40 replies to this topic

[ttweb]

I'm not sure I expect an answer but...

I have been a voracious SEO reader since I put up my new site in April and have learned a lot observing this forum. My site is mostly graphical, but I re-designed following all the advice that makes sense to me.

I last submitted the home page to Google over 6 weeks ago. According to my server statistics the googlebot has visited my site more times than I have pages in each of the last two months. But Google still only seems to have indexed my home page.

Any explanations/theories?

[Scottie]

Welcome, ttweb!

Do you have other sites linking to yours? Google may visit, but without a link from a directory or other site that is already in Google's index, your site isn't likely to rank well or see additional pages added.

[qwerty]

Do your logs indicate that googlebot has visited the other pages? And (silly question, but since you said the site is mostly graphic I'd probably better ask it) do you have text links from the home page to the others?

[Leann_Pass]

It's hard to answer the question without seeing the site, however there are a number of things that will help with full site indexing.

1) Make sure you have text links, at least of your important pages, on your homepage.

2)List every single page on a sitemap and make sure your sitemap is in a text link on your homepage.

3)Make sure each page of your site has it's own unique content.

4)Make sure each page of your site has it's own unique title tag.

5)Get some inbound links to your site (even if you need to start a link exchange partnership program).


There are no guarantees when it comes to search engines, but these tidbits should help.

[Jill]

Welcome, Leann!

Text links are definitely nice to have, but search engines can follow graphical links too. Not a problem, never has been.

TTWeb, submitting your site to google won't help. You need to make sure your site is listed on other sites that google spiders. If you get that, your site will be indexed fairly quickly.

Good luck!

Jill

[compar]

But Google still only seems to have indexed my home page.

How do you know that for sure? If your home page is indexed as you say it is, and if you have links/navigation -- non Javascript -- to the other pages it is unlikely that Google hasn't got them indexed. When you do the search that finds your index page have you used the "Search within results" feature to try and find any of your other pages?

If you are depending on Google's "link:" command to find your other pages there may be two problems.

1. The site hasn't been up long enough. It takes Google longer to report all the backlinks than to index the pages.

2. If you don't have any incoming links from other pages Google may never show any backlinks because all your internal pages will have a PR of less than 4.

[Leann_Pass]

Text links are definitely nice to have, but search engines can follow graphical links too. Not a problem, never has been.

Correction noted Jill!

To original poster, To correct my suggestions, text links on your site are not any more effective than graphic links as far as getting your site spidered. However, 'optimized' text links will help with improving rankings for key search terms.

Sorry if that was more info than you were looking for =)

[qwerty]

I think that when I think of graphical linking, I automatically think of mouseover effects. If that's not the case, then it's not an issue.

[ttweb]

Thanks everyone for your interest! I feel a much appreciated wind under my weary wings...

Scottie - I am pretty sure there are no other sites linking to mine... at least not according to Google ("link:"). But how can I get them, and increase my rank, if I cannot get indexed in the first place? Topic of another post...

Bob G - Unfortunately, my statistics aren't page-specific; only aggregated for the site. And yes, I have text links on every page to every other page. All I mean by graphical linking is that I use a lot of images (yes, with meaningful alt tags) as anchors.

Leann - 1) check, 2) check, 3) check, 4) check, 5) :slap: ... I am conflicted on the topic of exchanges. I've read about link farms and niche directories, etc., but am not sure how to find a link exchange that would actually be beneficial. But still, I'm not asking how to get to the top of the list... I'd be satisfied, for now, just getting on the list.

Bob W - I really appreciate your take-nothing-for-granted, "how do you know for sure?" observation... Google's search within site ("site:") is the tool I am relying on. Is this where I should be looking?

All - Tough nut? Or be patient?

[Scottie]

Hi Fred-

Try getting listed in DMOZ, JoeAnt, and GoGuides. You have to become an editor for the last two and if your site is only an affiliate site, they won't accept it.

