19 replies to this topic

[Phil]

I have read with great interest all of the thread on the latest Google update, many therories and many frustrated people. I am among the frustrated. Spending many months on reading about SEO and doing all I can to learn what I can to make my own site relevant in SE's has been not only very rewarding, but also compleately frustrating.

I have seen my own work go to the #1 spot in AV for my best KW, #5 in google, yahoo, alltheweb, and many others. In the last two months, my site has dropped out of MSN alltogether, fallen dramaticly in Google, ect... yet remain at #1 in AV. To me this is very frustrating.

I read that right now google is broken, not to worry, we'll do better soon.....However other results come and go as if there is no direction. All I want is for my web site to be listed in results for searchers that type My Location, My Business Is this too much to ask?

I am sure my site can use help in SEO, I will post it for review soon, and I am sure I will find many problems that can be fixed. However I ask, why should I. If I have an informative site, why shouldn't it show within my category, if not in the top 10, at least within the results of a discription of my business.

If you are in the SEO business, I feel for you, these seem like very trying times....

Good Luck to all of you

[Jill]

If I have an informative site, why shouldn't it show within my category, if not in the top 10, at least within the results of a discription of my business.

Easy, because there are more than 10 sites that are also just as good as yours.

Make yours better than all of them.

Jill

[projectphp]

<edit>Come on Jill, that's not fair!! I write an essay, and you give a better answer in three lines!!! SHEESH!!!</edit>

All I want is for my web site to be listed in results for searchers that type My Location, My Business Is this too much to ask?...If I have an informative site, why shouldn't it show within my category,

Why indeed

Seriously, why should your site show up? Why should your site show up for My Location, My Business when there are hundreds of other businesses that already do? Wouldn't it be better, for a searcher, if they had access to other information about My Location, My Business types, besides just businesses, e.g. reviews, price comparisons etc?

IMHO, a search for My Location, My Business is better served by having at least one result that discuss businesses in that location, rather than just straight links to actual business.

In reality, the search for which you are the most relevant, Sedona B&B reservation, you are ranked number three, so Google certainly got that right.

Look, I know SEO can be awefully frustrating, but Google's job isn't to help you rank, nor even to provide results that are "relevant". Their goal is to solve the searches underlying problem or question. Someone searching for Sedona B&B reservation is looking to make a resevation, so you get places where you can make a reservation. Someone looking for sedona B&B could be looking to compare prices, or looking for reviews, not just actual B&Bs.

To turn all this around, what can you do? Firstly, don't panic or post messages on forums asking esoteric questions. Instead, do something practical. Here's a quick exercise that will not only help pass the time, but solve part of this problem: sit down and think of all the searches you would like to rank well for. Start by thinking of relevant adjectives that could be added to my business my location like "best", "cheap", "affordable" and "kluxury", and see if you have those words on any page. Next, think of verbs like "reservation" and "book" and see if you have those words on your pages. Then think of nouns, like street names in your location, suburb names, names of various activities and sites, and see if you have content for all those things. If you set yopurself the goal of adding these sort of words to existing pages, and writing an additional page a week for those you don't, you will be on the right track.

Next, learn more about SEO. You seem to be keen, so put that keeness to work. Subscribe to a few newsletters, and come up with your own, repeatable method of SEO. Over time, you should develop a pretty good sytem, and the results should flow.

Lastly, stop checking your rankings. Rankings will drive you nuts, and they don't tell half the story anyway. Instead, start checking your log files. These will tell you far more about what is actually happenning than rankings ever will. Chances are, you probably already get more traffic than you thought, and you might find some good ideas for extra content.

If you do all this, and work towards solving your underlying marketing problem rather than worrying about Google's suppossed relevance problem, I guarantee that you will have a better result for you business. Irrespective of whether one keyword is ranking or not, you should have more traffic, better conversions and more business, all of which will hopefully help you sleep better at night.

Good luck to you.

[Phil]

Wow, I feel like I got a quick kick in the a**. You are both right. It is so much eaiser to complain and whine than to just get out there and do the work. Seems to me content is what everything on the net is all about.

Any business has to be unique in its own way to survive, you have both made me realize a web site is just the same.

Thanks again for all the help. Learning more here in a couple of weeks than a year of reading other peoples failures!
Phil

[K.S. Katz]

Honestly (maybe I'm sick and twisted) but I LOVE the fact that my job as an SEO is challenging and forces me to think creatively and outside the box.

