[quote name=‘The Tool’]Transfer the db via cPanel (if available) instead of using the cart software.[/QUOTE]
[COLOR=“DarkOrchid”]Not quite sure what you mean…
I go into cpanel and “restore” (save) the latest copy of the database to the main directory, and then physically move it to the test directory…and then try to import it in from the same directory.
Is this what you were suggesting?[/COLOR]
yes, are you doing these as individual tables from the Amin/Database area?
If your old 2.0.15 DB is still a DB and you have access to phpMyAdim, I would suggest dumping it (Export tab) compressed and then using phpMyAdmin to import it into your new db.
Respectfully…
These items are killing your store:
Extremely LONG pages - including the homepage. Too many links to other websites, too many visible categories, ultimately not enough content.
SEO URLs are those reminiscent of 1.3.5spx. If you are only making $20 per week, do yourself a favor: Edit EVERY SINGLE PRODUCT TITLE to something descriptive, including contact us forms, flush cscart_seo_names and remove all 301/302 redirects.
[URL]http://www.affectionately-yours.com/cake-toppers-c-248.html[/URL]
- Some people would call this SEO suicide, I call this a renewal of relativity.
“Helpful Departments” & “Wedding & Gift Boutiques” displayed at the bottom of the product pages.
Remove this immediately, too many links!
Product Descriptions not encased in appropriate HTML.
All I can see looking at the product is a LOT of
tags, nottags which are better utilized for google descriptions of your products
List style for categories should be via bestselling and preferably a two column display. Personally I don’t want to shop as there is too much information on page and the product titles don’t stand out much.
Compare and contrast
http://www.affectionately-yours.com/wedding-gifts-c-305.html?sort_by=position&sort_order=aschttp://www.barnlightelectric.com/porcelain-lights-goosenecks-pendants/goodrich-gooseneck-lights/Get a decent host, can’t afford it? - Consider your long term goals. I’m being blunt here for you to realise that I’m not being a jackass. Reason?
http://www.google.com/search?q=site%3Ahttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.affectionately-yours.com%2F&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a
Database error: Duplicate entry '1121038' for key 'PRIMARY' (1062) Invalid query: INSERT INTO cscart_stat_requests (`sess_id`, `timestamp`, `url`, `title`, ...
Considering what you’ve done by yourself, it’s obviously been a considerable success however I don’t believe that it’s the “market” causing a downside within your business.
J.
[COLOR=“DarkOrchid”]Jesse…thanks so very much for taking the time to comment. I appreciate your experienced input! I am going to try your suggestions, but just wanted to mention a couple of things…[/COLOR]
[quote name=‘JesseLeeStringer’]Respectfully…
These items are killing your store:
Extremely LONG pages - including the homepage. Too many links to other websites, too many visible categories, ultimately not enough content.[/QUOTE]
[COLOR=“DarkOrchid”]If you would have seen my home page in X-Cart when we had some great traffic, I think you would have had heart failure. Almost everything was the same except I had about 35-40 banners and links to other sites at the bottom. The content and category/wordy descriptions were just copied and pasted. As I mentioned in my earlier response, most of the site was duplicated just as it was in X-Cart[/COLOR]
[QUOTE] SEO URLs are those reminiscent of 1.3.5spx. If you are only making $20 per week, do yourself a favor: Edit EVERY SINGLE PRODUCT TITLE to something descriptive, including contact us forms, flush cscart_seo_names and remove all 301/302 redirects.
[URL]http://www.affectionately-yours.com/cake-toppers-c-248.html[/URL]
- Some people would call this SEO suicide, I call this a renewal of relativity.[/QUOTE]
[COLOR=“DarkOrchid”]I removed the redirects from the sub-directory that x-cart was in, but for some reason i cannot delete that subdirectory. Every time I hit the delete button the folder disappears, but when I refresh the page in cpanel, it’s back there. It’s driving me nutso! The same with another test directory from a previous upgrade.
