Web review?

[DaveScotford]

Hey all

Over the past few days I've been getting emails and chatting to people who have and problems using my old website on apple computers, mobile devices and older versions of browsers... So in part thanks to the feedback and the rest due to me acidentally deleting my website :o I have launched a new site and store design tonight.

I'm looking for general feedback about the website and how it can be improved in any way at all. Be it SEO, design, content, layout or other aspects of the site.

The address is... www.failingrose.co.uk

[ownedbox]

the background is too annoying..:D

[GekiDan]

I can see that your site looks very cool.
I'm just a little bothered on the background image of the homepage. It seems to be a little distracting and can make the attention of the visitor to the main content. I can suggests that make it a little lighter.

Most of the thing that most people who have their own site forgets is the favicon.
Having a custom one will make it more professional.

[DaveScotford]

Thanks guys, appreciate that. Going to fade the background tomorrow morning and get it updated :)

Shall get a favicon done too!

[joeroxx]

Hey all

Over the past few days I've been getting emails and chatting to people who have and problems using my old website on apple computers, mobile devices and older versions of browsers... So in part thanks to the feedback and the rest due to me acidentally deleting my website :o I have launched a new site and store design tonight.

I'm looking for general feedback about the website and how it can be improved in any way at all. Be it SEO, design, content, layout or other aspects of the site.

The address is... www.failingrose.co.uk

Being in the SEO business, I'm going to tackle that part. I had a preliminary analysis done on your website, and you scored 38.96%(F) out of a possible 100%. Here are some of the problems the analysis found.

1) This Webpage may have a Link Flow® Distribution issue - The link flow, or how users get from one page to another, could be inefficient for some reason.

2) External Reciprocal Links are present - Search engines hate reciprocal links. Think of each link to our site as a vote. Reciprocal links are like running for office, and having your opponent vote for you if you vote for him. It doesn't help either of you win.

3) External Outgoing Link Loss is present - The number of links going out of your site to another website is higher than the amount of links from another site linking to yours.

4) Dangling Links are present - A "dangling link" is a link to a page that has no outgoing links - there's no way to go anywhere else, or even go back to where you came from.

5) Exact Duplicate Content with one other webpage - Search engines are looking for fresh content. Duplicate content is a "been there, done that" type of thing.

6) Duplicate Meta Titles with one other webpage, and
Duplicate Meta Description with 5 other webpages - Some people may say that meta tags are not important, but duplicate information is even worse. If you wish to use them, make sure they relate to the page being viewed.

7) Linked From a Bad Neighborhood, and
Linked To a Bad Neighborhood - Links to and from this page are coming from, and going to, pages that are also not properly optimized.

8) 100% of the images are missing ALT text - Search engines bots cannot read pctures. ALT tags give them words, or content, that they can read.

9) 100.0% of the External Outgoing Links may be considered "Paid Links" because they are NOT editorially given and are NOT nofollowed, and
97.4% of the External Incoming Links may be considered "Paid Links" because they are NOT editorially given and are NOT nofollowed - "Editorially given" links are links from articles, content of blog entries, and similar links. These are the links that search engines are looking for. The "nofollow" attribute is added to a link to tell the search engines bots and spiders not to consider them.

10) Webpage is JavaScript enabled - JavaScript was included when the page was analyzed. Hidden Content and Cloaked Links, if any, will be detected. If there is any hidden content or cloaked links, your website could be severely penalized.

You can see why you received a low score. To be properly optimized for the search engines, your site needs a lot of work.

[Fergal]

I actually like the background and feel that it is representative of the image you have been associating with your clothing brand. However, I do see GekiDan's point and it might help to fade the background image, so that it is not quite so dominant.

It would also help to focus more on the products you offer and communicating this clearly to your visitors. Show prominent links or buttons to make it clear to customers, where they need to go to view and purchase your T-Shirts.

[DaveScotford]

Being in the SEO business, I'm going to tackle that part. I had a preliminary analysis done on your website, and you scored 38.96%(F) out of a possible 100%. Here are some of the problems the analysis found.

1) This Webpage may have a Link Flow® Distribution issue - The link flow, or how users get from one page to another, could be inefficient for some reason.

2) External Reciprocal Links are present - Search engines hate reciprocal links. Think of each link to our site as a vote. Reciprocal links are like running for office, and having your opponent vote for you if you vote for him. It doesn't help either of you win.

3) External Outgoing Link Loss is present - The number of links going out of your site to another website is higher than the amount of links from another site linking to yours.

4) Dangling Links are present - A "dangling link" is a link to a page that has no outgoing links - there's no way to go anywhere else, or even go back to where you came from.

5) Exact Duplicate Content with one other webpage - Search engines are looking for fresh content. Duplicate content is a "been there, done that" type of thing.

6) Duplicate Meta Titles with one other webpage, and
Duplicate Meta Description with 5 other webpages - Some people may say that meta tags are not important, but duplicate information is even worse. If you wish to use them, make sure they relate to the page being viewed.

7) Linked From a Bad Neighborhood, and
Linked To a Bad Neighborhood - Links to and from this page are coming from, and going to, pages that are also not properly optimized.

8) 100% of the images are missing ALT text - Search engines bots cannot read pctures. ALT tags give them words, or content, that they can read.

9) 100.0% of the External Outgoing Links may be considered "Paid Links" because they are NOT editorially given and are NOT nofollowed, and
97.4% of the External Incoming Links may be considered "Paid Links" because they are NOT editorially given and are NOT nofollowed - "Editorially given" links are links from articles, content of blog entries, and similar links. These are the links that search engines are looking for. The "nofollow" attribute is added to a link to tell the search engines bots and spiders not to consider them.

