Hi Nancy:
Please remember that Google Answers Researchers are independent
contractors and are not privy to the inner workings of Google. We
don't have insider information about its closely-guarded algorithms.
The answers we give you here is valid information provided by Google
and other experts in the field of search engine optimization.
A listing in Google is not guaranteed. Google's responsibility is to
those using its search engine to find information. Google enjoys a
number one ranking because it is well-known for delivering "relevant"
information when its users enter a search term. This relevancy is
acquired through an entirely objective algorithm which they're not
inclined to share with anyone else, and which they change and 'tweak'
to continually improve their service to their users.
Having said that and doing a check of your Website (n2artscapes.com),
I can offer the following information and suggestions.
Your Old Design/Previous Google Listing:
=======================================
You said you had redesigned your site. I attempted to find your site
on All The Web using the Wayback Machine and your site was not listed,
and Google does not have your page in its cache, so I was not able to
look at your old design to compare it with your present design.
- http://www.alltheweb.com/
You did not say WHEN you had listed your site, nor what you considered
a "perfect presence on Google"; however, a check of your keyword
metatags would indicate you might consider "art , original art ,
contemporary art , mixed media art , modern art , watercolor canvas's
, art for sale ..." as perfect listing. I will discuss the metatag and
site content below, but I can find no reference to your site showing
up in those listings.
Other Search Engine Listings:
=============================
A search in the Open Directory (DMOZ) revealed no listing for your
site. A search on the following search engine produced the followng
results:
- Altavista.com ~ You are listed, but a link check shows no sites
link to yours.
- Hotbot.com ~ Your site was indexed May 14, 2003
- Netscape.com ~ No listing
- Yahoo.com ~ No listing
Google specifically suggests listing your site in DMOZ and Yahoo,
"you may want to consider submitting your site to either or both of
these directories. You can submit to Yahoo! by visiting
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/suggest/. You can submit your site to
Netscape's Open Directory Project (DMOZ) by visiting www.dmoz.org.
Once your site is included in either of these directories, Google will
often index your site within six to eight weeks."
(See: 2. What else can I do to get listed in Google?)
- ://www.google.com/webmasters/1.html#A1
If you haven't done so, you should - if only to increase your chances
of a listing in Google.
Recent Changes After Last Crawl:
================================
It seems apparent that Google has recently changed its algorithm, and
many sites have either been dropped from Google's listings or have
severely dropped in page ranking.
There have been dozens of queries to Google Answers:
- ://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=dropped+from+Google&btnG=Google+Search
Discussions in WebMaster World:
- http://www.webmasterworld.com/forum3/13462.htm
- http://www.webmasterworld.com/forum3/13462-4-15.htm#msg
And an ongoing discussion in Adventive Media's Link Exchange Digest
(LED) discussion list, with contributions by some of the acknowledged
site engine "gurus".
- http://list.adventive.com/SCRIPTS/WA.EXE?A1=ind0305&L=led
Putting all this information together, it seems Google is penalizing
those who are using certain "tools" or "tricks" to enhance their
listings, and are using a stricter set of "guidelines" to list sites
at all.
Why Your Listing Was Dropped:
=============================
I cannot tell you exactly why your listing was dropped from Google. In
fact, Google will not tell you why they dropped your site. In its
explanation under "My Site Used To Be Listed But Now It Isn't", Google
says, " We will not comment on the individual reasons a page was
removed and we do not offer an exhaustive list of practices that can
cause removal." (See: "No. 3 Other Reasons")
- ://www.google.com/webmasters/2.html#usedtobe
The most likely reason is your admitted use of the linking service "I
need eyes". Google specifically mentions NOT using such linking
services or "setting up pages/links with the sole purpose of fooling
search engines" (See: "No.3 Other Reasons")
- ://www.google.com/webmasters/2.html#usedtobe
and in its Quality Guidelines - Basic Principles:
"* Avoid tricks intended to improve search engine rankings. A good
rule of thumb is whether you'd feel comfortable explaining what you've
done to a website that competes with you ..."
* Don't participate in link schemes designed to increase your site's
ranking or PageRank. In particular, avoid links to web spammers or
"bad neighborhoods" on the web as your own ranking may be affected
adversely by those links."
There have been some admissions by others whose sites were suddenly
pulled from Google for the very same thing in the WebMaster World
links above. The simple truth is those kind of linking pages do not
help you and may penalize you by getting your site pulled from Google.
You obviously understand the importance of having sites linked to
yours, but a mass linking type system isn't the answer. Google
advises, "You may want to check and see if the number of other sites
linking to your URL has decreased. This is the *SINGLE BIGGEST FACTOR*
in determining what sites are indexed by Google, as we find most pages
when our robots crawl the web and jump from page to page via
hyperlinks" [Emphasis addes]. (See: "1. Changes from one index to the
next.")
