Hi RWC ~
Please remember that Google Answers Researchers are independent
contractors. As such, we are not privy to inside information about
Google. We do not have access to any information about Google's
closely-guarded search engine algorithms, nor to information about
which sites, if any, Google may penalize; and if so, why.
Most Google Answers Researchers who undertake answering questions
concerning Google's indexing or PageRank do so from a position of
experience and knowledge gleaned from reputable sources, including
Google and Danny Sullivan's "Search Engine World" -
- http://searchengineworld.com
or Webmaster World -
- http://webmasterworld.com
and other search engine information resources.
================================
So, What happened to your site?
================================
Google has ten index data centers. Because of the size of its index,
it is physically impossible for it to simultaneously update all the
data centers. I performed searches for your site using
"www.rickswoodshopcreations.com" (without the exclamation marks) on
each of the data centers:
- www-ex.google.com - site is listed - PageRank 0/10
Using the link: Tool, it returns 40 links
- www-sj.google.com - " - PageRank 4/10
Using the link: Tool, it returns 41 links
- www-va.google.com - " - PageRank 0/10
Using the link: Tool, it returns 41 links
- www-dc.google.com - " - PageRank 0/10
Using the link: Tool, it returns 41 links
- www-fi.google.com - " - PageRank 0/10
Using the link: Tool, it returns 41 links
- www-ab.google.com - no listing
On the 'find web pages that contain the term
"rickswoodshopcreations.com",
it returns your site first out of 162 listings.
On a search for the term "rick's woodshop creations" (without the
quotation marks), it returns 372 results, with your site listed
first
with a PageRank of 0/10
Using the link: Tool, it returns 41 links
- www-in.google.com - no listing
On the 'find web pages that contain the term
"rickswoodshopcreations.com",
it returns your site first out of 176 listings.
On a search for the term "rick's woodshop creations" (without the
quotation marks), it returns 374 results, with your site listed
first
with a PageRank of 0/10
Using the link: Tool, it returns 41 links
- www-zu.google.com - no listing
On the 'find web pages that contain the term
"rickswoodshopcreations.com",
it returns your site first out of 162 listings.
On a search for the term "rick's woodshop creations" (without the
quotation marks), it returns 372 results, with your site listed
first
with a PageRank of 0/10
Using the link: Tool, it returns 41 links
- www-cw.google.com - no listing
On the 'find web pages that contain the term
"rickswoodshopcreations.com",
it returns your site first out of 162 listings.
On a search for the term "rick's woodshop creations" (without the
quotation marks), it returns 372 results, with your site listed
first
with a PageRank of 0/10
Using the link: Tool, it returns 41 links
The good news is: It does not appear as if your site has been dropped
or banned from Google's Index.
Using Google's LINK:Tool, akk of the data centers returned links. I
also found you *DO* (or maybe *did*) have a Google PageRank of 4/10.
[The Google LINK:Tool is accomplished by typing "link:
www.rickswoodshopcreations.dom" (without the quotation marks) in the
search box.]
Google's PageRank can be found on the Google Toolbar, which can be
downloaded here
- http://toolbar.google.com/
[If you want an unofficial look at Google's data centers, you can use
the "Google Dance" tool on SEO Chat. This site is not related to
Google in any way, but it does offer the tool to watch the returns
from each of the data centers.
- http://googledance.seochat.com ]
============================
Google's Quality Guidelines
============================
A look at Rick's Woodshop Creations shows it is less about 'creations'
than it is a directory of links to other sites generally related to
wood working; although there are other links which are clearly not
related to the site at all.
This isn't necessarily bad, although Google's Content Guidelines
recommend:
"* Create a useful, information-rich site and write pages
that clearly and accurately describe your content.
* Think about the words users would type to find your
pages, and make sure that your site actually includes
those words within it.
* Try to use text instead of images to display important
names, content, or links. The Google crawler doesn't
recognize text contained in images.
* Make sure that your TITLE and ALT tags are descriptive
and accurate.
* Check for broken links and correct HTML.
* Keep the links on a given page to a reasonable number
(fewer than 100)."
- ://www.google.com/webmasters/guidelines.html
When it comes to links, Google also warns on the same page:
"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."
- ://www.google.com/webmasters/guidelines.html
It might be the time to check the links, both your site's links TO
other sites (and eliminate broken links or links that are no longer
relevant); but especially links FROM other sites which may be harming
your listing and PageRank.
