Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

I am doing some major improvements to the Elusive Treasures website. I am very excited. However some of these improvements require better keyword usage and I am seriously stuck.

I am getting a little free help from my e-commerce provider, but since it’s free help, I have to do as much of the leg work as possible so I don’t burden the team. That’s where I am hoping this wonderful community can help. The task is simple…

To create better ranking and recognition from search engines I have been asked to write a 35 word list (2-3 word phrases), describing Elusive Treasures. I am to do my best not to use common words like “gift.” This is incredibly difficult for me.

I think the problem I am having is that our product constantly changes due to availability and artist production levels. One day we have more handmade vases than we know what to do with, the next day we have nothing but outdoor plants. …OK, it’s not that drastic, but my point is that I don’t know if I should be using words that pin-point the item.

The brainstorming I am hoping to get from everyone is a list of descriptive words you would search to find me… or at least my retail site. I am doing some major improvements to the Elusive Treasures website. I am very excited. However some of these improvements require better keyword usage and I am seriously stuck.

I am getting a little free help from my e-commerce provider, but since it’s free help, I have to do as much of the leg work as possible so I don’t burden the team. That’s where I am hoping this wonderful community can help. The task is simple…

To create better ranking and recognition from search engines I have been asked to write a 35 word list (2-3 word phrases), describing Elusive Treasures. I am to do my best not to use common words like “gift.” This is incredibly difficult for me.

I think the problem I am having is that our product constantly changes due to availability and artist production levels. One day we have more handmade vases than we know what to do with, the next day we have nothing but outdoor plants. …OK, it’s not that drastic, but my point is that I don’t know if I should be using words that pin-point the item.

The brainstorming I am hoping to get from everyone is a list of descriptive words you would search to find me… or at least my retail site. <a href="(http://www.elusivetreasures.com)">www.elusivetreas ures.com</a>

Thank you in advance for your assistance with this.


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Vincent Wilcox (a.k.a. KRAKR)
Drummer
My band: Letters Make Words

Okay, here`s my stab at it:

interior design accents
decorative asian plants
Asian pottery
exotic african imports
interior african design
ancient interiors
ancient interior design
decorative  planting
interior plant accents
exotic pottery
ancient pottery
designing with pottery
ancient interiors
decorating with pottery
designing with plants
designing with ancient imports
decorating with imports
ancient jewelry
ancient design
ancient accessories

Vince.
Have your tried this Google tool?
https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal
It may be able to build out a list from a few keywords.
Hope this is helpful.

The Swaynester

I had a couple of thoughts:

I would focus your main page on whatever products / services are going to be the hottest in terms of consumer demand.  That way the most likely search terms will be on the front page.

Each page can be treated as a separate entity.  Meaning when you get the SEO mods setup your page:
http://elusivetreasures.com/store.cfm?do=detail&d=3284&a mp;c=5539&p=32815
will become something like:
http://elusivetreasures.com/store/columbian-bean-coffee
and as long as that pages keywords relate to coffee and you have inbound links you will do fine in terms of the search engines indexing the content.

Lastly any decent statistics package will give you a list of the keywords currently being used to find your site and will give you a great reference point for what keywords should be used.

Here are some links that may interest you:
Keyword Density Checker
Google Analytics
Google Sitemaps

I checked out your website and I want to make sure I`m correct, but its mostly ethnic items, from Asia? If so, I think Jeff has the right idea his list was great. Some things came to mind were already on his.  The only other words I could come up with were:

global imports or design. Sorry I couldn`t be more help, but Jeff took all the great words.

 

 

Thank you all so much for your help. I will continue to update my list if people still haven’t chimed in. This community is truly quality.

Degrees… Great list… many of them are not on my list…

Swaynester… I am taking a look at the link area now. Thanks for your time and resource.

Hostclick… Yes, that is actually some of the updates being implemented. Your comments were well received.

Bianca8899… Yes, much of them are Asian in style, if not actually from Asia. Every word counts so I really appreciate you input.


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Vincent Wilcox (a.k.a. KRAKR)
Drummer
My band: Letters Make Words

Then I would add "asian style" and also "oriental style" to some of them, such as:

asian style jewelry, asian-style accents, oriental style plants, etc.

even though "asian" is the PC term now, many people still use (or think) "oriental".

also,  I agree with swaynester that the google keyword tool can be very useful.

Good luck - you have a great mix of interesting and beautiful items.  I look forward to seeing the new site!

Lisa

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Lisa Tarver
Fauna Sauna
Natural Heat for Your Pet`s Health
www.faunasauna.com

I checked out your site, and I noticed an emphasis on `handmade` on your home page.  Based on that, I`d make sure to include a couple of phrases that include that word.  Perhaps `handmade home accents` or `handmade art`.  Another word that might be good is `artisan`, although no phrases using it come to mind immediately.  Good luck!

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Lynn Herrick
Managing Member
The L`innovation Group

L`innovation - helping small businesses turn problems into profits.   

Here`s some I came up with, as I`m getting into SEO writing. Remember! You don`t have to be selling these things, or even be all that connected with them. What you want is people who are SEARCHING for these things to encounter your site:

rice
pottery
kiln
home pottery
vase
clay
archeology
Africa
African sculpture
masks
statues
wooden flowers
artificial flowers
floral arrangements
floral design
plants
spider plant
lily, lilies
sculpture
handcrafted
hand crafted
hobby
craftsmanship
decor
decorative wall hanging
tapestry
carpets
Persian rugs
native
Afro-American
Black culture
Quansa
Quansa holiday
nature, natural
earthen jug
earthen cookware
fire glazed
savanah
lion, antelope, (other African animals)
primitive
ancient
Native American
Indian

I`m sure I could come up with lots more...but that`s a start. So for example:

"Elusive treasures can be found everywhere, around the world, from America to Europe, Africa to Asia, India to Japan, China to Morocco. Everywhere, people enjoy the primitive but primal beauty of handmade, hand-crafted earthen pottery, hand-carved statues, African masks, and beautifully carved jade.

"With modern awareness of how the African culture affected music, jazz, theater, and almost everything in America, earthborn art and handcrafted beauty is in demand. Whether it`s the simple lines of a hand-carved lion or giraffe, or perhaps the elegant simplicity of a spider plant, Earthborn treasures can likely help you find it.

"Floral design leads to a desire for inspiration. You`ll want something interesting and unique for those floral arrangements. But why only have silk flowers or plastic flowers? What about some truly beautiful wood flowers? Then, consider putting the whole floral arrangement into a lovely earthenware pot, artistically designed with ancient symbols."

That`s the sort of thing for SEO. Interesting? Not really. Exciting? Probably not. Sale pitch, only slightly. Do you really sell giraffes and lions? Nope! :-D But does a machine know that? Nope!

It isn`t about "reality" when you`re writing for SEO content. It`s about using phrases that in any way, no matter how slight, connect in some way to your site. But you have to be skilled! For example, you can`t just casually throw in "space probe, juggler, and chianti" into a sentence because you want those results. Search engines are bordering into artificial intelligence, and are starting to parse for context as well.

:-)
craig

CraigL... Thank you for your input. Those were great examples of writing for the search engine while still providing description to the people. I love it! I will start writing and rewriting things to resemble this style. I really appreciate your comments. I hope you don`t mind if I paraphrase your words here on a few items...

Again, thank you. You have provided a great, eye openning view of SEO for me.


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Vincent Wilcox (a.k.a. KRAKR)
Drummer
My band: Letters Make Words