smart design/template

[aliscot]

Hi

I've spent the past week or so using this forum to help me with my website (thankyou!) which is now up and running. However, I keep coming across posts saying that the Smart design is not search engine friendly. I now feel concerned that I have spent two months working on this and have picked the wrong design. Is it worth changing everything, and also, why do Actinic have a template which isn't search engine friendly? What is it about the Smart template which makes it 'unfriendly'?

Ali

www.hificablesandaccessories.co.uk

[Mike Hughes]

The main problem I'd have with the smart theme is that all the links into the various sections go via the cgi-bin. i.e if you mouse over them you'll see that they have the form:

http://www.yourdomain.etc/cgi-bin/ss...html&NOLOGIN=1

Search engines that follow the link will either try and index the content as being on page 'ss000001.pl?SECTIONID=sectionname.html&NOLOGIN=1' or sometimes just ''ss000001.pl'. Either way, it's a mess as the page it's really looking at is the section page.

If you're not using customer accounts then try disabling them and see if that fixes the menu. It really should do but I'm not sure whether actinic does this or not. I hand craft my navigation menus but this can be a pain as it all has to be updated when I add new pages in.

You can and should publish a sitemap on your front page as this will help the search engines find all your pages but it isn't a substitute for a properly crafted navigation that the search engines can follow correctly.

Mike

[Buzby]

I too use the Smart theme and have not had any problem getting listed. I even have the extended info boxes listed.

just make sure that you have a link to your Site Map on every page.

Regards

Jason

[aliscot]

Thank you

Ali

[aliscot]

re Site Map on front page

Hi

I've got the site map on every page within the shop. How do I put the site map on my Home Page?

Also, my Home Page was originally called 'Home' and the button just said 'Home'. I then renamed my Home Page 'Cables, Headphones and Accessories for HiFi Systems, Home Cinema Systems, iPOD & mp3 Players', as I thought it would help search engines. However, my menu bar looks messy because of the amount of text. What do you suggest? Am I on the wrong track here. Maybe I'm reading too many different posts, and getting completely confused!! (not difficult).

Many thanks

Ali

[SusanF]

Hi Ali,

You could leave your home page as 'Home' on the navigation, then put the 'Cables, Headphones and Accessories for HiFi Systems, Home Cinema Systems, iPOD & mp3 Players' as the Title for your home page. This would be easier for customers as most people won't realise that your long navigation link actually goes to the home page.

Regards,
Susan.

[David Eldridge]

Alison,

You're work isn't lost, how ever some templates in Actinic may not be search engine friendly because some user (not sure why) are only interested in Design.

If you interested we can help you with your issues
Please feel free to e-mail me at sales@actinic.us
for more information

As well here are some added links I've posted in the community already:
Internet Marketing:
http://suresolutionsinc.com/internet_marketing.html

Search Engine Marketing:
http://suresolutionsinc.com/search_e...marketing.html

Search Engine Optimization:
http://suresolutionsinc.com/search_e...imization.html

Internet Marketing & keyword analysis request form:
http://suresolutionsinc.com/internet_marketing.html

Regards,
David Eldridge
Sure Solutions
"The US Distributor of Actinic ecommerce products"
Toll free: 877-528-7635
Direct Phone: 732-528-7635 sales ext# 201
E-mail: deldridge@actinic.us
Web page: www.actinic.com
Actinic ecommerce | Support | Design | Web Marketing | Merchant Accounts


Launch your ecommerce project with our fast loading,
easy to navigate designs. Visit: www.buythisdesign.com

[aliscot]

re smart design

Thanks David.

Ali

[garyhay]

how ever some templates in Actinic may not be search engine friendly because some user (not sure why) are only interested in Design.

Thats not true. The sidebar Java menus are meant as a navigation aid to the user and were never added to aid search engines.

If you jusmp staright to the Actinic store /acatalog and you have taken your time, naming sections and producing copy for section decriptions then you will have a very search engine friendly website. You can still carry out SEO on your site to make it even better.

I really can't see why people think that buying a £400 e-commerce package will not only help them make an e-commecrce but expect it to optimise for search engines as well.

[Mike Hughes]

You have to remember that Actinic makes a big thing about being search engine friendly and yet there a few things they do that are specifically search engine unfriendly. Javascript menus are one, linking via the cgi-bin when it isn't needed is another.

At the very least they should let people know about the downsides to particular design themes.

Mike

[BPJSURF]

I would like to clarify for david if I may. I think the message David was trying to communicate is there are some Actinic templates which are less "freindly" with Search engines and more functional or design orientated. Some of the themes will require code level changes to become more SEO functional and code level changes may be beyond the scope of a a DIYer.

Some hard facts here on the Actinic "themes".
There are themes that are Frames based. These themes are not a good choice for a merchant if they are focused on Search results. Art Deco | Celebrations | etc.

There are themes a few themes which include more variables and functionality in the core html making some functionality easier to deploy BusinessCss | Clean Layout 04

Over all the majority of the themes work well with search engines becuase they use html to deploy the pages. I dont think a merchant is wasting their time deploying with a generic theme (frames themes excluded).

Some themes are better then others depending on the particular needs and functionality requirements the merchant may have for their site.

Lets be clear, "Themes" are not designs. They may have some style and design elements but I do not beleive a web designer can honestly call an Actinic theme a design. IMHO "themes" are a frameworks a coder | designer can use to build a quality ecommerce website. Themes have some good code which can be used in a design.

Merchants on a tight budget may use a theme to launch their site to get them started and I think the "more design orientated themes" can work for a merchant who is testing the waters. And that is why I do not beleive its a waste of time to deploy with a theme. However if your serious about SEO, Internet marketing and building sales online then a proper Custom design and coding of the Actinic templates are required to acheive the best results for your business.

The key to all this is to match your expectations with your budget. Either way Actinic will do an excellent job wether starting out on a low budget or making a big splash with a top design site. Great news for both designers and merchant as you do not need to switch ecommerce platforms as a merchants business grows. Just another reason why Actinic is good :-)

Brian

[aliscot]

re smart design

I really can't see why people think that buying a £400 e-commerce package will not only help them make an e-commecrce but expect it to optimise for search engines as well.[/QUOTE]

OOPs, sorry, didn't mean to critisise Actinic. Am quite happy having paid £750 for the business version. Was merely commenting on a topic that cropped up when I was browsing through the forums! Sorry!

Ali