Thread: Up and Running

http://www.beebrothers.org

You've done a great job on your site ....

Your main page (index) needs to be centered, just an oversight because I believe all the rest of your pages are ....

I love the bee on your photos and everywhere, but perhaps consider optimizing the photo on your photo page, it takes a bit for it to open, not overly long, but consider reducing it with pic resizer available to download here from voda ... I don't mean the physical size, but the kbs, and I believe yours is in the mbs ... very large file

You can also alt text your images, then when your mouse hovers over them, you will see a few words ....

From your main page (index) the link to the honey page is not working ...

Your links are set up nicely on your links page, you might consider setting the target to each link as _blank - this will then leave a window of your site open, (it actually opens their site in a new window) so that when they leave that site, your site remains open.

You've done a good job with the titles on your pages, maybe the main page (index) could be called something else, maybe bee brothers home

You've done a great job! Good for you! You've been beeeezzzyyy!! :)

A lot of work has gone into your site I agree with Holly, I'm not to sure about the diseases of bees though. You are selling honey.... Sorry but I did not read it though.

Yes I have Beeeeeen busy..hehe..thanks for all input.

I have to tackle it one at a time.

1) the link that didn't work, is fixed..it was on the about us to honey products

2) center the (index page) i have the "center in browser" box checked in the page properties don't know what else to do.

3) i wanted the links to open in there own page and leave mine open, i have to figure out how to do that ???

4) resize the pictures, don't know how to do that, once again, i'll try to figure that out after i download the picsizer thingy.

5) alt-text over pictures, not sure what you mean, or how to do all that either ;)

6) I am going to add a candles and a soap page. I am not that worried about it being a "store front", the product is stocked in a general store and others, this is something fun for the kids and an attempt at a resource for education
someday a shopping cart and all that might be an option, baby steps :)

6.5) rename the "index" page to something "homie", thought i had to have it named .index or is that just in the file/html?

7) i think thats it...i will try to look up what i need to improve, if i can't figure it out, I'll beeeee back..


thank you very much, BV is addicting.. :)

We produce and stock
and wide variety of raw
New England ????????????????

YOU NEED TO CHANGE THIS

got the typo thanks..

figured out the _blank

Changed "home" to Bee Brothers

working on the photos

checked the index page, the center in browser box is checked not sure what else to do..

thanks

get a job lol

i drive a school bus in the am's
i day trade during the day
i am working on my masters degee in public health at night

Job..NEVER
:p

Looking good. Instead of having your email addy exposed like that, how about creating a contact form?

Teri

OK..i think..on the figure it out list..

thank you

You will find alot of information regarding contact forms here:
http://www.vodahost.com/vodatalk/forms.html

Regards
Teri

yepper, i have five forums and almost all the tutorials open...

got the form figured out, just not how i want to lay it out..

You guys know i'm addicted now (ALSO) and you keep giving me things to do (improve my website)

i appreciate it..thanks again..

Did you republish your index page when you ticked center in browser? Maybe that is what you need to do, as it is not centered like your others.

Your page does need to be called index, you've done that perfect .... I am referring to the page properties, there is a title box, where you have titled your page, in the pop up box when you click on page properties... it can have a different title there in that box .... (but not how you saved and published the page)

ALT Text - double click on your picture and a pop up will open, there you will see alternate text, here you can add a small description of the picture ...


For your links to open in their own page ... you need to set the target of that link to _blank .... you will notice when you insert the link there will be a spot there that says target, there you can change it from being empty now to _blank ... this will fix that for you ....

You can always start slowly using paypal for your store front, if you have just a few items, that is pretty easy when you are ready...

Great job once again ....

An alternative to the pic resizer is this online image optimizer
It offers you 6 or 7 choices of your picture with its reduced resolution, and will give you the percentage saved and you can choose ...

Click Here for the on line image optimizer ....

:)

"links" and "photo" pages need to be centered - everytime you work on them make sure they are correct width and centered before republishing

OK, I'll talk some SEO - your titles aren't ok - starting with the home page.

