Crawl errors = goodbye SERPS?

AdultMySpace · 08-02-2010, 12:16 AM

Hoping someone could provide some advice here.

My site was starting to rank quite nicely for some competitive search terms and I was seeing quite a bit of traffic. Now the initial website build had a forum I was going to use, although it never really went live or was linked to on the site.

It was left on the backend by the developer and the forum, as expected without moderation, has been spammed to hell and back. Xrumer strikes again! I only came across it by chance myself.

Now in my haste, I asked the developer to remove the forum which has now resulted in over 3000 crawl errors on my site! Needless to say, I am not even on the first 500 google search results and its happened almost overnight. My traffic has dropped to almost zero.

Deleting the forums was leading to the 404 page, which I have redirected to the landing page for now hoping that this is going to solve the problem. Google still has the crawl errors and I am hoping the next bot visit will see the end of that.

What would be the best way for me to rectify this problem? The developer I have used while great at design is a bit lacking when it comes to SEO in particular. Im a bit confused if I should just leave it as it was, redirect, create a better redirect page, use a 301????

Thanks in advance

HunterSnake · 08-02-2010, 01:48 AM

There's no universal answer for this... there are a lot of factors involved...

That being said, when one takes down or moves content, it's generally recommended that they setup a 301 redirect so that Googlebot never experiences any errors. What you described could very well have destroyed your rankings, at least temporarily. Errors tells Google that your web site sucks, especially a lot, and that hurts - big time.

AdultMySpace · 12-28-2010, 07:15 AM

Quick update on this

Used proper 301 redirects and the end result of that was over 250k links to my site. The Xrumer spammers obviously built links to their links, which ended up becoming links built to my redirect. Not relevant links but I dont think they hurt my PR, thats for sure. The crawl errors gradually dropped away.

I bounced back and have held number 1 for the last 3 months on a term with over 1.2 million pages competing. Quite interesting and I am very tempted to try this again with another site.

1 - Put up a forum
2 - Let it get spammed to death
3 - Close it down after redirects in place

paulgl · 12-28-2010, 07:40 AM

Crawl errors are only meaningful if your main stuff can't be found.
99.999999% of crawl errors are meaningless, but many webmasters
get heart attacks because of the shock.

You will never be 100% error free, 100% of the time.

Whatever happened to Huntersnake?

Paul

bigcat1967 · 12-28-2010, 07:46 AM

Quote:

1 - Put up a forum
2 - Let it get spammed to death
3 - Close it down after redirects in place

dude...walk away. I think your getting to greedy.

I know it sounds tempting - but just because it worked once - doesn't really mean it will work again.

Your ranking good in the SERPs. Just expand your site naturally and promote it as well.

scott g · 12-28-2010, 07:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by paulgl

Crawl errors are only meaningful if your main stuff can't be found.
99.999999% of crawl errors are meaningless, but many webmasters
get heart attacks because of the shock.

Paul

I agree with Paul. With some newer sites I've been working on, I made a lot of changes - directory additions, removals feeds, sitemaps, blah! Had tons of errors showing up in my Webmaster Tools! Didn't affect rankings though. Well, actually they stopped dancing around in the hundreds and now sit on page one and the teens.

If need be submit a site reconsidereation through your Google Webmaster Tools... This does actually work...

CHEERS!

AdultMySpace · 12-28-2010, 08:04 AM

Guys, my rankings were hammered when I got stung with crawl errors. They should not be happening and one of the most important things you can do as a webmaster is make sure that internal linking is 100%. External links need to be redirected and there are penalties there. I dropped from a top 10 rank on major search terms down to the abyss.

I would not dare do this on my main site again, Im building a proper forum for it now. Im tempted to try it with another niche just to see what happens.

All this proves though is that the Google Sandbox is a MYTH. Keep building links and be diligent with your SEO efforts and you almost always bounce back

08-02-2010, 12:16 AM	#1
AdultMySpace e-pimp War Room Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 29 Thanks: 2 Thanked 3 Times in 2 Posts	Crawl errors = goodbye SERPS? Hoping someone could provide some advice here. My site was starting to rank quite nicely for some competitive search terms and I was seeing quite a bit of traffic. Now the initial website build had a forum I was going to use, although it never really went live or was linked to on the site. It was left on the backend by the developer and the forum, as expected without moderation, has been spammed to hell and back. Xrumer strikes again! I only came across it by chance myself. Now in my haste, I asked the developer to remove the forum which has now resulted in over 3000 crawl errors on my site! Needless to say, I am not even on the first 500 google search results and its happened almost overnight. My traffic has dropped to almost zero. Deleting the forums was leading to the 404 page, which I have redirected to the landing page for now hoping that this is going to solve the problem. Google still has the crawl errors and I am hoping the next bot visit will see the end of that. What would be the best way for me to rectify this problem? The developer I have used while great at design is a bit lacking when it comes to SEO in particular. Im a bit confused if I should just leave it as it was, redirect, create a better redirect page, use a 301???? Thanks in advance

08-02-2010, 01:48 AM	#2
HunterSnake HyperActive Warrior Join Date: Jun 2010 Posts: 184 Thanks: 16 Thanked 46 Times in 33 Posts Social Networking Contact Info	Re: Crawl errors = goodbye SERPS? There's no universal answer for this... there are a lot of factors involved... That being said, when one takes down or moves content, it's generally recommended that they setup a 301 redirect so that Googlebot never experiences any errors. What you described could very well have destroyed your rankings, at least temporarily. Errors tells Google that your web site sucks, especially a lot, and that hurts - big time.
	Hover Coupon \| Affordable Domain Names and Personalized, Surname Email for Less Site5 Rebate Claim Form \| Save Big on Reliable Shared and Reseller Web Hosting

12-28-2010, 07:15 AM	#3
AdultMySpace e-pimp War Room Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 29 Thanks: 2 Thanked 3 Times in 2 Posts	Re: Crawl errors = goodbye SERPS? Quick update on this Used proper 301 redirects and the end result of that was over 250k links to my site. The Xrumer spammers obviously built links to their links, which ended up becoming links built to my redirect. Not relevant links but I dont think they hurt my PR, thats for sure. The crawl errors gradually dropped away. I bounced back and have held number 1 for the last 3 months on a term with over 1.2 million pages competing. Quite interesting and I am very tempted to try this again with another site. 1 - Put up a forum 2 - Let it get spammed to death 3 - Close it down after redirects in place

12-28-2010, 07:40 AM	#4
paulgl Plundering the Web War Room Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: , , . Posts: 4,849 Thanks: 804 Thanked 1,199 Times in 886 Posts	Re: Crawl errors = goodbye SERPS? Crawl errors are only meaningful if your main stuff can't be found. 99.999999% of crawl errors are meaningless, but many webmasters get heart attacks because of the shock. You will never be 100% error free, 100% of the time. Whatever happened to Huntersnake? Paul
	How to Make Money off Facebook: Login to your account. Deactivate your account. Get your butt to work.

12-28-2010, 08:04 AM	#7
AdultMySpace e-pimp War Room Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 29 Thanks: 2 Thanked 3 Times in 2 Posts	Re: Crawl errors = goodbye SERPS? Guys, my rankings were hammered when I got stung with crawl errors. They should not be happening and one of the most important things you can do as a webmaster is make sure that internal linking is 100%. External links need to be redirected and there are penalties there. I dropped from a top 10 rank on major search terms down to the abyss. I would not dare do this on my main site again, Im building a proper forum for it now. Im tempted to try it with another niche just to see what happens. All this proves though is that the Google Sandbox is a MYTH. Keep building links and be diligent with your SEO efforts and you almost always bounce back