# What to do after SEO?



## The T Shirt Man (Aug 29, 2006)

I have had my website up and running for a while now, almost a year; but i have had a website for around 3 years, i just changed the domain so in sense i treat it like a year. I will point out i only sell online.

I am top of google for some of my keywords, and near the top for some others.

I am looking to take the next step, but i am unsure which way to go. I do not really want to pay for advertising, it is expensive and i dont think it is very beneficial...I'm taking about adverts in mags and newspapers. I cant remember myself going to any websites i have remembered from reading a magazine.

I know there are lots of free things you can do online like interacting on myspace/facebook, posting in forums but this is very time consuming and i dont think it is worth it in the long run; I dont believe it amounts in lots of sales.

I know January is quite for most in retail but i was expecting to do better, now i am top/high for my keywords in google. I dont think i sell as many as i should, i get around 1000 uniques/3000 page views but last week i only got around 30 sales...I have been reading about people getting 20 or so a day which would be great for me; At xmas i was selling around 150 a week, if i could do this week in/week out i would be very happy 

It makes me question lots of things; Are my shirts too expensive? Are they not good enough? Is my website not good enough?.......Or is it just a quiet time.


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## TripleT (Apr 29, 2007)

What's your website address?


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## Gunslinger (Aug 3, 2007)

It's just quiet time ... don't panic ... always this way, following the major holidays. And the current economy isn't helping (at least, here in the US).

Just keek working the net, in areas that you typically don't need to when sales are rockin' (keep your exposure up ... yes, even on forums). And try offering some kind of limited sale offering to kick things up a notch.


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## The T Shirt Man (Aug 29, 2006)

see, this is my first year without using Ebay. In the past it has been slow but not this slow, but i was selling from 2 places (ebay and my website) so i am still new to selling online on my own site, almost done it for a year now though.

I dont really post on forums so i dont have that exposure, but because i am getting the exposure from my google rank (although not sales-because its quiet) I have made it into a few people's blogs who have stumbled across my site.

I am guessing the next pay day, the end of the month, is when things will start to pick up (or thats what i am hoping for).


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## Gunslinger (Aug 3, 2007)

Without knowing what you sell, one thing I like to do is target each up coming major holiday. So, if you can start targeting either products or sale offerings for Valentine's Day, I would put that together now.

Not sure why you left Ebay, but I would get back to that. We have always done well there, and sure fills in sales that we might not get from our website.

LOL, I think just about everyone I have heard from is hoping it will pick back up next month.


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## Rodney (Nov 3, 2004)

> I am top of google for some of my keywords, and near the top for some others.


Depends on which keywords you are on top for. Some are searched for less than others.



> It makes me question lots of things; Are my shirts too expensive? Are they not good enough? Is my website not good enough?.......Or is it just a quiet time.


We have no idea whether or not your shirts are too expensive or if they are good enough or not  You didn't put your website in your profile or signature. If you want a review though, you should post in the reviews section of the forum.



> i get around 1000 uniques/3000 page views but last week i only got around 30 sales


If I'm doing the math right, that's about a 3% conversion ratio, which isn't bad.



> I am looking to take the next step, but i am unsure which way to go. I do not really want to pay for advertising, it is expensive and i dont think it is very beneficial...I'm taking about adverts in mags and newspapers. I cant remember myself going to any websites i have remembered from reading a magazine.
> 
> I know there are lots of free things you can do online like interacting on myspace/facebook, posting in forums but this is very time consuming and i dont think it is worth it in the long run; I dont believe it amounts in lots of sales.


I think you need to rethink your marketing strategy some. You may be writing off some effective ways of advertising.

You should also keep thinking of different ways to get your website in front of your target market/potential customers. Some of those ways may involved paid advertising.


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## The T Shirt Man (Aug 29, 2006)

I should have some shirts for valentines day on my site this week.

