When I started KSBKids I knew little about building a website, the children’s clothes market, SEO etc. To say I knew little is probably exaggerating ………. I knew nothing, absolutely nothing.
It has been a learning process beyond belief. I have days where I feel as it I have mastered a lot, but also many days when I realise I know so very little indeed about websites and SEO.
Who would have thought that I would ever become so fascinated with SEO and Social Media as I am today…….
I am a strong believe that “One who fears failure limits his activities. Failure is only the opportunity to more intelligently begin again”.
Consequently:
- I have a strategy, but I don’t wait until I have the perfect plan
- I adopt a trial and error approach
- I am honest, – I think my customers appreciate it. Yes it runs counter to what we have been taught for decades … you could even argue it defies the idea of being professional.
I would even argue that avoiding experimenting with the social web is a greater risk than experimenting with it and failing! The B2B centre at Warwick has been instrumental in my learning process and my understanding of operating online. I simply cannot recommend them enough …. these guys know their stuff!
I came across following article on their website about how to use social media in the real world – it is worth a read. Enjoy.
Tags: children's clothes · NB2B Centre · SEO
There’s so many power players in the social media and SEO world. So many “gurus”. Many of the articles, blogs etc I read are often written by men. Please do not think I am on a ”feminist” mission here, - I just stumpled across this article and thought it was worth a mention.
So here is a link to the article featuring 25 women that “rock” social web. As I said I am not on a feminist mission, just a SEO chick in the making, who read the article with great interest …. did I mention it is written by a man (he, he).
As I work hard to increase my knowledge of SEO, in the hope that www.ksbkids.com will continue to improve its position for children’s clothes, I can only hope that I one day will master just a small franction of what these ladies do.
For childrens clothes, including stripy and plain children’s tops and t-shirts Please visit us on www.ksbkids.com As always we welcome feedback, comments and ideas.
Tags: children's clothes · Children's Clothes from KSBKids: Kids should Be Kids · facebook · SEO
We continuously strive to improve the user experience. It is easy to get a “little stuck” and assume visitors will “use” the site and navigate round it in a certain way.
We also constantly undertake activities that will improve our page listing, – we all aim to appear within the first few pages, but how do you really succeed? We sell
children’s clothes, - but what should we do to make sure we appear on one of the first few pages when the user is searching for children’s clothes. It is an ever changing battlefield and it can indeed be hard to know where to focus resources best.
At KSBKids we have been extremely lucky to work with the
B2B centre at Warwick Business School. Especially Mark Bonnett who also runs
Yellow Zombie, a web design and search marketing company based in Warwickshire, has provided valuable support and guidance.
Currently, we may not appear among the top sites when search for
children’s clothes or Scandinavian & Danish children’s clothes online ……… but when we get there much will be owed to Mark.
I will continue to keep you updated of our efforts.
Tags: SEO
From day one I decided to set up www.ksbkids.com, I have spent many hours working on my own in my little office. Recluse would most likely be an increasing appropriate description.
How did it happen that someone fairly outgoing as me ended up as a recluse…………
Well, my determination to succeed has made me focus on the task in hand 110%. But also when I first started out, I again and again was a little disillusioned with the help and support available. So I assigned myself to the fact that reading books and articles would be the only way to find the solutions to the problems I was facing.
From the moment I decided to enter into the children’s clothes market by selling Scandinavian children’s clothes online, it has very much been a case of buying a few books and just getting on with it. Well, perhaps not a few books……….many in fact. I have books about programming, blogging, SEO and you name it. I alone have seen Amazon through the recession! I read these books, while “watching” my girls at their swimming lessons, while cooking dinner, on planes and you will even find a few in the car just in case the traffic light is really slow. However, one of the problems with working on your own (apart from going slowly insane, yes I do find myself having long conversations with the checkout girls at Sainsbury) is the lack of input and feeding ideas of another person…………if I am really truthful I have missed that.
Not long ago I came across the national B2B centre at Warwick, – how I wish I had come across these guys much earlier……….. Last week I spent a couple of hours with Mark Bonnett and Gareth Edwards discussing www.ksbkids.com and the tools available to increase my natural rankings in the search engines. We among other things discussed my blog and potential content for posts. I saw that Gareth very kindly in his blog wrote “Much easier with Malene than other clients since she cottoned on very quickly to what we were trying to do.” Well, not sure I was that quick but it was inspiring to discuss ideas with two other people and for a lack of a better expression it was the kick up the butt I needed. Within half an hour we had written up many ideas for my posts, facebook entries and Tweets. We discussed how I sell many black/white stripy tops for French days at primary schools and how many of our plain tops are used for nativity plays!
It was inspiring spending time at the B2B centre. In my experience working on your own is not always ideal; some times creativity flourish best when working as a team.
Tags: blogging · children's clothes · Children's Clothes from KSBKids: Kids should Be Kids · entrepreneur · online shop · SEO · Starting an online children's clothes business · working mum
Yesterday, I went on a course about SEO. It was extremely interesting, it was well organised and well presented. Even had lunch with made a nice change to the bowl of cornflakes I normally eat (and that is only if I have time).
However, here is the problem I drove home with a deeper understanding of SEO, had gained an understanding of the importance of blogs, page titles, inbound links and even that I will get a slap from Google if I cheat. 
But as I was driving along I also felt the panic sneaking up on me.
How can I possibly manage to do it all? Do I really have the knowledge to do it all correctly? You see……………… I am not sure I do. Perhaps I have bitten off more than I can chew.
I set up KSBKids to survive, to create a living, so get a job I could work around my kids (those of you who read my blog will know I am a single mum). I simply wanted to survive financially, supplying what I perceived to be a gap in the market. I want – and still want – to supply good quality tops and t-shirts for kids. I want to supply quality children’s clothes for boy and girls.
I think Boden is doing a fantastic job and so is nordic kids, I am by no means seeing myself as the new Boden – I simply think the children’s clothes I sell will appeal to a similar market.
Yet here I am stressing about SEO, working 24 hours a day, and I most definitely not got the work balance right. Feel overwhelmed and unsure if the time has come to get a proper job. Will I ever fully understand SEO and even if I do will I have the time to do it all without neglecting my kids all together. Sometimes the stress of being a single, (and I guess ambitious) working mum can be a little too much.
Tags: blogging · Children's Clothes from KSBKids: Kids should Be Kids · clothes · Divorce and running an online children's clothes business · ecommerce · entrepreneur · living with young children · online shop · SEO · single · Starting an online children's clothes business · Stress · working mum
