The latter is still mostly writing unique content for all pages, from home to product level. Get some testimonials, participate in local events,... you know the regular way of building a business
My 2 cents, hope it gives you some ideas
Cheers
-I have thought about a one page checkout but there is something we like about the multi-stage checkout. We'll discuss that a bit more and see if we change that stance.
-We do have a SSL but not on all, just the account and checkout pages. If we can figure the multiple certificates, and can swallow the price to have all have SSL, we'll see about making it full time, all pages, SSL.
Thank you very much for the feedback. I can never express to everyone how much I actually do appreciate the feedback.
Mike
cue4cheap not cheap quality
Running Opencart v3.0.3.2 with multi-stores and the default template from https://www.labeshops.com which has links to all my stores.
Well that stinks. We are a bit too far down this road to change since we really like the template and it does at least provide some responsive-like functionality. I guess unless we can figure out how to duplicate the template look with a 100% responsive one we'll have to just use it as is.labeshops wrote:I have to agree your template is not mobile friendly. Yeah, it shrinks down to fit the screen, but is not easy to use, doesn't fill the screen (the background is unnecessary on mobile ), the menu links are too close together and not easy to click on what you want, and the product images are not scaling responsively - on the cues, all you see is a bit of the handle.
Thank you Labeshops for the feedback.
Mike
cue4cheap not cheap quality
You're gonna have to do it at some point
As for images...I understand a cue is a thin long thing and any thumbnail will not do justice to it. Did you try to have a list of products in stead of grid boxes and have the image cover the length of the row?
This is not to demotivate you, but I just clicked on a category for cues.
http://www.cuesplus.com/store/pool-cues
I'm overwhelmed by the amount of text of apparently manufacturers and cue types...
Maybe take the hand of an amateur player and give him a few affordable options right off the bat and for easier browsing, divide the cues in pro-beginner-weight-length
How are you standing out with your competitors' websites?
Hope you don't mind the critique
Attn: I no longer provide OpenCart extensions, nor future support - this includes forum posts.
Reason: OpenCart version 3+
Thanks!
True but not now. To be honest, it took a while to find a good theme that we liked and we have modified it to make it complete for us and trying to actually find a responsive 1.5.6.x theme that would mirror the look isn't something we (me since I do 90% of the updates) are looking forward to. I did a search and there is only one possible and that one would also take a bit of work to adjust and without buying it I wouldn't know how much work.artcore wrote:Hi Mike,
You're gonna have to do it at some point
You do have the option to put it into list view... Or do you mean something else? (I could force it to default to list if you think that'll help.artcore wrote: As for images...I understand a cue is a thin long thing and any thumbnail will not do justice to it. Did you try to have a list of products in stead of grid boxes and have the image cover the length of the row?
Yeah, that is something we wrestled with (breaking them down into different classes). We do carry a lot of products and to be able to break it down it pretty tough. Some of the lines actually span low to middle price range in their offerings, in the same series.artcore wrote: This is not to demotivate you, but I just clicked on a category for cues.
http://www.cuesplus.com/store/pool-cues
I'm overwhelmed by the amount of text of apparently manufacturers and cue types...
Maybe take the hand of an amateur player and give him a few affordable options right off the bat and for easier browsing, divide the cues in pro-beginner-weight-length
As a pool (billiard) player I can take almost any of the cues and make a good game with them. So it then comes to the quality and price thought http://www.cuesplus.com/store/pool-cue- ... -and-price and even more onto the manufacture take on how their shafts are best because of xyz.
I wonder, maybe putting as you suggest a few affordable ones directly under the "pool cues" page should be done. I've kept away from doing that for a "cleaner" look but have experimented under the "game room" section.
Great question and right off I can't answer.artcore wrote: How are you standing out with your competitors' websites?
Hope you don't mind the critique
I am very thankful for the critique.
Thank you,
Mike
cue4cheap not cheap quality
I agree and wonder if there is a real reason to divide them by manufacturer? Instead, you could use filters if someone wants to see all by a certain manufacturer they could, but I agree with artcore, it is overwhelming to someone who doesn't know cues. Also, the fewer clicks a customer needs to make to see products the better. Especially when most of them seem to have only 2-3 cues each. My rule of thumb is to not create a new category unless I have at least 25 products for that category - if less, I'll roll it into an existing category.artcore wrote:Hi Mike,
You're gonna have to do it at some point
As for images...I understand a cue is a thin long thing and any thumbnail will not do justice to it. Did you try to have a list of products in stead of grid boxes and have the image cover the length of the row?
This is not to demotivate you, but I just clicked on a category for cues.
http://www.cuesplus.com/store/pool-cues
I'm overwhelmed by the amount of text of apparently manufacturers and cue types...
Maybe take the hand of an amateur player and give him a few affordable options right off the bat and for easier browsing, divide the cues in pro-beginner-weight-length
How are you standing out with your competitors' websites?
Hope you don't mind the critique
Also since your original thread was about traffic, you really need to work on things like category names and meta titles. "Athena" is a Greek Goddess to me. "Athena Brand Pool Cues" would be better for your seo efforts. Product names and titles too need work "Athena 04 - Blue Heart" means nothing. I would do more like "Athena Blue Heart Pool Cue".
