Hello aj20 ~
This is just a reminder that Google Answers Researchers are
independent contractors. We are not privy to any 'insider information'
about Google's search algorithms, so I couldn't answer why your
PageRank (PR) went from a 7 to a 6. However, I can give you Google's
explanation of occurrences you may have noticed and have done so
below:
===================
Google's PageRank
===================
Google offers an explanation about changes in a site's PageRank in its
"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 ...
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. 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 auto-
matically determined by several factors, including our
PageRank algorithm. Please check out our "Why Use Google"
page for more information on how this works."
- ://www.google.com/webmasters/2.html#B1
Google's PageRank - "PageRank Explained" - can be found here:
- ://www.google.com/technology/index.html
As you can see from the explanations - the more 'important' pages
linking to yours, the higher your own PageRank, and it is thought that
some links from pages with a PageRank of 7 or higher to your own may
help your own PageRank increase.
The changes of both PageRank and Search Engine Results Placement
(SERPs) is heavily discussed in Webmaster World's "Google News"
discussion forum, which you can find here:
- http://www.webmasterworld.com/forum3/
and an example thread for you to peruse can be found here:
- http://www.webmasterworld.com/forum3/17360.htm
If you perform a search on the Webmaster World website, you will find
any number of discussions about the vagueries of PageRank since some
obvious changes to Google's algorithms in May and June. It may not be
much consolation, but you are not alone.
Remember, though, that trying to make changes for a higher PageRank is
like aiming blindly at a moving target - because just about the you
think you've figured out what's happening, the algorithms will change
and you're back to square one.
===========================
About Household-Helper.com
===========================
You have a respectable PR of 6 at the present time. There are some who
would *love* to have a PR6!
Using Google's link: tool - that is, typing
"link:www.household-helper.com" (without the quotation marks and with
no space between the colon (:) and the www.) in Google's search bar -
we get 47 returns.
Typing "link: www.household-helper.com" returns 513 results. (Again
without the quotation marks and WITH a space between the colon and the
www.
And typing link: http://www.household-helper.com produces 438 results.
By now I'm sure you're wondering why the difference. Part of it is the
use of the full URL (http://www.household-helper.com) and the "meaning
and scope" of the searches with or without the space after the colon.
Another factor may be the datacenter your search gets routed to in the
interests of load balance. The differences from one of Google's
datacenters to another can be found in its "Multiple Indices":
"If you happen to enter the same query repeatedly while we
are in the process of posting the index at our various
data centers around the country, it might seem like you
are seeing inconsistent results from Google. What is
actually happening is that you are seeing a result from an
'old' version of our index one time and a result from a 'new'
version the next. Due to the size of our index, we can not
simultaneously post a new index at all of our data centers,
which may result in this behavior for a short period of time."
- ://www.google.com/webmasters/2.html#B3
To get a better picture of what is going on, enter
"www.household-helper.com" (without the quotation marks) in Google's
search bar. At 12:47 AM PDT - October 4, 2003, I got the following
return when I did so.
"Welcome
Search for: ...
Description: A site dedicated to helping the average person get
answers to common household problems. Free email...
Category: Home > Home Improvement
Google can show you the following information for this URL:
* Show Google's cache of www.household-helper.com
* Find web pages that are similar to www.household-helper.com
* Find web pages that link to www.household-helper.com
* Find web pages that contain the term "www.household-helper.com""
The first portion, beginning with "Welcome" is the link to your site.
The Search for: is taken directly from your site, it appears that is
the first portion of your site that Google's search engine finds to
index.
I cannot determine where the description comes from, as your site is
not listed with the Open Source Directory, and it doesn't show up on
Google's Directory, either. I was a bit surprised you have such a high
PageRank with all the repetitions within the header tags (which I'll
address below), but text within the "description" portion does not
appear on your home page.
To continue, clicking on "Find web pages that link to ..." returns 47
results
and clicking on "Find web pages that contain the term ..." returns
1,140 results.
The difference between "link to" and "contain the term" has to do with
use of the full url and the PageRank of those pages.
If a link uses your FULL URL (http://www.household-helper.com) and has
a PageRank of at least 4, it will be listed in the "link to" section
If a site uses a shortened url (such as www.household-helper) and has
a PageRank of less than 4, it will be among the "contain the term"
portion of the returns.
If a site is not listed in Google's index at all, it will not be
listed in either.
While it may be easier to type in the shortened URL, it is to your
benefit to have links to your site use the full URL.
