In reality, tools was never part of the main site, I just wanted a separate area, but never got around to using it for much.

As to the PPC plugin download link being self-referencing, that’s bc the beta testers I gave free copies to never gave me any feedback! Bums :s. I’d planned to change it to the real download link, but never released the plugin, so…

Looks like maybe you removed your entire “Tools” section from a new redesign, but those pages are still out there. You may want to clean that up and potentially do some redirecting if that’s your goal.

Your PPC Plugin download link also is self-referencing, but again, maybe that’s part of the mystique.

HTH.
-G

As for #7, I’ve never actually tested that either – I’ve just taken it on board as a best practice from Google who “sees it as part of being open”. If you do get to test this, I’d be very interested to see the results.

Let me answer point by point.

1) The difference is small – only my best posts go to the homepage. Hard to tell though, and your suggestion is something I will be looking to implement in v2.

2) Another problem on my radar. I’m going to stick with WP search, but will be looking to implement a much upgraded version courtesy of http://www.Yoast.com

3) Excellent point. I just got a bunch of pics and will add at least one there.

4) I’m working on finding the best way to archive stuff. I’ll look at consolidation as an option.

5) Didn’t know that – good tip!

6) I like, I like. Something that has to be done in the redesign though, I’m afraid.

7) It helps quality score for thin affiliate sites with little other content, as I understand things. Something to test perhaps, but as I’ve just added an email newsletter, I until recently had no reason for one. Let me get on that.

Ok, that’s a good idea. Should be doable in the redesign.

9) This was pro lol – I just had a royal time wrecking it all .

10) Nice tip! Something to work on.

11) I absolutely need to do this.

Please – these are the comments I love!

Hey Gab,

I hope the headline got your attention. As you know, I’m pretty new to your site but I can see a lot of key points for you to improve your site. Some tough love so to speak. Anyway hope this helps.

1. Site Structure – Blog and Home? They look exactly the same to me. Maybe you should create a homepage which shows your key services, highlights an about page and shows shows a list of blog articles… bah I’ll send you a layout of what I think you might like to use.

2. Use Google Site search – much better search engine and easier than typing “site:seoroi.com xxx” into Google. $100 / year for commercial purposes? not bad…

3. Picture of you in the About page – Casual visitors who haven’t seen your videos will want to see your photo. I know I wanted to see a photo when I first visited at least.

4. Consolidate the categories – wayyy too many for me to pick from, and not as much content in each category for me to browse deeper into the site.

5. Make calls to action more appealing – “Contact me now about an SEO appraisal and recieve a free copy of my SEO report”. Add to that, the Calls to action blend into the site too much.

6. Be clear about what calls to action to have where on your site – do you want people who are interested in your services to be distracted by a big RSS button and various links to free advice that you could (and perhaps should) be charging for?

7. Privacy policy – in case you’re doing PPC with AdWords. It will help your quality score.

8. Make the site content width constant – not changed by the screensize or browser window size.

9. Get a professional design – hire a graphic designer if need be (I just have and the results are looking great so far…).

10. Setup proper Landing Pages for each of your services with contact forms at the bottom of each. Dagon design’s contact form plugin allows you to create multiple forms on your site. Also you may like to setup multiple landing pages for each service on WordPress with the Google Website Optimiser plugin.

11. (bonus feedback) If you haven’t done so already, you may like to revise your service offerings. Maybe offer a few packages, like phone consultations, website reviews, project management. I notice you offer these already, but make it obvious.

Hope that helps. I don’t mean to give you a beating about your site through this comment so I hope your feelings are in tact after this. Anyway, let me know how it goes, Gab.

Rob

Since you asked…

I think a lot of SEO site struggle with credibility. It’s a notoriously self-promoting field without concrete answers in many areas.

You can highlight your good advice by investing in a more professional website. Something crisp, clean with great typography and a grid design. It should have a clear visual hierarchy and, perhaps, an RSS button that is not the size of a small muffin

It doesn’t have to be expensive or elaborate. Take Hubspot for example, http://www.hubspot.com/. Their site is simple, clean and information rich. Another great example is A Good Company, http://www.weareagoodcompany.com/. It’s so full of personality, but the design is simple as can be.

A website redesign can make you and your site appear like a larger company.

Good luck!
-Alex

Update: I just edited the main font from something called Palatino-linotype to be Arial. Is this easier to read?

The category point is new to me. I’m rethinking how to archive my content at the moment, and will consider this findability problem more closely. I think superior site search will constitute a key element of this findability problem.

The font is something I was aware of and am planning to change already for v2.

The definition point I hadn’t yet noticed, but will make a point of addressing for v2.

I’ll keep in mind the colour thing. I’d recently installed a Flickr plugin so I’m going to make a note to self to use it more to get public domain pics.