Over Optimisation - Not Spam

Hi all,

I've optimised over 100 sites for other people, and have always got quite good results. (never experienced Sandbox) Never doing too much, just the basics and for not such competitive phrase - 'Christchurch Luxury Accommodation' etc....

I have now decided to create my own site and step up to the plate. I'm trying to get a decent placing for phrases such as UGG Boots, Uggs etc.. –Competitive.

So I pulled out all the stops, optimized for one keyword phrase per page, up to a count of 10 times on a page, up 500 words per page, optimized directory structures, optimized site map, optimized frequency, prominence, and everything else I could think of, without actually spamming.

Can Google tell I’m trying too hard?

If anybody wants to check out the site it’s www.sheepskinboots.net.nz

It’s only been 2 months but I’ve got a PR of 0 which is frustrating.

I’ve used WEB CEO to check out the competition. Does anybody else use this?

Cheers in advance

 

You are trying hard but your awareness of the danger has kept you from going overboard. I like what I see. Have you submitted your site to DMOZ yet?

 

hi simon. perhaps the optimising is good from an SEO perspective but my head is now spinning after seeing the word UGG so many times. i think the seo focus is damaging the user experience. do you actually sell boots? i left the site having no idea if it was a shop for boots or not...

 

Get more backlinks. You can submit to free directories.
A list of directories.
www.socengine.com/seo/guide/seo-list-of-directories.php

 

Hey all,

Thanks very much for the advice, a much need boost to my confidence, and very much appreciated.

I do sell boots as an affiliate and will redesign the interface with strong calls to action once I get visitors to the site. Time is short.

I am also using this site as a testing ground to learn as much as possible.

Again thanks for the advice.

 

Hey Sarahk,

Thanks for the advice. How is it you know my site is qued for DMOZ?

Can anybody check thsi out or are you an editor?

-s.

 

Teamwork is everything

 

Cheers,

I submitted it a while ago but have not seen it surface yet.

again appreciated!

 

I've been looking around the forum and have got the idea it is not hard to build hundreds of backlinks in a short period of time.

Is this through huge amounts of grunt work manually subbmitting to directories, or is their a better way?

-s.

 

is there a penalty for submitting a url with DMOZ twice?

 

No, although the new entry will replace the old one which means you will go to the end of the queu

 

Great,

So if i keep submitting my competition's url they will never be listed?

That's clever!

Does anybody actually think these policies through?

-s.

 

I liked the site design, very clean. However I found it a little tough to find the products. You may want to feature the items on the landing page a little more to help visitors find the items or at least the category pages that feature them.

Otherwise I think it looks terrific!

Ian

 

Sitetutor I like your insight. Could you click on the Sports Pictures link in my signature and maybe pass along any thoughts? I still have a PR of 0 as well and while I know I'm probably in the sandbox, I'd like you to take a look and see if there is anything else you could think of that could have caused a penalty.

Ian

 

Cheers Ian,

Hey Sarahk, that wasn’t a hack, I really appreciated you submitting me.

-s.

 

I would make all of the pictures on the left column into links to the products shown or categories.

I went right to the pictures thinking they were going to be links