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I did the same careful review of the sites ahead of mine by compiling a matrix of data for gap analysis. After roughly 1 week my site made it from 250+ in the serps all the way up to 10. Previously I was in the top 5. However, the good results only lasted 1 week. Now, I'm back at 160-170.
Regarding my 2 word keyphrase, A couple of interesting trends I noticed while compiling my data...
The actual manufacturer of the product I sell comes up #1 everytime I search and stays #1 after every google update. Oddly enough the #2 result which has not changed since the florida update happens to be a premier google sponsor which if I'm not mistaken indicates that they're spending over 10K per month on AdWords. This leaves me feeling like Google is treating the premium sponsor differently.
Good luck keeping your top spot...
Easy_Coder
Would love to have some more analysis of how to get to the top - are text links allowed to include the search phrase? Or should they be say "key1 other key2".
I can confidently say that being a relatively big spender with google adwords DOES NOT affect your positioning in the normal/free Google SERPS. I recently worked for a company that was spending MANY times more than $10k/month and we were never offered any type of benefits except maybe 10 google towels and google lawn chairs. Google has always had a policy of being up front with their user base making advertisements obvious and seperate from their "real" content.
Giving high dollar advertisers some sort of preference would get back to the public incredibly fast and google would have a back lash they wouldn't want to and don't need to deal with. They are on top of the game as it is.
note: I just wanted to note we normally would have changed our website in some way during that time, we did not during this time due to all of the changes with Google, we wanted to be able to guage the events
Sorry if I am off my horse.
I was surprised to see 1 of my sites come back from oblivion the other day.i gave up on it and actually took some pages off it to use somewhere else and crikey all of a sudden I am no#1 for more than some keywords. where before Florida it was never better than #4 or #5.
Yup, until another full update where freshbot has no influence I have to conclude that the most of the sites "coming back" are possibly not for real.
I'm sticking with the "do nothing" plan until I can see what happens after the next major updating of backlinks, PR, deep crawl.
I see too many sites that took out many of their keywords, got crawled, put the keywords back in and now think they have solved the problem. If they did nothing they maybe just as well off.
I'm sticking with the "do nothing" plan until I can see what happens after the next major updating of backlinks, PR, deep crawl
Heed Ye words of wisdom...the great Google in the sky giveth and taketh away
It would be wise to make only one change at a time and wait for an update to evaluate the effects of such a change. The more variables you throw into the stew the less information you get. And if google hasn't quite decided what its rules of engagement are how the hell are you gonna know if it's a change you've made or just google mixing up the cards?
I personally think google is trying to keep us guessing here, they sure don't want us to manipulate their search engine.
Our sites are bouncing around all over the place and we are not changing anything.
However. I have recently begun massive changes. I realized I've been poking around my region long enough taking pictures and learning that I too can create a mega site, and I can do it better. So this was really just a wake up call for me. Of course I have the luxury of a seasonal business, with the season having come to an end in October.
This should be fun.
Google - you've got to do something! This trend to bigger sites is going to backfire big time. We can all create monster sites if that's what Google wants. But I am afraid the index will go from 3 billion pages to 300 billion, and there will be no new content there.
But I am afraid the index will go from 3 billion pages to 300 billion
And that's just for weddings in lake Tahoe :)
Simon.
--> Is there such a thing any more as a premier sponsor? People are now able to get the horizonal Google ads because they are the top of the adwords.
On the page behind the "Advertise With Us" link located on the google home page there is mention of the premium sponsorship which indicates that if your a customer with a monthly budget in excess of 10K... google.com/ads/
Easy_Coder
How far back did you come back from? Is there anyone who came back from oblivion. Has a pre- Florida page1 made it back to page1 after being sent to hell ie. 500 to 1000+ in the serps?
Yes, from #4 pre-florida to nowhere post-florida, to #3.
Or it could all be unrelated and it is just random that it came back. Or they changed the algo a little so that your old site untouched would have come back anyway.
I must agree. I did absolutely nothing and just waited. About a week ago the site reappeared at the top, after being obliterated on all decent two-word searches.
One update cycle and the quality sites that were "lost" should return to rankings in the ballpark they were before
That's interesting. Are you sure? How do you know?
In actual fact I am number three but the top two results are not relevant so they do not concern me.
I am number 88 for one of my search terms, but the top 87 results are not relevant so they do not concern me.
The strange thing is - I'm not getting much traffic ;)
Google - you've got to do something! This trend to bigger sites is going to backfire big time. We can all create monster sites if that's what Google wants. But I am afraid the index will go from 3 billion pages to 300 billion, and there will be no new content there.
100% agreed
