MOdify URLs ?

[kevinmc3]

Can the Zen URLs be edited to take out the number tails which are toxic for SEO ?

https://www.cvtreasures.com/original...-movie-posters-c-66/

[dbltoe]

several different thoughts depending....

First, there is no proof that "unfriendly" URL's are toxic. Search kayak parts on Google. Not a "friendly" URL in the bunch and they beat Amazon.

Second, if you are really using 1.5.4 anything you try to do will be a lousy bandaid at best. I'm surprised you are still able to run the program at that level. That version will soon be 10 years old. Both the PHP and MySQL used in that version are long past End Of Life.

Last.... If you just gotta, you're going to have to get up to speed with 1.5.8a first. Available at https://github.com/zencart/zencart/releases

I would suggest a new install and bring in your old database. IF truly 1.5.4 then https://docs.zen-cart.com/user/upgra..._only_upgrade/ may be your only shot.

[kevinmc3]

Dig deeper into your SEO knowledge base, you may be surprise what you find as what Google sees as "toxic" URLs.

My Shopify sites dont have the URL baggage and the link diagnostics and performance difference is considerable

[dbltoe]

When either of your sig's home page score all 100s in Lighthouse desktop, 1 CSS error, and only info on HTML verification (still 1.5.7d without fixed self-closing elements), I might consider expanding my

SEO knowledge base

.

This is not supposed to be a my site can whip your site forum but we are constantly striving to make Zen Cart tops out of the box. jena1embroideryDOTcom is using 1.5.8a with the latest updates from github. All 100s again. Same 1 css error inherited from font-awesome and 2 html errors where the owner used a space in an image name.

Figures never lie. If URLs were an answer, why doesn't Chrome's Lighthouse not include a URL check in its thirteen audits for Best Practices.

I'm not saying you won't gain anything from "friendlies" but, in order of things to fix, I'd say it ranks number 12 in the top 10.

It's pretty hard to get a score better than 100 on all the Lighthouse checks. You'll never convince me it can be done with "friendlies" unless the four Lighthouse scores are 100s.

[kevinmc3]

Can't argue with all 100s. YOu're obviously doing something right.

I'll have to figure out what else caused my SERP ranking to plunge in past couple years for main keywords

[dbltoe]

That's what most let slide. Doing it right. Not because they want it to be wrong. We just get too busy with business to keep up with the business.

You notice I didn't show any of my personal websites.

Seriously, a quick glance shows a store-bought template, older version of HTML, and the afore-mentioned CSS/HTML errors.

Even though Zen Cart is coded to "fake" everything as relatively new in order to keep the SE's coming, other factors come into play.

Errors found in source code are not updated as we are hesitant to "mess with" what's "working". PHP vulnerabilities arise. CSS and HTML get new versions. ETC.......

If I am browsing the internet and find a site that is extremely slow to load, I generally will find an HTML report where the validator actually gives up and says basically "from here on, you're on your own."

These are things only fixed by currency. No, not money but up to date. (Still don't know if you are 1.5.4)

You are on the first page of a search for Vintage Movie and Circus Posters but, way beyond the "fold". You might move up if that statement were somewhere on your site other than part of an image that the SEs can't see or read. And the image alt tag is "cvt primart header". That's all ANY SE is going to know about your header. They are literally blind. Using Chrome's Web Developer, turn off images on your site. That's what a search engine sees.

Zen Cart does a great job with alt tags for products but we have to do our part with added images to let the SE know what the image is "saying". Kind of like describing your car to a blind man.

Describing doesn't stop there. The better the description of the actual product for sale, the better the rank. It's a given. And, you've given a LOT in that area. Just don't get caught in the "this is the best brerfainger of all brerfaingers ever made by the brergfainger plant and sold as brerfaingers" rabbit hole. Too many keywords on a page is a flag against you.

Of course, we can't overlook the rising importance of accessibility compliance. It's literally come to lawsuits with no recourse on the part of the store owner found non-compliant. If you add Siteimprove Accessibility Checker as an extension to your browser, you can use it to see that the poster site has two pages of accessibility errors.

A lot of the errors are just programmers doing what they've done for years while not aware of specs for contrast. You always see red on white for a warning, special, or just to get attention. ADA/WCAG specs require a ratio of 7.5 to 1 for standard text and 4.5 to 1 on large text like headings. With red being #ff0000 and white being #ffffff, a check with contrast-ratio.com (GREAT tool) shows a white background with red text is 3.99. A failure even with large text. Most coders have no idea that this failure exists. It's not their "forte'". If we take the #ff0000 and make it #ad0000, we have a winner! One that meets and/or exceeds the ratio for all text sizes.

Not investing in this "currency" is most likely the cause of your slipping in the ranks.

1.5.8a is almost perfect out of the box. Whether you use responsive_classic or bootstrap as a base, just a few tweaks gets that "currency" needed to buy your way back into the ranks.

Keep Pluggin'

[kevinmc3]

Thanks for all that invaluable feedback..

In 2005 I hired a web programmer to build a shopping cart for my growing business. She used Zen Cart.

I run an e-commerce business and although I’ve been doing SEO, email marketing, list building, analytics, etc since 2005, I’m not a technical person. My time is running a business. So for example, I don’t know what this means, “Of course, we can't overlook the rising importance of accessibility compliance. It's literally come to lawsuits with no recourse on the part of the store owner found non-compliant.”. Is this handicap accessibility ?

SEO n particular has been my forte as I ve read countless books and employed many SEO strategies. But, how to make the code in Zen cart SEO friendly is out of my wheel house. When you mention, “And the image alt tag is "cvt primart header". That's all ANY SE is going to know about your header. They are literally blind. Using Chrome's Web Developer, turn off images on your site. That's what a search engine sees.”. what is “, turn off images on your site”, or “image alt tag is "cvt primart header”... As far as I know, alt images cannot be customized in Zen and it is pulled from the category or product title..?


And no doubt upgrading from my current 1.5.4 is a valid recommendation. However, there is nothing I dread more then a Zen Cart upgrade. Every one has been a nightmare. The many plug-ins and the ones that don’t work with the upgrade, several code upgrades and enhancements and trying to get back to where I am today seems to be a 1-2 months long headache. It’s the #1 reason my new businesses are on Shopify and WP. A Shopify and WP upgrade in about 10 minutes vs a month long debugging nightmare with Zen. Im not bashing Zen, but for non techies like me, its just a bad choice. . Someone like you can make you way around Zen and all the coding requirements. I’d rather spend my times generating leads and Sales.

But, I may bite the bullet and upgrade this site and maybe the newer version is more SEO compliant.