Maybe Google has lost touch with what searchers want?

[IMAdam]

I ended up building a site based on a business model posted here on creating holiday sites. I felt the outline was well laid out and could work well for obtaining organic traffic on specific holiday items with high demand.

After doing some extensive research I went ahead and targeted a physical product that had lots of demand and searches for the holiday season.

- Picked a keyword rich domain.

- Bookmarked it on all the top web 2.0 sites.

- Submitted RSS Feed for bookmarking.

- Got quite a good amount of back links pointing to the site from some blogs/sites that have a PR 3 or PR 4.

- Followed all of Google's Webmaster guidelines posted BY Google.

- Did all the on-page SEO.

- Site was specific to one product and only about 3 pages.

The site has been up for almost 2 months and has been indexed by google and all the other major SE's. The site was made to conform with google's on-site and off site SEO "requirements" and it has NOT ranked anywhere close to the top, despite targeting highly searched buying long-tail keywords.

On the other hand, Yahoo has the site ranked on the first page for two long-tail keywords and two more on the second page. I've been seeing consistent organic traffic on a daily bases from yahoo with 2/3 rd's of the traffic click through rates to the vendor's page.

What's really funny is google indexed the site in a matter of days and yahoo took a couple of weeks (as usual) and yet it feels the site is worthy of being on their top spot to give it's searchers what THEY are looking for.

I've done some extensive research, because I like to understand what is going on, and have noticed google's top spots where from the product maker them selves, that did not sell the product directly, and many "informational" type websites that had many pages of content. Yahoo, on the other hand, lists a mix of informational and product listing type sites that specifically address many of the nich market's problem such as "where can I BUY this item" or "where is this item in stock". These are buying keywords and yet google feels it is relevant to display all the media type buzz news about this product v.s. giving it's searchers more merchant type sites showing them exactly where they could buy this HOT Christmas item.

I also found competitor sites that followed the exact same site layout I created got no google "love" following google's webmaster guidlines.

So, after observing all of this, I'm starting to think that google maybe in the process of building a big wall around it self and the only way to get passed this it is to have a site with a TON of content on it with most searches providing nothing but "info" to it's searchers. But is and unable to address a simple question such as "where can I find this HOT item in stock so that I can buy it and give it as a present just give me the buying link". Yahoo is more than able to do so without an issue.


I don't do IM as a full time gig and with the limited time I have to devote to it, I won't be building sites to please google anymore. If google feels like it wants to display my sites at the top great, but I'm not going to type my fingers off and build an authority site just to sell some physical items. I want to be able to provide the visitor with the most efficient way for the visitor to get what they want. Nothing more nothing less. Why do I need to build a five star resturant when all the visitor is looking for is a hot dog stand to buy a quick hot dog?

It's unfortunate yahoo does not get the same amount of traffic as google, because for physical items they truly provide their visitors with more choices of relevant sites based on searches.

Maybe google, with all it's ways of trying to outsmart spammers and the entire world, is forgetting the true reason they exist is to provide simple relevant search results to its visitors, without the need to display top results with every site that has information overload on it. Needless to say, I will be exploring many different traffic avenues that don't require google to be the main traffic provider. Google seems to be providing less to me as the content provider and it's visitors.

BTW, this isn't a rant or a plead for help. It's just MY observation based on my own experiences.

[Benjamin Ehinger]

It is not google that causes this. I would suggest you go back and look at the sites on the top page for your keyword. You have to be able to beat them with SEO and backlinking to land there with them.

[BradCarroll]

Just because Google doesn't do what YOU want them to, that doesn't mean they're not doing their job. You're only 2 months into the game. You can give up now, or keep on sailing. Your choice.

You can either fight Google, or learn how it works and work with it. If you just decide "Well G is wrong-headed, I don't want any part of that," then you're cutting yourself off from a major traffic source. But hey if you know better than Google, then just screw'em, right?

"Screw'em" may feel good to say, on an emotional level...but it probably won't help your business. Give it some time. And remember that Google doesn't owe anybody a ranking.

[CDarklock]

Well, let's start with this.