You included an url from my website for cake toppers. That is one of the exact seo urls that I did do when I copied over to CS. Struck mentioned that using a redirect to an exact was critical, and I regret not doing this to every one. Are you saying this was not necessary? Just trying to understand…
When I did a high energy SEO update a few months ago, I did go through every single product and make the titles highly descriptive with keywords. That was one thing I knew had to be done…although beforehand in x-cart they were not as descriptive and we were extremely busy. This is one thing that baffles me…
Where you kinda lost me was when you suggested flush the cs-cart seo names. Not sure what you meant. Do I turn off that addon feature and turn back on or no?[/COLOR]
[QUOTE]“Helpful Departments” & “Wedding & Gift Boutiques” displayed at the bottom of the product pages.
Remove this immediately, too many links!
[/QUOTE]
[COLOR=“DarkOrchid”]This was something I read in some WebProNews newsletter…and the suggestion was to have every page (or category) available from every other page (or category). When I did do this, it “appeared” to increase Google page indexing…but didn’t know for sure[/COLOR]
[QUOTE]Product Descriptions not encased in appropriate HTML.
All I can see looking at the product is a LOT of
tags, not
tags which are better utilized for google descriptions of your products[/QUOTE]
[COLOR=“DarkOrchid”]Just one
&
will suffice per product ?[/COLOR][QUOTE]List style for categories should be via bestselling and preferably a two column display. Personally I don’t want to shop as there is too much information on page and the product titles don’t stand out much.[/QUOTE]
[COLOR=“DarkOrchid”]I am not sure what you’re saying here…can you kindly provide an example?[/COLOR]
[QUOTE]Compare and contrast
http://www.affectionately-yours.com/wedding-gifts-c-305.html?sort_by=position&sort_order=aschttp://www.barnlightelectric.com/porcelain-lights-goosenecks-pendants/goodrich-gooseneck-lights/[/QUOTE]
[COLOR=“DarkOrchid”]Sorry Jesse…don’t quite understand what you are describing. Please remember I am still new at this, and need a tiny bit more info[/COLOR]
[QUOTE]Get a decent host, can’t afford it? - Consider your long term goals. I’m being blunt here for you to realise that I’m not being a jackass. Reason?
http://www.google.com/search?q=site%3Ahttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.affectionately-yours.com%2F&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a
Database error: Duplicate entry '1121038' for key 'PRIMARY' (1062) Invalid query: INSERT INTO cscart_stat_requests (`sess_id`, `timestamp`, `url`, `title`, ...
[COLOR=“DarkOrchid”]I did have a decent host…in my opinion just about the best. But I was on a VPS, and it was costing me $85.00 a month that I did not have. All my operating costs have been coming out of our personal home living funds, and it just got to a point of breaking. At this moment in time I had no choice whatsoever…and I so bad want to return to my former host. He knows I will be back as soon as I can get somewhat on my feet.
Not sure what you were pointing out with the code above…could you please elaborate?[/COLOR]
[QUOTE]Considering what you’ve done by yourself, it’s obviously been a considerable success however I don’t believe that it’s the “market” causing a downside within your business.
J.[/QUOTE]
[COLOR=“DarkOrchid”]I am sure you are right, and that is why I am so very tickled to receive observations from you and others here that can see things I don’t. I appreciate it more than you know…[/COLOR]
[quote name=‘tbirnseth’]yes, are you doing these as individual tables from the Amin/Database area?
If your old 2.0.15 DB is still a DB and you have access to phpMyAdim, I would suggest dumping it (Export tab) compressed and then using phpMyAdmin to import it into your new db.[/QUOTE]
[COLOR=“DarkOrchid”]
I was trying to import the database as a whole. Not sure how to do it by tables.
I will see if I can accomplish this on my own. This is something totally new to me. Thanks[/COLOR] 
Good Morning Dawn 
[QUOTE]Struck mentioned that using a redirect to an exact was critical, and I regret not doing this to every one. Are you saying this was not necessary? Just trying to understand…[/QUOTE]
Jesse is telling you what you now need to do, in this case it is all about timing as the 301 redirects were extremely important one year ago to retain your existing traffic during your site move, that is past tense.
