Hi JArnold ~
Getting listed in Google's search engine can seem a daunting task at
times, but Google offers suggestions in its Webmaster Guidelines:
"The best way to ensure Google finds your site is for your page to be
linked from lots of pages on other sites. Google's robots jump from
page to page on the Web via hyperlinks, so the more sites that link to
you, the more likely it is that we'll find you quickly." (See "No. 2
Submitting your site")
- ://www.google.com/webmasters/1.html#A1
And reinforces bit of advice in its FAQs:
"4. Why doesn't Google index any of my pages?
If your pages haven't been indexed yet, it's probably because there
aren't enough other pages on the web that link to them. Google looks
at the link interconnectedness among pages, relying on the vastness
and openness of the Internet to yield the most relevant search
results. If other pages don't link to yours, we can't assign your
pages a PageRank (our proprietary measure of a page's importance) in a
reasonable way. Once other pages point to them, we'll pick your pages
up."
- ://www.google.com/webmasters/faq.html#submitmultiple
Links to your site:
==================
A check of links to your site using Google's Link tool (
://www.google.com/help/features.html#link ), reveals there are no
other pages linking to yours.
While it often happens that a recently submitted site may show up
temporarily after submission using Google's Add URL page, without any
links to your own site to reinforce that listing, it can just as
quickly disappear.
A Word of Caution About Links TO Your Page:
==========================================
Google will penalize link spamming. Joining a link farm will not help
your site get listed in Google, and Google warns against doing so.
"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." (See "Quality Guidelines - Basic
principles")
- ://www.google.com/webmasters/guidelines.html
What to do to increase your listings:
=====================================
Besides having relevant links to your page, as mentioned above, Google
offers several suggestions to aid in getting your site listed.
1. Listing With Other Search Engine Sites
-----------------------------------------
"Google partners on the Web include Yahoo! and Netscape. If you are
having difficulty getting listed in the Google index, 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
A check on DMOZ.org and Yahoo turns up no listing for your site.
Likewise, searching hotbot.com, netscape.com and msn.com also return
no listings for jdtreasures.com.
There was a listing for your index.html page on altavista.com, but
that was the only page listed.
Submitting your site to those search engines can only help your
business and will definitely not hurt with gettting listed in Google.
2. Rich Content
---------------
Google recommends that your site contain "a clear hierarchy and text
links. Every page should be reachable from at least one static text
link," and that you "create a useful, information-rich site and write
pages that clearly and accurately describe your content."
In addition, they recommend that you "think about the words users
would type to find your pages, and make sure that your site actually
includes those words within it." (See Google's "Design and Content
Guidelines")
- ://www.google.com/webmasters/guidelines.html
Your keyword metatags use the terms, "colorful fun beads, lamp glass,
bumpy beads, bumpies, funky art, jewelry, wearable art, unique
jewelry, hearts, pendants, beautiful, collectible jewelry ..." but
these terms aren't used anywhere on your main page. While different
search engines apply a different weight to the keywords and
description metatags, the content on your page should contain those
words within it. When your content doesn't match the metatags, they
will be ignored at best, and you may be deemed to be "spamming" and be
penalized, at worst.
You may want to reconsider the layout to build your graphic displays
around rich content which includes those terms you want visitors to
use to find your site.
3. Complete Your Site
---------------------
Google's goal is to deliver the most relevant sites in its search
engine, and doesn't want to deliver incomplete pages.
While clicking on links in your site (for instance, the shopping
cart), I get a popup window that informs me "We're sorry for the
inconvience but our site is under construction and we are unable to
process credit cards at this time. For orders and questions please
E-mail us directly. Thank you ..."
There are pages without pricing information or a price at $0.00 (for
instance, the bracelet page). This is either an offer of free
creations or an incomplete site.
Your links to privacy.html, guarantee.html and shipping.html are
commented out, which also indicates an incomplete site.
When you have completed the site, you will want to submit your site
once again to Google.
4. Put your Title Tags to work for you
--------------------------------------
The first thing the Googlebot encounters is your Title Tags, yet every
page has the same title, "JD Treasures". Use relevant text within each
page's title tags to explain what is actually within that page and
then echo that text within the content of the page.
5. Don't forget your ALT tags
-----------------------------
For every graphic, make sure there is an "alt" tag that uses terms
which describe the graphic.
6. Use robots.txt
-----------------
To encourage Search Engine robots to crawl and index your page and
follow your links, add these lines under your <meta> tags:
<meta name="Robots" content="index,follow">
<meta name="revisit-after" content="10 Days">
You can visit "The Web Robots FAQ to find out more about about the
robots.txt files.
- http://www.robotstxt.org/wc/faq.html
7. Beware of SEOs and submission tools
--------------------------------------
Be aware that using search engine optimization ("SEO") companies or
websites which use tools (such as WebPosition Gold) can penalize you.
Google does notice these activities, and using them is one of the
quickest ways to get your site permanently banned from Google.
Google warns, "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." (See Google's Quality Guidelines - Basic
principles)
- ://www.google.com/webmasters/guidelines.html
When your site is completed and fully operational, when you have added
links TO and FROM relevant sites, and you feel it's ready for the
public, you can resubmit to Google and submit to DMOZ and Yahoo as
well. Remember that it can take 1 to 3 months to get listed, even
though there may be a temporary appearance which disappears after an
initial visit from the Googlebot.
You have a good start on a very interesting site with some beautiful
creations, and I feel sure that when it is completed you should have
no problem getting listed in Google.
Best of luck,
Serenata |
