|
Understanding
Search Engine Optimisation by Peter
Yexley
[
What is google's Algorithm ? ]
[ Keyword weight and density
] [ Search Engine Optimization
SEO ]
[ Home ]
Has Google Penalised My Website?
Do you recognise this scenario? ... Not too long ago your
site seemed to have fairly high Google rankings, now it ranks
very low.
The Google rankings of your website have dropped and you don't
know why.
There are a number of reasons why your site is being penalised.
Reason 1: 'You've been riding on the crest of a wave!'
Complacency is one of the biggest culprits - Often we are
cautious about fixing things that are not broken, but if your
Google results are satisfactory and you don't maintain them,
they will drop. Website optimisation is an ongoing process;
it can be close to a full time job. Don't get caught in the
trap of cheap DIY SEO (search engine optimisation) because
you are at risk of diverting your business management time
towards tweaking the website and losing money in lost business
as well as causing further search engine problems.
Reason 2: Your competitors have deployed the skills of a search
engine expert.
When you were up there basking in website success, your competitors
weren't complacent and contacted a website marketing expert.
Be mindful that you are not the only one who wants to get
high rankings in Google. Search engine optimization (SEO)
is a constant battle. Your competitors might have done something
better than you or, you are out of date with your website
work.
The Things you did that brought your website to the top of
Google in the past might not work anymore today. Get up to
date quickly.
Reason 3: Google has changed its algorithm
There is a cyber myth that Google changes its algorithm to
trick professional search engine experts. The truth is; Google
is constantly tweaking its algorithm to improve its own system
and maintain its position at the top of preferred search engines.
It is likely that one of the latest changes has affected your
website. Google changed its algorithm almost 500 times in
one year, and nearly forty times in one month.
If you, or your in-house website guru relies on information
from chat rooms and forums, take caution because; A:
you don't really know how old the information is and B:
how competent the 'guru' is. It is questionable why such experienced
search engine experts have sufficient time on their hands
to share their secrets of success!
Reason 4: Your server rejects Google's spider
If you have an in-house website tweaker, or you DIY SEO find
out if you have installed a new robots.txt file and if it
allows Google to index your website. Also find out if your
htaccess file has been changed. Finally check to see of someone
has recently installed a spam bot blocker?
If the latter is the case, are you 100% sure that the spam
bot blocker allows Google to your website? Google uses different
IP addresses for different spiders, consequently some spam
blockers might accidentally block one of the spiders. This
might also appear to be cloaking in Google's eyes.
What you can do to solve that problem:
Double check the settings in your robots.txt file, your htaccess
file and your spam bot blockers. If possible, avoid bot blockers
because they might send the wrong bots away.
Copyright 2008 Peter
Yexley. All rights reserved.Website
Marketing Services
|
|