Web Tools

Learned about webmaster tools this evening. I was able to add the Google tracking tools to all the store websites, including this blog. Unfortunately I wasn't as successful when it came to Yahoo and Bing. Yahoo wouldn't verify any of the sites and the directions were less than helpful. I will have to work on verifying the sites with Yahoo again since I want to be able to attract as much business to the sites as possible. Bing was even less clear on how to verify site ownership than Yahoo. I was able to find some blogged information about the importance of site verification, but I couldn't find the links to do so.

Next step is to start tracking the sites on Google and contact GoDaddy to find out why I am unable to verify site ownership with Yahoo and Bing. I also need to get some help with this site as well. Both search engines stated that this wasn't even a valid site or location. I know there are ways to track it since I was able to add the meta tags with the Google tools.

Once I am able to track with all 3 major search engines I am going to rework the sites tags to draw more attention. The last time I worked with SEO was about a year ago and since then I have developed a few blogs and have learned more about tags. Having no formal training I feel that I have learned a lot about traffic management, but still have a ways to go before I can consider myself proficient. Part of the complication comes with learning the nuances of each site and where to place the actual code. I am ready to revisit the multiple sites and further build on the SEO already in place on each of the site directories.

Christmas Cheer

Gearing up for the holidays? Well don't pass up Angoon Trading at www.shop.angoontrading.com for original gifts for family and friends. The selection at Angoon Trading is amazing. If you or someone you know likes to collect original Alaska Native artwork, then no need to look any further. We carry everything from hand carved Alaska Native themed Christmas ornaments, gold embossed Native themed cards perfect for Christmas cards and handmade soaps in a variety of designs and fragrances along with prints from numerous Alaska and Pacific Northwest artists.

If clothing or accessories are more your taste, then drop us and email to see if we have what you are looking for. We carry complete lines of women, men and children's clothing and accessories. In addition to toys, shoes and personal hygiene products.

We also sell home appliances, home decor, candles and more. There is nothing we don't carry, so shop our online store, stop by our storefront or email us for additional products.

Welcome back winter

Winter has started to show its pearly whites. Snow blanketed the ground, but only for a while. Already the streets are muddied with slush from all the foot and car traffic. People in town have already started to ask, "Who did the snow dance?" Since this is an El Nino year we are supposed to have a very cold, snowy winter. We haven't had a seriously heavy snowy winter since 2006 when close to 100 inches was dropped on us, quite a bit for Southeast Alaska.

www.angoontrading.com Update

I still haven't created external links with other sites, so our page rank has not improved but it doesn't appear that the tips already in place have been helpful as I had hoped. Also the bounce rate increased to last year's average for this time of the year. Although even though Feb.-Mar. has fewer page views and total visitors, it is an improvement over the same time period in 2009 with nearly twice as many visitors and page views.



Jan. 6-Feb. 6, 2010 Jan. 6-Feb. 6, 2009
Total Visitors: 1146 Total Visitors: 727
Total Page Views: 1259 Total Page Views: 551
Bounce Rate: 60.29% Bounce Rate: 71.67%

Feb. 6-Mar. 6, 2010 Feb. 6-Mar. 6 2009
Total Visitors: 1085 Total Visitors: 549
Total Page Views: 996 Total Page Views: 447
Bounce Rate: 70.19% Bounce Rate: 71.37%

Onpage Optimization

The steps I took in order to better optimize the www.angoontrading.com

1. Selected keywords: Alaska Souvenirs|Gifts, Southeast Alaska|Pacific Northwest (Artists, Products and Shipping were used according to page necessity) and Angoon, AK
2. Simplified titles and page descriptions to approximately 160 characters, including spaces, and incorporated keywords
3. Focused meta tags to be page specific
4. Added alt img tags to all images
5. Reset all outside links to open in a new window
6. Highlighted keywords by creating links to actual products (homepage only)
7. Created a header with keywords (webpage title bar that is duplicated on all pages)
8. Focused keyword usage and position on page (homepage only)

Steps Still Needed

1. Edit individual page titles to reflect proper heading with keywords
2. Add keywords to remaining pages
3. Add alt img tags to all pics in photo gallery

By onpage optimizing we should see an increase in the number of hits our site gets. I will be curious how these changes will effect the bounce percentage. Since I made the changes in the middle of January the bounce rate has increased from the low 50s to the high 70s which means we are not attracting the right kind of traffic. Which is why the keyword selection and focus is so important.