There is nothing wrong with trading links with related sites- just don't get involved with linking schemes where you have to link to a bunch of unrelated sites.

[Leann_Pass]

Leann - 1) check, 2) check, 3) check, 4) check, 5)  ... I am conflicted on the topic of exchanges. I've read about link farms and niche directories, etc., but am not sure how to find a link exchange that would actually be beneficial. But still, I'm not asking how to get to the top of the list... I'd be satisfied, for now, just getting on the list..

Link exchange is a toughy for sure! I have a few tips that might help you find quality link partnerships.

Do a Google Search for:
"link exchange [insert your product/service here]"
"directory listings [insert your products/service here]"
"link exchange [insert related but not competitive products/services here]"

If your products/services are location specific do this search:
"directory listings [insert your city/state here]"

By doing these searches in Google you will know that the sites you find to link with ARE spidered by and listed in Google. This increases the chance of your site being found by googlebot from their site.

You will be surprised at how many sites are actively exchanging links with sites like yours! Even if you are not interested in a full blown link partnership program, you will benefit from linking to at least 4 or 5 Quality sites.

You can proceed with caution here and find sites that are complimentary to your services that will be of interest to your viewers.

Bob W - I really appreciate your take-nothing-for-granted, "how do you know for sure?" observation... Google's search within site ("site:") is the tool I am relying on. Is this where I should be looking?.

Google only shows backlinks for sites with PR4 or greater (silly, yes). However, that does not mean that sites with PR less than 4 don't count, they do.

All - Tough nut? Or be patient?.

UGH! Patience is always a MUST!


I hope this helps

[compar]

Bob W - I really appreciate your take-nothing-for-granted, "how do you know for sure?" observation... Google's search within site ("site:") is the tool I am relying on.  Is this where I should be looking?

I'm not sure what you are talking about when you say "Google's search within site ("site:") is the tool I am relying on". Do you mean the Google "link:" command? I'm not famiiar with a "site:" command in Google.

As Leann has said if your internal pages don't have a PR of 4 or greater Google will not list them with their "link:" command.

Have you tried searching for a specific interior page like www.mydomain.com/contactus.html?

[Leann_Pass]

But still, I'm not asking how to get to the top of the list... I'd be satisfied, for now, just getting on the list..

As much as I hate to say it, getting on the list doesn't mean alot. Where you stand on the list does.

Being search number 548,000 or or even 72 doesn't get traffic to your site. The whole purpose of being listed in the search engines is to get traffic to your site, if you optimize you can hope for targeted traffic.

People don't seem to search past page number 3 of the search engine results......some not past page 1. It really does mean more to have a high ranking for even 1 page of your site than it does to have a site of 100 pages listed that rank poorly.

I just had to add that because it REALLY matters in the short run and the long run for getting your website and your business noticed!

computer nerd extordinare!

Don't settle for 'listings' you have worked too hard! Go for high ranking!

[brianjulkunen]

definately get directory listing, DMOZ for sure, yahoo if are willing to pay. What do you have in your robots.txt file? A sitemap that has link from your home pages is a good way to help ensure that deeper level pages get spidered. As for link exchanges, linking to someone where their content is applicable or their is a reason for the link, informing them of this link and telling them you would appreciate the link back is a good way to start.

[BrianR]

Just catching up with this topic at the end of the UK day - it's 11ish here.

Leann - thanks for that tip re link exchange etc searches on Google - that's very helpful.

Compar - from somewhere in the other forums, I seem to remember that the 'site' command for finding all the internal links on Google is:

www.mydomain.com site:www.mydomain.com

Equally useful is the opposite command for finding all external links to your site - but I'm not sure if that's ALL external links or only those with PR4 or more:

www.mydomain.com -site:www.mydomain.com

It seemed to work when I tried it, but if anyone knows different, then please shout - I'd hate to mislead compar or anyone else, for that matter!

BrianR