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Kackle - can you explain the "dictionary" for me? And how I might benefit from it - Im reading your posts hard but dont see where youre coming from.
Sure. But you have to act quickly. Google will fix this one just like they fixed the hyphen.
1. Google is depreciating pages/sites that are over-optimized for certain keywords or keyword combinations. It does this by looking up search terms in a dictionary of target keywords or keyword pairs that it has compiled. This dictionary is Top Secret, because if you knew what was in the dictionary, you could avoid these words in your optimization efforts.
2. If the search term or terms hit on a dictionary entry, the search results for that user's search are flagged. This means that before the results are delivered, the order of the links, or even the inclusion of links, are adjusted so as to penalize pages that have overoptimizated for those terms. Most likely the title, headlines, links and anchor text are examined. It's possible that external anchor text pointing to that page has also been pre-collected and is available for scanning, but this is much less likely. (Besides, external links are not something within your immediate control, so don't worry about it right now.)
3. You want to find out which keywords that are relevant to your site are in Google's dictionary. Compile as many relevant keywords you can think of that searchers might use to find your site. Now take these words singly and in pairs, according to how users might search. Run two searches for each combination and compare the results.
4. If the results are strikingly different for the pre-filter and the post-filter search on a particular term or combination of terms, it means that some variation of those terms has been flagged because something was found in Google's dictionary.
5. Do lots of searches and you can come up with a list of "sensitive" words that you'll want to avoid when you re-optimize your pages.
It's a nice weekend project.
Sure is - you'll be killed. I would suggest you proceed with extreme caution if that is going to be your strategy.
...not only is Google not giving out food treats they're not feeding the dogs at all.
...making for a pack of mad, hungry dogs.
Reporting on my de-optimization experiment (from a few days ago - index page that was #4 pre-florida for a two word key term and then sent into limbo).
I edited the title, description, and h1 so that the keyword1 and keyword2 were not adjacent and left one occurrence in the body text and each separately once. The page was refreshed today and there was no noticeable effect.
I have to say that I don't think inbound links anchor text is much of a factor either - sites linking often have different-keyword1 keyword2.
I wish I had something conclusive to report from this admittedly shoot-from-the-hip test...
But there is the problem of cashflow and confidence - this is what causes crashes. I have recently invested thousands of pound in a new venture, but my current business is now earning approximately zilch. The new venture has no future, or my employees. I can't afford to wait until Internet users switch to an alternative search engine.
This is not bitterness, just fact - I am resigned to the fact that all my future plans, and my efforts over the past few years have gone down the pan. That's life I guess.
Kind regards
[edited by: superscript at 12:20 am (utc) on Nov. 24, 2003]
the high number of backlinks theory doesn't pan out with my search term. some of the sites in the top 10 have less than 20 backlinks, with number 10 only having 4. my site's backlinks is more than at least half of the top 10.
If it's a viable business model, then surely increased PPC (etc) will preserve it. Perhaps you'll be adding to Google's revenues through Adwords, but then there's Overture, etc.
And if SEO's are being dumped by G, it'll be fun to be around when they direct their clients to alternatives.
But of course, all this could be temporary, and you could be back on-line in a while...
Google has recommendations regarding good SEO practice, and one of their representatives has even gone on record here approving of Brett's suggestions for good website design with the high standards of Google in mind.
If the SERPs have suddenly been adusted by an arbitrary filter, for commercial reasons, and with previously accepted custom and practice suddenly changed, then it may may amount to a breach of contract.
Just a thought. Any commercial lawyers out there?
As with all busineses, you should allocate 6-9% of your buisness to advertising, and build it into the cost of
doing business.
I may wan't my gravy back, but I won't go under because of this google update.
I agree, after my little experiment, I am more convinced than ever, stay the course.
In my mind, with the current state of the results that google is returning, unless they revert back to what was a year or so ago, or very quickly improve on what they now have, they will eventually be discarded to the trash heap of their predescors.
Thanks for agreeing with me though, trawler ;)
And unless Google does do something soon about this, people will start making posts like "Google is doomed" or "the fate of google"
Even though we de-optimzed for keyword1 keyword2 I would still think that we would have some ranking in the "new google" by having keyword1 keyword3 keyword2 etc...
CACHE IS showing the new/changed/de-optimized results...
I have no contract with Google. They have never promised me to spider and list my sites. I have never payed them for doing it.
Hey - Now I'm sounding like a conspiracy theorist!
;-)
[edited by: superscript at 12:40 am (utc) on Nov. 24, 2003]
I have no contract with Google..I have never paid them etc.
Do you have a subtle and valuable legal point to make, rather than the most obvious one?
It is a complex issue.
