Hello Harmon-ga ~
When you first launch a site, it is not unusual for it to show up for
a day or two within the rankings and then to disappear. This is
because Google's "freshbot" will crawl new submissions, but then it
takes time for it to make its way through all of Google's data
centers.
This 'freshbot' versus 'deepbot' crawling is discussed in many threads
on the Webmaster World site in the "Google News" section. Just one
example is the thread "Pages Dropped or maybe not indexed? Only Root
is Indexed", and you can read the thread here:
- http://www.webmasterworld.com/forum3/20757.htm
You can also perform a search and read scores of the same instances of
first you're there then you're not, as Google adds your page to its
extensive index.
Google also explains the phenomenon in its information for webmasters,
"B. My web pages used to be listed and now they aren't."
"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#B2
======================
Getting Listed
and Ranking Well
======================
Google provides a great deal of information for webmasters or website
owners which, if followed, helps your site's chances of being indexed
and ranking well for the search queries you desire.
Basically, a crawler-friendly site (which is also designed to be
friendly to your site's visitors) contains three basics:
* Content - that is content rich in text, using those search
terms under which you wish to be found
* Good HTML and design - including user-friendly, accessible
HTML, a minimum of flash and java scripting and coding so
the search bots can crawl the sites
* Links TO your site from other relevant sites.
Google clearly states:
"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."
- ://www.google.com/webmasters/1.html#A2
A search for your site in Google's search box returns the following:
"Showing web page information for www.numenon.com
Home of Numenon Communications
ow [sic] does an organization build a creative
communications strategy - based on authenticity
- within a super-saturated media environment that
thrives on ...
Google can show you the following information for
this URL:
* Show Google's cache of www.numenon.com
* Find web pages that are similar to www.numenon.com
* Find web pages that link to www.numenon.com
* Find web pages that contain the term "www.numenon.com""
- ://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=www.numenon.com&btnG=Google+Search
Clicking on the link "Find web pages that link to www.numenon.com"
returns nothing. In other words, Google has no record of pages which
link to www.numenon.com. As a rule, links listed to a site are those
with a PageRank of 4/10 or more. (Page Rank information will be
discussed below).
- ://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=link:MFEUU7yoCsMJ:www.numenon.com/
Clicking on the link "Find web pages that contain the term
"www.numenon.com"" returns 6 pages which contain the term
"www.numenon.com".
- ://www.google.com/search?q=%22%2Bwww.numenon.%2Bcom%22&num=100&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=0
Without more incoming links TO your site, the chances of your site's
ranking well under the search terms you desire are greatly reduced.
(PageRank and the importance of links is discussed below)
========================
About those Links
from Vipassana BC Home
========================
As mentioned above, there are six pages in Vipassana BC Home listed to
www.numenon.com. Unfortunately, those links are invisible to the
visitor, as they are in extremely small text the same color as the
background on which they are placed.
This is considered to be "spam" and is likely to get one or both sites
penalized or banned by Google. Google specifically warns against these
practices in its "Quality Guidelines - Basic principles:"
"Make pages for users, not for search engines. Don't
deceive your users, or present different content to
search engines than you display to users."
- ://www.google.com/webmasters/guidelines.html
and its "Quality Guidelines - Specific recommendations:"
"Avoid hidden text or hidden links."
- ://www.google.com/webmasters/guidelines.html
and warns in its reasons your site may not appear:
"... certain actions such as cloaking, writing text that
can be seen by search engines but not by users, or setting
up pages/links with the sole purpose of fooling search
engines may result in permanent removal from our index."
- ://www.google.com/webmasters/2.html#B3
Those links from the Vipassana site are obviously not helping, and can
conceivably hurt you in the long run. It might be a good idea to have
them removed from the other site before they are picked up by the
crawlers and the site(s) are penalized.
====================
Google's Page Rank
====================
As mentioned above, the best way to be included in Google's index is
by pages with relevant content which link to your site.
Google further explains its technology in "Our Search: Google Technology":
"The heart of our software is PageRank?, a system for
ranking web pages developed by our founders Larry Page
and Sergey Brin at Stanford University. And while we
have dozens of engineers working to improve every aspect
of Google on a daily basis, PageRank continues to provide
the basis for all of our web search tools."
and its PageRank in "PageRank Explained"
"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.html
Establishing links to your site can only help. As mentioned above, be
sure to avoid linking schemes, such as invisible text/links, link
farms or linking schemes, etc., as you can be penalized for that.
