Post by PickyChicky on Jun 6, 2014 22:56:44 GMT -6
As we all know, Google frequently updates its algorithm, which then results in the significant loss of traffic for many, particularly small businesses, due to the fact that they've dropped down in or completely disappeared from search results. I've always said that Google favors large businesses in search results and that each algorithm update is designed to kill the visibility of small businesses. As it turns out, that is partly true according to Google's own confession (see third paragraph).
However, after reading about how the Panda and Penguin updates are affecting websites and what to do whether or not your site was negatively impacted, I'm FINALLY beginning to understand the real reason that small businesses frequently lose their page ranking in search results. Even some of the larger businesses are negatively impacted, but they can afford teams of developers who know how to identify and fix the problems. Unfortunately, small businesses are more often than not run by someone who doesn't have any or enough web developing experience, much less the financial resources to hire even a single developer.
About Google's confession, they have actually admitted that they know they've been negatively impacting small businesses since their 2011 Panda update, but are claiming that it was an unintentional drawback. The purpose of the updates over the past few years has been to improve the quality of search results by targeting those websites that are gaming the system to build their search ranking, resulting in lower quality search results.
Unfortunately, some of the older SEO techniques being used by honest site owners has resulted in them being penalized, too. Keyword stuffing, title cramming, repeating the product title at the top of the description and boilerplate text at the bottom (duplicate content and keyword stuffing), reciprocal links, and other multiple back links, including using keywords and links when blogging, tweeting, or posting to Facebook...anyone? We've all been trained for years that these were honest, effective ways to build one's search ranking.
Well, the SEO game has changed drastically over the past few years all thanks to those who didn't use honest methods for increasing their search ranking. They took what were once effective methods and made a game of abusing those methods to the extremes, rendering them ineffective as they are now being deemed unacceptable by Google and grounds for penalizing your site with the next algorithm update -- and even past updates.
Unfortunately, like I said, honest businesses are being punished for using those same methods; albeit in an honest and innocent manner. On a positive note, Google seems to be realizing that they took it too far, wrongfully punishing a lot of sites due to the fact that the algorithms weren't set up to look at enough criteria to determine whether or not a site actually deserves to be punished. Hence, the "softer" Panda updates that have been rolling out since last fall, including the latest update in May 2014.
The problem is that even if your site didn't deserve to be punished, it could take weeks or even months for it to recover in search results. Another problem is that we still need to rethink our SEO strategies to appease the Google bots and avoid being wrongfully punished by past, present and future updates.
In other words, we need to switch gears, be more forward-thinking when developing new SEO strategies, and even spend some time fixing our sites to remove/correct all of the things that are causing them to be punished. Even if that means teaching ourselves how to use the latest SEO tools Google is offering (Universal Analytics, Google Tag Manager, and the AdWords Keyword Planner). That's why I've been heavily researching the topic and posting help threads the past few days.
I know many of you have been dealing with making all sorts of corrections to your listings after transferring them from Bonz to Presto or other webhost. So, you may be leery of pursuing an endeavor that may require more corrections thanks to Google. However, we really shouldn't be blaming Google because it's all of those who abused the system that Google had to protect the integrity of its search results from. We just happened to get caught in the crossfire.
I now completely understand why they've been doing what they've been doing. I know I, among many, have been disappointed with the quality of the search results I've been getting when doing any sort of research for years now. Google just had to take a stand against those gaming the system and had to learn along the way how to effectively target the bad guys without having a negative impact on the good guys. However, we still need to make adjustments, raise our shields so-to-speak, to avoid getting caught in the crossfire again.
So, yes, if we want to continue doing business online and maintaining a healthy page ranking, then we have to shift gears right along with Google so we can be included in the quality search results Google is attempting to provide. Fortunately, while Google is usually very vague about what it's doing and what we need to do to maintain high visibility, I have been finding a plethora of information about what the real problem is and how to go about properly building and protecting our visibility in search results.