I have read enough of Jesse’s posts to know that he certainly is very good at SEO, no doubt that he knows his stuff & I would definately follow his instructions the best you can.
I looked over your site some and my first reactions were that although it looked quite professional, I was very overwhelmed with the shear amount of information displayed! Jesse also mentioned this, information/text is necessary, however, you can also have too much.
On a very positive note, I would say you have a very nice foundation to work with, nice site, you are well established, loads of products & site information, you simply need to put the majority of your focus on getting your traffic back, SEO!
This will give you the most & quickest return on your efforts right now!
As far as hosting, you can easily find a good VPS for well under $85.00/Month, so I would forget the “friendship” part of the hosting decision, and view your host as nothing more than a comodity tool that better perform at very near to perfection 24/7 or they are history, we have no friends & we take no prisoners! :mad:
Again as Jesse mentions, I would do that as soon as you can reasonably pull it off.
Regards to “upgrading” from 2.0.15, I would put that on hold for the time being unless there is some compelling feature that you are convinced of needing in 2.1.xx. Get your site traffic back & you will be able to pay someone to upgrade your site without giving it much more than a quick thought.
[quote name=‘Struck’]Good Morning Dawn
Jesse is telling you what you now need to do, in this case it is all about timing as the 301 redirects were extremely important one year ago to retain your existing traffic during your site move, that is past tense.
I have read enough of Jesse’s posts to know that he certainly is very good at SEO, no doubt that he knows his stuff & I would definately follow his instructions the best you can.
I looked over your site some and my first reactions were that although it looked quite professional, I was very overwhelmed with the shear amount of information displayed! Jesse also mentioned this, information/text is necessary, however, you can also have too much.
On a very positive note, I would say you have a very nice foundation to work with, nice site, you are well established, loads of products & site information, you simply need to put the majority of your focus on getting your traffic back, SEO!
This will give you the most & quickest return on your efforts right now!
As far as hosting, you can easily find a good VPS for well under $85.00/Month, so I would forget the “friendship” part of the hosting decision, and view your host as nothing more than a comodity tool that better perform at very near to perfection 24/7 or they are history, we have no friends & we take no prisoners! :mad:
Again as Jesse mentions, I would do that as soon as you can reasonably pull it off.
Regards to “upgrading” from 2.0.15, I would put that on hold for the time being unless there is some compelling feature that you are convinced of needing in 2.1.xx. Get your site traffic back & you will be able to pay someone to upgrade your site without giving it much more than a quick thought.[/QUOTE]
[COLOR=“DarkOrchid”]Wonderful mornin’ to you as well
A great [SIZE=“3”]BIG[/SIZE] thank you for taking the time to look around…
I understand everything you said, and will work like a demon to get things back on track. I am sure Jesse is a pro, and will employ as many of his suggestions as I know how. A couple of them need a tiny bit of clarification, and then I will know how to go about it. I have already implemented some, working on others and will follow through with the rest.
If you please don’t mind my asking…when you say you are overwhelmed, is it on the home page only or every page you visited? And if it is the home page, what would YOU change? I love the feedback, and look forward to your answer. A long time ago the host/friend I mentioned suggested making keywords a priority and that is the entire reason for the category links & descriptions in the middle of the home page. Do you consider those to be part of the “clutter”? I recall once I placed that on my home page in X-Cart my ranking did rise considerably. I don’t know if the rules are even the same anymore with the SE’s.
I also understand your thoughts on hosts & friendship…and appreciate your candid comments He was the 4th I had been with since starting the websites & stayed with him for almost 10 years. He never let me down, and was there to help within an hour of my SOS…except during the night of course (guess the poor soul had to sleep sometime). But when it comes time to step up, I will look around for more options as you suggested. It can never hurt. I just don’t know if I can get the help I received from him for less than $85.00 a month which included any and all tech support. I will openly admit I am not at all happy with my hosting company now. I know I am not their only client, but when it comes to assistance, it is very hard to get satisfaction. As soon as I am able, I will move on to more reliable accommodations. I found them featured on the CS-Cart site for their services. I guess anyone with a checkbook can advertise there.
