SEO or Search Engine Optimization is the starting point for any web project. After two years of work and finally coming very close to my SEO goals I do have some understanding of this topic.
I will start to post some brief articles and info about the subject here.
Do a search for Coreldraw training on google my site is number 4 or 5 typically.
The same for corel draw tutorial
On Yahoo #3
Corel Draw Video Tutorial
Iam not trying to show off or promote my site I just want to demonstrate that the proof is in the pudding so to say.
SEO Rule Number One
Any web site is designed for two viewers.
1. Your customer 2. Search Engine Crawlers
or
1. Search Engine Crawlers 2. Your customer
How is that?
Your customers shop on your site and the search engines crawl your site.
You need to design your site for both of these visitors/users. While search engines are not actually people they will visit your website.
So many companies fail on the web because they assume just putting up a web site is what they need to do. Then nothing happens and they assume the web will not work for them.
It takes strategy, perseverance and persistence.. but if you do your homework and design your site correctly for both customers and crawlers you can get results.
THE BIGGEST PROBLEM I SEE TODAY IS WEB DESIGN COMPANIES AND CUSTOMERS THAT DO NOT APPROACH THE WEB IN THIS WAY.
People think, “I just need a web site that looks cool”, with no comprehension of what really needs to be done. That is not to put anyone down. Designers think “oh I need a cool web site or I want to make a cool web site for my client”.
They have not done their home work and that is not to say that they do not mean well. People just don’t understand these things as this is NOT common knowledge.
After two years and almost having accomplished my SEO goals I can say that SEO is not hard and is not very time consuming if you know what to do… if you develop a strategy and work it you will succeed.
Am interested to see what else you post up here. As has been explained numerous times in threads around these boards, trying to get your website up the top of the page ranks for just about any search term containing "shirt" is a useless task, seeing as at any given time there are 100 other sites trying to do the same. Websites like TShirtHell, BustedTees and the like only succeed because they are top of the ranks for searches like "rude", "funny" and "humour" shirts. They have web guys making sure they stay at the top, and frankly with the amount of RELEVANT backlinks they get to the site, they deserve to stay at the top.
What is lost a lot in this argument, I believe, is this: just because you can't be at the top for "funny shirts" doesn't mean you shouldn't worry about SEO! When I first started, googling my COMPANY NAME wouldn't return me on the first page of results. When my dad would go "oh, man, what's his website address again? I'll just google it" he couldn't even find it, without _Really_ narrowing his search.
Just something to think about for those ready to give up on SEO entirely.
Good Post! I agree that too many people are just concerned about the look of their site without realizing that it won't generate sales if it can't be found. Practicing solid SEO will force you to narrow the focus on your pages and help you develop a stronger appreal to potential customers while letting SE's know exactly what your pages are about so your pages will rank well when your specific focus (the focus of each web page) is searched.
As has been explained numerous times in threads around these boards, trying to get your website up the top of the page ranks for just about any search term containing "shirt" is a useless task, seeing as at any given time there are 100 other sites trying to do the same
I'm not sure this is true. Why should you not try to be the best just because there is competition?
It may be more challenging, but that doesn't mean that being in the top shouldn't be your goal.
You may be surprised at what levels you reach in the process.
I watch those related keywords alot and I can tell you that the same sites aren't *always* on the first page.
And to tie it back into Tom's post above, not every new ecommerce site will take advantage of simple optimization techniques. They may forget, think it's too hard, think it's not necessary, focus on shininess instead of content.
Your site could be one of the few in your niche to actually take the time to follow the simple steps to making your site more search engine friendly:
I'm glad you made me re-read my post, Rodney There was a bit of editing I did before submitting, and it looks like it really messed up the point I was trying to make.
What I meant to get across was this: there is a lot of discussion in other threads, with a lot of people suggesting SEO isn't worth it for a new start-up. What I wanted to make sure people new to SEO realised was: just because you can't be at the top for "funny shirts" doesn't mean you shouldn't worry about SEO!
If you are completely useless with web programming and have to get it outsourced, make sure the guy building it for you knows his stuff about SEO. Find out some of the sites he's built previously, and go and take a look at them. Do the links, images, etc have appropriate tags/alts built into them? If it's a CMS (content management system, a lot of carts are built around them) that produces dynamic content, is it setup to show the right keywords and phrases in the right places? Is the landing page to your site, which you may use for PPC advertising or otherwise, full of relevant text, links, and not just clouded with a few fancy images?
I think _that_ is more in line with what I should have said in my first post - don't get discouraged if you're not ranking super high straight away, just make sure your site has the correct SEO from the start.
Is the landing page to your site, which you may use for PPC advertising or otherwise, full of relevant text, links, and not just clouded with a few fancy images?
Google will not be a happy bunny if they know you are creating a page which is just full of keywords to get better SERPS. On a personal note i hate landing/gateway pages where i have to click something to get into the site.
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just because you can't be at the top for "funny shirts" doesn't mean you shouldn't worry about SEO!
You can be, it just takes time. You could be going up against sites which have been around for 5-10 years, if yours is a few months old its unlikely to be higher than one which has been around for 5 years.
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I first started, googling my COMPANY NAME wouldn't return me on the first page of results.
Thats probably a good start, get yourself top for "your company name" in google. It could take a few months.
Google will not be a happy bunny if they know you are creating a page which is just full of keywords to get better SERPS.
I don't think that's what he was suggesting at all. He said relevant text and links. Not full of a bunch of keywords
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On a personal note i hate landing/gateway pages where i have to click something to get into the site.
I think there might be a mixup of terminology here. The landing page you're talking about is different than the landing page he was talking about in his psot.
He was using the more "general" usage of the word meaning "the page the website visitor lands on when they go to your website"
Not "a page you create specifically for getting higher search engine positions that really isn't filled with any useful content"
Some thoughts about SEO 
There was a bit of editing I did before submitting, and it looks like it really messed up the point I was trying to make.
