Hi Dan,
Most websites are crawled by the Googlebot on a monthly basis, and
therefore any changes made to a web page will not be reflected in
search results until the entire Google index is updated. The
exceptions are those that Google consider to be "fresh". In search
results these used to have "Fresh!" next to the URL, but now just the
date they were last crawled is mentioned. In this answer I'll refer to
them as "Fresh".
Google first announced this a year ago:
"Google refreshes millions of web pages every day to ensure that
Google users have access to the most current information."
://www.google.com/press/pressrel/3billion.html
Search Engine Watch said this in August 2002:
"Last December, Google announced that it was spidering 3 million pages
each day where freshness had been determined to be crucial. Now the
search engine has gone beyond those core pages, though it won't say
exactly how far.
"We are significantly increasing the size of the daily crawl and have
been doing over the past month," said spokesperson Nate Tyler."
http://searchenginewatch.com/sereport/02/08-google.html
How to be a Fresh Site
----------------------
Firstly, although there is a META tag for this purpose, the abuse of
it means that most, if not all search engines ignore it. Google
ignores it. I see that you are using it, but there is really no point.
<META NAME="revisit" CONTENT="15 days">
In my opinion, there are two factors involved, and both are required:
1) Page Rank. Google can't spider every site, every day. The best
sites to be Fresh are the ones that appear at the top of search
results, and the biggest factor determining ranking is PR.
2) How often the pages are changed. If the site never changes, there
is no point in spidering it every day.
I would also guess that updates involving links are more important
than those that don't, because of the fundamental importance of links
to Google.
Like most of the inner workings of Google, no outsider (we at Google
Answers definitely do not have access to such information) can say for
sure how a site qualifies to be fresh. However educated guesses can be
made, like mine above. A search through discussions at WebMasterWorld
finds these thoughts on the subject:
"My pages seem to be freshed regardless of whether they've been
changed, at least for each new date. They were changed since last
major crawl however so maybe when they're fetched they are compared to
that version of the page."
"Surely this content change is not a binding factor? I now have a date
stamp on a page for which I am 99% sure it has not been changed for
weeks. I also still doubt Microsoft changing the content of 24.000
pages in a few days..recurringly every few days..? "
http://www.webmasterworld.com/forum3/5248.htm
"What I do notice is new pages googlebot adds off, for example, a new
link on my index page will rank VERY high for the initial period -
often higher than they deserve to. An example is I had a page of let's
say yellow widgets indexed off my general widget home page. When
google first added it as a fresh page, it was ranked #2, well above
entire sites devoted to yellow widgets. Unfortunately, for me at
least, it never lasts."
http://www.webmasterworld.com/forum3/6199.htm
"We have nine domains. Two get refreshed every few days. All nine have
a page rank of either 5 or 6. The only difference is that one of the
two is listed in Yahoo and the other one is listed in DMOZ. I think
this has more to do with Yahoo and DMOZ than it does with Page Rank.
Just my opinion... "
http://www.webmasterworld.com/forum3/3483.htm
You might need to fill in a quick, free registration to see the
postings I've linked to. WebMasterWorld is worth exploring for more
discussions on this and any other search engine topics.
Note: Occasionally you might see a low PR site which is Fresh. This
may be because it is new and was found by the Freshbot. It will appear
to as Fresh for a while, but will become normal at the next major
update.
My own experience
-----------------
I run a site with over 100 pages and a PR of 6. It is a directory, and
I am regularly updating it with new links, and removing dead links.
About half the pages are Fresh, and these are all pages which I have
updated in the last month or so. Yesterday I added a new page and,
without submitting the URL, Google has it indexed today.
I run a weblog that I update every day or two, and has been going for
a year. It has hundreds of entries; each archived on its own page, and
is linked to from some good sites. It is listed by DMOZ but not Yahoo.
It has a PR of 6 and is a Fresh site.
Two other weblogs I run are not linked to by anyone, have a PR of zero
and are not Fresh. This is despite very regular updates and lots of
entries. One is in DMOZ, the other isn't.
I have a static site with about 50 pages, with a new page added every
month or two, and a PR of 6. It is in Yahoo and DMOZ. It is not Fresh.
CONCLUSION: A combination of high PR and regular updates is required.
Being listed in Yahoo or DMOZ will increase PR, but not directly
influence Fresh status.
How to Fresh Bachelor Party HQ
------------------------------
I don't think that your site is a suitable candidate for this, and I
would just forget about being Fresh and leave it as it is, for the
following reasons:
1) Your site has few pages and they have a PR of 2, 3 or 4. This would
appear to be a regular site in the eyes of Google.
2) Your site has only one external link (see below). The whole concept
of Google revolves around links, and this is could be a factor when it
comes to being a Fresh site.
3) I can't think of any easy, natural way of adding fresh content to
your site.
There are things you could do, although I doubt they are worth the
effort:
1) Create a directory of related websites. The downside is that
related websites would most likely lead your visitors to your
opposition.
2) Have a daily weblog. It would need to be on a topic that was of
interest to your visitors, and that you would be motivated to write.
3) Create an online calendar or date of events. Perhaps there are
shows available to the public that you could list.
If you do any of the above, just submit the URL of the page each time
you update it and see if the Googlebot catches on.
Links to your other sites
-------------------------
I noticed at the bottom of the page you had:
<a href="http://www.bachelorpartyhelp.com/">
<img border="0" src="bachelorhelp.jpg" alt="boston strippers,new
hampshire strippers,connecticut strippers" width="0" height="0"></a>
I like to think that Google is smart enough to pick up on an image of
zero dimensions and to ignore it. This tactic is generally used by
sites that wish to link to high PR websites, but don't want their
visitors to see the links. In your case, considering it is your site
you are linking to, I suggest that you simply replace it with regular
banner, or better still a text link.
Search Strategy
---------------
site:webmasterworld.com google fresh
://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&q=site:webmasterworld%2Ecom+google+fresh
I trust this answers your question. If any portion of my answer is
unclear, please ask for clarification.
Best wishes,
robertskelton-ga |
,
0 Comments
)