Hi there,
This is something I have seen happen to a number of sites - all of
which have been affected by recent changes with the Google software. I
am not implying that you have attempted to cheat in any way, it's just
the way Google software seems to look at things these days.
Google uses link popularity as one factor in determining the ranking
of websites in the search results. It has become quite common for
websites to try and manipulate this and receive more visitors - by
deliberately creating links between different websites. Sometimes this
is achieved via a commercial enterprise that promises better search
rankings, and sometimes it is done by a sole webmaster.
Google's information for webmasters includes:
- DON'T participate in link exchanges for the sole purpose of
increasing your ranking in search engines.
- DON'T use programs that generate lots of generic doorway pages
://www.google.com/webmasters/dos.html
Google frowns upon any form of artificial linking, and tries very hard
to stop it from affecting search results. Websites that try to fool
Google can be penalised by a reduction in ranking.
Possible reasons why your PR has dropped
========================================
1. Your family of sites are, in places, sharing the same content, for
example the testimonials:
http://www.london-uk-hotels.net/testimonial.htm
http://www.aaahotels.net/testimonial.htm
As well as graphics (same name and size at each site). And any HTML
code which could give Google the impression that a template is being
used to design each site.
2. Similar lists of links:
http://www.spain-hotels.net/about_us.htm
http://www.netherlands-amsterdam-hotels.net/about_us.htm
http://www.rome-italy-hotels.net/about_us.htm
Google has probably assumed that this is a link farm.
3. Outbound links do not lead anywhere, except to your other sites,
and the company you are partnered with.
4. http://www.aaaahotels.net/ redirects to http://www.aaahotels.net/
5. Being linked to from link-trading sites, i.e.:
http://www.flowerlinks.net/link_directory/golden_tulip_barbizon_palace.htm
6. If the family of sites are using the same server or hosting
service, this could be a contributing factor as well.
7. Relatively few quality links pointing to your sites.
Remedy
======
Although I try to follow all the online discussions on this topic, I
have yet to see a serious study on which sites Google penalizes, and
why. All I can do is get a feel from the anecdotes of others, and
queries similar to yours - such as this previous Google answer:
https://answers.google.com/answers/main?cmd=threadview&id=71282
My guess is that Google software uses a point system, and the more
negative points you score, the more it affects your ranking. You could
try removing some of the problems I have listed above, one at a time,
to work out where the problem lies. Unfortunately this means waiting a
month between each change to see the affect it has, which is
intolerable for most webmasters & online businesses.
If I were to nominate just one problem, it would be the list of links
on "About Us" pages. Replace them with a link to aaahotels.net. Use
aaahotels.net as a hub which links to all the other sites, and all the
other sites link back to it. This changes it from (appearing to be) a
link farm to an online business with a number of subsidiaries.
Another solution is to start over with new, very individual websites.
I understand how massive an operation that would be.
Or you could incorporate the different sites into aaahotels.net as
sub-domains.
Search Strategy:
Personal experience
I trust this answers your question. If any portion of my answer is
unclear, please ask for clarification.
Best wishes,
robertskelton-ga |
Request for Answer Clarification by
jane99-ga
on
05 Nov 2002 17:48 PST
hello,
There are still many points that is unclear for me and make me confused. I
fixed www.aaahotels.net as you comment. If you have times please check and
comment back to me whether is in what google want. Another question, do
you know any site that was PR 0 and reinstated to normal PR? I want to know
how they fix it and how long to get back to normal.
Also, Do I need to resubmit to google or request to help@google.com?
Thank you very much.
Jane
|
Clarification of Answer by
robertskelton-ga
on
05 Nov 2002 18:22 PST
Hi Jane,
I see you have fixed possible reasons #2 and #4.
Redirection of domain names has long been a search engine no-no, and
by fixing that problem you are heading in the right direction.
However, I doubt you can get your PR reinstated unless your site is
removed from all link exchanges, like the one mentioned in reason #5.
This is the area where Google has hit hardest recently, as mentioned
in this article I read this morning:
http://www.cre8pc.com/blog/archive/2002_11_03_archive.html#85641349
I believe the correct protocol is to change your site, re-submit the
URL, wait and see what happens next time the index is refreshed (in
about 4 weeks), and if you still feel you are being unfairly treated,
then send the email. I would expect that at present Google are
receiving many, many more emails than ever before.
