Forum Moderators: coopster
I have found that the way Google scans my site, that when people put in some details they get a page that has the most content of that subject. However I would prefer them to go to the home page. Is there some code that I can put on most pages that if the person has come from Google then it will redirect to the home page?
Thank you
if(strpos($_SERVER['HTTP_REFERER'],"google")!==FALSE)
{
header("Location:/");
exit();
}
Thanks again
A
Thanks, your thoughts appreciated
A
I have found that the way Google scans my site, that when people put in some details they get a page that has the most content of that subject. However I would prefer them to go to the home page.
Searchers enter a query, the search engine returns a list of the most relevant pages, the searcher clicks a result and expects to be taken to that page. And the search engines also expect the user to be taken to that page, not a less relevant one.
I guess this would basically be called poor man's cloaking, showing one page in the SERPs and serving a different page to the searcher. The SEs don't like it and you are flirting with trouble if you keep the redirect in.
Example: Search term Marlborough Physio - message and link = In addition to his work at the clinics he is also the physiotherapist for Marlborough College, with patients aged between 13 and 18 years, all of whom are ...
www.example.com/staff.php - 15k - Cached - Similar pages
This links to the staff pages when someone was searching generally. if you now link to www.example.com/staff.php from Google, it thankfully redirects to the home page. I would be happy to add other major search engines if able, to make it fair.
Do you think I should mail Google?
[edited by: eelixduppy at 8:42 pm (utc) on Oct. 9, 2008]
[edit reason] exemplified [/edit]
Let's take a look at what you said in your first post: "they get a page that has the most content of that subject."
What that should tell you is that you have to do some basic search engine optimization to make sure the home page is returned for that page. Maybe examine why the sub-page is appearing instead of the home page. What makes it more relevant for the search term than the home page? Maybe adding more relevant content to the home page might help; maybe it's the link structure of the site.
And you know, now that I took a look from the hints you dropped, the home page should not be appearing for that search term -- it is not at all relevant to the query. Please, do yourself a favor: as long as one page of the site is being returned, be happy. Then take that redirect off as soon as you can.
[edited by: eelixduppy at 8:13 pm (utc) on Oct. 10, 2008]
[edit reason] fixed styling [/edit]
[edited by: MadeWillis at 8:44 pm (utc) on Oct. 9, 2008]
My thanks again
Why not put the content you want the user to see on the page that is ranking?
But ukubuntu wants the home page, one not relevant to the query, to appear. And as I said above, the site's home page, as it stands now, should not, no way in heck, rank for that term. And actually, the site itself really isn't relevant for that term except in the way the one page is being returned.
Do not fret. Compromise and workarounds will prevail in time.
what was the be careful for
ukubuntu - have a read of google's webmaster guidelines
Make pages primarily for users, not for search engines. Don't deceive your users or present different content to search engines than you display to users, which is commonly referred to as "cloaking."
Not that I'm saying you are decieving - but if for some reason Google sees it that way, you could possibly be acting against their guidelines.
Potential problem I can see - someone visits directly example.com/page and get content (a), but if they come in through Google to the same page, they get redirected to example.com/ and see content (b), Google may not understand your reasoning for this.
:)
Thanks for the look up. I do see the point.
But ukubuntu wants the home page, one not relevant to the query, to appear.
My thoughts here were obviously you have a reason to want your visitors to go to your homepage rather that the current ranked page. Okay, but why is that? What is it on your homepage that makes you want the visitors to go to that page instead? Add that content to the page that does rank if it's so important.
The website is a site promoting a physiotherapy practice. Not an information site about practices or a thorough encyclopedia documenting all elements of the discipline. Yes there are helpful pages for specific conditions but they would not need the redirect. I am guessing that 95% visitors to the site are seeking therapy. They would not have known the site previously otherwise they would hove put the base url in the address bar. So in the example I gave, if I put "KEYWORD" in Google, it comes up with the Staff page. If I put the information about all the staff members on the Home page it would be inappropriate. I can see that I can try to increase certain words on the homepage, and maybe this will improve results, but searching for individual practitioners is not what the site is for. As I suggest, the issue will be resolved, and I can see how using such code could be seen to be mischievous but the intentions were appropriate.
Thanks for the interest. I am glad of all comments.
[edited by: eelixduppy at 8:16 pm (utc) on Oct. 10, 2008]
[edit reason] specifics [/edit]
Something else you could try is where ever you use the keyword "KEYWORD" on other pages of your site, use this as anchor text and point the link to your homepage. One link may not affect ranking too much, but if you have multiple occurances, it could help. Making any changes like this can take several months to have any affect.
[edited by: eelixduppy at 8:17 pm (utc) on Oct. 10, 2008]
[edit reason] specifics [/edit]
That said, your problem ukubuntu, is that while the domain name is this, the title of the site is that. Nowhere, except on that page that is ranking for the term, do the domain name keywords appear. Somebody has to make a decision as to what term is being targeted: "domain name" or "widget & associates".
I would prefer them to go to the home page
If I got redirected to your home page, I'd most likely ignore your site. At best it's just plain rude.
