[i]What specifically are you trying to accomplish? If you are trying to submit your shop to Google, you could always use http://myneatstuff.com/index.phpi]

I want potential buyers to find my stuff when searching on Google. I'm confused as when I click on http://myneatstuff.com/index.php, my shop comes up.

Today's Web search engines are so advanced that they're practically living, breathing organisms. There is a whole lot to understanding how search results and search engine optimization work. Websites can literally jump from the first page of Google to the 50th in a few days' time, and vice versa.

Nobody truly knows how Google's algorithm works. That algorithm is the heartbeat of Google's tremendous success, so they naturally keep it top secret. However, based on what they have released to the public, we general consumers, Web surfers, and Web designers know enough to understand what exactly it does.

Your site's listing is never set in stone. It's key to remember that there are millions of Websites out there, all of which are constantly changing. Some may update more frequently than others, giving them a more dynamic aspect and thus granting them a slightly higher rating in Google, bumping other sites around. Other sites may never update at all, but contain such detailed and relevant information that they are visited frequently (which Google picks up) and have a high likelihood that many other sites link to them (which Google also picks up), so these static sites retain a high rating with Google.

There are many other factors to consider, too. If a site that is similar to yours goes live on the 'net and quickly gains some popularity, Google and other search engines may notice this trend and give more weight to the new site temporarily. If the new site has any content that your site doesn't, that content may become "the norm" for search queries that previously your site was enjoying. A small change like this will also boost the ratings of other sites that contain similar information to the newer, popular sites. If your site does not contain much of "the norm" content for those searches, your rating may decline.

However, your site may still retain a higher rating for other search queries, while the newer, "more popular" site is ranked low for those searches. Google and other search engines will never penalize a site that has good, original content and is naturally useful to visitors.

The way Google ranks your site is incredibly advanced. What I've mentioned thus far is only the tip of the iceberg. For the most part, though, as long as your site is very natural, contains original information and content, and actually has things that visitors or customers will want to see, Google will give you a higher ranking. Continually updating your site so that it never "goes stale" or providing lots of information that people will always need are good ways to keep your site in a good position for the searches you want to be ranked on.

I hope all of the information above helps in some small way

Thanks for the information, search engines are confusing. I have a Buy It Sell It store and I followed the directions provided by Buy It Sell It and my store is submitted to Google on a regular basis. I get decent hits.

I tried the free version and I love it. I am doing a site for a customer that sells animal health supplies but there are a ton of products. I saw something in the original post about subcategories and a store search. Is that available in the 3.5 version or if not when will it be available. I really need to have the subcategories to keep the products organized. So I am kind of waiting for that feature before I do to much with the site.

The pro version due out later this year will have the ability for sub-categories.

Do we have an ETA for the Styler/Theme Designer yet? I hope this doesn't come off as pushy. Just curious.

It will be very soon!

Soon isn't like tomorrow, is it ?

We are actually hoping that it will be ready no later then 2pm today.

You're kidding? Man....I've been holding off on asking that until I really really needed the software. How's that for intuition? :-P