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Q: Google Ranking Drop ( Answered 4 out of 5 stars,   0 Comments )
Question  
Subject: Google Ranking Drop
Category: Computers > Algorithms
Asked by: fawn845-ga
List Price: $15.00
Posted: 06 Nov 2002 15:53 PST
Expires: 06 Dec 2002 15:53 PST
Question ID: 100744
Hello!

Our website http://www.johnsonteamrealestate.com  has been listed on
Google for quite sometime.  We have always maintained a ranking on the
first page until around the end of September when we fell to the 11th
page with no big changes made to our site.  Can you help me with
reasons for this sudden drop?

Another thing that we have noticed is that when you click on the
"cache" of our site on Google nothing comes up?  Does this have
anything to do with the problem?

Like most people we have tried very hard to ethically optimize our
site and only establish links with people related to our business and
those who are listed highly on google.  Any help would be greatly
appreciated.  Thank You!
Answer  
Subject: Re: Google Ranking Drop
Answered By: theta-ga on 07 Nov 2002 11:08 PST
Rated:4 out of 5 stars
 
The algorithm that Google uses to rank webpages is in a constant state
of flux. Google keeps on modifying this algorithm regularly in order
to obtain a more relevant ranking for pages and also to detect and
prevent "cheats" used by webmasters to improve their page rankings in
Google. So what might have been considered allright at first, might be
flagged by newer versions of the Google algo.
I have visited your site and I believe there are some methods that you
could employ to improve your page ranking :

- Try to minimize/eliminate frames. Most search engine robots have
problem navigating and indexing sites with frames. In your initial
page, you use the<noframes> tag which just displays an error message
to the use, but does not provide any alternative way of navigating
your site. Infact Google's guidelines for webmasters explictly states
that "if instead of providing alternative content, you use wording
such as "This site requires the use of frames" or "Upgrade your
browser", then you are excluding both search engines and people who
use browsers with frames turned off"
            Google's Information for Webmasters
            ( ://www.google.com/webmasters/2.html#A1 )
   I believe that this is the major reason for your poor Google
Rank.You should try to implement your site without using all those
frames. It would (in my opinion) provide your users with a better
experience.Frames are also the cause of your Google Cache problem, see
the second part of my answer below.
   In case you are still interested in using frames, I suggest that
you follow Google's advice and provide an alternative version of your
site using the <noframe> HTML tag.

- Improve page formatting and content. One of the major factors that
go into determining your page rank in Google, is the amount of
relevant content on your page.Make sure that your site's main page
contains a resonable amount of introductory information.The lower the
amount of contenton a page, the less important Google considers it.
  You could add basic information about the intent of your site with
an introductory text on various services offerred along with a link to
the relevant page.
  Make sure that you provide an ALT text for all the images you place
on a page.This text will help Google get a better idea about the image
and page content.
  Page titles are important! Make sure that every page on your site
has a title that accurately reflects its content.

- A number of the pages linked to by your Main menu are not actually
part of your site at all. Instead they point to pages that are part of
other sites, but show within your frameset.These pages contribute
nothing to your pagerank.
  Try to provide more original content to your viewers.Better content
is the surest way of increasing your Google ranking.

- Your links section contains a large listing of links. As long as you
dont link to anything objectionable(link exchange sites, sites with
very poor page ranks) I dont think it will adversely affect your rank.
However, try to link only to sites that have the same subject as
yours.
  One item that would help you to increase your page rank, would be
providing a short explainatory text with each link, detailing what it
points to.This provides the Google robot with more content to index,
and with Google, content is king.

-  After you make the above changes to your site, make sure to
resubmit it to the DMoz ,Google and Yahoo.

Wait a while till your site gets properly indexed by Google. you
should see a big increase in your site's rankings.


PART 2 : Google Cache problem
=============================
For every address, google caches the page returned when it when to
that address. in your case, it is the default.htm file, which is used
to load the three frames that your site uses. This initial page
contains no text of its own, only instruction to load the frames.
  However, the problem is that it links to the pages using relative
addressing, instead of absolute addressing.The page tells the browser
to load the contents.htm file for the Navigation frame. Since it does
not provide the directory in which the file resides, the browser
assumes that the file is in the current directory. This is a correct
assumption if the file is being read from your server
(www.johnsonteamrealestate.com), but it is incorrect when the file is
being read from the Google Cache which is on Google's server
(www.google.com).
As a result the browser is unable to find the specified file and thus
no frames are shown. So all you get is a blank page. :(
Solution :
 1) Stop using frames (See Part 1 of the answer above)
 2) Try using absolute addresses when specifying the frame files.

I hope the above answer was of help to you.
If you need any clarifications, just ask!
:)

RELATED LINKS
=============

 - Google Information for Webmasters, "Webmaster Do's and Don'ts"
   (://www.google.com/webmasters/dos.html)
   Google Guidelines on whatto do and not to do for a better ranking.
A must read.

 - WebMasters World
   ( http://www.webmasterworld.com )
   A place where webmasters hang out to get latest tips on improving
their search engine rankings.
fawn845-ga rated this answer:4 out of 5 stars
Thank you for the help the answer was great!

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