Greetings, bojohn!
Thank you for according me the honor of requesting me specially.
According to the Google Answers Terms of Service, all Questions and
Answers must be posted in the Google Answers area (with the occasional
exception of extremely large or special sorts of files such as Excel
spreadsheets and jpg images, which can be temporarily uploaded for
Customers).
In addition, Researchers are not permitted to directly solicit
business from Customers on the Google Answers site.
There are numerous Researchers who can provide Website Evaluations --
tips for improving the appearance, user-friendliness and Search
Engine-friendliness -- via Google Answers (in fact, a number of these
Researchers have their own Website Development businesses on the
side).
However, when it comes to full-fledged Website Design, there is a
certain amount of information that you would definitely want -- and
need -- to be kept confidential.
For that sort of project, the Google Answers format would probably not
be a suitable venue, and you would want to seek the services of a
website developer through a means other than Google Answers to ensure
your confidentiality.
Before Rating my Answer, if you have any Questions about the above
information, please post a Request for Clarification, and I will be
delighted to see what I can do for you.
I hope that this Answer has provided exactly the information you were
seeking!
Regards,
ace |
Request for Answer Clarification by
bojohn-ga
on
19 Jun 2003 13:41 PDT
Which are you allowed do?...
"There are numerous Researchers who can provide Website Evaluations
--tips for improving the appearance, user-friendliness and Search
Engine-friendliness -- via Google Answers"
Thanks,
Jim
|
Clarification of Answer by
aceresearcher-ga
on
19 Jun 2003 13:46 PDT
Jim,
Thanks for the excellent Rating and the generous tip.
Could you please expand on your Clarification Request for me, as I am
not sure that I understand what you are asking?
Thanks,
ace
|
Request for Answer Clarification by
bojohn-ga
on
19 Jun 2003 14:33 PDT
Ace,
Can you provide an on going Website Evaluation and provide
some user-friendy advice to help me with Google as I re-do the site?
Thanks,
Jim
|
Clarification of Answer by
aceresearcher-ga
on
19 Jun 2003 14:41 PDT
Jim,
I would be delighted to do so, to the best of my ability!
Please let me know when you have gotten your current changes made and
are ready for me to look at it again.
Thanks,
ace
|
Request for Answer Clarification by
bojohn-ga
on
27 Jun 2003 11:51 PDT
Ace,
I have changed my site and would like for you to review the changes as
soon as possible (I am like a baby crawling). Also, I am not trying to
"spam" with multiple sites...how do I get my other site out. I was
just trying to get something listed....
Thanks for your encouragement and help,
Jim
|
Clarification of Answer by
aceresearcher-ga
on
28 Jun 2003 11:56 PDT
Jim,
On weekends I usually try to spend as much time with my spouse as
possible, and don't do a lot on Google Answers. I will try to get to
your site again as soon as possible, by Monday for sure.
Thanks for your patience and understanding!
ace
|
Request for Answer Clarification by
bojohn-ga
on
02 Jul 2003 13:59 PDT
Ace,
You haven't forgotten me have you?
Thanks,
Jim
|
Clarification of Answer by
aceresearcher-ga
on
02 Jul 2003 19:02 PDT
Ah, Jim, please consider me duly trout-smacked.
I fell down the steps on our deck on Monday and twisted my ankle and
pulled my back, so I'm just going to claim that I suffered brain
damage in the fall as well, and apologize profusely.
I'm heading off to bed right now. I PROMISE that you will be the first
thing that I do after I brush my teeth, wash my face, and get my
Allergy shot in the morning.
Thanks,
ace
|
Clarification of Answer by
aceresearcher-ga
on
03 Jul 2003 14:25 PDT
Jim,
I've spent a couple hours looking at your websites, so I want to give
you an update.
I've got some ideas, and some concerns, but before I come back to you
with them, I've got a friend who also does this kind of work, and so
that I can get some ideas from a different set of eyes and
perspective, I've asked them to also take a look at your websites.
They aren't going to be able to look at things tonight, so it will
likely take a couple of days for me to get their evaluation and put
together a response from both of our perspectives.
