Netconcepts

Specialists in SEO, web dev, online marketing

Book A Free Strategy Call
  • About
    • Problems We Solve
    • Who We’re Not a fit for
  • Services
  • Results
  • Learn
    • Learning Center
    • Courses
    • Blog
    • Podcasts
  • Press
  • Contact

SEO Report Card: Golfgods.com

Report CardThis month we’re going to be taking a slightly different tack, as I was privy to a redesign in-the-making — of golf equipment seller Golfgods.com — with numerous SEO and usability improvements, along with a shift in ecommerce platforms. In fact, by the time this article ends up in print, the site revamp will be live. Jason Mischel, President of Golfgods.com explains: “We currently receive about 5,000 – 6,000 unique visitors per day to our site but much of it is of very poor quality because of the search-engine-optimization tactics employed by the previous regime. I don’t understand it fully but they used a lot of doorway pages (although they refused to call them that) using variations of common golf brand names.”

Let’s have a closer look at their current site, which at first glance isn’t in too bad of shape, with a #6 position in Google for “golf clubs” and a large number of pages indexed.

  1. Their web server responds to www.golfgods.org without doing the proper kind of redirect to www.golfgods.com, resulting in duplicate pages in the engines (e.g. 67 pages in Google).
  2. Inbound links of any real importance are in short supply. The Google PageRank score for the home page is 4 out of 10, which is quite low considering that PageRank is on a logarithmic scale.
  3. The home page needs more keyword-rich body copy that isn’t link text. Curiously, I found only 2 occurrences of the phrase “golf clubs” in the body copy, and it was near the bottom of the page. (And no, Alt attributes donâ??t count!)
  4. The HTML code is very bloated with unnecessary elements like several hundred lines of lots of inline CSS and Javascript and hundreds of repetitions of font color and face attributes.
  5. The home page contains hundreds of links, which is way more than Google’s recommended maximum of 100 per page.
  6. At the bottom of the home page is a “Products” link leading to a long page of nothing but internal text links. Such pages look designed to be spider food and as such are not as desirable to the search engines.
  7. Too much keyword repetition in “invisible” parts of the home page â?? e.g. “golf” and “clubs” 3X in the title tag, 6X in the meta description, and 12X in alt attributes (actually only 7X for “clubs” in the latter).
  8. Meta keywords tag, at 31 words, is too long. Should be half that.
  9. From the home page, the brand pages were only available through a dropdown nav (remember: spiders can’t fill out forms). The most popular brands should be text links.
  10. Target other golf terms, such as “golf gifts” and “golf glossary” and terms you’d find within a golf glossary.
  11. It’s unnecessary to include “from $14.95” in the anchor text; it dilutes the keyword focus…
  12. The names of the featured products in the middle of the page should be text, not graphics.
  13. Golfgods.com has a blog, which is very forward-thinking from both SEO and branding perspectives. Unfortunately, there are no text links to it to pass it link gain, only JavaScript-based links to individual posts which the spiders can’t crawl.

BEFORE

screenshot pre-redesign

AFTER

screenshot post-redesign

By Stephan Spencer. This article first appeared in Practical eCommerce magazine in April 2006.

NOTE: The above critique is of the old Golfgods.com site which was NOT developed by Netconcepts. Just to clear up any potential confusion.

Comments

  • SEO Report Card #4 - Golfgods.com @ Scatterings says:
    September 20, 2006 at 12:23 am

    […] For the rest of the findings, read the full article . Technorati Tags: search engine optimization, SEO, SEO audit, seo evaluation Posted by Stephan Spencer on 09/19/2006 | Permalink | Email This Post | Print This Post       […]

    Reply
  • benry says:
    September 20, 2006 at 4:42 pm

    Nice job on the deconstruct Stephan. Everytime you do one of these I get closer and closer to hiring your company…

    Reply
  • The Art of SEO

    Chapter 7:
    Content Marketing

    From the fundamentals of link building to the nuances of natural linking patterns, virality, and authority.

    Get Free Chapter

    Related Posts

    Blog Images

    Your Ultimate Guide to Google Penalties

    When your website’s traffic suddenly takes a tumble and you don’t know why, it can be maddening. Why is this happening? It’s possible you’ve been hit with a Google penalty, or have come up against one of Google’s algorithm updates. If you’re wondering how Google penalties work and what you should do to avoid them, […]

    Read More
    Blog Images

    Using Psychology to Boost Your Conversion Rate Optimization

    Can a better understanding of the human brain help you get more conversions? Absolutely! Let’s look at how to incorporate some psychological concepts into your conversion rate strategy, along with some examples. Behavioral economics: humans are irrational What is behavioral economics and what does it have to do with conversion rates? Traditionally, economists believed that […]

    Read More
    Blog Images

    How to Master Social Selling on LinkedIn

    Social selling could be your key to securing new prospects and boosting your bottom line. When not done properly, however, social selling can also ruin your online presence and repel potential customers. So what is social selling, and why does your brand need it? More importantly, how do you master social selling? Let’s look at […]

    Read More
    As seen on
    NBC ABC CBS Fox CW Haryard adweek foundr cnet
    Capsule Bar Img
    Will your content marketing turn readers into customers?

    Download chapter 7 of The Art of SEO, Content Marketing

    Download Now
    netconcepts
    • submenu
      • About
      • Services
      • Problems We Solve
    • submenu
      • FAQ
      • Results
      • Who We’re Not a fit for
    • submenu
      • Case Studies
      • Testimonials
      • Learning Center
    • submenu
      • Courses
      • Blog
      • Podcasts
    • submenu
      • Press
      • Contact
    netconcepts
    © 2021-2022 Netconcepts. All Rights Reserved. Terms of Use Earnings Disclaimer Privacy Policy
    Book

    The Art of SEO

    Chapter 7: Content Marketing

    Yes, this is the book that Seth Godin referred to as “Hype-free, data-rich, and loaded with insight that’s essential reading for anyone who needs a deep understanding of SEO.”

    Want to sharpen your SEO chops?...
    start out with an appetizer before you dig into the main course!

    Get Free Chapter
    • Facebook
    • LinkedIn
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
    • YouTube