You need to do research on what people search with to find what you have. I know that I was in New England this summer - and I brought home maple syrup - but I saw honey also. However, no one is searching for New England honey also - so while it's good to have on your page, I can't suggest it for your title. People ARE searching for raw honey - they are also searching for buy raw honey and buy raw honey online - so those are good phrases for you to use - all together or at least using all the words somewhere on the home page. They are also searching for bee honey. For the title I'd probably put "Buy Raw Honey from Bee Brothers Apiary".

Each page needs just as good a title - using keywords for THAT page that will help people find you.

I'd get rid of all the under construction signs and put in a very short paragraph about what that page is - for example - on the products page - you could say something like - Products are being loaded - including raw honey, whatever honey - etc. Please come back soon to see them all. You're guaranteed to find the best raw honey from Bee Brothers.

That short paragraph will possibly cause interest and bring anyone back who might find you now (including bring back the se to see what's coming).

I don't know what you plan to put on some of the pages - but things people are searching for include "benefits of honey" and "health benefits of honey" - so having a page with that information - and giving valuable information there - could bring you traffic (and titling the page correctly, etc).

Since I'm not real knowledgeable about honey - I don't know which of these might be types of honey that you have or could optimize for - but they are being searched for:
brown honey
clover honey
honey milk
sweet honey

Of course, you should do this research yourself -

get your titles in line and then start working on page headlines! If you want to know more about it - a beginners ebook (free) is here: SEO E-Book

Beth- That is a great guide!
Teri

fantastic information...i see what your talking about..took a cup of coffee to understand..

overwhelming to say the least..but it seems the "little" things make a huge difference..

i will remove the UC signs, add a paragraph

add a benefits page
add a types of honey page
fix titles to reflect the page
add a headline to the page (now the <H> you mention i can't figure out???
do some paragraph editing to streamline
got to get a better grasp on the meta tags and page desciptions?

questions:

1) is there a way to change/update the properties of my navigaion bar and have all the pages update at once :) or one by one is the only way??

2) same with publishing, can i publish them all at once, or one by one?

3) is there a way to open all the pages at once to edit them?

4) can i improve my template and have all the pages follow suit without changing them all, thats exhausting :)?



this forum and you helpers is priceless..thank so much

Because you are new - if you are willing to change all your pages over to php pages instead of html - you could do a php include for a navigation bar that would then only require one update when you change it (that's what I'm now doing on a store I'm moving to VH and I recommend for you with a store that isn't yet moving up). Here's the information on it- and it wouldn't take a lot for you to do:
http://www.vodahost.com/vodatalk/blu...ge-bv-php.html

I really like your Bee Brothers site and think it can do very well for you - as it gets optimized.

Thanks, Teri!

wow...this is getting to be a hobby...thanks a million, be working on it all weekend, on and off...

enjoy, and thanks

Beebrothers: Nice site you have going and your fortunate to have Beth offer up her se knowledge. She is goooood!

Just wanted to let you know that I just changed my nav bar to the php script link that Beth provided above. It works like a charm and is so much easier to change my nav bars now. I am adding to my site and this was well worth doing.

Keep us posted on how you're doing!

thanks for the encouragment...things are going well, gave the home page more of a "store front" look, still working on that..
http://www.beebrothers.org


set up pay pal and played with their html scripts for button...shoot me :p

revamped a few pages
got the titles all worked out and more exact to content plus some detail
got alt text all worked out
reduced photos, i think
got the submit form to work on the contact page, easy to do

i cant tell if all pages are centered on my monitor, all center boxes are checked, so out of my hands..i think :)

i'm tired, ganna let it rest a few days, come back this week with a fresh look at it, and revamp some more..

thanks everyone for all your help..

Agree with Beth as usual, excellent advice. Also with Sharon on the diseases link, and the links do need to be centeed as well as others. Great job.

center in browser is checked on all of them, not sure what else to do about that..

not sure the issue with "diseases" its part of the educational twist and informational service?

creepy maybe

possibliy tie it into the fact that those three diseases and pests are the reason honey bees are Extinct in the wild? Only honey bees left on Earth are in captivity with bee keepers.

i'll keep tweaking it as time passes..

thanks, an outside perspective is great..