I am not in any real big hurry for the upgrade, with the exception of the user cart deletion & management. I am sure it will not fade away while I get everything else in order.
Thanks much much again Struck, and any other helpful suggestions you would like to make, I am all ears…
[/COLOR]
[quote name=‘DawnG’]
[COLOR=DarkOrchid]If you would have seen my home page in X-Cart when we had some great traffic, I think you would have had heart failure. Almost everything was the same except I had about 35-40 banners and links to other sites at the bottom. The content and category/wordy descriptions were just copied and pasted. As I mentioned in my earlier response, most of the site was duplicated just as it was in X-Cart[/COLOR][/quote]
X-Cart in it’s own right is very different from CS. The fundementals themselves is like comparing gasoline and diesel engines - although they both work, they need different elements to work correctly.
[quote name=‘DawnG’]
[COLOR=DarkOrchid]I removed the redirects from the sub-directory that x-cart was in, but for some reason i cannot delete that subdirectory. Every time I hit the delete button the folder disappears, but when I refresh the page in cpanel, it’s back there. It’s driving me nutso! The same with another test directory from a previous upgrade.[/quote]
[COLOR=Black]Not sure what you mean here, my suggestion is to clear out the htaccess file of anything that relates to redirects. In fact, just use the vanilla htaccess of your version and upload it.[/COLOR]
[/COLOR][quote name=‘DawnG’]
[COLOR=DarkOrchid] You included an url from my website for cake toppers. That is one of the exact seo urls that I did do when I copied over to CS. Struck mentioned that using a redirect to an exact was critical, and I regret not doing this to every one. Are you saying this was not necessary? Just trying to understand…[/quote]
[COLOR=Black]The URL does not adequately describe the category.
What are “wedding-gifts-c-305.html?” - Your own category title is ‘Wedding Gifts For The Newly Married Couple’ which would have the url look like this: domain.com/wedding-gifts-for-the-newly-married-couple This is automatic, you want better SEO? Remove ‘for’ & ‘the’ in that seo name and you’ve got something a lot more powerful and relative to your products.
[/COLOR]
[/COLOR][quote name=‘DawnG’]
[COLOR=DarkOrchid] When I did a high energy SEO update a few months ago, I did go through every single product and make the titles highly descriptive with keywords. That was one thing I knew had to be done…although beforehand in x-cart they were not as descriptive and we were extremely busy. This is one thing that baffles me…[/quote]
[COLOR=Black]The keywords are awesome, the urls are not. Doesn’t help that you are using old url schema[/COLOR]
[/COLOR][quote name=‘DawnG’]
[COLOR=DarkOrchid] Where you kinda lost me was when you suggested flush the cs-cart seo names. Not sure what you meant. Do I turn off that addon feature and turn back on or no?[/COLOR][/quote]
No, Flushing the SEO names means to remove ALL URLs from the store and have them automatically regenerate. This will break any urls that you have manually linked to in your product descriptions.
An example of before & after. review this website:bellahomefashions.com
The URL schemes are in a mixed seo format (quilts-c157/) and ‘new’ seo urls http://www.bellahomefashions.com/ansley-tea-dyed-rustic-americana-cotton-quilt.html
What you would be doing in essence is allowing CS-Cart to deal with all SEO names, making it more intuitive depending on how descriptive your categories/product names are.
[quote name=‘DawnG’]
[COLOR=DarkOrchid]This was something I read in some WebProNews newsletter…and the suggestion was to have every page (or category) available from every other page (or category). When I did do this, it “appeared” to increase Google page indexing…but didn’t know for sure[/COLOR]
[/quote]
Not everything you read in any online journal is valid.
If we refer back to the gasoline/diesel comparison it’s the same ideas incorrectly used.
