Forum Moderators: Robert Charlton & goodroi
If I am lucky, I will receive a few visits from G a day, usually closer to 0 than 5. The visits are either from keywords that I am targeting: "free red widgets" or the title of a user's profile: "Todd123". A lot of times, the small number of visits will happen around the same time. For example, there will be no visits from G one day, the next day there will be 3 visits within a 4 hour timeframe, then no visits for a couple days. A lot of times, when there is a visit from G with targeted keywords that I've never received traffic from before, the visit will be a bounce even though I am positive that my site is highly relevant for that query (maybe this isn't the most useful information since I'm biased).
I have read that a lot of times G will give some traffic soon after a link is created, but that it will only last a short time and then the traffic will go away and slowly build up again as the links become trustworthy. I didn't ever experience that flow of visitors right after gaining links, and I haven't noticed any slow build up of traffic after the links have been around for a while.
Does anyone have any ideas as to what's going on with my site and G? Has anyone else noticed a pattern similar to this with a new site? Am I going to be broke forever?
You mentioned having a lot of run-of-site links. Out of the total links being reported in Webmaster Tools, how many unique domains are linking to you?
That many backlinks and so little traffic does sound problematic. Have you checked your server logs to see how frequently and how deep googlebot is spidering?
Final thought: is there any chance your user generated content is just not strong enough - and that you don't have enough content in addition to that UGC to attract search engine traffic, especially because you are in a "pretty competitive niche."
2,566 inbound links...been live since about May of '09
I think the thing that is most discouraging about the situation is that there has been no change for the better in all of this time. It just stays at a miserable 0 - 5 visits and doesn't show any upward trend at all.
I guess I am curious as to whether the little traffic that I am getting is some kind of automated traffic and I'm not even actual visits. The reason I say that is because of the fact that when there are multiple visits, they are usually in the same ~4 hour block, and sometimes when I check the query on google myself, my site is nowhere to be seen in the results. Actually, when I search a query soon after I received a visit from that same query, my site will usually be in the results, but if I search the query a day or two later, my site usually won't be in the results.
tedster: I do think that the UGC does have to do with it, as the content is mostly images without much text, but there are over 100 members so I would think that the site should generate more than 0 - 5 visits a day.
Directory submissions can help a little bit and should not be ignored.
Study your competitors backlinks on yahoo. Yahoo has the best list of backlinks you can't trust google. Try and get some of the same backlinks that your competitors have. Send personal emails not a form letter to request a link.
I could go on but then I will give away all I'm saying at Pub Con. Come to Pub Con and attend the Low risk high reward session on backlinks. I will be one of the speakers.
Andreas8: I know that's a bad thing, but I'm actually pretty proud of my technique. I got all of the links just by sending a short personal email. The number of links is so high because they are run-of-site links, which I know are not the most desirable links, but they are links none the less, some of them from sites with very few links and all of them highly relevant. I can't imagine G penalizing legitimate sites with legitimate links, just because they happen to be ROS links. There's a decent percentage of people that run sites that aren't very tech savvy, G takes part in making it happen (blogspot). Naturally, this segment of people probably aren't going to know the most SEO friendly way to link a site that they like, but that doesn't mean that a lot of them aren't discriminating in who they link to. I guess what I'm trying to say is, I think links are as valuable as the site they are from.
I got all of the links just by sending a short personal email.
All 2,566 inbound links ?
Where do you find the time to write so many emails in such a short time, AND write content for your site ?
I know that's a bad thing, but I'm actually pretty proud of my technique.
I am rather confused by that statement. If you know it's bad [whatever it is you're doing] then why do it ? Secondly, how can you be proud of it, if the results you are getting are bad ? Am I missing something here ?
But the OP confessed to doing something bad, and for some reason is proud of it.
I can see blogs becoming the new meta-keyword in the eyes of search engines.
Also, if you refer to the same post above, I explained what I was proud of; my ability to elicit links from perfect strangers with a few sentences of english. This proudness, in part, also results from failing to see a link from a non-spam sites as being "bad", though they may not be the most powerful links. In my mind, for something to be considered bad, it should probably only have negative recognizable effects. I liken ROS links from non-spam blogspots as being given $10 from your parents on your birthday instead of $300 from grandma. One is better than the other, but I hardly consider $10 bad.
Let's say that the ideas in your mind are 100% correct in reality. Wouldn't it be extremely easy to build crappy sites, link to your competitors and take them down?
is there such a thing as "highly relevant blogspots"
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Disclaimer: I mis-wrote what I intended in previous posts. Although I wrote "I know it's a bad thing", I actually meant that "I know it's widely believed to be bad."
"Pretty competitive niche" (to me) means you've got to have the whole package to win good traffic from G. Not just a big package of backlinks.
If most of your site is images and user generated content, is it as optimized as possible for the keywords and traffic you're looking for?