In nearly every article I've found, a member of the Google team has been quoted offering the more detailed information and help we need. Also, the articles I've been finding are authored by SEO experts who really seem to know their stuff. They are obviously getting a good handle on how sites are being affected and why with research and analyzing the data being reported each time an update is rolled out. Some even have a close business association with someone on the Google team to get the answers needed.
The latest article I found is How to Recover from a Google Penguin Penalty by Scott Langdon of the SEO firm HigherVisibility. While the article focuses on how to recover from a Google Penguin penalty, the information contained within it is exactly where we need to begin when rethinking and implementing our SEO strategies. It was his article that prompted me to write this post because it suddenly dawned on me what the true reason is behind the fact that many of us keep dropping out of search results and what we need to do to avoid this problem in the future.
I know everything I've been posting the past few days is probably an information overload for many of you, particularly those who have just finished or are still dealing with correcting their old Bonz listings. That first day, I was just beginning to try and make sense of what was going on with Google's latest update. Between yesterday and today, I've been learning more and more, slowly realizing that we need to switch gears when it comes to proper SEO practices.
Then, tonight, I came across Langdon's article and the light bulb suddenly came on. I finally had the answers to the questions that have been looming in all of our minds the past few years. Why do we keep dropping out of search results when we had such a great page ranking? Why do sales seem to be on a roller coaster ride...going up and down in a cyclical manner, while the peaks seem to be getting smaller and smaller over time?
Well, I just got through sharing those answers with you. Now it's up to you what you wish to do with all of the information I've been providing. Keep in mind that I've also been providing links to tools that will help you more quickly and easily develop and implement a redesigned SEO marketing plan. Plus, we all have each other to help get us through this transition.
Of course, I will certainly be available to help as I've been actively educating myself through this whole process and intend to learn how to use the latest SEO tools. Not only do I have my Purple Iris business to consider, but I also have an informational site that will most likely be more subject to scrutiny from the Google bots.
So, I intend to fully educate myself so I can adapt -- just like I educated myself when I first heard about SEO from the internet marketers I once did transcription for, and with the help of several of my Bonz friends. So, are you with me? Are you ready to take this journey into the evolution of eCommerce? I know I am and I sure hope you'll join me.
However, after reading about how the Panda and Penguin updates are affecting websites and what to do whether or not your site was negatively impacted, I'm FINALLY beginning to understand the real reason that small businesses frequently lose their page ranking in search results. Even some of the larger businesses are negatively impacted, but they can afford teams of developers who know how to identify and fix the problems. Unfortunately, small businesses are more often than not run by someone who doesn't have any or enough web developing experience, much less the financial resources to hire even a single developer.
About Google's confession, they have actually admitted that they know they've been negatively impacting small businesses since their 2011 Panda update, but are claiming that it was an unintentional drawback. The purpose of the updates over the past few years has been to improve the quality of search results by targeting those websites that are gaming the system to build their search ranking, resulting in lower quality search results.
Unfortunately, some of the older SEO techniques being used by honest site owners has resulted in them being penalized, too. Keyword stuffing, title cramming, repeating the product title at the top of the description and boilerplate text at the bottom (duplicate content and keyword stuffing), reciprocal links, and other multiple back links, including using keywords and links when blogging, tweeting, or posting to Facebook...anyone? We've all been trained for years that these were honest, effective ways to build one's search ranking.
Well, the SEO game has changed drastically over the past few years all thanks to those who didn't use honest methods for increasing their search ranking. They took what were once effective methods and made a game of abusing those methods to the extremes, rendering them ineffective as they are now being deemed unacceptable by Google and grounds for penalizing your site with the next algorithm update -- and even past updates.
Unfortunately, like I said, honest businesses are being punished for using those same methods; albeit in an honest and innocent manner. On a positive note, Google seems to be realizing that they took it too far, wrongfully punishing a lot of sites due to the fact that the algorithms weren't set up to look at enough criteria to determine whether or not a site actually deserves to be punished. Hence, the "softer" Panda updates that have been rolling out since last fall, including the latest update in May 2014.
