Hi Billie ~
I am sorry to hear about your problems - it seems you've become part
of hundreds of sites which were "optimized" by Traffic Power and then
dropped from search engines, including Google and in some cases,
Yahoo, too.
You have lost your links listings, although a Google search does show
those sites which "contain the term" www.preferred-seating.com.
[Google search return for your domain name]
"Sorry, no information is available for the
URL www.preferred-seating.com"
- ://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&q=www.preferred-seating.com&btnG=Google+Search
[Google's link to "Find web pages that contain the term
"www.preferred-seating.com"]
- ://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&c2coff=1&sa=G&q=%22%2Bwww.preferred-seating.%2Bcom%22
Some of customers of Traffic Power reported they paid thousands of
dollars; and for a while their "optimization" tactics worked - until
the search engines started deleting them and their customers' sites
from their index.
Jill Whalen's High Rankings Advisor, Issue 103, dated June 30, 2004,
describes exactly what tactics they employed in the article, "Getting
Banned Due to Spam",
- http://www.highrankings.com/issue103.htm#seo
"Tons of unsuspecting site owners who had put their
faith and trust in one particular SEO company had
woken up one morning to find that their sites had
completely vanished from Google, and in some cases,
Yahoo."
Webmaster World also has an extensive discussion thread on what has
happened, "Google Pulls Plug on "onmouseover" Pages", here:
- http://www.webmasterworld.com/forum3/24523.htm
In addition to that, there is an article in Web Pro News about the
problems entitled "Traffic Power: High Rankings or SEO Nightmare?"
- http://www.webpronews.com/insiderreports/searchinsider/wpn-49-20040709TrafficPowerHighRankingsorSEONightmare.html
If you follow the various links, you'll see that many people who
availed themselves of Traffic Power's "services" seemed to have been
dropped or banned from Google and other search engines.
A Google search for "traffic Power" (without the quotation marks)
lists even more sources of complaints about Traffic Power - so at
least you understand you're not alone.
==============================
Getting Reinstated in Google
==============================
In the Webmaster World thread is a post from GoogleGuy, who is an
employee of Google, who gave these specific instructions before you
ask for re-inclusion to Google's index:
"First, you need to make sure that you've removed
any redirecting/spammy pages that were on your site.
Make sure that every junky page like that is
completely gone before you write, then you can send
an email to webmaster [at] google.com with the
subject line "reinclusion request" as give us as
much detail as possible about the situation...
"...Again, make sure you completely remove any
doorway pages or links to spam that an SEO convinced
you to put on your site before you write to Google
about reinclusion. It reflects badly on your site
if you write about reinclusion and then we check and
the spam pages are still live on your site."
- http://www.webmasterworld.com/forum3/24523.htm
While you're at it, you might want to remove the extraneous tags,
which are of no real value and add to the bulk of your page, such as:
<meta name="city" content="Indianapolis">
<meta name="state" content="IN">
<meta name="robots" content="all=index,follow">
<meta name="revisit-after" content="15 days">
<meta name="Copyright" content="2004 copyright">
<meta name="distribution" content="Global">
and
<meta http-equiv="REVISIT"content="after 2 days">
<meta name="distribution" content="global">
<meta name="GENERATOR" content="Microsoft FrontPage 5.0">
<meta name="ProgId" content="FrontPage.Editor.Document">
In addition to the above, there is a heck of a lot of javascript for
the search engines (not to mention visitors' browsers) before they
even reach the content of your site. You might wish to remove the
javascript to an external file and link to it in much the same fashion
as you do the css file.
Remember, it is Google's mission (and any other search engine's
intention) to present the most RELEVANT material in answer to a
searcher's query. The "ideal" pages contain relevant content PLUS html
written in a manner which makes it visitor-friendly. One misplaced
charactier (a dropped or wrong ";" or such) can render your site
inaccessible, which I am sure is not your intention.
You mention you're relatively new at web design, and now might be the
right time to consult with a REPUTABLE web designer who understands
designing for user-friendliness or a legitimate SEO consultant, such
as Jill Whalen (High Rankings) or Danny Sullivan (Search Day) who will
help ensure your site is optimized the right and sensible way.
=============================
How much time will it take?
=============================
That's hard to tell, but there is a post in Web Pro News by a member
named "homer661" that "after a couple of weeks" he was reinstated in
Google.
"After a couple weeks of being flat on our arse because
of TP, we're back in Google. Stronger than ever.
- Dumped the TP spam
- Wrote an apology to Google
- Google wrote back saying they would fix it! A few
days later, we're back in.
- Contested $2000 TP charge on the credit card (and
won)"
- http://webproworld.com/viewtopic.php?t=23475&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=225
If you want to be reinstated, I'd suggest you do the same ... and then
address your apology and reassurances to Google at
webmaster@google.com, with "reinclusion request" in the subject line.
Explain ** exactly ** what happened, what you have done to clean up
the site and ask them to reinclude you in their index.
Then be prepared to wait, it could take a while, up to 12 weeks
perhaps, to be reincluded. And there is no guarantee that it will -
although there is no reason why it shouldn't, either.
Schemes, such as those used by Traffic Power, may work for a while,
but once you are caught, cleaning up the mess can be devastating. It's
best to know what the search engines are really looking for, and then
provide it.
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).
It is incumbent upon you, the webmaster or the website owner, to
ensure your site meets these basics if you want your site listed.
Webmasters who do 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
* Remove Content from Google's Index (just in case you feel
a burning need to start all over again)
- ://www.google.com/remove.html
I would also suggest paying attention to some of the free search
optimization information available on the internet in order to get a
feel for what is happening and how to compete for good positioning by
doing things "right".
Search terms used ~
Traffic Power
In addition, I referred to reliable resources used in my regular
course of business.
Best of luck in getting your site reinstated!
Regards,
Serenata
Google Answers Researcher |