So far, I've located the following URLs which belong to you:
http://www.bestdriverjobs.com
http://www.1truckdriverjobs.com
http://www.protruckingjob.com
http://www.protruckeronline.com
http://www.besttruckingjob.com
http://www.1owneroperator.com
So that I can provide you with the best possible advice, it would be
really helpful, if you've got any other URLs which I've missed, for
you to post them here in a Clarification.
If you would be willing to hang in there a couple of days longer, I
believe that I will be able to provide you with additional helpful
information.
Thanks again for your patience and understanding!
ace
|
Request for Answer Clarification by
bojohn-ga
on
03 Jul 2003 14:52 PDT
Ace,
First, I don't want you to think we are trying to spam Google. Each
site we own was "supposedly" designed around different key words so
that what ever key word was used we had some type of prescense. I have
gotten a list from my "webmaster":
bestdriverjobs.com
protruckeronline.com
onlinetruckers.com
owneroperatorsinfo.com
usdriverjobs.com
truckerjobnet.com
tollfreedriverjobs.com
bestdrivingjobs.com
besttruckingjob.com
protruckingjob.com
besttruckdrivingjobs.com
besttruckingcompany.com
1truckdriverjobs.com
1truckingcompany.com
besttruckerjobs.com
1owneroperatorjob.com
1truckingjob.com
bestdrivingjob.com
1owneroperator.com
1truckdrivingjob.com
Thanks for your help, just tell me what I need to do...
P.S. Please be careful going down the steps... : )
Thanks again,
Jim
|
Request for Answer Clarification by
bojohn-ga
on
09 Jul 2003 15:04 PDT
Ace,
Is it to complicated to help...we thought building different sites for
different key words was alright...do we need to just have "one" site
and try to load it down with all the key words a driver might use in
searching for a trucking company or a specific truck driver job?
Much thanks,
Jim
|
Clarification of Answer by
aceresearcher-ga
on
09 Jul 2003 19:37 PDT
Jim,
I gave my friend a call to see if they had any insights that they
could offer, and I kind of had to chuckle... their reaction was almost
the same as mine had been.
Here it is...
1. Your webmaster didn't walk out of the pumpkin patch yesterday.
He/she obviously has experience with doing the Googlebot Tango, and
right now, they and you are winning at it.
2. Honey, I couldn't detangle that mare's nest you've going if I had a
whole gallon of conditioning creme rinse.
3. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. I could give you advice, and it
could totally screw things up for you. I think I'll pass.
4. However, you and your webmaster need to be aware that the Googlebot
is continually being tweaked by the rocket scientists over in Mountain
View, CA. Therefore, I recommend that you:
a. continually work to make each site less and less like the others;
use different words and phrases to say the same things. Move the
layout of the text around.
b. be aware that there will probably come a day when you will no
longer be leading in the Googlebot Tango. Prepare for that day by
starting to work out how you would want one large, consolidated site
to look and to be organized.
5. Work on developing (or license from someone who's already developed
it) more content for your sites -- reasons for visitors to stick
around -- like articles on "10 Ways to Stay Awake and Safe While
Driving" and "How To Refresh Yourself When You're Starting to Drag".
6. Here's the one really good tip I can give you:
a. ALL links on your Home Page should be to your internal subpages
ONLY.
b. Put the links to your other sites each by themselves on their own
page, with some of the aforementioned content.
c. Put any links to other sites which are not yours on a page with
each other (but no more than a dozen links on each page, so split them
up if you have to). And DON'T label this page "Links", "Useful Links",
"Helpful Links", etc. DON'T use the word "Reciprocal" anywhere on your
site.
d. EVERY page should have a link back to your Home Page, and perhaps
to some of your other subpages as well.
The reason for doing these things is that the Page Rank algorithm:
1. Assigns weight to your pages if other sites with PR 4 or higher
link to them.
2. Takes weight away from your pages if they link to other sites (this
DOESN'T mean that you should eliminate your external links -- just be
judicious. And bear in mind that if those external sites are yours,
you're passing some of this site's PR on to your other sites, and
hopefully, vice-versa.
3. In passing PR on to external sites, the PR is divvied up among all
the links on that page. This is why you want each of the links to your
other sites on their own page.
4. Some of the PR on any one of your site's pages is recycled back to
your site if you have internal links (like "Home Page").