Jan. 1-Feb. 6
Total Visitors: 1307
Total Page Views: 1502
Avg. Pages Viewed/Visitor: 1.20

Heading With Keywords

Selecting your top keywords is one of the many ways to increase site traffic. Knowing how to select keywords that work for your site is easier with the use of Google AdWords:Keyword Tool. I found the tool to be useful in seeing how well my keywords ranked as well as provided me with a list of additional keywords that might be of use for my site. The amount of data that I got back took some sifting through just to narrow it down to a few hundred. Now I need to eliminate the duplicates and long shots and see what will be the perfect fit. Not only do I have to widdle my new, improved, data driven list to 3-5 keywords and I then have to place them strategically within the page.

If you've ever looked at or designed a website you know the header is muy importante. The trick is to list your keywords in your header without it sounding forced or contrite. As a business, the header is typically the title of your company with pertinent contact information. Having already created www.angoontrading.com with a name that is more likely to be associated with a rather than the numerous products and services we offer there is very little chance that our title is going to contain too many of top ranked keywords for the site. Not to mention it would be odd to switch the entire format so I need to develop a creative way to include the keywords in the header or possibly flip flop the order of some information.

Google offers a very helpful toolbar that allows you to view a other sites' page rank. This information is helpful when selecting your keywords. The goal is to get the top of the page and the only way to do this is to increase the page rank. Links with reputable sites are always the best and will increase the ranking more quickly. Our page ranks a whopping 0/10 and I am not too sure why since we have links with several other websites. I am going to have to see what their page rank is next. I am also going to contact some of the sites that outrank us to see if we can link since they are mainly informational sites thus not a true competitor.

The information in Brad Callen's SEO Made Easy eBook has so far provided me with information that I can easily transfer to my site. And the good news is I have already been using 3 of my keywords and some alt img tags but not necessarily in the most optimum locations on the page. As a novice I find that no matter how much I seem to read, I always learn something and this evening was no different. I learned how to read the source code for a website by clicking on the View button on the top of the web browser and selecting source code. Yeah I know it might seems like a "duh" moment, but I never even thought to look. Now I know.

Reviewing the source code for websites that ranked higher than mine was a bit eye crossing. While I was able to find some areas in which they used alt img tags and I didn't, it was challenging to see the minor discrepancies in the html text for my untrained eye.

As of Jan. 1, 2010 site statistics:
Visitors: 605
Unique Visitors: 526
Page Views: 1344
Bounce Rate: 57.02%

Jan. 2, 2009 site statistics:
Visitors: 394
Unique Visitors: 205
Page Views: 866
Bounce Rate: 65.48%

The number of visitors increased 53%, unique visitors more than doubled, page views increased 55% and the bounce rate reduced nearly 16%. The goal for the month of Feb. is to get all the keywords, headers, titles, alt img tags correctly positioned on the page and contact additional sites to point to ours. By the end of March I would hope to have increased our site traffic 5% and increase our page rank from 0 to 3.

SEO

Tonight I am reading how to boost your ranking on Google and other major search engines. The author of the free eBook is Brad Callen: SEO Made Easy. Before I make changes on the site I am going to start a data chart to track the effectiveness of the changes. I like the way the site looks right now, hopefully the owners of Angoon Trading will like it as well.
1 page down 89 more to go.

Just When You Think

you're done with a project, there are always the tweeks. I think I got most of them, leaving only the SEO and meta tags blank since I want to learn some more effective ways to label, categorize and drive the right kind of buyer to our site. So far our bounce rate has been in the 50% for the entire month. Tomorrow will begin the hiatus from the web site until I can wrap my head around the new web development tips and tricks that I can glean from all the reading that i piling up-waiting to be sorted and read.