- ://www.google.com/webmasters/2.html#usedtobe
In "My Web Pages Are Not Currently Listed", Google cites other reasons
your listing may have disappeared:
* The use of frames.
"Google supports frames to the extent that it can. Frames tend to
cause problems with search engines, bookmarks, emailing links and so
on, because frames don't fit the conceptual model of the web (every
page corresponds to a single URL). If a user's query matches the site
as a whole, Google returns the frame set. If a user's query matches an
individual page on the site, Google returns that page. That individual
page is not displayed in a frame -- because there may be no frame set
corresponding to that page."
- ://www.google.com/webmasters/2.html#usedtobe
* Your site wasn't reachable.
* A temporary glitch.
* A change in content.
As you noted, your site changed content, and you added the link
service, neither one of which helped your listing. Plus you are using
frames, and you don't have any other sites linking to yours, which do
not add to relevancy. Any one - or a combination - of these would and
could lead to losing your listing, and in this case, there are more
than one factor that Google advises NOT to use, and one that the
suggest you use and is not in play here.
Getting Listed in Google:
=========================
A. The Basics:
1. Keyword Metatags:
With the possible exception of Inktomi, most search engines no longer
place a high emphasis on metatags. It used to be very easy to load a
page containing very little relevant content with copious metatags to
attain a higher listing. In fact, it happened often enough that they
don't count for much and can hurt you if you have a heavy metatag load
with little or no content to mirror those tags.
In your case, the first couple of lines of your keywords metatag
reads, "art , original art , contemporary art , mixed media art ,
modern art , watercolor canvas's , art for sale ..."
Yet within the content on your first page of your site, the word 'art'
doesn't appear at all. This can be interpreted as "spamming", which is
not only discouraged, but can be penalized.
Here are some relevant articles about loading the metatags with
content which does NOT appear on your page:
Shari Thurow's "Search Engine Spamming Affects Us All"
- http://www.highrankings.com/issue028.htm#ses
SearchDay - "The Search Engine Spam Police, Part 1" - 29 May 2002,
Chris Sherman
- http://www.searchenginewatch.com/searchday/article.php/2160011
SearchDay - "The Search Engine Spam Police, Part 2" - 30 May 2002,
Chris Sherman
- http://www.searchenginewatch.com/searchday/article.php/2160021
SearchDay - "The Search Engine Spam Police, Part 3" - 31 May 2002,
Chris Sherman
- http://www.searchenginewatch.com/searchday/article.php/2159061
Content, Content, Content:
==========================
If you want your site to be indexed and found using the terms in your
keyword metatags, make sure you have TEXT content which will reflect
those terms. You may want to be listed under the term "art" - and
there are currently about 94 million pages listed under that term -
and those listed in the first 5 or 10 pages have page content
generously using that term.
Google suggests, "Create a useful, information-rich site and write
pages that clearly and accurately describe your content."
and "Think about the words users would type to find your pages, and
make sure that your site actually includes those words within it." If
Google suggests, it pays to listen. (See: Webmaster Guidelines)
- ://www.google.com/webmasters/guidelines.html
2. Frames:
==========
Don't use frames. Frames are NOT user friendly, are often hard to
index, and they are unnecessary. You can achieve the same effect on a
Web page without using frames. You will NOT lose so many visitors
(plus some browsers don't support frames, other users just hate them).
3. Links:
=========
Google's listings are based primarily on it's Pagerank system. The
more "relevant" sites that link to yours, the better your page rank in
Google.
Avoid linking schemes, such as the one you used, free for all links,
link exchanges and other types of link schemes. While "they" may bring
you some more eyes (not necessarily qualified eyes, either), it could
penalize you with search engines, especially with Google.
4. Other Search Engines:
========================
Submit your site, as Google suggests, to DMOZ and Yahoo.
5. User Friendly Design:
=======================
Google recommends designing your site for the user, not for search
engines.
A. Easy on the Eyes.
You may note that in the first ten listings while searching "art" on
Google, every page uses a light background with a darker, easy to read
type. The reason is simple, reading light type against a dark
background is extremely hard on your visitor's eyes.
This may not directly affect your rankings or listings in search
engines, but it most assuredly affects how the visitors who do find
your Website react to it.
You have lovely art with a vivid use of color, but the black
background doesn't enhance the colors, it actually dulls them.
