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I've toyed with link-farms, I've been guilty of keyword stuffing, I've created additional sites and crosslinked them solely to get additional incoming links, I've signed hundres of "Guestbooks" (keep up the good work!) and left a link to my site.... and so on.
I've done all this, not for commercial gain (none of my 10 sites are comercial in any way) but as sort of a "hobby"... I just enjoy creating and working a site into a good position. All my sites provide local and visitor information on a particular regional location.
It all started as a game - to try and oust the "official" (and as I saw it, "monopolistic") regional tourism site from it's top position.
It took nearly two years, but I succeeded, way beyond my expectations. At the same time I built up quite a following and received plenty of support from within the community. I have ended up becoming the top site for the region, and even forced the "official" tourism site to modify it's style of operation in return for a more favorable treatment from from my site. In the end all the little mom 'n' pop tourism operators that I supported (B&B's, specialised tours, boutique wineries etc) were very happy, and were thereafter able to have their services listed on the official site for a nominal fee (as opposed to the exhorbitant prices previously charged). I think I helped to change the face of the web in our district for the better.
So now, with that battle largely over, I want to continue to develop my site, and perhaps include a commercial element in the future. I have a PR of 6, and it's been steady on that for many months.
Now here is my dilemna: The site now consists of thousands of pages, many where I tried "this trick or that" (nothing too extreme) but I have no hope of finding everything or knowing what to delete or change. I am not sure if the site, as it is now, is beyond the pale or not.
I wish Google had something like the SPAM report page, but as a sort of AMNESTY page... somewhere I could report my own site for evaluation, and if it did not pass muster, be given a chance to change it. I'd be happy to pay a fee, sort of like a reverse "paid-submission" fee to get a Google Report.... nothing specific... just (a) Danger, Danger, or (b) You are on This Ice, or (c) Carry On, Nothing to Worry About.
Heck, I'd be prepared to pay $200 for that piece of mind. Any thoughts?
1. bogus links (guestbook + your crosslinking sites)
2. spammy content (keyword stuffing + ...?)
So first figure out how many incoming links you have from (1), if it is the majority of your links, a competitor could turn you in and you could get caught. If this community of yours is linking back to you more and more then I wouldn't worry about it too much. Remove any "excessive" crosslinking and don't worry about the guestbook stuff. As long as your "quality" inbound links aren't overshadowed by all these other bogus links, I think you're OK. You mentioned you charge these mom and pop sites to be listed on your site. Maybe give them a 10% discount or something if they link back to your site with good link text.
While working on that, tackle #2 and clean up your content. If it's too much work or hard to find then maybe take this opportunity to redesign the layout and look/feel of the site. Just copy-paste the GOOD content leaving out the spam.
To clarify a couple of points:
(1) Domain: I am reluctent to start again with a new domain as the one I have is perfect for my region, i.e. MyRegion.com, and yes, it has quite a few legitimate incoming links.
(2) Number of pages: The reason I have so many pages is because I used two types of programs extensively... (a) A perl-based links directory of local sites, which I set to include a "detailed page" for each link, so that one individual page exists for each website included in the directory; and (b) I used a blog-type script to update the "local news", so each new update appears in monthy archives (abridged) as well as on it's own page (in full). I've actually played with three different scripts over time but have maintained links back to the older archives.
As I guess you can appreciate, it is not too hard to get a very bloated site using such methods.
***STOP PRESS: Last night I took a radical step... I created a directory called "backup" on my server and dumped the WHOLE site into it! ...leaving only a placeholder homepage and a 404 redirect to the home page. My plan now is to start again, using the wealth of content I already have, and build up the site starting with those pages that were most visited - but this time with an attempt to 'play by the rules'.
In some ways it is a relief to taken this step, on the other hand I feel totally devastated... all that work, all those hours... just "kapoof", vanished. Ah, but now I can follow those Words of Prophecy (foretelling the coming Age of Google): "To see thee more clearly, love thee more dearly, and to follow thee more nearly, day by day..."
Amen.
