Website - harsh criticism

[crouquet]

Hi, When I first built my site I was literally learning as I went along and have been fire fighting ever since tweaking here & there whenever I've had the chance. I'm very aware that there's so much I still have to learn.

I was planning this Autumn/Winter to sit down and address various issues a add a blog, +1 button etc. Trouble is we have a French guest here at the moment who found us on pg 4 of Google and when he booked he mentioned we "could do better". Now he's here he has literally ripped my site apart saying it's full of serious errors, too much java script, not enough links , can't be seen by the crawlers etc etc etc....

We are on pg 1 and 2 of google for some specific search phrases which are used but not necessarily the most popular as I felt that trying to compete with the large holiday companies was going to be too difficult but even with the well used ones we still come up so I didn't think I was that way off the mark!

I'd be really grateful if someone could have a look and see if the site is as bad as my guest is saying - do I really need to start from scratch or are there some simple changes I could make that would make a big difference?
If someone could point me in the right direction before I start that would be a huge help.
Many thanks in advance,
Elena

Dordogne Holiday Cottages

[Vasili]

Re: Website - harsh criticism

Your French guest is merely displaying typical arrogance, and his baseless comments regarding page weight according to Java scripting, links and other issues have struck target and created fear only because he has discovered ignorance and exploited it for personal gain.

You page weight is quite average, and effectively displays the functions accordingly without unecessary coding or sloppy scripting that straight HMTL might create, so you can lose worries about those issues outright.

His mention of backlinks or destination inbound links reflect HIS ignorance, as this metric has been seriously downgraded since the major shifts of Google values in October 2009 and April 2010. People that are myopically creating backlinks as part of their strategy are sorely misguided and wasting much of their time: 2-5 solid, content relevant, PR1 or PR2 inbound links are all an entire 200 page Content deep website could need, only IF those links are reflecting current Meta entries (within the same quarter's trended key phrases in use on the site) and are properly installed.
We can all see now in hindsight that Google was merely shifting weight of valuation back to the consumer, basing it on recommendations and activity rather than a mathematical equation, and thus the compelling reason to add "+1" to your website. Keep in mind, however, that "+1" will not be the cure-all to better balance activity and consumer favor, as Google's Community platforms simply are not as popular or appealing to the majority of consumers .... even though the "+1" variable carries more real measurable weight and will continue to play a significant role in evaluationg sites (as it does influence SERP to a degree other consumer Social Media interactions have not been able to do before).

Being up front on Google on up to half of your Key Words/Key Phrases is a tremendous accomplishment for a website that is not professionally optimized on a regular basis. The general Rule is to compose your content in a narrow enough focus so to dominate a very thin niche, and in this way you would need only deal with 10-15% rotation of KW or KP within your content and page structure to remain 90% relevant to current consumer Search trends (the standard for professi0onal optmization).
NO ONE WILL SCORE FIRST ON EVERY KEY WORD OR PHRASE, even IF being professionally optimized on an intensive level (standard optimization is a minimum of 4 months and at least $300 a month to even cover the labor/time expenses to run initial metrics, and a true professional fully trended SEO Campaign averages 12 months at $600/mo. min.).
*Professional optimization requires the use of specialized software, and registered relationships with the Search Engines directly ... it is not done using online tools and services that are "deductive" or superficial in any way, by the way. These are some of the ways you can determine if the optimizer is truly professional or a "developed hack" that has found a way to put a spin on the basics to produce blips that people can see and be willing to pay for because they've nothing else to compare it to ...

Trust me ... as Choice Pro SEO I have performed professional optimization for some of the world's leading brands (CSX Railways, Houston Rockets, ChevronTexaco, PG&E, Florida Panthers, University of Tampa, Burlington Industries, Corning, and so on), and if you follow the basics as I've loosely outlined above, you will be fine: BlueVoda makes it easy to create and install your H-Meta, General Meta, and to rotate your KW and KP regularly to 'tweak up' your SERP organically and sustainably. Just make sure your Content anchors everything, and your growth will be predictable as well as naturally sustainable.

This guy is blowing up your skirt with bad breath!

[crouquet]

Re: Website - harsh criticism

Thank you, Vasili for taking the time & trouble to look & for the reassurance!
Looking forward to improving things very soon!
Elena

Dordogne Holiday Cottages

[Vasili]

Re: Website - harsh criticism

Always glad to help!