Can someone check my Meta Tags... [Archive]

mjp

11-07-2006, 10:48 AM

Hi all, I am not a pro web designer, but know enough to get me by. If someone could analyze my Meta Tags for me I would appreciate it? I am looking to get noticed by every and any search engine. If anyone has any tips for how to advertise my site and store, I would appreciate that as well. Any Info/critiques/problems, please let me know. And please be honest.
Thanks for your time,
Mike
http://www.chowardcompany.com

KDLA

11-08-2006, 11:56 AM

You might add a DOCTYPE to your page:
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd">
This goes above the <html> tag.

You might broaden your keywords to include more general terms, such as "candy, sweets, desserts, gum, breath mints," etc. Just anything that would make someone think of mints/gum.

Really, nowadays, search engines like Google look at content on the page, not just metadata to rate a page's rank in results. I suggest you place some introductory text on the homepage that includes many of your metadata keywords.

Also, using semantic mark-up, rather than a gazillion paragraph marks, might help, too. (Semantic markup is using headings, subheading, paragraphs, lists, etc. Just like you would if you were writing a report outline.)

KDLA

Brandon_R

11-08-2006, 12:46 PM

You might add a DOCTYPE to your page:
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd">
This goes above the <html> tag.

You might broaden your keywords to include more general terms, such as "candy, sweets, desserts, gum, breath mints," etc. Just anything that would make someone think of mints/gum.

Really, nowadays, search engines like Google look at content on the page, not just metadata to rate a page's rank in results. I suggest you place some introductory text on the homepage that includes many of your metadata keywords.

Also, using semantic mark-up, rather than a gazillion paragraph marks, might help, too. (Semantic markup is using headings, subheading, paragraphs, lists, etc. Just like you would if you were writing a report outline.)

KDLA

I agree.
The Chowards line might have had a following in NY but since you're trying to increase your customer base to those who aren't from NY, you have to remember that people wont be searching JUST for "chowards"
It seems as though you have chowards repeated to many times in your keywords. That will bring down the density of the word.
Use relevant keywords to the actual item youre selling like mints, chewing gum, etc....Dont repeat the term to many times.
Change the term Candy Manufacturing to Candy Manufacturer and get rid of the term "online store"

mjp

11-08-2006, 08:12 PM

Thanks for your input. I will work on it. Just curious what the "DOCTYPE..." Will do for me?
Thanks for your time,
Mike
http://www.chowardcompany.com

KDLA

11-08-2006, 09:33 PM

The DOCTYPE will help your page render consistently throughout browsers. When your webpages lack a DOCTYPE, the browser goes into "quirks mode," which means that it doesn't interpret your styling as you've coded it. Instead, it reverts to "old" ways of interpreting your coding (in other words, a clumsy attempt at rendering based on old conventions), which can really mess up spacing and alignment.

A DOCTYPE is not necessary for search engine indexing, however if you're wanting to attract traffic to your site, you need to have a "predictable" design, no matter what type of browser is accessing the pages.

KDLA

mjp

11-10-2006, 09:14 AM

Hi all, I finally got time to change some things. Unfortunatlly, when adding the "<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd">" above the <html> tag, it makes my nav bar bigger. Anyone know why? And how to get it not to do that? If you click on the Index page and compare it to any other page exept the store you will see what I mean.
Thanks,
Mike
http://www.chowardcompany.com

KDLA

11-10-2006, 09:12 PM

It may have to do with the negative margins you've used:  
 


IE hates negative margins (and usually ignores them). Try changing your positioning to positive numbers.
KDLA

mjp

11-10-2006, 09:20 PM

I removed the <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd"> and its fine. I think I will leave it out. Thanks for your time, Mike
http://www.chowardcompany.com