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Is it possible that Google spotted this and penalized me? I wonder because, like many, my index page has dropped off the face of the Google earth. This interestingly coincides with around the same time I was dummy and made the upload goof. I have read, and posted, in the Lost Index, Semi-Penalty, and all related threads, but perhaps I have a glimmer of hope that this is the reason why *I* have been dropped. Yes, I am fishing for reasons like everyone else. I just hope that I have stumbled onto something, at least for my case.
Any thoughts?
I have development sites that mirror the main sites that have been indexed and have caused no problem. I slapped up some robots meta tags and robots.txt. It's been several months now and so far no problem.
Also remember that real penalties happen for things going back around 2-3 months prior.
Also keep in mind that a genuine penalty, like for hidden text, is set to decay after a month if you've corrected the problem.
No offense, but everybody these days likes to throw around the P word. Everyone is clammering to be in the Penalty Box, to join the Misery Brigade, display their stigmata, and complain about Google.
It is very very very unlikely that you received a duplicate content penalty for two little pages. There is no reason to be afraid of having a penalty.
I read so much here about the duplicate page penalty but I wonder how often it really happens. I suppose Google might find absolutly identical pages but I have one article that has been posted on several sites with my permission. Of course the HTML wouldn't be identical as there is more to a page than just the article. I have never had a problem and I hope it stays that way. Newspapers reprint news articles all over the place, people in other fields should be able to as well.
That is my thought on the matter as well. The page wasn't linked from anywhere else on your site, and would have been invisible to search engines.
The only real problem you might get is when you have multiple directories, and each has an index.html in it. Uploading the wrong index.html to some directories would confuse the navigation a lot, but would be spotted by visitors very quickly.
Uploading the wrong index.html to some directories
Been there! Done that!
Most embarassing and a bit of a disaster if you don't catch it for a few days. I've learned to check carefully.
I doubt anything you did in June will matter..
I am SO sorry to keep pestering about penalties & such, but I have just got to find a reason for this disappearance. I don't fit into the category of floating in and out, so the two indexes alternating theory doesn't apply to me. I'm just OUT and it sucks because I don't know why. :(
Even though I whine like a big baby who just got candy taken away, I really appreciate ALL of your advice and help, and hope that someday I can provide the same to others.
Been there! Done that!
Same here - but on a much, much larger scale before I really cottoned on to Google. Nothing happened though, although I've changed it now. I really wouldn't worry at all.
but I have just got to find a reason for this disappearance.
It can very well be the natural ebb and flow of PR. Remember, your PR is generally decaying- the link rot syndrome. That's why it's important to work on your links as much as time allows.
None of my clients drop out because I'm constantly working on improving their sites message and they hold like 3-5 of the top ten positions for all of their major keywords. No tricks. No anchor link acrobatics. Just old fashioned clarification of the message. My nearest competitor has 100's of pages of backlinks, doorways, hallways, anchor text mojo, optimized subdomains, superior PR- every known optimization trick and I've come across it at their site- and yet they don't hold as many positions as my client.
What does that tell you?
Another thing to keep in mind is that your competitors are growing in number and getting stronger. Just because you disappear it doesn't mean you've been penalized.
My personal approach to optimization is Clarify Your Message. Don't rely on "tricks." I'm not saying that you rely on tricks, but based on some of the discussions held on WW, I suspect that there are many who feel that they need to play "tricks" in order to get up in the serps when in reality this is exactly what will set you back.
I apologize if I rubbed anybody wrong with my words- I'm only trying to shed some light and in no way represent what I say as absolute in any way.
I respect your advice and do agree. Just to clarify, I do use the approach you speak highly of. No spam tricks, none of that junk. I make my pages absolutely user friendly and THEN, if I'm not ranking well, add little touches or rearrange text a little - but nothing one bit spammy. What would you advise people in my situation do? Wait? Change? I just don't know.
It can very well be the natural ebb and flow of PR.
I'm not really sure what you mean. I don't know what ebb is. I went from #6 (for like 8 months) to gone. I don't think that could have happened naturally. Maybe #6 to #20, but not totally gone.
The whole situation is very disconcerning. I have not done one thing differently in over 9 months. I have worked for new backlinks from related sites, I have changed my kw density and title and back again, I am still being crawled, and I am still missing. That's the reason for my intial post, because I don't know what else to do. I am digging and hunting for ANY little teensy tiny clue, with a fine toothed comb, as to why this is happening. I am NOT very savvy when it comes to optimization, which is why when I find something that concerns me, I ask here, just in case.
I know I'm not alone, which in a way makes me feel a little better (sorry). I also know that everyone is sick and tired of hearing everyone complain about it. I think everyone who is effected is just trying very, very, very hard to understand and in the meanwhile getting very aggrivated because nothing is making any sense. I completely understand and feel for everyone that is the same boat as myself, and hope others do too.
annej
Google results have been so chaotic lately that it's hard to tell if that was the result of the noindex or just the crazy fluctuations that have been going on in Google serps.
Thanks, HitProf! I am glad to say that we're back in Google with the new page title but not on ATW. In my case, I think the root cause as well as the fact that ATW also dropped the index page and the fact that all this occurred on or after June 19 indicates that this is due to the robots tag and has nothing to do with the current flux on Google. Unless ATW is also undergoing similar changes as Google ;-) Just reiterating that something that was done in June did make a difference as far as my site was concerned :-)