As far as keywords, I did my best, but I'm sure that there is so much that I don't know about choosing keywords. I've searched before, but is there any definitive thread that beginners should read to learn an efficient technique at choosing keywords that aren't too competitive, but also are searched enough that they will bring some traffic?
Also, does anyone have any theories on how I can receive a visit from a query, and then when I search that same query myself with G, my site is nowhere to be seen in the search results?
Also, does anyone have any theories on how I can receive a visit from a query, and then when I search that same query myself with G, my site is nowhere to be seen in the search results?
This can be for many reasons, some of them are:
- the location of the searcher (different locations show different serps)
- personalised searches
- hitting different data centre
Lame_Wolf: Why never do that?
Which comment are you referring to ? Mind reading isn't my strong point.
If you'll scroll up and read #4008562, I explained (to Andreas) why I think it's just plain silly to treat mediocre links as if they were the plague.
As I do not spend a penny on advertising, I had to google "run-of-site advertising". All I can say is.. whatever rocks your boat. I can see ad blindness setting in with run-of-site advertising, but it must work for some otherwise it wouldn't exist.
I never suggested that people should avoid "mediocre links as if they were the plague" but I will suggest you spend your time gaining better, more valued links than those.
I hate blogs and yet I have 100's of IBL's from them. I'd rather those links were from real sites rather than blogs/splogs etc.
You said you gained "2,566 inbound links...been live since about May of '09" That is way too much too quickly for a new site. Yes, there are exceptions to the rule, but in those cases lots of money is spent on advertising, TV appearances etc.
Can you be bothered to explain your position, or does your word carry enough weight in your mind that it should never be questioned?
Question whatever you want to. Waste your time on whatever you want it. I really don't care. People who have listened to me do alright. High in the SERPS, they get sales, and are happy. But in all honesty, get more links from real (and related) web sites if you are looking for better rankings in SERPS.
I can see blog links being devalued - or even ignored altogether in time - due to abuse.
Years ago, people started abusing the meta-keyword tag. Search engines eventually ignored them. The same thing will more than likely happen to blogs as they are being abused to try an manipulate the SERPS.
Blogs have their place, but not for link/serp building. Have then if you must but do try to gain links from real sites.
Look at it this way...
When you are in your car driving down the road, did you "just buy the car" because you had the money for one, or given to you ? Of course not. You had to spend time learning the rules of the road, learning to handle/drive the car. If you were good enough, you passed and allowed to then drive on the roads.
The thing with blogs, site builders, myspace etc allows any Tom, Dick and Harry to "drive their car" without any previous experience. What are we left with ? Lots of people on the road not able to drive properly.
If you had a choice of two cars... One will be driven by someone who knows the rules of the road and will drive safely. The other has never been in a car before. Which one will you sit in and be a passenger ?
Search Engines I guess will be the same. They will see (and value) links from a real site - (real domain name, whitehat seo, not spammy, time and effort spent... because they learnt the "rules of the road") better than they would a blog where no effort is needed.
Unfortunately, I have to visit blogs from time to time. I cannot tell you how boring it is to look at sites that look just like the others prior to it. Many look the same, many hotlink, many use scraped content, pages that are way too long (I visited one the other day that had over 1000 images on one page and took up over 30mb... someone else who couldn't be bothered to learn how to drive.) and many are of mixed topic. Yes, there are a small percentage - and I mean small - that are on one topic, but I wouldn't waste time trying to get on there. YMMV.
Also, if you refer to the same post above, I explained what I was proud of; my ability to elicit links from perfect strangers with a few sentences of english.
LOL. Let me get this straight... you're saying that your "technique" is to write to perfect strangers with a few sentences of english.
I'll let you in on a little known secret... People have been doing that practically from the start of the web. That is not a technique, that is what you are supposed to do if you want to gain links (as well as write content that people want to link to without asking).
"I explained what I was proud of"... not really. You replied to him with the opening line ... "I know that's a bad thing, but I'm actually pretty proud of my technique. I got all of the links just by sending a short personal email."
There is nothing to say that those comments are linked together. Seeing that you "had a technique" (gives the impression that you had a new way of doing things that Google etc did not know about. PLUS, you said you know it's bad, adding to the weight of it being naughty in the eyes of Google.) Add that to the fact that you gained lots of links in a short period... See my point ?
Let's say that the ideas in your mind are 100% correct in reality. Wouldn't it be extremely easy to build crappy sites, link to your competitors and take them down?
I wouldn't know...
1: I have better things to do.
2: I LOVE competition. I embrace it. Sure, I will report a site for blackhat, but I will do that for any site I come across, not because it is in my niche, but because I want a cleaner www.
3: I am not a devious person.
4: I've even built sites for the "competition" and given them the same professional treatment that I do for my own sites.