For some excellent, in-depth information on how Google Page Ranking
works, I encourage you and/or your webmaster to read the following
excellent papers:
"The Google Pagerank Algorithm and How It Works" by Ian Rogers, IPR
Computing Ltd. (Last edited: 16th May 2002):
http://www.iprcom.com/papers/pagerank/index.html
"PageRank Uncovered" by Chris Ridings on the Search Engine
Optimization Support Forums website:
a page of explanation and examples:
http://www.supportforums.org/pagerank
"PageRank Uncovered" by Chris Ridings
http://www.supportforums.org/PageRank.pdf
(This is an Acrobat .pdf document. If you do not already have Acrobat
installed on your PC, you can download the free Acrobat Reader here:
http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep.html )
"Google's PageRank Explained and how to make the most of it" by Phil
Craven on WebWorkshop.com:
http://webworkshop.net/pagerank.html
Good Luck, Jim, Best Wishes, and Thanks for Your Generosity!
ace ;-)
|
Request for Answer Clarification by
bojohn-ga
on
10 Jul 2003 07:30 PDT
Ace,
Your great!
One last question, it looks as if Google refreshed on July 9th, some
of the sites have that date listed under their description. We don't
seem to have any of our sites refreshed...could you give me some
insight?
Thanks,
Jim
|
Clarification of Answer by
aceresearcher-ga
on
10 Jul 2003 08:23 PDT
Jim,
The Googlebot can't crawl the whole world in just one day (nor can it
roll a new index out to all the Google servers in just one day), so
this is not terribly surprising.
However, if you can post the exact Search Text you used when you
noticed this, I'll be glad to take a look and watch the results for
the next couple of days to see if I can offer any insight.
ace
|
Request for Answer Clarification by
bojohn-ga
on
10 Jun 2004 07:50 PDT
Ace,
Are there any people like you who operate optimization services and if
so who would you recommend?
Thanks,
Jim
|
Clarification of Answer by
aceresearcher-ga
on
10 Jun 2004 13:28 PDT
Jim,
I'm going to have to think about this one for awhile.
There are certainly thousands (if not millions) of companies and
individuals who advertise on the Internet that they are SEO experts.
In my studied opinion, most of them are frauds and hucksters who scam
thousands of dollars out of their clients in exchange for very little.
Many of them simply own a webdesign software package (like FrontPage
or Dreamweaver) that does most of the work for them, and they don't
have the slightest knowledge of programming.
Many of them know how to make a pretty website, but don't have the
slightest idea what important considerations to take into account to
make websites search-engine friendly.
Many of them "guarantee" high Google rankings -- which later turns out
to mean a Top Ten ranking at some particular date and time for an
obscure set of terms which a potential customer would never actually
use in a search.
Some of them even manage to obtain decent placement for a client in
Google Search Results, until the Google Programmers tweak the system
and it turns out that the "expert" was merely using cheating and
spamming techniques to achieve placement which disappears for good
once the Googlebot has been trained to recognize such chicanery.
You wouldn't BELIEVE how many such people have posted Questions on
Google Answers wondering why their website doesn't appear in Search
Results, or why their Ranking is so poor, and when we go to check out
their website, we discover that they're promoting themselves as
Webdesign and SEO Experts, even though they can't manage good design
practices and search engine optimization for their own sites!
So, I'd like to think about this for a little bit, if I may. You've
treated me very well, and I don't want to steer you wrong.
ace
|
Request for Answer Clarification by
bojohn-ga
on
11 Jun 2004 08:18 PDT
Ace,
Thanks for you honesty and your truthfulness....I've already sealt
with a wide spectrum of "help". I've had college guys to "professional
services", all I've gotten is black listed....
Just looking for some real help...
Also, whats the chance of ever getting a site re-indexed by Google if
they have blocked it?
P.S. How can I give you another tip?
Thanks,
Jim
|
Clarification of Answer by
aceresearcher-ga
on
11 Jun 2004 22:47 PDT
Jim,
Please bear in mind that I tend to be a rather naïve and honest
person, and I believe in doing the right thing. However, I also
believe that people -- good or bad -- seldom get what they really
deserve. The harsh reality of life is that to the cheater often go the
spoils. But I don't feel that a lack of scruples and integrity on the
part of other people justifies me doing the same.
