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12 Replies Last post: Jan 7, 2009 3:51 PM by Gozapa.com

www.GoZapa.com

Dec 23, 2008 11:15 AM

Click to view Gozapa.com's profile Professional Gozapa.com 9 posts since
Sep 14, 2008
Hello everyone,

I am new to the community. Everyone seems friendly here. I have a new website up wwww.GoZapa.com. It is a database website for events, contests, auditions, and entry forms. People can search for these things through the website. Everything is posted by other people trying to get the word out about their event, contest etc. It is free to post with the a choice of premium options. Right now there isn't any posts on there but if you could just check out the website and let me know what you think of it. Structial critiscism is accepted and noted. I can't make it better without any feedback! Also if anyone has any marketing strategies for getting the word out about a website I would appreciate that as well.
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Click to view LUCKIEST's profile SCORE LUCKIEST 7,912 posts since
Aug 6, 2007
1. Re: www.GoZapa.com Dec 24, 2008 7:36 AM
GoZapa.com, Welcome

Who are you?? I did try your web site. It asked for my Zip Code and I could not get on.
Click to view Gozapa.com's profile Professional Gozapa.com 9 posts since
Sep 14, 2008
2. Re: www.GoZapa.com Dec 24, 2008 8:10 AM
Who am I? I am one of the business owners of GoZapa.com. Hmm, when did it ask for a zip code? You couldn't get on by not being able to login to an account? Give me alittle more details. Was the interface good? Was it easy to navigate? What didn't you like?
Click to view BrassJmes's profile Mogul BrassJmes 35 posts since
Dec 8, 2008
3. Re: www.GoZapa.com Dec 24, 2008 11:26 AM
Hi GoZapa.
The site looks... lacking..
- You should add some information.. in the form of text.. or better yet, pictures.
Otherwise, you can take the search options further up on the page. Centering them just emphasizes the lack of content on the front page
- The bottom links shouldn't have index?page=<nameofpage> in them, you should build a specific page for them, without the query. Most search engines don't index pages with "?" in the title
- You should work on your meta tags and meta descriptions, so your site will index better

hmm.. I think I could be of alot more help if you could post any sort of document and present the way results are shown..

Feel free to contact me for anything else. or just an honest opinion

Good luck with your site

Jmes
http://www.lookuppage.com/users/jamesbrass
brassjmes@gmail.com
Click to view Gozapa.com's profile Professional Gozapa.com 9 posts since
Sep 14, 2008
4. Re: www.GoZapa.com Dec 24, 2008 12:07 PM
in response to: BrassJmes
BrassJmes,

Thanks for your feedback. I did think that some graphics needed to be added. We were trying to make it so people could visit us and do what they need to do. We didn't want to distract people with the slide view of news updates, or massive text on the front page. Do you think its better to add more content?

- The bottom links shouldn't have index?page=<nameofpage> in them, you should build a specific page for them, without the query. Most search engines don't index pages with "?" in the title
- You should work on your meta tags and meta descriptions, so your site will index better

I'm not sure what you mean by this because we had someone build the website for us.

hmm.. I think I could be of alot more help if you could post any sort of document and present the way results are shown..

I'm not sure what you mean by this? Could you state it differently?

Keep in mind our budget is limited at the moment. As things progress we do plan to update the website and make it much better. It has only been up for about 3 weeks.
Click to view BrassJmes's profile Mogul BrassJmes 35 posts since
Dec 8, 2008
5. Re: www.GoZapa.com Dec 25, 2008 5:31 AM
in response to: Gozapa.com
+- The bottom links shouldn't have index?page=<nameofpage> in
them, you should build a specific page for them, without the query.
Most search engines don't index pages with "?" in the title+
- You should work on your meta tags and meta descriptions, so your site will index better

I'm not sure what you mean by this because we had someone build the website for us.

- I mean that instead of building a page like this:
http://www.gozapa.com/index.php?page=advertise
You should do it like this:
http://www.gozapa.com/advertise.php
This way your site will index alot faster in search engines
  • - You should consult with the person/company who built your website, ask them about this, and also about meta tags and meta descriptions*
If you want to know more for yourself, google those terms (SEO, SEM, Meta Tags, Meta Descriptions etc..). Wikipedia can also be very helpful

hmm.. I think I could be of alot more help if you could post any sort of document and present the way results are shown..

I'm not sure what you mean by this? Could you state it differently?