Originally Posted by IMAdam

- Picked a keyword rich domain.
- Bookmarked it on all the top web 2.0 sites.
- Submitted RSS Feed for bookmarking.
- Got quite a good amount of back links pointing to the site from some blogs/sites that have a PR 3 or PR 4.
- Followed all of Google's Webmaster guidelines posted BY Google.
- Did all the on-page SEO.
- Site was specific to one product and only about 3 pages.

What made you think searchers wanted to visit your site?

I do not see a single thing about "researched the niche to see what was selling" or "surveyed a list to see what interested people" or anything of the sort. You did all this in a vacuum based on some numbers, and you don't have a single opinion or suggestion from an actual person.

Which, if you ask me, is rather the textbook definition for "out of touch."

[debra]

Google’s In It for Themselves

How could you possibly see it any other way? Granted, the Adsense program is a strong income stream for content producers. On the other hand, try ranking the average shopping cart in their organic results and see how long it takes you to find yourself. Unless your eBay, Amazon, or one of the many major corporate level retailers, it might take you a while. As an affiliate, your commercial intent content is not going to carry a lot of weight. It’s not non-achievable; it’s just a lot harder than it should be.

In a nutshell, Google can’t afford to allow commercial intent to dominate their database. That would end the Adwords program as we know it today. Since October of 2000, when the Adwords program was made available to the small business sector, Google has been sculpting the playground for its own benefit.

[DogScout]

Hate to agree, but google seems more intent on giving information, edu, how to and .gov sites the top spots lately. Only solutions to a problem, in an ad....designed that way?
My experience only

[Dennis Gaskill]

Google has always favored content sites and aged domains, but it sounds like your site is what Google terms a "thin affiliate" site. Thin affiliate sites do not rank well at Google. They consider them "spammy" (their word, not mine). The solution? You need a lot more content.

[IMAdam]

Originally Posted by CDarklock

Well, let's start with this.



What made you think searchers wanted to visit your site?

I do not see a single thing about "researched the niche to see what was selling" or "surveyed a list to see what interested people" or anything of the sort. You did all this in a vacuum based on some numbers, and you don't have a single opinion or suggestion from an actual person.

Which, if you ask me, is rather the textbook definition for "out of touch."

I clearly stated "extensive research was performed". I also mentioned multiple times this IS this Christmas' hot product. It has HIGH DEMAND and my keyword research showed Multiple Buying keywords. Being on the front page of Yahoo for multiple buying keywords with sales tells me what I need to know.

If you ask me, based on your response, this is a texbook definition for "sleeping through Marketing 101".

[IMAdam]

Originally Posted by debra

Google’s In It for Themselves

How could you possibly see it any other way? Granted, the Adsense program is a strong income stream for content producers. On the other hand, try ranking the average shopping cart in their organic results and see how long it takes you to find yourself. Unless your eBay, Amazon, or one of the many major corporate level retailers, it might take you a while. As an affiliate, your commercial intent content is not going to carry a lot of weight. It’s not non-achievable; it’s just a lot harder than it should be.

In a nutshell, Google can’t afford to allow commercial intent to dominate their database. That would end the Adwords program as we know it today. Since October of 2000, when the Adwords program was made available to the small business sector, Google has been sculpting the playground for its own benefit.

You are correct, Google does make it harder for commercial intent website to rank in THEIR system without a lot of content. And you make the point that many others reading have missed so far (you're a smart cookie Debra)

Google is not ALLOWING MULTIPLE sites, except big commercial ones, to show results to a searcher who is just looking for a bit of information, such as technical details or different price points, and just allow them to place their orders. Yahoo IS Giving searchers that option by displaying results based on keywords of where they can go to purchase their product. This is in essance cheating visitors from getting what THEY want becuse google does not "think" this is what they need to see.

[IMAdam]

Originally Posted by DogScout

Hate to agree, but google seems more intent on giving information, edu, how to and .gov sites the top spots lately. Only solutions to a problem, in an ad....designed that way?
My experience only

Glad to see you aren't blinded by what is right in front of your face. Most people on the forum sell info products, so typing away to please google is what they need to do in order to get attention. And that is fine, but if you're selling a physical product, especially as an affiliate without a good amount of content, even by following it's own webmaster's guidlines, google ain't your buddy.