I have had this site up for about 6 months, www.coin-opcorner.com and for some reason it isn't listed with any of the major search engines as far as I can find.
My Thoughts
As Dean has pointed out, this site is in search engines such as Google, MSN, and Yahoo! You can test this by putting
site:http://www.coin-opcorner.com
into the search box, in any of those engines. If the site hasn't been indexed, then no results will be found.
Since this site is in those indexes the problem is not getting the search engines to find the site, but to get the pages to rank higher. And to get a page to rank higher in search engines, you need to work on search engine optimization (SEO). Some specifics that I would work on for this site:
- Decide on a keyword phrase you want to optimize for. And then use that phrase extensively throughout the text. For example, in the first paragraph it says: "We hope you find the site useful for searches, information, restoration tips and meeting other collectors." Searches, information, tips, and collectors of what? If you are optimizing for the phrase "slot machines", then the first paragraph should say something like:
"<h2>Welcome to Coin-Op Corner.com - Your Place for Slot Machine Information</h2> <p>Here you will find information on slot machines, tips for restoring slot machines, searches for restored slot machines, and other collectors of slot machines.</p>"
- I strongly recommend converting your navigation into text. Flash navigation is impossible for a search engine to spider, except in rare cases, and so even if the engines find your home page, they won't find any other page on the site.
- Your header images are too large, and since there is no alternative text, there is nothing for the search engines to spider. I would create a small graphical logo for the site, and then write the text in those images as header tags, e.g. <h1>Coin-Op Corner.com</h1>
- Finally, request links from related sites. If there are slot machine collector blogs, ask them to link to you. If you know of a vending machine repair company, offer to link to them in return for a link to your site. Many search engines rely on external links as much or more than the actual text on pages for giving good ranking.
Remember to be as specific as possible with your text, and don't be afraid to repeat your target phrase a lot. In the case of this page, that is the most significant flaw. There is no text on this page that has any relevant keyword phrases. All the keywords are trapped in images or Flash. If you don't believe me, get rid of all the images and Flash on the page, and leave just the text, then ask someone (perhaps someone at your work?) what the page is about. If they can't tell, then there is no way that a search engine will know.
Once you've fixed some of these major flaws, then take a look at the SEO resources available on this site:
- What is search engine optimization?
- Search Engine Optimization Step-by-Step
- Search Engine Optimization Made Simple: Five Steps to Build Web Pages that Use Search Engine Optimization
- Improving Your Web Site for Higher Google Rankings
What would you recommend to Craig?
Do you have any tips that he can use to improve his site and get it ranked higher in search engines? If you have suggestions for him, you can post them in the comments or reply in the forum.
I did not know for sure about navigation in flash headers not being able to be crawled. I am looking at launching a new site, and it would be horrible to spend a ton of time and money and not have it be findable. I wonder if I also put a text navigation bar elsewhere on the page if that will work ok. If I submit a sitemap to google, does that solve the issue. Some of the flash effects are pretty nice, so I hate not to be able to use some of them. Thanks.
Post on related forums.
Not only do you get hits from real humans already interested in your services but google will pick up your link (from your forum profile or signature) and follow it to your site – that gets you listed quickly and counts towards your Page rank , the higher your Google Page Rank, the higher your placement in a related search.
SEO is the way to go although I would not recommend spending much (if anything), I would recommend, instead, that you use the software called ‘IBP’ which will teach you as you use it plus it submits your site to many realted search engines and directories which means more people linking to your site and better Page Rank.