I'm done. I'm ready to sell my site and say to H with it.

13 years ago

It's worth whatever someone will pay.

You didn't mention what site it is or what niche it's in.

When I buy a site all I really care about is - where does the traffic come from and how many sales does it make with that traffic. So I'd need to know what the revenue was before I could even make a guess at what I'd pay for it.

Don't worry about it though - I spent a couple of years before I had a decent consistent revenue stream online. You just need to keep on keeping on.

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ksmusselman

13 years ago

Originally Posted by Andyhenry

It's worth whatever someone will pay.

You didn't mention what site it is or what niche it's in.

When I buy a site all I really care about is - where does the traffic come from and how many sales does it make with that traffic. So I'd need to know what the revenue was before I could even make a guess at what I'd pay for it.

Don't worry about it though - I spent a couple of years before I had a decent consistent revenue stream online. You just need to keep on keeping on.

I just added the site link. Thanks.

And most of my traffic was coming from Google. The sales were intermittent, like $300 one week, then a couple of weeks with no sales, then a few orders the next week, until Google delisted my site the first time. Then nothing for months while I waited for the big baby to put my site back up.

So since they've decided to toss my site out again, I can't even get enough traffic for AdSense to start picking up.

Is flippa the best place to sell a site?

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sloanjim

13 years ago

yep I feel your pain and frustration. Only on the Net would some of the practices some of the big companies get away with be allwoed...Google/Ebay/Paypal/ FB...etc bascially make up their TOS as they go along and can freely ban people/businesses as they see fit.

I've felt like giving it up many times as well. Def. Love/Hate relationship online.

You should NEVER build one biz where you rely on one traffic source...it wil lalways end badly. Use the big companies with a grain of salt. Be ready for their tantrums. As they do happen often.

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ksmusselman

13 years ago

Originally Posted by sloanjim

yep I feel your pain and frustration. Only on the Net would some of the practices some of the big companies get away with be allwoed...Google/Ebay/Paypal/ FB...etc bascially make up their TOS as they go along and can freely ban people/businesses as they see fit.

I've felt like giving it up many times as well. Def. Love/Hate relationship online.

You should NEVER build one biz where you rely on one traffic source...it wil lalways end badly. Use the big companies with a grain of salt. Be ready for their tantrums. As they do happen often.

I'm finding that out... My husband and I both had to stop selling our stuff on eBay, first because of their bias against sellers, for buyers, with no recourse for the sellers, and then their fees got to be so outrageous we stopped using them. And we were doing over $500/mo in sales when we started!

My husband suggested that my site was holding such good positioning that Google figured if I wanted to keep those spots, I'd have to start paying for them via AdWords, so they knocked my site down. I can believe they'd do something like that.

Well, I'll just put it out there for sale and see what happens. It probably won't be worth much now though since the traffic's seriously bottomed out.

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Matt.Lake

13 years ago

I hate the way people act as if it's their right to be listed number 1 in Google, or even on the first page for that matter. There's only ten spots on the first page for each phrase in your niche... why does your site deserve one of them over everyone else?

If you build your business solely around Google search then you have to accept the risks involved. It's common knowledge that the SERPs dance around and fluctuate. Google hasn't got a "bug" or a problem with you specifically so stop hating on them and acting as if they do... the fact of the matter is, you probably don't deserve to be number 1 with your current website. It's not the nicest looking site, it's a bit cluttered and you've got numerous ads on there that are irrelevant to the niche. Take the advice above and clean that up for a start.

I know it's frustrating for people in your situation but I have less sympathy when you come here and complain about it in the way you have... as if it's your right to be number 1 in Google and that Google's against the "little guy".

Originally Posted by ksmusselman

My husband suggested that my site was holding such good positioning that Google figured if I wanted to keep those spots, I'd have to start paying for them via AdWords, so they knocked my site down. I can believe they'd do something like that.(

That's absolute crap. You're not that special.