The problem is that even if your site didn't deserve to be punished, it could take weeks or even months for it to recover in search results. Another problem is that we still need to rethink our SEO strategies to appease the Google bots and avoid being wrongfully punished by past, present and future updates.
In other words, we need to switch gears, be more forward-thinking when developing new SEO strategies, and even spend some time fixing our sites to remove/correct all of the things that are causing them to be punished. Even if that means teaching ourselves how to use the latest SEO tools Google is offering (Universal Analytics, Google Tag Manager, and the AdWords Keyword Planner). That's why I've been heavily researching the topic and posting help threads the past few days.
I know many of you have been dealing with making all sorts of corrections to your listings after transferring them from Bonz to Presto or other webhost. So, you may be leery of pursuing an endeavor that may require more corrections thanks to Google. However, we really shouldn't be blaming Google because it's all of those who abused the system that Google had to protect the integrity of its search results from. We just happened to get caught in the crossfire.
I now completely understand why they've been doing what they've been doing. I know I, among many, have been disappointed with the quality of the search results I've been getting when doing any sort of research for years now. Google just had to take a stand against those gaming the system and had to learn along the way how to effectively target the bad guys without having a negative impact on the good guys. However, we still need to make adjustments, raise our shields so-to-speak, to avoid getting caught in the crossfire again.
So, yes, if we want to continue doing business online and maintaining a healthy page ranking, then we have to shift gears right along with Google so we can be included in the quality search results Google is attempting to provide. Fortunately, while Google is usually very vague about what it's doing and what we need to do to maintain high visibility, I have been finding a plethora of information about what the real problem is and how to go about properly building and protecting our visibility in search results.
In nearly every article I've found, a member of the Google team has been quoted offering the more detailed information and help we need. Also, the articles I've been finding are authored by SEO experts who really seem to know their stuff. They are obviously getting a good handle on how sites are being affected and why with research and analyzing the data being reported each time an update is rolled out. Some even have a close business association with someone on the Google team to get the answers needed.
The latest article I found is How to Recover from a Google Penguin Penalty by Scott Langdon of the SEO firm HigherVisibility. While the article focuses on how to recover from a Google Penguin penalty, the information contained within it is exactly where we need to begin when rethinking and implementing our SEO strategies. It was his article that prompted me to write this post because it suddenly dawned on me what the true reason is behind the fact that many of us keep dropping out of search results and what we need to do to avoid this problem in the future.
I know everything I've been posting the past few days is probably an information overload for many of you, particularly those who have just finished or are still dealing with correcting their old Bonz listings. That first day, I was just beginning to try and make sense of what was going on with Google's latest update. Between yesterday and today, I've been learning more and more, slowly realizing that we need to switch gears when it comes to proper SEO practices.
Then, tonight, I came across Langdon's article and the light bulb suddenly came on. I finally had the answers to the questions that have been looming in all of our minds the past few years. Why do we keep dropping out of search results when we had such a great page ranking? Why do sales seem to be on a roller coaster ride...going up and down in a cyclical manner, while the peaks seem to be getting smaller and smaller over time?
Well, I just got through sharing those answers with you. Now it's up to you what you wish to do with all of the information I've been providing. Keep in mind that I've also been providing links to tools that will help you more quickly and easily develop and implement a redesigned SEO marketing plan. Plus, we all have each other to help get us through this transition.
Of course, I will certainly be available to help as I've been actively educating myself through this whole process and intend to learn how to use the latest SEO tools. Not only do I have my Purple Iris business to consider, but I also have an informational site that will most likely be more subject to scrutiny from the Google bots.
So, I intend to fully educate myself so I can adapt -- just like I educated myself when I first heard about SEO from the internet marketers I once did transcription for, and with the help of several of my Bonz friends. So, are you with me? Are you ready to take this journey into the evolution of eCommerce? I know I am and I sure hope you'll join me.
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