I suspect that there are people far more knowledgeable about SEO
techniques than I am, who might tell you that my philosophy is too
naïve, and that the only way to stay ahead of the game is keep up on
the latest cheats and tricks that still work on the Googlebot.
My personal philosophy is this:
1) You may get someone who really knows what they're doing, and who
can pull tricks to get your site good Search Results placement. Or you
may get someone who passes themselves off as the former, while
actually being clueless and wasting your money. What if you choose
wrong? How will you know until it's too late?
2) Trying to game the Googlebot is a never-ending escalation of war.
SEOs will figure out new methods of gaming the Googlebot, Google will
block those cheats, and SEOs will work out more ways of getting around
it. The problem is that all the while, the Googlebot is becoming more
and more sophisticated, and it's getting harder and harder to figure
out new cheats that will work. Sooner or later -- as you found out
since we talked a year ago -- the Googlebot will catch up with you.
Who was it that said "Stop the merry-go-round, I want to get off!"?
3) My recommendation would be to combine all of your sites into one
super-duper content powerhouse of a site (or two, if you have two
really strong areas that are different enough to justify different
sites). Now, as you may guess, this is going to take an incredible
amount of work. In addition to a complete overhaul and consolidation
of all your sites, a request will have to be sent to any site that's
not your own which links to any of your sites, asking them to update
their link to reflect your chosen main URL. Furthermore, you'll need
to court links from sites that aren't link farms, but which offer
services that are complementary to yours. Such sites will benefit from
putting a link to your URL on their site, while you put a link to
theirs on yours -- and the Googlebot should be okay with that, as it
has been trained to recognize quality links from sites with
complementary services. Furthermore, you can implement some method of
obtaining an actual referral from people who've used your site and
benefited from it, if they have their own website where they can
recommend you.
If you have indeed been banned, this is probably your only hope of
redemption. You'll then have to send a groveling letter to The Powers
That Google describing what your old webmaster was doing, how you've
repented of your sinful ways, listing all your old sites and
explaining how you've combined them into one (adding more useful
content), and asking if they'd be willing to let that one URL back
into the index.
You've got a long uphill road ahead of you -- but your best choice is
just to grit your teeth and get down to it. In the meantime, you may
need to opt for Google AdWords and Pay-Per-Click ads to maintain some
kind of traffic to your main site.
As far as finding a new Webmaster, what you want is someone --
preferably an individual or a team of just two or three -- who does
good work, doesn't make ridiculous promises, and doesn't charge
outrageous, exhorbitant fees. Your best bet may be someone "local"
with some good website examples in their portfolio, with whom you can
develop a face-to-face relationship. It's a lot easier to care about
their client if they've met you and think of you as a person, rather
than some nameless, faceless entity. Face-to-face contact also makes
it easier for you to evaluate their integrity and the quality of their
service, because you get a whole other level of information through
voice inflection and body language.
I'm not sure where you're located, but you might try the following
search string, inputting your city into Google Local Search. If you
select and contact a few likely possibilities, you can post a Question
here, and I'll be willing to research the developers and the websites
in their portfolios and offer my opinion as to the quality of their
work (this would probably be a significantly-priced undertaking, as I
would most likely want to contact the client websites for information
on the developer in addition to other evaluation criteria).
http://local.google.com/local?sc=1&q=%22website+developer%22+OR+%22web+developer%22+OR+%22website+designer%22+OR+%22web+designer%22&near=&sl=1
Notice that I included neither "SEO" nor "Search Engine Optimization"
in the string. This is because I believe that anyone who says their
main "claim to fame" is as an SEO, is probably a charlatan.
Since you say that you'd like to tip me, you can do so by posting a
new $2.00 Question for me, then add whatever tip you desire when you
rate the "Answer". But honestly, you've been very generous to me
already, and this is not a necessity.
Google Answers is one of those rare jobs where a person can do
something they really enjoy while genuinely helping other people and
learning a lot in the process -- and while getting paid a little money
for doing so (emphasis, unfortunately, on "little" ;-).
Let me know where you'd like to go from here.
ace
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