Honestly, perhaps you're not cut out for this. There's nothing wrong with having a regular job and a steady pay check but if you want the benefits that come with being your own boss then you've got to accept that there'll be ups and downs.

I suggest you just take a break from your website and go do something else for a while. Come back when your heads a bit clearer. You won't get much for your site in it's current state so hang onto it for the time being until you have the enthusiasm for it again.

All the best,

Matt

P.S. And for the record, you're not de-indexed.

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tpw

13 years ago

Originally Posted by Matt.Lake

I know it's frustrating for people in your situation but I have less sympathy when you come here and complain about it in the way you have... as if it's your right to be number 1 in Google and that Google's against the "little guy".

My husband suggested that my site was holding such good positioning that Google figured if I wanted to keep those spots, I'd have to start paying for them via AdWords, so they knocked my site down. I can believe they'd do something like that.(

That's absolute crap. You're not that special.

Honestly, perhaps you're not cut out for this. There's nothing wrong with having a regular job and a steady pay check but if you want the benefits that come with being your own boss then you've got to accept that there'll be ups and downs.

I suggest you just take a break from your website and go do something else for a while. Come back when your heads a bit clearer. You won't get much for your site in it's current state so hang onto it for the time being until you have the enthusiasm for it again.

All the best,

Matt

P.S. And for the record, you're not de-indexed.

Buying Adwords will not ensure that you rank well in the organic results.

That is NOT how that works.

With Adwords, you pay for traffic by the click. And you should only undertake that process if you have a proven sales funnel that will make you profits on your investment.

Google has no reason to push Adword buyers into the top organic listings. If they pushed Adword buyers up in the organic listings, advertisers would not need to buy so much advertising.

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Kay King 13 years ago

The site has not been de-indexed - just dropped in ranking. I can still pull up the site using google search box.
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Matt.Lake

13 years ago

Originally Posted by tpw

Buying Adwords will not ensure that you rank well in the organic results.

That is NOT how that works.

With Adwords, you pay for traffic by the click. And you should only undertake that process if you have a proven sales funnel that will make you profits on your investment.

Google has no reason to push Adword buyers into the top organic listings. If they pushed Adword buyers up in the organic listings, advertisers would not need to buy so much advertising.

Why did you quote me when you said that? :confused: I didn't say anything of the sort.

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tpw

13 years ago

Originally Posted by Matt.Lake

Originally Posted by tpw

Originally Posted by Matt.Lake

I know it's frustrating for people in your situation but I have less sympathy when you come here and complain about it in the way you have... as if it's your right to be number 1 in Google and that Google's against the "little guy".

Originally Posted by ksmusselman

My husband suggested that my site was holding such good positioning that Google figured if I wanted to keep those spots, I'd have to start paying for them via AdWords, so they knocked my site down. I can believe they'd do something like that.

That's absolute crap. You're not that special.

Honestly, perhaps you're not cut out for this. There's nothing wrong with having a regular job and a steady pay check but if you want the benefits that come with being your own boss then you've got to accept that there'll be ups and downs.

I suggest you just take a break from your website and go do something else for a while. Come back when your heads a bit clearer. You won't get much for your site in it's current state so hang onto it for the time being until you have the enthusiasm for it again.

All the best,

Matt

P.S. And for the record, you're not de-indexed.

Buying Adwords will not ensure that you rank well in the organic results.

That is NOT how that works.

With Adwords, you pay for traffic by the click. And you should only undertake that process if you have a proven sales funnel that will make you profits on your investment.

Google has no reason to push Adword buyers into the top organic listings. If they pushed Adword buyers up in the organic listings, advertisers would not need to buy so much advertising.

Why did you quote me when you said that? :confused: I didn't say anything of the sort.

Because I was agreeing with you, when you addressed the OP, and I included her comment so that I could address it directly.

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Matt.Lake 13 years ago

Originally Posted by tpw

Because I was agreeing with you, when you addressed the OP, and I included her comment so that I could address it directly.

