SEO Tycoon

**Bookworm-SEO** · 12-22-2006, 01:28 PM

Most SEO focuses on getting the homepage ranking. Which is good, because it'll pass juice to the subfolders and probably earn some long-tail traffic that way.
But home pages don't convert.
So I'd like to hear any ideas/strategies you guys have for getting the sales page to rank.

Most free directories will not link to a subfolder. Perhaps a subdomain that is its 'own' site in a way might work?

**imported_myhomehost** · 12-22-2006, 03:10 PM

Write articles , post in forums and blogs etc..

**Pearse** · 12-22-2006, 05:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bookworm-SEO

Most SEO focuses on getting the homepage ranking.

IMO you should be viewing every page as its own site and ranking those according to their content while keeping in mind site theme. This is where an effective article campaign (like mentioned above), press release work or viral campaign can come in handy. Every piece of content I create or have created for a landing page is targeted to a specific term and I run the same type of linking campaigns I would on any other page. By doing this I am able to grow my clients search tails much larger than if I were to focus on their homepage only. Last year I ran a piece of content that compared services biased of course to my clients product that turned into an effective pre-sell page since the surfers it targeted were at later stages of the buying process. While this is more of a pre-sell page it is effective. To me a sales page is a sales page and should be optimized to convert more than bringing traffic in from the SEs however if I were going to attempt to rank a sales page I would go about it in the same manner. This might mean creating a sales page that is a bit craftier than your typical SP, but I think we should be striving to go a step above in everything we do.

**handsome rob** · 12-27-2006, 11:39 AM

Build deep links to the sales pages (which will also do wonders for your overall site rank).

**Bookworm-SEO** · 12-27-2006, 06:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by handsome rob

Build deep links to the sales pages (which will also do wonders for your overall site rank).

That's my point: why would anyone link to your sales page??

**handsome rob** · 12-28-2006, 10:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bookworm-SEO

That's my point: why would anyone link to your sales page??

Someone blogging or doing a review of your product? Someone running a deals/discount/coupon site? Affiliates (if you have any)? Any site that references your product for any reason could be convinced to link to the product page instead of just the homepage.

Maybe it's worth asking, though, how hard you're making it to buy this product from your homepage? If the sale of one particular product or line is that important to your business, perhaps it deserves a hero shot on your homepage? Does your sales page look too much like a sales page? Are you not giving enough product specs/history/info on your sales page for people to link to that page?

If you're identifying the need (latent or otherwise) and solution on the homepage, does the sales page re-affirm the need? Because if you start getting traffic directly to that page and you're not doing these things, only people who are already sold on this product will buy. And they're more likely to shop around for a better price or closer vendor.

**Bookworm-SEO** · 12-28-2006, 02:15 PM

Wow, great post Rob! Thanks for the various ideas onplaces to get links and ways to build/work on the homepage to sell, not to mention the advice for the sales copy.
btw, it's an abstract question now, as I haven't yet designed the sales page and am just getting started building the site.

**handsome rob** · 12-29-2006, 10:02 AM

MarketingSherpa put out a 200 page ebook(hardcopy snail mailed to you as well) on landing page design. It's $247, but a good read if you've got money to burn. Focuses on e-commerce and form conversion pages. I'd create and A/B split-test a few disallowed/noindex landing pages with a PPC campaign first to see what converts best. You may not need the ebook with enough trial and error.

**Pearse** · 12-30-2006, 01:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by handsome rob

I'd create and A/B split-test a few disallowed/noindex landing pages with a PPC campaign first to see what converts best. You may not need the ebook with enough trial and error.

One of the better pieces of advice I have seen offered in quite a while.

**MonkeyBiz** · 12-30-2006, 07:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bookworm-SEO

Most SEO focuses on getting the homepage ranking. Which is good, because it'll pass juice to the subfolders and probably earn some long-tail traffic that way.
But home pages don't convert.
So I'd like to hear any ideas/strategies you guys have for getting the sales page to rank.

Most free directories will not link to a subfolder. Perhaps a subdomain that is its 'own' site in a way might work?

So wait..you ask painfully obvious questions about SEO yet you offer SEO services.

**Bookworm-SEO** · 12-31-2006, 02:37 AM

Sounds like a good idea to try out. Pardon the newbness here, but how would I get rid of the navigation on my site for the landing page? Or should/could I just upload a file to the server without linking to it and see if that works (i've got WP installed, keep in mind).
Thanks for your thoughts.
Also, I was wondering if a stripped down site with info on me, my portfolio etc. might not be likelier to convert, since ppl would get more info?

**handsome rob** · 01-02-2007, 10:16 AM

Worm--

Post specific URLs. I dont feel comfortable giving you advice about anything that specific if i can't see what we're working with. Wouldnt want to recommend the wrong thing.