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We only ever use HOME for linking but we went from #1 to who know where!
My gut feeling still tells me to use home, but now I will start looking at other factors too.
If you where being banned for using keywords in links relating to your site just to take them back to your home page then all those sites that target the keyword 'Home' would be also be dropped.
I am marketing property and homes :) so what should i write to take my users back to the index page?
punishing sites that are linking to the home page with keywords seems to be a bit harsh.
[edited by: jddux at 7:08 pm (utc) on Nov. 17, 2003]
And I don't think it's anything to do with 'punishing'. I think it's to do with discounting certain links so that they are nowhere near as effective as they were.
[edited by: PhilC at 7:09 pm (utc) on Nov. 17, 2003]
From what I've seen and read any kind of update or movement in the directory and the sites go AWOL.
Exactly what I am wondering. Where are you getting this information? Could this be the remaining data GG implies is to be added to the mix?
WBF
All I want for Christmas is my Google placement back
I noticed last week results that were very different on -fi. They were using this dcenter for about 2 days and then when this update took, they didnt use those serps.
Can anyone confirm or deny the -fi results and if they might use those in the next 1-2 days when it settles?
Before the update, if you searched on "keyword1 keyword2 keyword3" my site would come up #1. It SHOULD come up #1, no other result is even close in relevance.
Right now it isn't coming up at all. Instead, the Yahoo category that links to my site is listed #1. The link to my site is the only place on that yahoo page that "keyword1 keyword2 keyword3" appears.
I guarantee you all that when this update is done, my site will be #1 for "keyword1 keyword2 keyword3", Google will be #1 for "search engine", and all white-hatters and gray-hatters will be content again.
Just takes a little patience. This is history repeating itself. Including the hand-wringing and sky-is-falling.
Not so. I know one site that has been running a reciprocal link campaign for the last 6 months. They have tens of thousands of sites linking to their index page. Florida has been good to them, they have a higher ranking now.
If you ranked for a 2-word keyword, try searching it as "keyword-keyword" rather than "keyword keyword".
Results look much like they did before the update....
My point is that the people who work hardest on SEO are also the people who most want that top spot. They are therefore likely to be the most relevant site. To punish them for that may be morally satisfying for those at the Google mothership.
Relevant to a search engine or relevant to a searcher?
If my theory is right, I don't think that it makes any difference what the link text is. The fact that they are generic links, and possibly because they use identical link text, is enough. Also, links into the site usually link to the home page, and are often arranged to use reasonably identical links text. To me, it adds up at this point in time.And I don't think it's anything to do with 'punishing'. I think it's to do with discounting certain links so that they are nowhere near as effective as they were.
Well that sure fits our situation as well, but I have trouble seeing how G, even with new interpretive abilities, could tell generic from non-generic names with reliability.
How about a penalty or *loss of credit* for keywords related to a homepage if they appear too often in the combination of:
--URL string
--page title
--internal backlinks
Seems harsh, since that structure is logical, but it would explain what we see ... I think. Or, maybe not ;-)
If you ranked for a 2-word keyword, try searching it as "keyword-keyword" rather than "keyword keyword".Results look much like they did before the update....
Google still not showing up in the top 100 even with search-engine instead of "search engine" (on the -in datacenter)
Fred
wow! you are right. searching for keyword-keyword DOES show my home page back at number 1, where it used to be when i would search for keyword keyword. OMG. That is wierd!
No idea what this means though.. I always thought the - was considered a space.
Results 201 - 227 of about 763,000
I cannot go past result number 227 unless i click 'repeat the search with the omitted results included.'
So, if you don't really like the new Google index, simply add a - in between the terms of your search :)
It works for my missing sites as well, now all we have to do is get all the searchers to include the "-" in all their searches... do you think google could post a notice on their front page about the new way to search until the repairs are done? :-)
My client's site has a PR5, 300 PR4+ incoming links (counted by Google), in the Google Directory and DMOZ. They appeared in the first 3 pages in the SERPS for its keyword phrases.
After this update, they do not appear in the SERPS at all ... what is going on? I am totally stumped.
Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thank you in advance.