[/quote][quote name=‘DawnG’]
[COLOR=DarkOrchid]Just one
&
will suffice per product ?[/COLOR][/quote]
Yes
[quote name=‘DawnG’]
[COLOR=DarkOrchid]I am not sure what you’re saying here…can you kindly provide an example?[/COLOR][/quote]
The display of products should be in two columns, refer to the example I provided in terms of product presentation. You will see on your website ‘Default’ with a dropdown for other types. It’s presented as ‘Sort By’
[quote name=‘DawnG’]
[COLOR=DarkOrchid]I did have a decent host…in my opinion just about the best. But I was on a VPS, and it was costing me $85.00 a month that I did not have. All my operating costs have been coming out of our personal home living funds, and it just got to a point of breaking. At this moment in time I had no choice whatsoever…and I so bad want to return to my former host. He knows I will be back as soon as I can get somewhat on my feet.[/quote]
[/COLOR]If your VPS is throwing errors relating to CS-Cart, Google is also indexing the errors. This is why you SEO 'sucks’at the moment. Look at your google results and you’ll see what I mean: http://www.google.com/search?q=site%3Ahttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.affectionately-yours.com%2F&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a#q=site:http://www.affectionately-yours.com/&hl=en&safe=off&client=firefox-a&hs=9ga&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&prmd=ivns&ei=E18zTbOkFMWt8Abc2a3iCA&start=0&sa=N&fp=fd0f73886609171d
[quote name=‘DawnG’]
[COLOR=DarkOrchid]I am sure you are right, and that is why I am so very tickled to receive observations from you and others here that can see things I don’t. I appreciate it more than you know…[/COLOR][/quote]
We try for the deserving
[quote name=‘JesseLeeStringer’]We try for the deserving :)[/QUOTE]
[COLOR=“DarkOrchid”]Thanks so very much Jesse…that took a lot of time to gather all that info. I appreciate your time and suggestions. I have implemented some, working on others, and will do my best not to make the same mistakes from here on. I have my fingers crossed I can recover from all this. I have worked hard and I think I deserve it[/COLOR]
Remember Dawn you had a successful opertaion before and you will have a successfull operation again or even better as you already acheived it with xcart. Just some errors made along the way during transition. With the help of the guys already here and a bit of time I am sure you will be back up in the rankings.
Look at it as a new start and remember that you have already had the figures once.
Good Luck, keep smilin
John
[quote name=‘johnbol1’]Remember Dawn you had a successful opertaion before and you will have a successfull operation again or even better as you already acheived it with xcart. Just some errors made along the way during transition. With the help of the guys already here and a bit of time I am sure you will be back up in the rankings.
Look at it as a new start and remember that you have already had the figures once.
Good Luck, keep smilin
John[/QUOTE]
[COLOR=“DarkOrchid”]Thanks John…I really needed a ray of sunshine like you today 
I am smiling now
I did put a lot of time and love into my business, and was doing very well until about the time this recession hit. So I thought I was just another sad statistic. Another HUGE company who ships worldwide & does all the Renaissance Faires across the country, who supplies us with gorgeous pewter wedding items, told me they are surviving on $15.00 medieval jewelry right now. So you can see why I felt we were just in the same sinking boat with everyone else.
I will take any and all suggestions & hope things turn around. It can only get better [/COLOR]
Hi Precious!
(No, I haven’t forgotten you, just a bit overloaded right now!)
In Internet Explorer Version 6, your 3rd column on the right side of your site does not display (looks fine in IE7, IE Eight). The rest of the site seems ok in IE6 (only a quick check however), so you may want to check all the way through order checkout completion by creating a simulated order to make sure that you are not loosing any orders from IE6 users.
You will have to decide just how important this is to you, or if it is even worth the effort in fixing for IE6.
I will be pleased when IE6 completely becomes a thing of the past, as in prehistoric. :mad:
Dawn, Btw,
While checking out your site, I even found the perfect “Cake Topper” for our friend, “The Tool” ! (Cha Ching)
Please see attached!
[QUOTE]If you please don’t mind my asking…when you say you are overwhelmed, is it on the home page only or every page you visited?[/QUOTE]
Mainly referring to the home page. Although IMO this is by far the most important page on your site especially for 1st time visitors, right?