Don't get mad at me - but you now have a tad TOO much info in your home page title. You are now making it spammy- and you do NOT want to do that.

And you must not have understood the meta keywords - you should not put ANYTHING in the meta keywords that is not used ON THAT PAGE.

You also need to make the description keyword rich.

You are doing a great job. The changes are really coming along - but the seo is a must if you want to get the traffic!

Re: centering the pages - go into the properties and make sure the page width is not wider than what you're designing at - looks like 800.

Turned into "WORK"..hehe...thanks for the headsup..fine i went a little nuts...most all titles, meta tags and descriptions are fined tuned...as best i can for now..

pages should all be centered now
still working on Keyword Rich descriptions
figured out how to view source codes to get an idea what others do


I'll bee putting it aside for a few days, beezy week..

hehe

thanks for everyones help..

peace

Looking much better!! Keep up the good work!

Quick Update:

added a Forum (discussion), WOW, fun but tough (still evolving)
added an "action" page to my contact form, that was cool!!
tweaked and tweaked
still need to finish a few pages.


** I need...a....well, either a womans touch or a more professional look to my home page, or any suggestions to make it "appear" more business like.

thanks for any input

enjoy your holidays

http://www.beebrothers.org

Loos like I am here a bit late but I think the site looks pretty good. The only thing I can really say is that the color scheme doesn't say "Buy From Me"....But then again I am no expert on colors!

Overall a nice site.

For more professionalism - first suggestion is that you remove the counter from the home page. You won't find them on professional sites.

Then, I think you'd do well to make a navigation button to match your site - how about something like this to size?:

Thats a very attractive navigation bar, i've spent the last two hours trying to figure out how to make one..i'm guessing it's easy once you know the how..

thanks for your insight

actually, still trying to covert my nav bar to the Iframe method, and custom my bars...confused..

found navals custom nav bar forum, give me a few (days) to figure it out...

Take a look at the php method over the iframe method - much better for se's. You'll find it here: http://www.vodahost.com/vodatalk/blu...ge-bv-php.html

and if at first it sounds confusing - just print it out and follow it step by step (do not skip over any WORDS or STEPS and you will do fine) it works great - i just redid all my pages in my jewelry site to this method from the iframe

Originally Posted by Bethers

Take a look at the php method over the iframe method - much better for se's. You'll find it here: http://www.vodahost.com/vodatalk/blu...ge-bv-php.html

will do..think thats what i was looking for prior to finding the iframe deal, i liked that idea when someone else recommeded it...

i can't recreate that neat nav bar you have in your reply, i did it in paint but it saves the entire page and i doesnt resize right..i have no other graphic programs, so i'm struggling

thanks and enjoy your holidays

ok..got it..i think..i have something..i think the little bee on the nav bar button is a little over done with so many buttons, maybe not...whatcha think

i only have it on one page until i do the one nav bar fits all thingy...i like the color look MUCH better..not sure about the million bee bar ")


http://www.beebrothers.org

thank you so much

I don't think the bee cleans up as well as I'd like - but I like the idea - let's see if we can find a better bee to use.

Take a look at this - I made it smaller - but can't make it to fit your page unless you tell me what size you want - length and height - then I could - the one I did before and you resized, is still probably too big:

i didnt resize the first one it is cut n pasted off your post, so maybe i will try to resize it smaller, it is a bit over powering..

i followed the instructions on navals forum post for php menu transformation..it didnt work (YET)

i like the New beee...

let me give it a whirl..

ok..

home page now has the menu bar I like

but i cant get the php deal to work, did it three times from scratch, i need a stiff drink

thanks

I like it with this bee - how about you? And if you want them a tad not so deep, let me know, I can do that, too. I was just guessing size for you.

Go have a drink - then come back later and start at the beginning - it's really not difficult - just a totally new procedure. And you'll really like doing it that way after you get the hang of it.

fantastic Beth thank you...nav bar is revamped and the nav bar is now in php html whatever script thing, one change does them all..that was sweet, a lot of work minus some hair and a few stiff drinks :)

looks a lot better...i'll still be tweaking it to give that professional appearance...a "business" store front look appeal thingy..

done for the weekend, over and out

happy holidays...