You stated in your post that currently there are no documents on the search
Meanning no matter what we search for we won't find anything, cause there is nothing to find
I'm just suggesting that you'll put at least 1 document (1 find) there. just to give us a look on how the search results are vewied in your site

Hope this helps

Jmes
http://www.lookuppage.com/users/jamesbrass
brassjmes@gmail.com
Click to view Gozapa.com's profile Professional Gozapa.com 9 posts since
Sep 14, 2008
6. Re: www.GoZapa.com Dec 26, 2008 5:50 AM
in response to: BrassJmes
Ok I understand everything you stated now. The info you provided me was great. I'll post something in the search engine this weekend so you can see how it displays. And I'll get in contact to see if the person who made our website can make the bottom links more direct. Will this take alot of effort or is it easy to do?
Click to view Gozapa.com's profile Professional Gozapa.com 9 posts since
Sep 14, 2008
7. Re: www.GoZapa.com Dec 30, 2008 12:47 PM
in response to: Gozapa.com

Something has been posted on the website so if you want to take a look to see how it shows up you can now. Let me know what you think of the posting.
Click to view Gozapa.com's profile Professional Gozapa.com 9 posts since
Sep 14, 2008
8. Re: www.GoZapa.com Dec 31, 2008 12:12 PM
in response to: Gozapa.com
Can anyone check it out and let me know what they thinK? www.gozapa.com
Click to view BrassJmes's profile Mogul BrassJmes 35 posts since
Dec 8, 2008
9. Re: www.GoZapa.com Jan 5, 2009 2:21 AM
in response to: Gozapa.com
Hi again,
Having that post in your site allows me a much better understanding about your site's purpose and function
It also raises a few points:

  • It still looks quite .. to the point.. not really fancy. You should really consider your targeted audience. If you want to build a site with no eye candy what so ever (sort of like Google) You should work on that. But the current design of your pages gives the impression that this site does use graphics in its templates, and since there aren't many, some will find it quite lacking. it gives a look of "unfinished".. a feeling that there should be something else

  • You should work on your search results design and color choice. I think having a background color for the search results should be chosen a bit better, something that will go along with the site's current use of colors. Also, this (this=having your results with a different background color) gives your results a "square" feeling. they aren't viewed as 'dynamic' and 'flowing' like your logo suggests.

  • You should work on your article presentation. I, personally, think it's too centered and stuffed, maybe you should try to stretch it out more. Your buttons also look a bit too stocky - a button with 3 rows of a name makes it look like something went wrong with the template and kinda messed it up. Although maybe using icons with tooltips would help that 1 out

All in all. I think your site looks good. but has a few design flaws. Just keep in mind that these are my thoughts only. Any person can view these things differently (and I'm sure most do). Give your co-workers/friends/family/neighbors a chance to look at the design and voice their opinions

Hope I helped. and G'luck

Jmes
http://www.lookuppage.com/users/jamesbrass
brassjmes@gmail.com
Click to view Gozapa.com's profile Professional Gozapa.com 9 posts since
Sep 14, 2008
10. Re: www.GoZapa.com Jan 6, 2009 9:17 AM
in response to: BrassJmes
Thanks Brass, and you have helped. I had somewhat of the same feeling when the site was being built, but I couldn't put a finger on it like you did. As time goes by we will add some of the things you mentioned. The background color for the posts is ment to stand out. It is a premium option when posting your event/contest etc. Its ment to catch peoples eyes while they are going through the search query. We do need to do some advertising though. Any helpful tips on advertising? Does Adwords work as good as I read? Or is it hit and miss?
Click to view BrassJmes's profile Mogul BrassJmes 35 posts since
Dec 8, 2008
11. Re: www.GoZapa.com Jan 6, 2009 10:09 AM
in response to: Gozapa.com
Thanks, I'm always happy to help, and it's nice hearing a kind word :-)

There are many ways of advertising
Although most of them refer to SEO (Search Engine Optimization) mainly. Since your service is a search engine I don't really know if this option appeals to you, since you WILL be competing against other search engines (or am I getting this wrong? If your site is only about articles than maybe it won't be such a competition, and you COULD use the search engine help)
Using SEM (Search Engine Marketing) does have it benefits, its considerably less time consuming and it guarantees top placement, you DO have to pick your keywords really carefully though
Good SEOing will get you a long way, and it's done by alot of ways, like: SEOing your pages and site, adding content (such as blogs), having high ranking sites to link to your site, etc...
One way I usually recommend is building online personal profiles. This isn't as time consuming as the others and it does have its strong points. You could try LinkedIn ( www.linkedin.com ), Twitter ( www.twitter.com), Naymz ( www.naymz.com )
and LookupPage ( www.lookuppage.com
). I use the last since it's the one with the least time consumption, and creates the most professional look, but feel free to use them all. They all help, and you could link them to your web site. This is good SEO in minutes

Another option you have is placing advertisements in related sites. Small .gifs or Flashes can drive traffic to your site. Although, I, for one, completely ignore these

I think you should investigate this matter further, maybe consult a professional or two

G'luck

Jmes
http://www.lookuppage.com/users/jamesbrass
brassjmes@gmail.com
Click to view Gozapa.com's profile Professional Gozapa.com 9 posts since
Sep 14, 2008
12. Re: www.GoZapa.com Jan 7, 2009 3:51 PM
in response to: BrassJmes
Thanks Brass for your time and helpful answers. Goodluck in your future endavors