You really do want to only view this as one single opinion and make your own individual decision as to whether it is a legitimate concern. I think you have to strongly consider your market demographics as well, reason is I am a guy, and I think it would be safe to bet that females visitors are by far your largest gender base, and there is no doubt that females are certainly able to digest far more information at once before reaching information overload!
I would simply look over every detail displayed on your home page, and if it is not of definite value, then I would remove, or perhaps display it on a different page if it makes sense. That is the nice thing about “Blocks” in CS, you have a great deal of control over exactly which pages of your site information is being displayed!
With all of this information, I believe you have to view it from both an SEO as well as a Usability standpoint. For example, it makes absolutely no difference at all if you have 1,000 unique visitors per day if none of them actually purchase anything from your site, and likewise, it makes no difference if every visitor to your site follows through to a purchase if you only have one visitor per day. So, the key is in designing your site to obtain just the right balance of adequate site visitors along with a high enough conversion rate to keep your bank account filled!
Another tip, and only 5 minutes work:
Turn on Gzip and install smartoptimizer. It’s free and will make your site much faster so people will stay on your site, and it should also help with your ranking. Here we go:
First check here [url]http://www.gidnetwork.com/tools/gzip-test.php[/url] if your site is already using gzip or not.
Also, for the fun of it, check your site here [url]http://gtmetrix.com/[/url] and see how it gets rated. Remember this.
If gzip is not running yet see this great thread by the magnificant Lee Li Pop (aka as the speedmeister): [url]http://forum.cs-cart.com/showthread.php?t=20534[/url]
After you have done that install smartoptimizer.
Please see [url]http://forum.cs-cart.com/showthread.php?t=14032[/url] and the comments by kogi or nicebuilder (both describe how to install it)
To prove that it works :
- First have a look yourself, you will probably notice it immediately and smartoptimizer will load some data into it’s cache.
- Check your site with [url]http://gtmetrix.com/[/url] again and SMILE!
Good luck and enjoy your new superfast site!
P.S. If you tweak even more you can get an extra 5% or so but smartoptimizer is really the most important.
And even if you can’t enable gzip, just use smartoptimizer alone.
Strongly suggest all design/layout issues are addressed before trying to optimize anything. Optimization should be a final step so that you’re not battling (and optimizing) bad things…
[quote name=‘Struck’]Hi Precious!
(No, I haven’t forgotten you, just a bit overloaded right now!)
In Internet Explorer Version 6, your 3rd column on the right side of your site does not display (looks fine in IE7, IE Eight). The rest of the site seems ok in IE6 (only a quick check however), so you may want to check all the way through order checkout completion by creating a simulated order to make sure that you are not loosing any orders from IE6 users.
You will have to decide just how important this is to you, or if it is even worth the effort in fixing for IE6.
I will be pleased when IE6 completely becomes a thing of the past, as in prehistoric. :mad:[/QUOTE]
[COLOR=“DarkOrchid”]Thanks Struck…so glad you didn’t forget me
I am using IE8, so I can’t even check on how it appears in 6. You wonder why people view the world through an outdated piece of equipment. How does one get ahold of that version to check ?[/COLOR]
[quote name=‘Struck’]Dawn, Btw,
While checking out your site, I even found the perfect “Cake Topper” for our friend, “The Tool” ! (Cha Ching)
Please see attached!
Mainly referring to the home page. Although IMO this is by far the most important page on your site especially for 1st time visitors, right?
You really do want to only view this as one single opinion and make your own individual decision as to whether it is a legitimate concern. I think you have to strongly consider your market demographics as well, reason is I am a guy, and I think it would be safe to bet that females visitors are by far your largest gender base, and there is no doubt that females are certainly able to digest far more information at once before reaching information overload!
I would simply look over every detail displayed on your home page, and if it is not of definite value, then I would remove, or perhaps display it on a different page if it makes sense. That is the nice thing about “Blocks” in CS, you have a great deal of control over exactly which pages of your site information is being displayed!
