Dear Mr. Brenkley,
First of all, and that is very important - Google Answers is not
linked with the Google Index, and I am not a Google employee. I am,
though, sort of an expert on search engine submission and in
particular in Google submission.
There are usually several reasons why a page has a "zero pagerank": -
1. Totally unknown, unlinked site that was never crawled into.
2. Site that was banned from Google due to violation of its terms.
3. Sites behind a secured server or with a directive to the Googlebot
not to crawl through them (not relevant to your sites, but if you're
interested, you could read more about it at Google's guidelines for
Webmasters ://www.google.com/webmasters/3.html#B2).
First Reason: Badly Linked Site
===============================
If your sites are totally unknown and were never ranked in Google, the
solution to get the sites known. This could be done by linking to
other sites dealing with the same issue (high notch ties or Japanese
cars), by submitting yourself to search engines and by maximising your
keywords.
Japanese Car Solutions has no keywords or Metatags that would help the
search engine find your site. "Barbra Anne"'s condition is better,
because something has been written about it, and because there are
keywords that seem relevant to the search. However, optimising them
would not hurt.
The first step, in your way towards successful submission, is to have
the right key words in your site. This was part of your web-masters'
job: to make sure you have all of the possible keywords that people
look for, when they seek cars or ties.
Several sites offer the most searched words, those that would bring
you up in the results list, although probably not in the first place:
http://www.wordtracker.com/
http://directory.google.com/Top/Computers/Internet/Searching/Search_Engines/Specialized/Internet_Keywords/?tc=1
http://www.goodkeywords.com/
http://directory.google.com/Top/Computers/Data_Formats/Markup_Languages/HTML/Tutorials/Meta_Tags/?il=1
http://www.keywords.com/
These are only few, and as you could see, I put here several
directories with more than one site. It should be noted, that the most
searched words might not always help you. If the most searched word in
technology is "mp3" (see Google's "Zeitgeist" -
://www.google.com/press/zeitgeist.html), then it wouldn't really
contribute to people looking for your specific business, right?
Google ranks sites, according to the number and quality of sites they
are linked with. That means, that the more listings you have in other
site's links, the more chance you have to be listed and ranked. You
could enhance your linking in several ways.
First of all, you could market your site in online business
directories, fashion/automotive sites, and general human-edited web
directories, like the Google Directory itself, in categories such as
http://directory.google.com/Top/Regional/Europe/United_Kingdom/Business_and_Economy/Motoring/
http://directory.google.com/Top/Shopping/Clothing/Men%27s/Neckties/?il=1
http://directory.google.com/Top/Regional/Europe/United_Kingdom/Business_and_Economy/Shopping/Clothing/Menswear/?il=1
You could also post rich, interesting content that would generate more
traffic and voluntary linking to your site. For examples, articles on
the history or ties, on maintenance of Japanese cars, etc.
There are many other ways to promote your site. To be known, you can
use paid advertisement, for example the Ad-Words program that Google
suggests: https://adwords.google.com/select/ (this is the place to
clarify againI am not a Google employee, and if I had anything bad to
say about them, I'd be free to say so. The Ad Words works, from
testimonies I have heard, but costs money). This program offers you to
be first ranked, before the results for those key-words you chose, or
at the side of the results.
Another way is to use Word-of-the-Mouse marketing, telling everybody
you know, plus some people you don't know, about your new site, hoping
that the more links to your site, the better the chance you'll appear
first on the search results. The information about your new site
should be part of your email signature, known to all of the people in
your address book, and for those of them who care enough - also to all
of the people in their address book and so on (this is different than
spamming, which I certainly advice to stay away from - this is
illegal, immoral and irritates more than brings customers).
There's a book I recommend in cases like that. It is a bit simplistic
(like all advice books) but gives several helpful tips on online
marketing in free venues. You can get it at amazon.com
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0935047298/ltc-political/002-8658478-2156038>
Let Your Fingers Do the Talking: Using Word of Mouth Advertising on
the Internet, by Tom Clarke-Hill, but also probably in some libraries.
There are many other search engine submission and maximising tips and
tutorials out there:
http://searchenginewatch.com/webmasters/
http://directory.google.com/Top/Computers/Internet/Web_Design_and_Development/Promotion/Help_and_Tutorials/?il=1
http://www.addpro.com/
http://directory.google.com/Top/Computers/Internet/Web_Design_and_Development/Promotion/Free_Search_Engine_Submitting/?il=1
http://www.addme.com/
http://www.buildtraffic.com/indexnew.shtml
http://www.esiteblast.com/
http://www.college-scholarships.com/free_search_engine_submission.htm
Second Reason: Banned from Google
=================================
There are several reasons for Google to remove manually your site from
their index. Google discourages (or maybe I should say - bans)
cloaking and link exchanges, and other "artificial" methods to cheat
Google's ranking method of checking the sites that actually link to
you, in making it look as if you are linked to many sites, that are
actually not linked to you.
This includes programmes such as "Web Position Gold", FFA sites, Link
Partners, Link Leads, Links To You, Zeus, and Links Manager. If you
used any of these and Google caught you, you are banned from their
index and get an automated zero pagerank.
Google have added to their manual for Webmasters this page, that warns
you of the crooks out there: ://www.google.com/webmasters/seo.html
(some of them are "real" crooks, ones that take your money, while
others might cause harm to you, although being free, by inserting
elements that might ban you from Google index): "Be careful if a
company is secretive or won't clearly explain what they intend to do.
Ask for explanations if something is unclear. If an SEO creates
deceptive or misleading content on your behalf, such as doorway pages
or "throwaway" domains, your site could be removed entirely from
Google's index. Ultimately, you are responsible for the actions of any
companies you hire, so it's best to be sure you know exactly how they
intend to "help" you." (Source: Google Information for Webmasters,
Search Engine Optimizers, ://www.google.com/webmasters/seo.html ).
In any case, whenever you feel that the removal was "unfair", you can
address your grievances to Google, at mailto:help@google.com. They do
not "promise" to tell you why you have been removed, or to reinstate
you, but explaining what happen might just help.
You can also use their FREE user support forum
http://groups.google.com/groups?q=google.public.support.general
You can find more information on Google's index at
://www.google.com/webmasters
I hope that answered your question. Please contact me for
clarifications on the answer. I'd be pleased to clarify my answer
before you rate it. |