=============================
About those search terms
=============================
Assuming your key word metatags are the words and/or terms under which
you want searchers to find you. I found the following returns for
these terms:
* Numenon Communications - 3 results
(none of which are to your site)
* Mark Schneider - about 1,020,000 results
* communications - about 41,500,000 results
* strategy - about 31,100,000 results
* communications strategy - about 5,590,000
No matter how you look at it, that is a powerful lot of competition
for the terms you want your site to be found under. I wonder if you
are sure what terms your potential customers are really looking for.
Most people aren't sure without some study of site stats and search
keyword studies.
What seems obvious to you may not be what your potential customers are
looking for at all.
I suggest spending some time at Wordtracker
-http://www.wordtracker.com - to seek out all the related phrases you
can, and then writing rich content based around the best, most
relevant terms. Include those words in your Title tags and within the
content of your website accordingly. That will certainly help.
If nothing else, by visiting Wordtracker, you'll get an idea of what
search terms they are *really* using when it comes to the services you
offer.
Ensuring your site offers good content, using the key words and
phrases under which you wish to be found, developing links *TO* your
site - good links, and not links to game the system, and designing
your site with the user in mind can all help with your site's
placement in search engine results.
==========================================
Important Google Links For Your Reference
==========================================
I am including important links from Google's site. This information
will help you understand Google's goals and responsibility to the web
searcher (and not the webmaster or site owner).
Webmasters who follow the guidelines and avoid Google's "Thou shalt
nots" usually have no problem getting listed and showing up under the
search terms they desire.
* Google Today (absolutely the best information you
can read about the "how and why" of Google's results
- ://www.google.com/corporate/today.html
* How Do I Get My Site Listed on Google?
- ://www.google.com/webmasters/1.html
* My Web Pages Are Not Currently Listed (a good 'primer'
on how and why Google works so well)
- ://www.google.com/webmasters/2.html
* PageRank Information (covers both Google's PageRank and
SERPS)
- ://www.google.com/webmasters/4.html
* Webmaster Guidelines (contains both the dos and don'ts)
- ://www.google.com/webmasters/guidelines.html
* Google Facts & Fiction (can you buy your way to a
high ranking in Google?)
- ://www.google.com/webmasters/facts.html
* Search Engine Optimizers (some good advice on what to look
for if you're going to hire a Search Engine Optimizer)
- ://www.google.com/webmasters/seo.html
* Frequently Asked Questions (pretty much what it says, but
definitely worth wading through)
- ://www.google.com/webmasters/faq.html
================================
Other Sources of Information
================================
There is also good information from many of the top search engine
optimization experts, such as
* Detlev Johnson, Search Engine Guide
- http://www.searchengineguide.com/detlev/
* Danny Sullivan, Search Engine Watch
- http://www.searchenginewatch.com/
* Jill Whalen, High Rankings
- http://www.highrankings.com/
* Shari Thurow, Web Pro News (and quoted all over the Internet)
- www.webpronews.com/
who all have columns or newsletters to which you can subscribe and
keep abreast of the best way to use good content for better
positioning in search engine results.
In addition, Webmaster World - http://www.webmasterworld.com/ - has
discussion boards on most of the search engines. While some of the
discussions are anecdotal and/or questions for information, there is
usually enough discussion to keep abreast of what seems to be
happening.
There is an entire section devoted to Google at:
- http://www.webmasterworld.com/forum3/
It never hurts to keep track of the discussions; but remember, trying
to optimize for search engines only is like trying to hit a moving
target. You'll notice among the more experienced contributors to the
discussions - plus the SEO experts listed above - that there really is
no substitute for content, relevant links and good HTML.
======================
Summary
======================
Your site is listed with Google, but you do not have enough Page Rank
to place as well as those sites who follow Google's Guidelines.
Following the guidelines and developing links will help. So will
following the Content Guidelines on how to design your site for user
and crawler friendliness.
Search technologies ~
======================
Except for the particular search on the terms contained in your
keyword metatags, and searching for the rankings for your own site, I
relied on bookmarked material and a working familiarity with the
resources listed and which I use on a regular basis.
Best regards,
Serenata
Google Answers Researcher |