Okay, now worries lol. It seemed like you were implying that I'd said something along those lines.
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joolkano

13 years ago

I think your focus is misplaced. I understand traffic is important but what's more critical is SALES & PROFITS.

Run your website like a real business because it is. Do your PPC on both google, facebook, 7 search, etc...Do offline marketing, Do press releases, do direct mail...

We all do internet marketing for one thing to make money. Change your business model and stop putting the life of your business in the hands of search engines. There are a lot of websites out there that does not show up on search engines but they are making sales and tons of it.

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ksmusselman

13 years ago

Originally Posted by joolkano

I think your focus is misplaced. I understand traffic is important but what's more critical is SALES & PROFITS.

Run your website like a real business because it is. Do your PPC on both google, facebook, 7 search, etc...Do offline marketing, Do press releases, do direct mail...

We all do internet marketing for one thing to make money. Change your business model and stop putting the life of your business in the hands of search engines. There are a lot of websites out there that does not show up on search engines but they are making sales and tons of it.

I've been working it "as a real business" for over a year; direct mail, print catalogs in bridal salons, samples to wedding consultants who called to request them, paid ads in newspapers, paid display ads in special bridal shows, 250 free bookmarks to a few bridal shows across the country, sponsored some contests, posted fliers, press releases, "business spotlight" articles in the paper, Chamber of Commerce, $300 to have fliers put in all the chamber newsletters, guest articles it the chamber newsletters, physical trade shows, craft shows, etc., etc.

And I ran out of money before I made any sales. So that's when I turned to the online venue. Going on my second year with this business and I still have never made any local offline sales. I don't even have any clients in my own STATE let alone my own county. Every one of my sales has come from online.

So I'm seriously beginning to think it's not me, it's the industry and maybe I just picked the wrong thing to do. :confused:

But I'm going to hold on for a bit I guess and see if fixing that screw up in the html code changes some things. :rolleyes:

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fluffythewondercat

13 years ago

Originally Posted by ksmusselman

And I ran out of money before I made any sales. So that's when I turned to the online venue. Going on my second year with this business and I still have never made any local offline sales. I don't even have any clients in my own STATE let alone my own county. Every one of my sales has come from online.

A lot of people will tell you to market your business locally. They don't know what they're talking about -- it may be effective for some businesses but certainly not all. It didn't work for me and sounds like it didn't work for you. And I'm sure we both tried.

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ksmusselman

13 years ago

Originally Posted by fluffythewondercat

A lot of people will tell you to market your business locally. They don't know what they're talking about -- it may be effective for some businesses but certainly not all. It didn't work for me and sounds like it didn't work for you. And I'm sure we both tried.

fLufF
--

Very true, depends on the business and the geography. My husband's latest venture is a good example. He builds pens from PVC and netting to use for chickens, small animals, garden protection, etc. We're in a heavy farming area so this is going over very well with no website, simply posting fliers and putting ads on craigslist locally.

Now he's working on a way to make it as an "assembly required" deal but have the pieces small enough (these are 10' x 20' pens) to ship nationwide. And even then we may not have to build a website for it or even give any concern to Google at all because of the nature of the business and the product.

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LilBlackDress 13 years ago

I remember learning keyboarding and typing over and over..."when the going gets tough, the tough get going...when the going get tough the ..." well you get my drift.

A lot of people got slapped recently. I would find it hard to believe that Google singled you out so you would make an Adwords campaign with them.

I know it's tough but you do have to keep going in this business cus thats just the way it works.

Diversify, have more than one thing. Don't put all your eggs in one basket.

Start backlinking to the site some more and start looking for other sources for online income.
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JustinDupre

13 years ago

If it's only 30 visitors a day then you probably shouldn't put it on flippa but on those buying/selling section in forums. Whats your site? Might be able to give you some tips on it.. keep your head up!

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ksmusselman

13 years ago

Originally Posted by JustinDupre

If it's only 30 visitors a day then you probably shouldn't put it on flippa but on those buying/selling section in forums. Whats your site? Might be able to give you some tips on it.. keep your head up!