The first six months of learning SEO was crazy and frustrating but take heart in that it does get better. As you start to understand more about SEO these rollercoaster rides might even be a little fun. Just as long as you keep in mind that things always change and that you have to keep thinking up new and creative ways to showcase your business.

Incidently, have you run a survey on your site to find out what's lacking from your customer base? You might be surprised to find out that some of my best ideas come from complaints about the websites I'm working on.

[OldWelshGuy]

If you are in the SEO business, I feel for you, these seem like very trying times....

Very trying times are when you go to bed every night knowing EXACTLY what you will do the next day, as it is the same as you did today, and the same as yesterday. Trying times are when you do not have to think about your job, as you can do it with your eyes shut through sheer force of habit.

Freedom is when every day is a challenge, and every challenge brings with it, fun, the thrill of the hunt. Life in SEO is like a game of chess, you see the move being made, you can see the whole board, but you have to try and work out what the opponents gameplan is to win.

WORK IS FUN

Oh and yes we are all masochists

[mcanerin]

Hey Phil!

I do want to mention something. You could have responded to the posts by Jill and Projectphp defensively and got all upset, but instead you took the aformentioned swift kick and are buckling down to do the job.

Honestly, that says a lot about you, and makes me believe you will do well in this biz - good luck, we are here if you need help, especially since it's clear you have a professional attitude - you just earned my respect

Cheers,

Ian

[Scottie]

Hear hear!

Thumbs up for Phil. :thumbsup: Many people don't get the answer they want and just walk away.

1) It is about making a site that's better than the competition and
2) It is about thinking of creative ways to market your business online and
3) It is NOT about depending on free search engine traffic (that you have no control over.)

Google and the other engines will continue to have burps and hiccups and possibly even major changes in their philosophy of ranking sites. It will never hurt your business to have a great, usable, accessible, informative site. It could hurt your business to change your site to reflect what you think an SE algo is looking for today.

[Phil]

Thanks! As I have a great deal of respect for everyone that takes the time to listen to us complain!

That is the easy way, to complain and moan, waiting for someone (google) to do something for me. Getting out and doing the job is the tough thing to do, but as well said previously, much more rewarding.

God, I'm sounding more & more like my parents!

[Steve Sardell]

Hi Phil,

I just ran a search for *sedona b&b* and you are on the second page of the G results. You do not have far to go to reach the first page.

[Dyan]

I have read with great interest all of the thread on the latest Google update, many therories and many frustrated people. I am among the frustrated. Spending many months on reading about SEO and doing all I can to learn what I can to make my own site relevant in SE's has been not only very rewarding, but also compleately frustrating.

I'm afraid that I don't have any thoughts on your specific question, however I wanted to add a nod of agreement to your statement that I've quoted.

It's frustrating as all *blankety blank* (LOL), AND it's more work than I ever imagined! My hat's off to those of you that do this for a living.

[projectphp]

This thread is turning into a love fest, and I couldn't bear missing out on that

humbs up for Phil.  Many people don't get the answer they want and just walk away.

Absolutely!!! It is a bitter pill to swallow that SEO isn't really easy, and there isn't a two second fix, but that is actually a good thing, so being frustrated and walking away, while easy, is really just a bit silly.

If creating a well ranking and converting site was that easy, your competitors would be able to out do you with those same two seconds. This way, once you do create the world's best site in your feild, you know that you have set th bar so high that the effort competitors need to go through may not be worth it, giving you a pretty good marketing advantage.

So good luk Phil, and I hope it all works out!!!

Edited by projectphp, 04 February 2004 - 06:15 PM.

[raj_freind]

SEO WORK

Profession, Challenging, Exciting, Fun, Intersting, $$$$ & ........>>>>

Its all of things for me & I enjoy to do this. I also penalize by google but i m not soo much worried
Because I know Every one try to prove their ability and want to better than me but I know I will be back my position(#1) after some time to do better than them.


Mean time google updating their some data centers and some parameter of indexing and G not stable
this time, G changing their indexing result everytime and every day. So We have to wait for sometime till that G not come in full flow.

SEO WORK same like a women who wait till 9 month with carefully to be mother and when she born new baby she can't hold her happiness excitement.

[Jill]

Welcome, raj_freind!

Jill

[raj_freind]

Thanks Jill,

You make good and informative place, I like all suggestion idea and posting.

I'll probably settle into this place and leave some others behind.

See you all soon - Raj