B. Doctype Declaration.
When you don't use a Doctype Declaration, your site is open to
interpretation by whatever the PREVIOUS Doctype Declaration your
visitor's browser encountered. It may be a surprise, but your site
looks very different in some of the browsers in use. A part of that
vast difference is the lack of a Doctype Declaration. Information
regarding this important inclusion in your Webpage design can be found
in the Web Design Group's article, "Choosing A DOCTYPE":
- http://www.htmlhelp.com/tools/validator/doctype.html
C. The Purpose of Your Site:
It is interesting that in your Description metatag you say art for
sale. It is even more interesting that you offer no prices on your own
art, but only on the other art listed.
If the purpose of your site is indeed to sell art, don't hide it, tell
your visitor up front, "above the fold" that your site is about art,
and that art is for sale. Don't make your visitor guess, and then make
him try to figure out how to buy the art.
Your site should clearly state in that first screenful of information
what it is about. See Jakob Nielsen's articles on usability and site
design:
- http://www.useit.com/
D. Those Marquees:
Besides a lack of substantial content on your pages, there are those
marquees with marching type. The code alone takes up six times more of
your page's size than content. And the truth of the matter is that
that marching type distracts from your site's content, and it annoys
your visitors. It does nothing to enhance your page or its design, and
detracts to a great extent. You would do well to lose it.
A quick search using the term "annoying marquee" turns in over 8600
returns. While some of comments are from marketing and design
articles, a great many are from users who hate them. If you want your
user to stay and look - get rid of the annoyances.
E. Do You Want Buyers?
======================
If it is your intention to sell art to your visitors, you sould make
it easy for your visitor to Buy. That includes instilling confidence
in the Buyer. Add information YOU want to know if you're buying
something on the Internet.
Who ARE you? If you want your buyer to part with money, you should
give him some information about who he is doing business with. Where
are you located? How long have you been in business?
About your email address ... a hotmail address does not instill
confidence, it smacks of 'temporary'. If you want to sell your art, at
least look like you're going to be around for awhile with an email
address that matches your domain.
Privacy. While not everyone may actually read through a boring Privacy
Policy, your buyer at least wants to know that you have one. What are
you going to do with my information after I fork it over?
How can I buy your work. Buying is often an impulse. If you inspire
your visitor to want that art ... make it easy for him to click on a
link and BUY it. Right then, no delays.
All of the above helps with marketing your art to potential buyers,
but you will note that most of the high ranking pages on search
engines all employ those methods in their design as a matter of
course. If it works for them, it can't hurt you to include those, too.
Summary:
========
No Google Answers Researcher can tell you why your site was delisted
(or unlisted) from Google. On the other hand, given the recent
discussions on the sites as noted above, the most probable reason is:
1. The use of a link scheme;
2. The recent change in design;
3. Lack of rich content on the site;
4. Use of frames;
5. Lack of links TO your site; and
6. Possible spamming the keyword metatags.
To increase your chances of gettng listed:
1. "Make a site with a clear hierarchy and text links. Every page
should be reachable from at least one static text link."
2. "Create a useful, information-rich site and write pages that
clearly and accurately describe your content."
3. "Think about the words users would type to find your pages, and
make sure that your site actually includes those words within it.
4. "Try to use text instead of images to display important names,
content, or links. The Google crawler doesn't recognize text contained
in images."
5. "Make sure that your TITLE and ALT tags are descriptive and
accurate."
(the above from Google's Webmaster Guidelines)
- ://www.google.com/webmasters/guidelines.html
6. Redesign the site without using frames.
7. Submit your site to relevant directories such as the Open Directory
Project and Yahoo.
8. Make sure those who should know about your site do and ensure your
reciprocal links are relevant.
9. Don't use link schemes and programs.
A Word About Site Submission Software:
======================================
Google specifically mentions in its "Technical Guidelines", "Don't use
unauthorized computer programs to submit pages, check rankings, etc.
Such programs consume computing resources and violate our terms of
service. Google does not recommend the use of products such as
WebPosition Gold™ that send automatic or programmatic queries to
Google."
- ://www.google.com/webmasters/guidelines.html
To use those is also against its Terms of Service (TOS), which reads:
"You may not send automated queries of any sort to Google's system
without express permission in advance from Google. Note that "sending
automated queries" includes, among other things:
* using any software which sends queries to Google to determine how a
website or webpage "ranks" on Google for various queries;
* "meta-searching" Google; and
* performing "offline" searches on Google.
- ://www.google.com/terms_of_service.html
When You're Ready to Resubmit:
==============================
When you've corrected the site and are ready to resubmit, you can use
Google's Add URL page:
- ://www.google.com/addurl.html
Search Terms Used:
- Google submission advice
- Google Answers + site dropped
- Google Page Rank
- Effective Site design
- Search Engine Optimization (optimisation)
- Google Terms of Service
I know if you follow the Guidelines you stand a good chance of being
relisted in Google.
Good luck,
Serenata |
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