I would also work on the images. You have one of the hardest products to really show visually so you might want to contract someone to do a custom page layout for you - perhaps a longer, narrower image that fills the entire width of the site to allow it to be larger and show more detail? Or a tall, narrow image the full height? perhaps thumbs with the cues diagonally again allowing them to be a bit larger and more dynamic. Or perhaps stage some of them if you can take your own photos - show people using them, or laying on a pool table propped on a cue ball? Something a bit more visually interesting than a stick (that does look like a toothpick in the thumbnails). A rollover zoom feature might help as well letting people see the detail without clicking.
I would also work on your descriptions. Right now you just have the specs which could be bullet points (which would make them easier to read too) beneath a paragraph about the cue. How does it feel in the hand? Is it well balanced? What is the most appealing feature about it? For example on the blue heart one "A ring of inset blue hearts encircles the handle of this beautifully made pool cue celebrating your love of the game. Made by Athena, it has a smoothly finished shaft well balanced for both the casual and pro billiards player." Remember to use key words everywhere too.
Running Opencart v3.0.3.2 with multi-stores and the default template from https://www.labeshops.com which has links to all my stores.
Running Opencart v3.0.3.2 with multi-stores and the default template from https://www.labeshops.com which has links to all my stores.
The reason they are by brand is because the 'norm' is to have people shop like they do for a automobile. We find a lot of people do have brand loyalty if for no other reason then because they used the cue before or because of the hype. i.e. Use xyz cue brand because of our unique way of making the cue.labeshops wrote: I agree and wonder if there is a real reason to divide them by manufacturer? Instead, you could use filters if someone wants to see all by a certain manufacturer they could, but I agree with artcore, it is overwhelming to someone who doesn't know cues. Also, the fewer clicks a customer needs to make to see products the better. Especially when most of them seem to have only 2-3 cues each. My rule of thumb is to not create a new category unless I have at least 25 products for that category - if less, I'll roll it into an existing category.
Now this one is funny only because we just, about 6 months ago, got rid of all the additional "pool cue" and "pool cue case" text because on advice of a 'professional' they said we were spamming those keywords, especially on the category pages since all products had in their title "XYZ pool cue" and that was a reason we were not, and would not, rank any higher.labeshops wrote: Also since your original thread was about traffic, you really need to work on things like category names and meta titles. "Athena" is a Greek Goddess to me. "Athena Brand Pool Cues" would be better for your seo efforts. Product names and titles too need work "Athena 04 - Blue Heart" means nothing. I would do more like "Athena Blue Heart Pool Cue".
The images would be pretty constrained to make them in different ways. We do not have the budget to get them re-shot for every model bi-annual year change. As indicated they are tough to shoot and to get them so they don't have a flash or hot-spot requires professional $$ to do. So this one will have to be a non-starter.labeshops wrote: I would also work on the images. You have one of the hardest products to really show visually so you might want to contract someone to do a custom page layout for you - perhaps a longer, narrower image that fills the entire width of the site to allow it to be larger and show more detail? Or a tall, narrow image the full height? perhaps thumbs with the cues diagonally again allowing them to be a bit larger and more dynamic. Or perhaps stage some of them if you can take your own photos - show people using them, or laying on a pool table propped on a cue ball? Something a bit more visually interesting than a stick (that does look like a toothpick in the thumbnails). A rollover zoom feature might help as well letting people see the detail without clicking.
I would also work on your descriptions. Right now you just have the specs which could be bullet points (which would make them easier to read too) beneath a paragraph about the cue. How does it feel in the hand? Is it well balanced? What is the most appealing feature about it? For example on the blue heart one "A ring of inset blue hearts encircles the handle of this beautifully made pool cue celebrating your love of the game. Made by Athena, it has a smoothly finished shaft well balanced for both the casual and pro billiards player." Remember to use key words everywhere too.
We could change the descriptions into bullet points pretty easy (not exactly but easier then a few other things).
The description you provided struck me as funny, in the way of sounding provocative. (a genesis of me going to your shop, and you have a display issue when I am using safari: At least on this page: https://www.labeshops.com/corsets-busti ... rset-dress it seems to lose all css formatting) I see what you mean though. Again I do struggle with the fact they ALL have smooth finished shafts. If they didn't they would be sent back asap.
The delineation between one cue and another is truly in the link I posed above (in another post) and in the specs of the cue. Maybe I'll discuss with a few others if that is the right approach. Maybe one could be like the other but it is more about the individual product and the appeal of that product versus specification of what makes a cue (or case, or product) on paper a good playing cue. That is going to be tough to change that paradym since we do think the specs make the playability and a lot of the rest is design.
Thank you,
Mike
cue4cheap not cheap quality
As a follow-up... on google chrome the same things on that page and others...
https://www.labeshops.com/clothing-for- ... hing-coats
https://www.labeshops.com/home-decor-bo ... home-decor
https://www.labeshops.com/home-decor-bo ... -clock-v15
etc.
It seems like something odd losing the css.
BUT If you compare these two:
https://www.labeshops.com/clothing-for- ... rench-coat
https://www.labeshops.com/rocky-mountai ... rench-coat
The first one doesn't work... the 2nd one does. The difference is the procudt category in the url.
Mike
cue4cheap not cheap quality
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