New day, new problem..

the menu bar change over went well, considering, everything is now .php EXCEPT:

how come the old .html sites are still online.
if one types in http://www.beebrothers.org in the address bar, they still get the old .html sites BAD

how does that fix

Answered this in the other thread - but it's good that you mentioned and everyone needs to be aware - you now need to go in through ftp (or into the control panel) and delete all the .html version pages. (And, yes, it's important - as they will confuse the se's).

heck with the se's i'm confused..hehe..ok fine too much sangria

merry christmas

should be all set....the ftp manager didnt have all the files, they are in the file manager in the control panel, that did it...cool beans..ok on to the next major project..

started the os commerce store front site wham jammy, that will take some work..i gotta get my product photos and prices in order..maybe by next year ;)

and i've been attempting to "optimize" but i dont really know what i'm doing even with all the info in the bv forums...

thanks again..

been tweaking my "optimization"

worked on some titles
changed the index page header to html (the purple words)
worked on th keywords and descriptions

seems endless, for what i read in your seo basics and other forums, it is :)

also, when just checked the cached page on google, it shows only the words bee and brother highlighted, it was on dec 24.

is that how you can tell what parts get spidered or something?

dont really know what to look for

i found this in the google webmaster tool site:
HTTP errors (0) | Not found (1) | URLs not followed (0) | URLs restricted by robots.txt (0) | URLs timed out (0) | Unreachable URLs (0)

the 1 url missing is an old .html that must be hiding on me, i cant locate where i have it in properties somewhere.

everything else they report seems good or normal

thanks

They highlight the words used in the search to find that page. And, keeping up with the website is a job that never quits - but it gets easier as time passes.

any thoughts on my new forum:

http://beebrothers.org/forum

now that was work :)

thanks, happy new year

I think this forum can be very good for you and your business. As more people in the business find it - and you make yourself more of an authority- you could get some good business from it.

Good job and good luck!

Hey beebrothers

I think your site looks great. I think you've chosen your colors wisely and the Nav Bars look fantastic. I didn't look through the whole site but its pretty easy to navigate.

Job well done.

thanks you very much...
i could not have done it without all the great support here at BV...

Made some improvements:

trying backgrounds
contact us form is cool (secure i hope :):)
top 5 reasons
fancy space fillers (official looking stuff)

once i get my product photos i will scatter them around in the blank spaces with a buy button (i think)

in the works:

store front and quality photos of product (yawnnnn)
apiary photos with educational twist which you can see developing in the photos section

trying to make it a one stop shop for everything honeybee without the complications of scientific info, and kid friendly, the "bee brothers" have given me some input, but of course this isn't spongebob.com :)


thanks for any insight
I've been starring at it for weeks now it all looks the same

over n out

I'd say no problem to scattering your products around here and there, but maybe just linking the images to the sales page would be better than buy it now buttons everywhere.

I don't think I am a fan of the darker colour on the 2nd page, with all the bees, I do like the honeycomb effect, but I find it rather light in colour, isn't honeycomb a tad darker than that?

You site is looking good, I'm going to go and look again ....

oh, on the honey recipies page, (I think that was the one) you have one of your white shapes not lined up, it is sticking out on the right ..... (at the half way down the page mark) ...

thanks for the Ladies Eye.

the honey comb background is lighter than "Reality" but most images i found that are Real they are more 3D and looked to dark, i was looking for something closer to the Olive greenish on the boarder... i'll keep searching, for now it's only on a few pages as an experiment


enjoy your day..

Hey,

I was looking at your website and I saw you had a HackerSafe certificate on your website.

I strongly suggest you take that off before you get in trouble because it seems like a .jpg image and the last date its been tested was Jan. 4th.

Just a suggestion, before you get in big trouble! *hint hint*

Google Crawl Stats Shows a url not found error for this

http://www.beebrothers.org/function.chmod

I don't get it...
it comes and goes as an error..

thanks for any insight

Google Crawl Stats Shows a url not found error for this

http://www.beebrothers.org/function.chmod

I don't get it...
it comes and goes as an error..

thanks for any insight