My keywords are key to my site, so in busy times such as xmas i was getting lots of sales, i have done my keyword research and i am not worried about that part of my marketing, being top for some and in the top 5 for others is where i want to be (of course the ones i am not 1st for i want to be  )

I wasnt asking anyone if my shirts are expensive etc. i know that they are competitive because i checkout my competition...I'm just saying when its quiet it makes you think more that you are doing something wrong; I dont know if my competitors are experiencing the same thing. 

Sorry, thats 1000 unique/*day* and 30 sales a *week*; so its 7000/week and 30 sales, i dont think that is good.

I know that some mags would be good publicity however i cannot justify the cost. If it costs £450 for a month i would have to sell lots of extra t-shirts just to break even.


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## TripleT (Apr 29, 2007)

The T Shirt Man said:


> I wasnt asking anyone if my shirts are expensive etc. i know that they are competitive because i checkout my competition...
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 
It sounds like you're asking about those things - but if your questions are only rhetorical, and you don't want to spend any money on advertising or spend much time in other venues ("but this is very time consuming..."), that certainly narrows your choices.


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## Rodney (Nov 3, 2004)

> I wasnt asking anyone if my shirts are expensive etc


Well you did ask the question, I guess I just didn't catch that it was a rhetorical question. My bad 



> I know that some mags would be good publicity however i cannot justify the cost. If it costs £450 for a month i would have to sell lots of extra t-shirts just to break even


Look beyond the magazines. Blogs, smaller newsletters, targeted websites, free media coverage, etc.



> Sorry, thats 1000 unique/*day* and 30 sales a *week*; so its 7000/week and 30 sales, i dont think that is good.


Yes, that's not as good as I was calculating. There could be a lot of factors that come into play when looking at your conversion ratio though.


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## Gunslinger (Aug 3, 2007)

Yes, your competitors get the same feeling ... it's a knee-jerk reaction, and very normal.

I was gonna say, because I didn't calculate the numbers, correctly (my wife's dept) until Rodney spotted it ... if you are hitting 3%, you are ahead of the pack. But, since your correction ... that is more in line with our numbers, this month.

Still can't say whether magazine advertising is worth it, without knowing what you sell ... but, that said, and as Rodney stated, look for places to advertise based on who your product is geared for ... find websites providing banner ad spots that your potential customers are likely to visit.

As you said, you don't want paid advertising that is costing you more than you are bringing in ... I found that out trying a pay-per-click program (never liked em, but thought I'd try it out) - great traffic, never made a single sale.


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## The T Shirt Man (Aug 29, 2006)

My shirts are funny/slogan; to get an idea similar to sites like busted/tshirthell/snorg.

I am looking into magazines, but i hate paying for advertising!!....You have to understand i am from a web background not a clothing/designing one...I had a forum which i grew to over 18,000 members and then sold it to a media company with my advertising budget at 0. Its probably because of that which is why i dont like paying for ads. But i do understand that it was an informative forum, this is different, its ecommerce, a business.

So i know that sending out emails and posting here there and everywhere doesnt do much good (even on relevant sites); Thats why i was talking about things being "time consuming" i dont want to spend lots and lots of time doing something which has little impact; I am happy to spend lots of time working on something which has a positive effect (like SEO).

I tried things like adwords, they werent to my liking, too costly and not enough sales (although some sales, 1 of my campaigns actually was a success).


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## mshakir (Jul 7, 2006)

First the market is Slow.....

I have not seen this bad since I have been in the business for last three years.

It seems like people have put a hold on buying. People bought lot less during the christmas season and only where there were huge discounts. Also per person sales were down. So we are hitting a very low period. It is not t-shirt business only. It is hitting most of the businesses.

In USA, Fed dropped the interest rate 1% in last one month. There is a talk of tax rebate to give a kick to economy. When we will see the better market, is any ones guess.

Last, I still did not find the URL for your website. Did you publish it?