Google have a policy of not telling webmasters why a page was removed,
or the PR dropped.
://www.google.com/webmasters/2.html
One person's experience of getting his PR reinstated is detailed at
WebMasterWorld:
http://www.webmasterworld.com/forum3/3600-8-15.htm
I recommend that you spend some time browsing through WebMasterWorld
and also the Google Support forum - these are the best two places to
read the experiences of others concerning PR:
http://groups.google.com/groups?q=google.public.support.general
Finally a tip for any future questions you may ask at Google Answers.
All researchers prefer it when a rating is given after the
clarification process is over. When a researcher is given a low rating
before they have a chance to clarify their answer, it might dampen
their enthusiasm a little.
|
Request for Answer Clarification by
jane99-ga
on
06 Nov 2002 03:06 PST
Hello,
Sorry to give you 3 star rating. I thought I have to put my rating
comment firstly after I got response from you. At that time, I was so
upset with everything Google did and seem the world was gone to the
dark side. The more I get information from you the more clear picture
I get which is pretty helpful. So how could I adjust your rating???
1.I never request a link from #5 so this could be done from my
competitors. What should I do if my compettitors try to dump my sites
by
A: creating a new site with the same content as mine.
B: submit my sites to trade link sites which get penalized.
2.I do not have an intention to create www.aaaahotels.net for a link
farm. The aaaa sites was create 3 months ago to serve hotels in all
cities worldwide by generate page information dynamically. Since aaa
is an old fashion static pages and it is hard to maintenance. I plan
to built aaaa and will fade out aaa later.
But Google situation makes me confused and I do not know what they
think about my aaa and aaaa site so I put everthing back as my site
structure was appeared last 3 month after I got your reccomend.
At the present aaa site is the same as it was 3 month ago.
3. How much do I have to pay for your comment? It is one time charge
or monthly charge and if in the future I need a consulting what should
I do.
Many thanks.
Jane
|
Clarification of Answer by
robertskelton-ga
on
06 Nov 2002 14:56 PST
Hi again Jane,
Unfortunately it isn't currently technically possible to change
ratings - but it's no big deal for me anyhow, so don't worry.
1. Ever since a site could be penalized by search engines, there have
been paranoid discussions online concerning devious tricks the
opposition might get up to. The most common were submitting the
opposition's site 20 times each day (which no longer works) and
clicking on pay-per-click ads over and over (also no longer works).
A. Copying your content is against the law, as it is a breach of
copyright. Copyright is automatic when you create your site, as long
as it is your own work.
B. Submitting your site to link-farms and free-for-all (FFA) search
engines, could work, if your opposition did it. Unless I knew that my
competitor was particularly malicious, I wouldn't be concerned. The
instance I pointed out appears to be a one-off.
The following links to your site seem fine, except that if the
majority of links to your site come from pages of listings like these,
it is possible this might have a negative affect. I'm only guessing -
it would take a Google engineer to tell you for sure.
www.planetliquor.com/directory/searchdir_g.asp?MainID=5&subid=40
http://www.bbt.be/linkslog/hotelchains.htm
http://www.rolinks.com/cgi-bin/search/smartsearch.cgi?keywords=aaaahotels
http://www.allsitecafe.com/search.html
The following sites which draw their info from ticketpricer.com have
Page Ranks of zero, and could be a problem. Basically, unless these
links are providing you with lots of visitors, get rid of them. When
Google allocates a zero, it means it doesn't like the page, and
consequently being linked to from them cannot possibly increase your
Page Rank, but may decrease it.
www.balisongknife.com/aaa_hotel_reservation.html
www.3cpass.com/aaa_hotel_reservation.html
http://www.bdahlia.com/airfare_south_africa.html
2. I think the concept is fair, considering that Google is just a
machine and cannot judge sites like you or I could. From a searchers
point of view, having two different URLs, with the same content,
listed in the results is of no benefit. I find it annoying that Google
sometimes lists a site twice anyway - once with the www and once
without, because it treats sub-domains as different sites.
3. All clarifications and comments are included in the price you set
for the question. As long as they are within the scope of your
original question, you may keep asking for clarifications until you
are pleased with the answer. However Google Answers is designed for
answering one-off questions, and not as an ongoing consultation. When
Google refreshes the index, probably at the end of November - if you
have any new queries they should be in the form of an entirely new
question.
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