any help appreciated

[rod]

Hi

I am just about to launch my new e-commerce site in the next week or so, I was researching search engines when this site was recommended to me, I must admit I didnt realise how technical and complicated this could be, so I would really apreciate any help on the following to get me up and running quickly

what would be the best strategy for getting my site up on the engines quickly , some people are saying the submission software is no good but i noticed the e-mail from this site recommends webposition gold is it really worth the cash ??

when i have got my site up on the engines initialy can anyone recommend how i develop my skills in this field as i recognise that my commercial survival could rest on rankings no matter how good my site / prices etc...

I appreciate any help here just to get me going and I will try to be a little more knowledgeable next time

cheers

rod

[rustybrick]

I personally feel one of the biggest mistakes when building a site is to not take search engines into account until after the site is built. It is truly a shame people wait until after it is done to then go back in and make hundreds of changes to the core structure of the site, when it could have saved so much time from the onset.

Sorry to be so negative. I guess when your e-commerce site launches, I can take a look and make suggestions. But feel free to read Search Engine Friendly E-Commerce Design From Ground Up (http://forums.searchenginewatch.com/showthread.php?t=2139) for a good start.

[Old Welsh Guy]

Hi Rod,

Search Engine Optimisation is not rocket science in its most basic form, ie, the basic elements. If you learn and apply the basics to your site design, then it will be possible for you to grow the site without major rewrite.

it is absolutely essential that each page has individual Metas for title and description, and also keywords as a safeguard. You should be able to do this easily enough if your programmer makes them dynamic from certain elements within the page. EG. on individual product pages you can build the product description into the page title. Doing this will ensure also that you put more thought into your product descriptions. Your meta description can be taken from the body copy of the description etc, and your keywords can be entered as well easily enough. If you build these elements in to your page design, then developing the SEO/SEM should not be a headache.

The other major consideration is the structure of the site and the navigation. it is often this very thing that holds many sites back. There is plenty of information on this forum or in the SEW articles with regard navigation structure.

My advice to you is not to touch a pen or paper for design let alone a keyboard beore you grasp these basics. All the rest can be dealt with after, but without these basics in place your going to be a small boat adrift on a big ocean.