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## Gunslinger (Aug 3, 2007)

The T Shirt Man said:


> My shirts are funny/slogan; to get an idea similar to sites like busted/tshirthell/snorg.
> 
> I am looking into magazines, but i hate paying for advertising!!....You have to understand i am from a web background not a clothing/designing one...I had a forum which i grew to over 18,000 members and then sold it to a media company with my advertising budget at 0. Its probably because of that which is why i dont like paying for ads. But i do understand that it was an informative forum, this is different, its ecommerce, a business.
> 
> ...


I too, am from the web development end, and never paid a dime in advertising, until we got into e-commerce (and only one major ad campaign, at that).

Exposure is exposure, and everything you do online will have an impact ... just may not be an immediate one. SEO only goes so far ... once you are "optimized" ... that's it.


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## megaloprintiac (Sep 8, 2007)

I hope you sort something our soon mate.


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## Gunslinger (Aug 3, 2007)

I agree, Anthony, with Facebook ... I read last week on a report, discussing how the current movers and shakers were likely to do in the coming year, and Facebook was one that was likely to fall, and fall hard (as most gimmicks do).

When we opened the restaurant, I started a MySpace account (all the family were on it). The spamming got bad, and very time consuming, so I dumped it. However, now seeing how MySpace is truly embracing artists, especially the garment designing industry ... I am going to have to return to it.


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## megaloprintiac (Sep 8, 2007)

Yes ever since Tom the original founder sold out, the spamming got out of control, but if you tweak the security settings you can set up things called phishers, which means people have to type in letters and numbers shown in a jumbled jpeg on the screen. Im sure this is a procedure you're familiar with on many sites.

The thing about Facebook, is despite it being forecast to slump, the whole format isn't really set up to aiding you in free advertising.
This is mainly due to the fact that all profiles are set to private, and this is because Facebook is more about people who already know eachother sending eachother photos of nights out etc. Thats what the whole site is based around - interaction with people you already know. This begs the question if you already know them, why would you choose to sit on the internet instead of socialising in the flesh - I prefer to share physical photos with family and friends, not simply upload them.Thats why Facebook doesn't have what it takes to last. Nearly everyone Ive spoken too, says 'Myspce is ok, but everybody can see your profile', so they join Facebook for the privacy from people they don't know, and im sure you'll be aware this isn't good from people in our situation.

Myspace on the other hand is targetted at people who want to reach as large an audience as possible. It started with bands who wanted to increase their profile with new worldwide listeners. So you apply this formula to a clothing firm then you can do very well indeed. Think of the bands who have become famous from Myspace alone, there are several. It makes the underground more accessable. And aslong as you don't mind selling your Punk DIY soul for some good profits as I did, you should be doing alright for yourself.


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## The T Shirt Man (Aug 29, 2006)

Some of the points are good, i did actually start selling 1 or 2 "limited edition" shirts which did quite well.

I dont like myspace much, far too much spam these days, people just tend to ignore things just like banner ads on websites.



> 2) Ebay is good, go back to it if it works for you. Personally I think designing around a seasonal event is abit gimmicky. Would you buy a garment based on haloween/valentines day/christmas other than for fancy dress? I certainly wouldn't. And I believe this goes for alot of people. Instead how about introducing special offers around this period.


Ebay is not good, it costs too much, i have made lots of posts about it  I sold on it for over 3 years and it progressivly went down hill, with less exposure, less buyers and cost more.

I personally think its important to know what people like, and not just what you like. When i started i was doing designs i thought were good, and ignoring the rest. Then i started doing research on what other people liked; And now i sell some things i would not wear, and some i would (and do). I have some best sellers which arent personally to my taste, but i am aware other people like them so i sell them.



> 3) Instead of being competitive, why not raise your prices


Its important to be competitive, if you sell too low then a buyer will assume the product is not as good as a competitor; if its too expensive they will think it is just too expensive.