======================
Market Leap
======================
You
Please note Marketleap's explanation of its services:
"Marketleap is a trusted source for the Web's most
popular Search Engine Paid Inclusion (PI) Programs.
Our innovative technology, industry relationships
and intellectual capital provide the foundation for
successful search engine marketing strategies."
- http://marketleap.com/
While you didn't indicate whether or not you have paid for inclusion
on Inktomi or Yahoo!, it is important to note that Google does not
charge for inclusion in its index, so any Google results would NOT be
included in Marketleap.
If you want to be included in Marketleap, you can pay for inclusion
with Inktomi or Yahoo! and then I am sure your site will be listed
there.
===========================================
What can you do to increase your PageRank
and placement results in Google's Index
===========================================
Let's assume, for the sake of argument, that you want Household-Helper
to be found using the keywords you have chosen: "fix, DIY, home
repair, house repair, fix it yourself, do it yourself, plumbing,
electrical, automotive, gardening, garden, auto, automotive, swimming
pool, lawn, small engine, lawnmower, cleaning, find a handyman, tune
up, household helper, handyman"
Now ... think about what your visitors will "really" enter in that
search bar. My first guess is you're not sure, but I rather doubt that
anyone would merely enter the term 'fix'. They might enter the term
'DIY fix', and for that term, your site doesn't show up at all in the
first five pages of results.
Let's take it a step further - we'll search for "fix, DIY, home
repair, house repair" (always without the quotation marks). Your site
still doesn't show up in the first five pages of results.
In both cases above, there are sites with a lot less PageRank than
your site has (PR2, PR3 - for instance
http://www.onthehouse.com/wp/19990111) which come in ahead of
Household-Helper.com.
Why is this? Off the bat, and without doing a lot of digging into the
other site, I'd say it has a lot to do with 1.) Google-friendly web
design; 2.) Google ignores keywords; and 3.) Their page contains rich
content that actually uses those terms.
My suggestion is to spend a day at Wordtracker -
http://www.highrankings.com/wordtracker - to seek out all the related
phrases you can, then write your copy based around the best, most
relevant ones. Includes those words in your Title tags and within the
content of your website accoringly.
About that HTML ~
==================
Another suggestion which does really matter is to clean up your HTML
...
For instance, you have 16 sets of <title></title> tags within your
header tags. That is 15 too many. You need to clean those tags up.
Shari Thurow, one of the leading authorities in web design and search
engine optimization (and author of the book "Search Engine
Visibility"), recently made the following observation with regard to
the basics of HTML:
"Clean HTML is absolutely imperative for search engine
indexing. Browsers are extremely forgiving when it comes
to displaying pages with "unclean" HTML (unclosed tags,
no quotation marks, etc.). Search engine spiders are
not so forgiving. Even something as simple as a missing
quotation mark on the <.a href="page.html"> can cause a
spider to not index text or a link." (See: Link Exchange
Digest, July 3, 2003, "Clean HTML")
- http://list.audettemedia.com/SCRIPTS/WA.EXE?A2=ind0307&L=led&D=1&T=0&H=1&O=D&F=&S=&P=282
She explained how errors in HTML can affect your ability to be
indexed, and ultimately, ranked. Make it easy to for the search
engines to get to the heart of your site and index it with relevant
text.
Put those title tags and alt tags to work for you. Google recommends:
"* 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."
[From Google's Webmaster Guidelines]
- ://www.google.com/webmasters/guidelines.html
A high PageRank is nice, but as you can see, it's not helping YOU get
placement where you apparently want to be. By paying attention to
Google's Webmaster Information and Content Guidelines, along with your
already respectable PR of 6 - you can show up where you *should* be
and that will no doubt increase your PageRank.
There is a genuine effort for all search engines to produce RELEVANT
results. The difference is that Google explains how to go about doing
it in the way that will increase your position when someone searches
for the terms you want to be found under.
Following those basics WILL increase your PageRank (because others
will want to link to your page) and will help the searchers actually
find your page.
Search technologies used -
I used your URL, Google's link: tool, and Google's toolbar to
gather information about your site.
In addition, I searched for other relevant sites, using your
keyword metatags, and searched for information about Marketleap.com.
Lastly, I relied on bookmarks and resources, such as
http://webmasterworld.com and http://www.searchenginewatch.com and
Jill Whalen's http://www.highrankings.com to gather information to
help with placement and PageRank.
Good luck with better placement - AND better PageRank!
Regards,
Serenata |
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