Could someone please help me with metadata info? I am not a website person, lol, I am a cake person. (I am even a terrible business person!) What do I put in here, and what format? Please, no links, just an answer.

 

I can understand and customize for my use, if you use your own, or make up an example. 

 

Thank you in advance, for any help shedding the light!

AMeta tags used to be much more important, but nowadays the main focus for SEO is improving the actual content of your site and creating legitimate backlinks.

The main tags to worry about for SEO are [B]title [/B]and [B]meta [/B]with the description attribute. For example, CC has the following:

[CODE] Cake Central - The world's largest online cake decorating community. [/CODE]

Keep it simple, if you try to stuff your meta tags with hundreds of keywords you run the risk of being flagged as spam by search engines and demoted or even removed from the index.

More info here: http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2067564/How-To-Use-HTML-Meta-Tags http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2154469/How-to-Write-Title-Tags-For-Search-Engine-Optimization

Mine has 3 sections in the metadata info:

 

Description

 

Keywords

 

Robots

AThe first link I posted has more info on the different sections of the meta tag. Description reflects what shows up under your title in search results, and Keywords should not be used any more. The Robots section should be set to "INDEX, FOLLOW" to make sure the search engine robots index your web site and follow all links, but this is the default value so if you leave out the Robots section it will automatically be correct.

There's also a charset attribute which will identify your page as using English characters, most web site editors will include it by default: [code] < meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"> [/code]

Thank you, you guys!

 

Yes, it is easier to post a link for a description on how to do something Jen! I really didn't mean it as a law, I was hoping to get answers from people who know what they are talking about and can explain it, such as Jason and yourself, and not just the people who like to answer questions and don't let the fact that they have no clue stop them ;-)  You know,  the people who go crazy posting eleventy-three links that seemly pertain to what you are talking about, and after you slog through them all, you still have no idea of what you are doing, because the links don't tell you anything! 

A

Generally the only time you need to worry about a Robots meta tag (on individual pages) or robots.txt file (placed in folders on your web server) is if you have publicly accessible content on your web site that you do NOT want to be indexed by search engines. If you do not set up any Robots meta tags or robots.txt files, your entire web site will automatically be indexed.

Incorrect - your should always have a robots file, and in that txt file it tells the search engine what to crawl.  My says "allow" so websites know to crawl my entire site.  If I wanted to withhold one page, it would say that in that file.

A

You are correct that you need the file if you want to exclude pages, but it's my understanding that search engines will index your entire site by default if they do not find a robots.txt file.

Of course it only takes a minute to put one together, so if you want to do it anyway go for it, it can't hurt as long as you allow all.

I have the Meta info boxes on every page, so do I enter a description for every page? Different Key words for every page? Different robots? Is that going to get cluttery? 

A

You should enter a different description (and title tag) for each page, since presumably the pages will have different content.

Search engines do not use keyword meta tags anymore so they can be left out, you'll want to incorporate the most important keywords into your description.

The robots field can also be blank if you want search engines to index your entire site or you have an existing robots.txt file.

Right now, I don't turn up in any searches I've run, even using part of the names of my business, special products I offer, and my area.  I am getting an enquiry every day or two right now, and have 7 cakes booked in the last 3 weeks, since the bridal show. I really need to start making money, I have had fun playing. I am getting tons of calls for advertising, but I am not going to spend anymore money until I optimize what I have already spent money on. My goal is to be so busy, that I have to turn down business, so my husband has no choice but to quit the job he hates and come work with me. We could make up his whole salary with one 200 serving cake, and he works his fingers to the bone, and has the scars and stitches to prove it. 

AWhat is your current advertising strategy?

SEO is great for slow and steady growth but it probably won't give you the sharp increase you're looking for, for that you need to identify where/how your target market consumes media and advertise there, highlighting your distinct competitive advantages. Networking with complementary businesses can also be a big win if you find the right partners.

Word of mouth is my biggest. I just stared doing Bridal Shows last year, one in June, one in January. My bakery is paid for, we paid for everything and it took 7 years, from start to finish, and I was on food stamps when I started. (and didn't own a home and had terrible credit) So, it has been a slow (but thorough) process from the beginning. I am not willing to carry debt, so we don't have a ton of money to throw at it. Obviously, I had more business when I was undercharging, and rented space on commission from a nasty little caterer, but I offer a great product, in all ways. Maybe not the best, but I get better with every other cake, and have never had a complaint. Rave reviews.

