What should my retail website strategy be?

[jaeent]

Guys,
Bare with me while I vent and ask for help at the same time! I have 3 websites, out there for 2 years, work hard every day on my sites and everyone says that they are "pretty" and "lovely". I had PR4 on all until Google changed the algo about a year ago. Now we have PR2 barely. I sell stuff on my sites. Each major page lists products for sale. I have content and pics on the home page and have tried to do good with keywords etc. Maybe I just don't know how to do that. If I put content at the top of my sales pages, my products don't show unless you scroll down. I don't want that do I? I want what little traffic I get (average 30 - 40 hits a day on a good week) to see and buy my products. If I put content below it, Google thinks it's not important. I have H1 as the first think on the page for the most part, and I continue to add content pages on an Article page on the root. I have done link trading snce I started. I get *some* traffic from them. I try to make them relevant. But I have a lot of different link pages under www.domainname.com/links/. That's what I thought I was supposed to do to increase traffic. I submit to relevant directories..as many as I can find. I get maybe 2 or 3 sales a week on one site, about 1 a month on one, and zero on the other. What Is A Girl To Do?

I joined this forum for a year because everything I've read tells me that this is the best place to figure out what in the heck to do without breaking any laws. SHEEZ Guys! What am I doing wrong? I work my fanny off on these things in addition to a full-time job. I don't manage keywords in a software program. I guess I don't know what to do with them. I have too many pages to keep up now. Do I add one page for every key word? And heaven forbid if you "stuff" the page with the dumb word or phrase..you get dinged for that too.

I just don't know what to do anymore. Should I find ways to link every page on my site to each other somehow or does my navigation do that for me already? I bought my websites from StoresOnline, and many people scream about them, but I've been able to customize my sites the way I want and I find it flexible. I had to learn html but I can some now...enough to get what I want.

I need some pointers from the experts. What should my retail website strategy be? Content? Articles? Links? Directories? Keywords? What? Somebody stop the madness!

Frustrated in Dallas,
jaeent

[Wlauzon]

..I bought my websites from StoresOnline...

That is your single most important and major problem. Aside from all the legal problems and thousands of complaints they have, there are some real issues with their products, their websites, and so-called marketing and distribution.

.. and many people scream about them...

I would call that the understatement of the year. 19 investigations in 7 states, indictments in 2 states, the lowest BBB rating possible, legal action in at least 9 countries, and at least 15 websites that I found solely devoted to complaints about them. Not to mention hundreds more with sections devoted to their practices.

I have off and on tracked that company for about 3 years now, ever since they almost scammed my sister out of some $6400.

Of course none of this solves your problem or original question.

So...

1. Their so-called website building software is pretty bad. It would be difficult, if not impossible, to get any decent SEO with it out of the box unless you hand code around it. It does not even have a DOCTYPE.
2. The limited number of products they offer are overpriced, and if you do a search for them you will find exactly the same thing - cheaper - offered on thousands of other sites. You are competing against thousands of clones with almost exactly the same thing you have. Just as one example, the (supposedly) 'Official' rain gauge they sell you can buy for half price or less in numerous other places.
3. All the stores I looked at don't have their own URL - they are just cloned subsites of the main: widgets/site/4809809 type thing. Very difficult to get any serious SE action with that kind of setup, especially when you have thousands of almost exact duplicates.
4. There is no valid reason that I can see for them selling you 6 "websites" (I use the term loosely here). In fact I see very little reason to have more than one or two in most cases. All it does is spread out your time and effort, and makes it that much harder to get decent SERPs for even one.

My advice, is run, don't walk. It sounds like with all the effort you have put in so far, you could have had a thriving Yahoo or even OScommerce store by now, at much les cost.