Nothing Learn

but something gained. I got the website published this evening with most of the corrections. Still need to add the disposable grill. Tomorrow I will work on meta tags and double checking all of my new links. I will also forward it to the ABC so we can link. Also I will in earnest, read, read, read.

Ugh

Today I was working on another project that took me away from my internet marketing adventure. I need to manage my time a bit better so that I can reach my goal. Wait what goal? I've yet to formalize a real time line and outcome. I just kind of jumped into the research before determining my ideal end result. I will ponder this deadline and expectation-o-meter for another night. Tonight I have to finish my updates, publish and get some reading done. And egads-it's already 12:30am. I wonder how much longer I'll be able to work before my little princess beckons me. Enough of the personal life, on to the site.

Let the reading begin

Today I gathered my reading material and dabbled with Web CEO. I can already see where my niche is and the number of people searching for such items is way low. Therefore even if I create the best site known to man, I will still have such a limited audience at this point. That said, we have had more real inquiries and purchases since the new year began...which leads me to wonder why am I going to rework this site? The answer is simple, I want this site to blow up despite its relatively niche market. I guess that means a bit more creativity on my part, oh dang.

Improving Site Traffic

Just when I think I have finally gotten my mind wrapped around keywords and phrases, SEO and PPC, spiders, robots I realize there is yet another book I need to download in order to make that next step into internet recognition. Since the site's debut I have learned a lot about web deign and attracting viewers. Until recently we've had viewers, but no buyers which is not surprising since most of our products are not on the top of most people's lists. So despite offering quality products the audience they are intended for is rather limited, or so I thought.
Which brings me full circle. I have been working with the sites keywords, meta tags and the narrative and it seems to have paid off. We've been getting questions about our products have seen an increase in our sales. Now to make this grow and build. I know I'm not alone in this vast mass of information and I am going on a journey to discover all the ways I can best navigate through this tangle and draw some business to my site. Today is the first day in a new internet marketing campaign.

Mother Nature

Can't seem to decide how to behave this winter. The temperatures have been just as extreme as the weather. We've had a handful of days where there was the perfect balance and soft, fluffy flakes rained down. Then there have been too many days to care to remember when it was too warm to snow, but just cold enough for the rain to really sink into your bones. And there have been a few rare occasions in which the temperatures got too cold to snow.

The piles of snow around town keep collecting and melting only to be resurfaced again in a few days. The one good thing about this erratic weather is the thick layer of ice that usually build up on the road under the snow is not which improves driving conditions considerably.

Help Us Help You

We are promoting the efforts of Admiralty Research and Development (ARD) in their fund raising endeavors with Pick.Click.Give. We have worked closely with this local nonprofit for the last 4 years for the annual king salmon derby.

This year all you have to do to make a donation to our favorite nonprofit is apply for your 2010 PFD online and follow the links. Last year more than 5100 Alaskans supported nonprofits throughout the state. Now you can do your part and support ARD. If you are a fan of SE Alaska, Angoon or our store and want to make a donation but don't live in Alaska then visit our storefront at www.shop.angoontrading.com and follow the link "Ways We Help."

We are hoping that this fund raising campaign will allow ARD expand their community development efforts as a way to improve economic growth in our community. Help us help our community because we know an organization like a community is only as strong as its members.

In With The New

2010 is here and the trade shows have already begun. New items will be arriving shortly. The store just like the scenery will be changing this spring as new items are placed on the shelves and posted online.

Last year our noses were filled with the scents from the Mandles...candles for men in such enticing aromas as stripper, leather, tobacco. All the classics. They made a perfect Father's Day gift for a man with a sense of humor. We also added Native sunglasses and XtraTuf to our list of brands we carry. Not to mention all the fishing gear, gloves, rain gear and more that was so desperately needed in a small fishing village in Southeast Alaska.

Who knows what's in store for this year.