10) Webpage is JavaScript enabled - JavaScript was included when the page was analyzed. Hidden Content and Cloaked Links, if any, will be detected. If there is any hidden content or cloaked links, your website could be severely penalized.

You can see why you received a low score. To be properly optimized for the search engines, your site needs a lot of work.

Thanks for that! Really very much appreciated and I'm spending the rest of the day putting as much as I can right and then keep setting time aside to keep improving. Your feedback is great though - thank you so much!!





I actually like the background and feel that it is representative of the image you have been associating with your clothing brand. However, I do see GekiDan's point and it might help to fade the background image, so that it is not quite so dominant.

It would also help to focus more on the products you offer and communicating this clearly to your visitors. Show prominent links or buttons to make it clear to customers, where they need to go to view and purchase your T-Shirts.

Thanks mate :) Faded the background so does look much better! I'm going to start making the products more prominent today too... going to be a busy day!!

[DaveScotford]

2) External Reciprocal Links are present - Search engines hate reciprocal links. Think of each link to our site as a vote. Reciprocal links are like running for office, and having your opponent vote for you if you vote for him. It doesn't help either of you win.

Any external site linked out from my site I've now changed to a no follow link. Does that still count as a reciprocal link?


3) External Outgoing Link Loss is present - The number of links going out of your site to another website is higher than the amount of links from another site linking to yours.

Similar to above, anything external is a no follow link. I've also got to start spreading the link around the web through forums and press releases.


4) Dangling Links are present - A "dangling link" is a link to a page that has no outgoing links - there's no way to go anywhere else, or even go back to where you came from.

Hopefully I've solved that with scrapping the PDF of the legal document and instead splitting up the information onto a new section on the site.


5) Exact Duplicate Content with one other webpage - Search engines are looking for fresh content. Duplicate content is a "been there, done that" type of thing.

Which page is the duplicate? Cant see it :(


6) Duplicate Meta Titles with one other webpage, and Duplicate Meta Description with 5 other webpages - Some people may say that meta tags are not important, but duplicate information is even worse. If you wish to use them, make sure they relate to the page being viewed.

Done that. As I say, basic knowledge of SEO, but even I know I should have done that! Silly error :(


9) 100.0% of the External Outgoing Links may be considered "Paid Links" because they are NOT editorially given and are NOT nofollowed, and 97.4% of the External Incoming Links may be considered "Paid Links" because they are NOT editorially given and are NOT nofollowed - "Editorially given" links are links from articles, content of blog entries, and similar links. These are the links that search engines are looking for. The "nofollow" attribute is added to a link to tell the search engines bots and spiders not to consider them.

Lots and lots and lots of incoming links from forums - which obviously need to balanced out with editorial stuff. I'm hoping to start really pushing to get links coming in from all over the place. Would making the signatures no follow links help or harm?

[joeroxx]

Any external site linked out from my site I've now changed to a no follow link. Does that still count as a reciprocal link?



Similar to above, anything external is a no follow link. I've also got to start spreading the link around the web through forums and press releases.

It's not necessary to make all External Outgoing Links "nofollow" - only those that are reciprocal - If the site links to you in return for a link to them, make that link "nofollow".

Which page is the duplicate? Cant see it :(

Unfortunately, the report I received didn't specify



Lots and lots and lots of incoming links from forums - which obviously need to balanced out with editorial stuff. I'm hoping to start really pushing to get links coming in from all over the place. Would making the signatures no follow links help or harm?

Don't worry about the existing links from forums, I have a link to my affiliate site in my forum signature myself. If someone sees your forum post and wants more information about your service, your forum link gives them an easy way to visit your site. What you need now is the editorial links from blogs, articles and the like. The more of these you have, the better it will be.

If I can be of further assistance, let me know.

[DaveScotford]

You're a star. Thank you so so so SO much!! :)

Been an absolutely massive help so again, thank you!! :)

[andykeating]

hi.. i really liked your site..infact i loved the background..one thing i would like to suggest is make a conversion form or signup kind of thing that allows users to get email updates...you can mail your customers about the new offers or discounts or new stuff..& also its a great way to keep in touch with customers...

[GekiDan]

Thanks mate :) Faded the background so does look much better! I'm going to start making the products more prominent today too... going to be a busy day!!
It seems to be much better now. Keep it up!

[DaveScotford]

hi.. i really liked your site..infact i loved the background..one thing i would like to suggest is make a conversion form or signup kind of thing that allows users to get email updates...you can mail your customers about the new offers or discounts or new stuff..& also its a great way to keep in touch with customers...

A great idea and something I want to do, but I've not got the code writing skill to be able to build something like that? Is there a script or tool available on the web that I'm able to get hold of?


It seems to be much better now. Keep it up!

Thank you :)

[DavidL]

I think you need to get your designs from the online store onto your front page. This is what people want to see and what you want people to buy, so if you don't present them well, then chances are they won't go into a detail search of your site.

[bill rogers]

Hi Dave,

I too have to agree that the background is confusing to the eye and takes away from your actual content. Even a solid background color would be better, I think. Best to you!

[Matt]

I think what you can do is lower the opacity of the images on the background. That way you can still see the background but its not directing attention away from your content.

[logon68]

the background is too annoying.

[GekiDan]

the background is too annoying.
What could the OP do to improve it?