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## megaloprintiac (Sep 8, 2007)

All of this is true. I was trying to be nice about the ebay thing because I thought it was your main source - I personally wouldn't venture down that route, you're right its far too expensive.

And yes, but there is competitive and competitive. There are high end tshirt producers, who sell their tshirts for £40+ (thats excessive in my opinion), but you 'could' slant your brand to be competitive with these firms. So I really think it depends what you're going for and relative to which end of the market you're aiming at.
Personally I have a goal of making a name for myself printing on the best quality garments I can lay my hands on, and making sure my designs are very original whilst not straying too far from my target age and demographic. When people buy from me, and receive the product, they can see for themselves that it isn't something any 2-bit highstreet chain is churning out by the thousand. It has personality and that combined with knowing they have a good pre and post sales service reassures them to come back again and again.
I agree on one thing though, its really tough to design something you wouldn't necessarily wear yourself, thats one of my failings at the moment, ive just been fortunate so far the stuff Ive designed that I would be seen in, falls inline with other peoples standards.

On Myspace you can avoid spam by using phishers, on the privacy settings, after Tom sold up, I was getting 10+ friend requests a day from people who were directing me to some bogus sex cam or something of that nature, and as many messages about mobile phones as you can imagine, just wacked a phisher on and goodbye spam.
Also the way I sell is more traditional but updated for the internet. I forge close relationships with my regulars, and I intend every body who buys for me to become a regular, and so far around half of all of my customers have returned atleast once.


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## Gunslinger (Aug 3, 2007)

Anthony ... thanks for all that info about MySpace, it helps put my mind at ease (you stated exactly the same problems I was having). I was attracted to it during the second edition of a tv show we had here, called Rock Star: Supernova. I always hated American Idol, but this show was more my style and I really got into these new artists competing for a spot as front person in a rock band. They were all using MySpace, and it gave me a chance to see and hear other works of my favs that would never be shared, otherwise.

Really good discussion, guys ... and I am on the other side of the pond!


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## megaloprintiac (Sep 8, 2007)

Exactly, you hit the nail on the head, look how much we are learning here from people all over the world, particuarly cross-Atlantic! 
This is a forum for tshirt producers, stockist, enthusiasts and we all come together to source information, in the same way that Myspace is predominantly a site for unrecognised bands, thats draws in a large community of teenagers all looking to socialise. Clothing has always had strong links with the music industry, and then you combine that with the huge amount of individuals who support the bands on Myspace, and you have a recipe for gold if you can get it right. Clothing can be an integral part of the site's make-up. I havnt touched upon hardly anything I plan to do yet, I have so many ideas I can hardly sleep anymore, its just so exciting getting into this business! Maybe I shouldn't be advocating getting itno Myspace, I don't want all the competition lol  And no, im not on their payroll! I just think alot of people in my position could benefit from it.

I envy you guys in the states, you can get the best access to screen printing equipment, its been quite a struggle for me other here. Unless you're looking at large automatic machines you really have to search every nook and cranny to find a decent manual machine on a budget. Luckily I have found a UK firm who can stock Hopkins/BWM manual presses so I think this is my most natural course of action.....anyway that somewhat detracts from what we've been discussing.


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## Gunslinger (Aug 3, 2007)

LOL ... ditto ... some things are best kept to one's self. But, the MySpace had been a long discussion here (blogs, in general, as well), and I was under the assumption that they may charge promotional pages, even from artists and designers. But, I just saw the other day that they were sponsering one of the garment shows in Vegas, and had a new slogan. It's nice to know they decided to go that direction.

Now, I am a DTG/Dye Sub printer, but I hear the same trouble from fellow T-Jet printers having difficulty finding the same products we use here. They can get them, but it's not easy and can be quite time consuming. I wouldn't have thought it would the same for the more traditional garment printing products.

But, then ... I still haven't found a wide brayer (rubber roller) beyond 8 inches. I know they make them, I have read articles on the use of them ... but hell, if I can't find one.


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