 

I have a YELP! I just claimed, has 5 stars, with 4 reviews. 

 

I did the show recently and was the next least expensive bakery, and the very least is inedible and the cakes look like Wilton Circa 1979. (Yes, I have that yearbook!) I am afraid I will have to raise prices to look like a real competitor :-( I really would like to be affordable for the great masses, as well, not just the stuck up crowd. 

 

My booth is really eye catching, and I won best of show last year, and best new comer, and brides remember my set up and love it. I met several other vendors that recommend me, after tasting my cakes. 2 Dj's , a florist, a cosmetician, a hairdresser, 2 photographers, a personal trainer, and an invitation/stationary place. No venues yet... Would love to be on some preferred lists with vendors...

The next least price below me is .75 cheaper per serving, and the next higher price is .75 more than me. I am thrilled when I can help a budget bride get the cake of her dreams, or a close representation of it. But I don't want to have to work too hard on a regular basis, lol. 

I'm not directly debating any member's 2 cents, but I base my online strategy on these few articles:

 

http://support.godaddy.com/help/article/6622/what-is-search-engine-optimization-and-why-should-i-care-about-it

 

http://support.godaddy.com/help/article/5171/what-are-keywords-and-why-do-i-need-them

 

http://support.godaddy.com/help/article/5150/should-my-tags-match-the-content-i-have-on-my-web-site

 

Go Daddy actually has a ton of articles that explain this stuff pretty well.  I go off what the Number 1 hosting provider says about SEO.

 

As for descriptions, yes you need a new description on every page.  Back to the photo I posted with my website listing on Google, each page on my site has a title tag (Menu, Gallery, Pre-designed etc)  and under each title is a unique description for that page.  It's very important to be descriptive and unique.  

 

This is really only the tip of the iceberg - there is so much you need to make sure you have in your website!  I actually highly recommend just purchasing Go Daddy's SEO tool to help you fix broken stuff, make sure you pictures load OK, make sure all your tags and descriptions are good and so on.

AYou have to be very careful when reading articles about a particular service hosted by someone who is trying to sell you said service. For example, some of GoDaddy's information about meta keywords is definitely inaccurate, but if they admitted that no one uses them for ranking anymore they wouldn't be able to tout the "keyword generator" tool in their paid SEO service. Google does not use meta keywords for ranking (except for news-related sites in their Google News tool), and Bing only uses meta keywords to catch spammers.

If you want to do research into SEO I strongly recommend looking at an independent source like searchenginewatch.com.

GoDaddy is who I have my domain name, hosting and web-mail through. I always wait until I get a 30-35% off code in my email ;-D

A

Positioning your business to target budget brides is a tough place to be in...if budget is the primary concern and Walmart offers a product that's "good enough" for a fraction of your price you will lose that sale every time, since the money just isn't there to buy a higher quality product.

If word of mouth is your biggest referral source (and you're not already super busy) that's an issue. Word of mouth can work, but luck plays a big factor, so you may get your big break next week, next year, or never if you don't step up the advertising. But first it sounds like you need to figure out who you will be targeting, so you may want to go back to your business plan and do some more market research. You're probably right when you say you'll have to raise prices.

It's fine to keep your risk low by refusing debt, just remember that risk and reward are usually directly proportional.

AI noticed my yelp! only has 3 reviews now, and one of them is hidden because they think it is a scam review...

How long has it been since you put in your meta data? It takes a while, before I was on page 20 something for cakes in my area, a few months later it was up to 9, now i'm page 1,2,3 depending on what exactly is being searched for. I don't know how many link backs I have but getting featured on blogs will probably help as well. In the end, content is king for SEO.
 

A

That's pretty normal for Yelp, if someone who reviews your business has no other reviews it is more likely to be hidden until they participate more on the site.

In my opinion the more data the better even if search engines supposedly aren't looking at meta keywords currently.  All meta data and titles for each page need to be unique and relevant to that page.  As mentioned by others on here content is king.