Many members here have been upset lately that google is throwing away their dual content BS, which have led to bottom results in Co-Op. But considering the quality in Google, I am way happier now when I only get a good results on the top ten when I search. And you must understand that Googles task is to provide as useful information as possible for their viewers, not replacing relevant results with works of a good SEO. They may "recover" partly, but I think that they have mainly chosen it path now. Still, I'm not liking, this.. I want my pages indexed just like you, but atleast, the users get's better output from Google now.
I'm with you latehorn -- we all want our pages indexed... and most of the time I'm doing searches to see where my pages fall -- but forget that the consumer is the one who really is trying to benefit from the service that Google or Yahoo or MSN was created to provide. I don't think any of those search engines have "make sure that SEOs make a buck" in their mission statements. I looked at the top 10 results for some of my sites (ones that I'm not in the top 10 for yet) and found that maybe 4 out of 10 of those results were crap sites... and another 2 or 3 were double entries (i.e. two listings from the same site, double pages). From a consumer standpoint, it IS really irritating that I have to go through those crap sites to actually find what I want. So from that standpoint I like the part of Google's algorithm that watches for how fast you click the Back key to get a new result and leave a crappy page. *shrugs* Just kind of reflecting here - as always we continue to watch...
Hello, I agree with the double listings from a consumers standpoint. With google this has happend many times over. Enjoy, Roger H.
From a webmaster perspective, there are no more loosers than there are winners. People actually search more queries in google now than they did a month ago. Hopefully, if the results is more relevant, the chance of recruting visitors to a forum, making them buy a product, making them download a software, increase.
The results are NOT more relevant from what I've found, all I ever get is authority sites now... bye bye to the small website owner with good information. Pretty much all I find now are about.com and other massive websites that have been around forever. If you don't have tons of 5 year old backlinks in a competitive niche then forget about getting competitive serps. Don't get me wrong, you can still rank and get some great Google referrals, but not for anything stellar without some old relevant backlinks.
I agree. For my most important phrase the first 3 pages are a few very old, large sites and lots of EDUs. There are lots of good sites on pages 3 & 4 that few people will visit. I have a #3 spot on page 1, so I guess I should be happy that my competitors are not likely visited. But looking at the bigger picture, I think G is playing it too safe. /tom/
What makes you think this is a cleaning? I think it's more like a breakdown. What is this statement based on? I'm inclined to agree. They seem to me to be either about the same or worse, depending on what I'm searching for - but definitely not better.
Trying to figure out what Google is up to has become a “cottage industry†over the years. More than likely the best thing to do is just do your best, make your site interesting to users and hope that Google finds interest in what you’re doing, eventually. I’m kind of an old guy, compared to others here in the DP forum and I’ve discovered, with experience, that the worst thing a person can do is follow the current trend, if you’re in this Internet game for the long run. Just do the best you can and if Google doesn’t like what you’re doing, more than likely, some other newer version of Google will come along in the near future and add your work to their search engine. There was a story I read today about how impatient Americans have become. Most would wait no longer than 5 minutes on hold if they called someone. While there is a great impatience in this world, there are some things we all must wait for. Getting good listings in search engines must be on that list or impatience will lead to utter disaster for most folks who want to get good listings on Internet search engines. I still believe the cream will rise to the top, if given enough time and the BS will fall to the bottom over and over again once their, short cut, games are learned and eliminated. There are millions of new pages of content added to the Internet everyday and I don’t think any new “short cut†that is discovered will last for long. Just write good content web pages, leave them alone and eventually your work will pay off. It might be hard to make a living at SEO with this kind of attitude, but it might be just the right advice for folks who are trying to get noticed in a world of millions of people who want to be on page one of search results and never reach their goal.
I agree that the content is the most important factor of the website. the seo just help it in a certain way. but people are impatient, and we need to see the result fast in this internet stage.
I think Mark is pretty spot on in his assessment. You must create great content and not worry (too much) about the latest Google algorithm. That said, you must do site promotion (I use The SEO System, see below) and you must do it right. Otherwise, your great content will go completely unnoticed unless it is miraculously picked up by someone.