With all of this information, I believe you have to view it from both an SEO as well as a Usability standpoint. For example, it makes absolutely no difference at all if you have 1,000 unique visitors per day if none of them actually purchase anything from your site, and likewise, it makes no difference if every visitor to your site follows through to a purchase if you only have one visitor per day. So, the key is in designing your site to obtain just the right balance of adequate site visitors along with a high enough conversion rate to keep your bank account filled![/QUOTE]
[COLOR=“DarkOrchid”]Wonderful insightful advice Struck…
I understand what you are saying, and it gives me food for thought. Unfortunately I am not that creative when it comes to websites. I design all my own graphics and banners, but don’t have the flair to bend this and twist that for special look. The more I travel around and view others, I get “ideas” and build on them…but to look at my own site and say I love it, I am never satisfied with it. I will have to poke around other wedding sites, especially those that come up high in search results for things I offer, and devise a plan.
Yes women are definitely my demographic stronghold, except of course for gay men and those that the “bride” told to “help her or else”…and there have been a few of those LOL
Thanks much Struck…I have to ponder what changes I need to make. Going to play “Magellan” for a while [/COLOR]
[quote name=‘Flow’]Another tip, and only 5 minutes work:
Turn on Gzip and install smartoptimizer. It’s free and will make your site much faster so people will stay on your site, and it should also help with your ranking. Here we go:
First check here [url]http://www.gidnetwork.com/tools/gzip-test.php[/url] if your site is already using gzip or not.
Also, for the fun of it, check your site here [url]http://gtmetrix.com/[/url] and see how it gets rated. Remember this.
If gzip is not running yet see this great thread by the magnificant Lee Li Pop (aka as the speedmeister): [url]http://forum.cs-cart.com/showthread.php?t=20534[/url]
After you have done that install smartoptimizer.
Please see [url]http://forum.cs-cart.com/showthread.php?t=14032[/url] and the comments by kogi or nicebuilder (both describe how to install it)
To prove that it works :
- First have a look yourself, you will probably notice it immediately and smartoptimizer will load some data into it’s cache.
- Check your site with [url]http://gtmetrix.com/[/url] again and SMILE!
Good luck and enjoy your new superfast site!
P.S. If you tweak even more you can get an extra 5% or so but smartoptimizer is really the most important.
And even if you can’t enable gzip, just use smartoptimizer alone.[/QUOTE]
[COLOR=“DarkOrchid”]Hi Flow,
I had gzip included on my index.php page and it was verified on the test for it.
I tried adding everything you and the other posts suggested, and quite a bit seems to have changed. Things seem to be flying in and out :)I am still getting poor ratings for the following:[/COLOR]
RECOMMENDATION GRADE TYPE PRIORITY
[COLOR=“Red”]Add Expires headers F (0) 17% Server High
Use a Content Delivery Network (CDN) F (0) 5% Server Medium
Use cookie-free domains F (0) 47% Cookie Low
Make fewer HTTP requests B (80) 51% Content High
Avoid HTTP 404 (Not Found) error D (60) 98% Content Medium
Compress components with gzip B (89) 56% Server High
Configure entity tags (ETags) E (56) 42% Server Low
On page speed:
Parallelize downloads across hostnames F (0) 56% Content High
Specify image dimensions F (0) 58% Images High
Combine images using CSS sprites F (23) 50% Images Medium
Remove unused CSS F (12.2) 68% CSS Low
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[COLOR=“DarkOrchid”]The rest of the report was A’s & B’s…so I was satisfied.
I added the smartoptimizer folder, change the permissions, copied the rules file to the main directory .htaccess.
Now I am really concerned. If these ratings are so poor, and I don’t have any idea of how to fix them, that means my SE situation may not change
Did I do something wrong or forget something?[/COLOR]
[quote name=‘tbirnseth’]Strongly suggest all design/layout issues are addressed before trying to optimize anything. Optimization should be a final step so that you’re not battling (and optimizing) bad things…[/QUOTE]
[COLOR=“DarkOrchid”]Thanks Trying to do everything in as orderly a manner as possible…while trying not to rip my hair out[/COLOR]
[COLOR=“DarkOrchid”]My admin is all messed up. Everything is along the left margin with no tabs or anything but text links. Has this happened to anyone else with the optimization ?[/COLOR]