Specifically, there are links from such sites as slots.com (which is
totally unrelated to your own site in any way and pops up 6-10 windows
if you attempt to leave the site).
Try to keep all links TO and FROM your site related to your subject at
hand, and eliminate those which aren't. All the Google Data Centers
which gave you a PageRank of 0 and didn't list your site listed links
to your site which are questionable.
=========
PageRank
=========
Google's PageRank is explained in "PageRank Explained", which is the
only information Google makes available to the public about its
ranking system:
" PageRank relies on the uniquely democratic nature of the web by
using its vast link structure as an indicator of an individual page's
value. In essence, Google interprets a link from page A to page B as a
vote, by page A, for page B. But, Google looks at more than the sheer
volume of votes, or links a page receives; it also analyzes the page
that casts the vote. Votes cast by pages that are themselves
"important" weigh more heavily and help to make other pages
"important."
Important, high-quality sites receive a higher PageRank, which Google
remembers each time it conducts a search. Of course, important pages
mean nothing to you if they don't match your query. So, Google
combines PageRank with sophisticated text-matching techniques to find
pages that are both important and relevant to your search. Google goes
far beyond the number of times a term appears on a page and examines
all aspects of the page's content (and the content of the pages
linking to it) to determine if it's a good match for your query."
- ://www.google.com/technology/index.htm
and in "PageRank Information"
- ://www.google.com/webmasters/4.html
Note in No. 2, "Why does my page's rank keep changing?", Google
explains:
"We update our index every four weeks. Each time we update our
database of web pages, our index invariably shifts: We find new sites,
we lose some sites, and sites ranking may change. Your rank naturally
will be affected by changes in the ranking of other sites. You can be
assured that no one at Google has hand adjusted the results to boost
the ranking of a site. Google's order of results is automatically
determined by several factors, including our PageRank algorithm.
Please check out our "Why Use Google" page for more information on how
this works...
"... You may want to check and see if the number of other sites
linking to your URL has changed. 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. To find out who links to your site, use Google's link:
tool."
- ://www.google.com/webmasters/4.html
And Google's "Changes from one index to the next"
"Each time we update our database of web page (about once a month),
our index shifts: we find new sites, we lose some sites, and site
rankings change. If your site was dropped from Google and you have not
made major changes to it in the last month, we will likely pick it up
again in our next index. It's possible your site was simply
inaccessible when our robots tried to crawl it.
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. To find out who links to your site, use Google's link:
tool.
It's also possible your rank decreased because other sites were found
and assigned a higher rank. ..."
- ://www.google.com/webmasters/2.html
======================
Unauthorized Software
======================
Lastly, avoid using unauthorized third-party software to check on your
site's status, as Google says:
"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 "Quality Guidelines - Basic principles")
- ://www.google.com/webmasters/guidelines.html
========
Summary
========
To answer your question, I found links to your site on all nine of the
Google Data Centers I tried, even if I didn't find your site itself
listed.
A second random check on a couple of the data center sites at roughly
Noon, PDT, did not return any links, and then returned once again at
roughly 1:00 pm PDT.
A search on the term "rick's woodshop creations" - with or without the
quotation marks - ALWAYS returned your site in first position.
During your probe, you may have hit Google during an update or glitch,
as explained in its "Other Reasons"
- ://www.google.com/webmasters/2.html
You may wish to moderate the observations, including comments and/or
answers from the poster GoogleGuy, who is a Google engineer on
Webmaster World. It may help clear up some of your questions, and if
you join and post, even give you a few answers.
- http://www.webmasterworld.com/forum3/
Remember, too, that just about the time you think you have these
search engines figured out, they'll change the algorithms, and those
sites which seem to constantly hang in there are those with relevant
information and good content.
It may not be much help, but scores of others who post to the
discussions on Webmaster World report similar problems and
experiences. You do not seemed to be necessarily singled out for any
kind of penalty, and *MAY* only be a part of the new crawl and working
out a newer algorithm. I emphasize the *MAY*, because as stated above,
we are not privy to all the information you would like.
====================
Search Technologies
====================
- "rick's woodshop creations"
- rick's woodshop creations
- Google's link tool
I also used other bookmarks, experience and information gained during
the course of my 'real life' position.
Good luck,
Serenata |
