Forum Moderators: Robert Charlton & goodroi
This is my first post and wanted to congratulate you guys for a great resource for any website owner.
OK, I have a website that is for my hobby. I have never wished to make money from it and my main goal has always been to provide other enthusiasts with great content and free knowledge.
I have many pages that are all very well optimized for google IE.. unique and relevant titles and again.. great unique content.
At first Google showed my pages for the keyword/titles being searched but after the latest PR update None of my pages show for those terms.
I ask, what is it that Google wants? If I was another niche enthusiast simply Googling, I would love to find my website for the great content, so why doesn't Google show it to those searching like it used to?
It seems rather odd that Google shows spammy rehashed garbage for the same search term before my own site.
What has caused my site to no longer show for those terms?
Sure, I could get a few backlinks, but this isn't natural and the other sites that now show instead of my own for those terms are brand new and filled with fluff.
Please don't see this as a rant as I really do want some feedback :)
I searched for a general SEO category but had no luck so please move if I missed it.
Kind regards,
Louis
There are a lot of factors involved in ranking in Google, and rarely straightforward answers to performance problems.
A good place to start is the Hot Topics [webmasterworld.com] section of this forum, which has a wealth of information related to Google search.
the other sites that now show instead of my own for those terms are brand new and filled with fluff.
With respect, I think you may need to take a bit of a step back here. There's no moral implication of ranking (or not) in Google results. It's not a judgement of site quality, but the output from a machine trying to determine relevance. SEO is about helping the machine do it's job better.
If other sites appear and are determined to be more relevant than yours, then they will appear above you in results - even if they seem like obvious spam to you.
I could get a few backlinks, but this isn't natural
I think it's unlikely Google's algorithm would see it that way. A site that doesn't attract links (even in the smallest niche) must seem less relevant than a site in the same niche that does attract links. Links are no that hard to acquire, so over time you will always be outpaced if your site does not get them. I think acquiring new links is likely to be seen as much more 'natural' than not acquiring them.
You don't describe the issue in much detail, however, so it's hard to say if this explains why you have lost rankings. Does your site not appear at all for those keywords? Is it just a much lower ranking than previously?
I would recommend a browse through some of the hot topics above to see if anything chimes with your own situation.
[edited by: Receptional_Andy at 1:10 pm (utc) on April 25, 2009]
No, they seem to have disappeared for those terms altogether. The pages in question are still cached by google (if important) but are nowhere to be seen when searching for those terms.
I was wondering.. regardless of backlinks, if I haven't updated those pages in a while, will Google think they are no longer relevant? I hope not.
As I said I haven't done anything (spam) to pee Google off and would understand knocking me a few pages down etc. but completely removing me for those search terms? hmm.
Do you think 1 relevant backlink a week could keep me in the results for a while or would I need a constant blend of links and updated content?
Anyhoo I'll go over the link you provided Andy and learn as much as I can.
All the best,
Louis
One straightforward way to check this is without the need for specific tools is to go to [google.com...] (insert your own keyword) and browse through those results to the end. If you've visited your own page it should show up in a different link colour, which makes it somewhat quicker to scan the listings.
If you don't show at all, the problem is likely to be a "low level" one - you don't make the cut at all. If you're in the results but much lower than expected, then links will certainly help, but it's worth reviewing the pages to make sure you haven't inadvertently done something which is likely to have offset the "relevant" aspects of your page and pushed you way down in results.
How much is needed (be that links or anything else) depends really on the specifics for that keyword.
I've never been much of a believer in the idea that Google prefers "new" content or links to old or static ones. Certainly it's possible to achieve a persistent ranking without the need for anything on or off-site to change. But if you have bust competition then it's unlikely you want to stand still.
Bottom line.... Google, upon a human review may well rank me higher for those terms but it's hard for an "algo" to determine what IS the best especially when those newer spammy sites have tonnes or backlinks and many other variables.
Cool
