* Artist site needs Your input *

[Webmaster Dan]

[Lynn Terry]

Hello Dan & Welcome to the SSWT Forum

I checked out the site, which was very nice by the way, but I did notice an error on the pop-up pages - I believe with the rollover code (for the buttons across the top). That may be something you're working on right now, I realize, but thought I'd point it out just in case.

I'm not sure I understand why you have each page of the site set to pop open with a javascript - instead of the standard format of linking from page to page - - and how that affects search engine optimization for each of those pages. Any thoughts on that?

A couple of questions:

Where were these ads (that did not send the desired amount of traffic) placed? Were they banner ads, text ads, email ads, etc? Were they placed at the top of the page, bottom of the page, within the content, or as a 'classified' in a newsletter? Were they highly targeted and/or placed on sites that have proven to drive traffic in the past? (Lots of questions, I know, but its hard to say why an ad is not working without knowing more specific details)

When you say 'the marketing team has tested the old site and plenty of hits were generated' - how did they test that site, what did they test it for, and did 'hits' equal buyers/subscribers/members/feedback, etc?

I assume you have a good stats/tracking program and that you are monitoring visitors and sales (?). I've looked over the pages I can get to (cannot get to many of the pages in that top nav with the error) and cannot find a "call to action" - other than to request a free cd, tell a friend about the site, or listen to songs. What is the main objective with the site - the one thing you would like for visitors to do when they visit this site? Is it more about exposure, information or making sales?

Do you have any way of knowing what visitors do once they arrive at this site? How many pages do they view, and in what order? Which pages do they tend to exit the site on? etc?

I look forward to digging in and helping you find a solution!

[teapotdee]

I'd like to see the old site, to see if the issues is structural.
Also, how much time have you allowed in the change-over?
There can be a lag in stats when a site is significantly altered.

Here are my thoughts, based on a quick glance at what you have, now:


Lots of code in the source before seeing anything a search engine will "grab" on the homepage.

No text on the homepage, just "image" buttons without alt="xx" tags for
the engines to grab.

Is your marketing based on getting this guy's name out there and helping
people find their way to the site via SEO, or is it based on a direct-draw
through click-through ads and targetted emails?


If you are relying on people remembering something about this artist and
then looking for him, I can see why there is a problem. If you are relying
on the direct-pull of click-through ads and emails, then of course you
would notice initial visits without any follow-up in your stats, if the problem
was the site design. Maybe you need to analyze the ad programs if they
are not sending the clicks.

Also, are there differences in the way your stats are being counted
between both systems?

If the old system was counting multiple "hits" based on numbers of files
pulled instead of unique visitors, maybe there has not actually been a
change but you are getting a more accurate picture now. It's an old trick
among some web managers to inflate their stats this way.