Yeah, that's what I'm thinking. Probably would have had better success if I'd gotten rid of it while it still had some good traffic.

I added the site link to my initial post: Bookmark Wedding Favors and Custom Laminated Bookmarks for All Occasions

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tpw

13 years ago

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but if you are relying only on Google for traffic, then you deserve whatever has befallen you.

Even if you are banned from Google, I will give you $20 for your site, and I will make money with it.

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ksmusselman

13 years ago

Originally Posted by tpw

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but if you are relying only on Google for traffic, then you deserve whatever has befallen you.

Even if you are banned from Google, I will give you $20 for your site, and I will make money with it.

Yeah right. Thanks for the insult.

Let's put it this way, I've been getting traffic from Yahoo, Bing, Ask.com, Twitter, Facebook and a LOT of referrals from top ranking sites where I have links, directory listings, etc. Unfortunately, it just so happened that organically and naturally, most of my traffic has happened to come from Google. Why? Because - that's what most people use to search. That's just how it is. And Google knows it.

So before I've even had a chance to get this site noticed heavily in other areas besides Google, they de-index the site - twice - and I lose more than half the traffic and most of my revenue.

Like I said, the little mom and pop just got bowled over by the big guy - again.

And I am NOT the only one this is happening to. Not that it's making me feel any better, but listen to this guy, who has NOT relied solely on Google for traffic, wanna buy his business for $20 too? (from this latest thread on Google Think you're affected by the recent algorithm change? Post here. - Webmaster Central Help)

I've felt a HUGE impact to my site and I have to say the results in the SERPS are disturbing at best. I would VERY much like to speak with someone at Google to find out why. I've posted on several forums already looking for some insight and so far not much. There are quite a few examples that I can give that show horrible new results in the SERPS for some key words that I write about. The following are some examples.

Let me first preface that I've been writing original content for my site, Home Construction & Improvement - Expert Home Improvement Advice for almost 5 years. I'm an expert in construction, DIY and home improvement. I'm a respected member of the profession and I travel all over at the request of many large corporations. So when it comes to quality content I'm very certain I offer that. I also receive thousands of comments from folks thanking me for my content and wishing that had found the site sooner.

Last Friday I saw a 40%+ drop in traffic. To say I'm upset would be an understatement. Check out a few examples below to see why I'm really upset.

Example #1
Keyword Term - Basement Insulation
My article Insulate Basement Walls Using XPS Foam Board

Used to rank between #3 and #4 along with several other industry experts (I think it's important that I point out many of us in this niche have years of experience and expertise that we share with our content).

Now the site ranks #6 which doesn't sound all that bad but it sure ads up on 2,000 articles. So what burns my ass is two results that now show up ahead of mine.

Basement Insulation - This site/article is clearly written by someone who has absolutely NO experience in the industry, it's written by someone with horrible english and 95% of it is crap. If this isn't spam I don't know what is.

Basement and Stud Wall Fiberglass Insulation Installation Instructions - The Home Improvement Web Directory - This has extremely outdated incorrect information about how to properly insulate a basement. It's also not original content!

Example #2
Keyword Term - Foam Board Insulation
My article Foam Board Insulation - R Values and Types

Used to rank #4.

Now it ranks #9 below some really crappy sites including:
http://www.foamboardinsulation.net/ - This site / article has only one purpose and that was to rank for that single term. There's nothing of value on it and it's probably one of the best examples of spam I've seen.

Example #3
Keyword Term - Asphalt Driveway Cost
My article Asphalt Driveway Cost - How To Estimate Before You Call A Contractor

Used to rank #1

Now it ranks #3 behind one fishy site:
Driveway Cost - This site is a mess again, hard to believe this is better quality.

Example #4
Keyword Term - Porch Ceiling
My article Using Vinyl Beadboard Soffit for Porch Ceilings

Used to rank #1
Now it ranks #9

Now I agree that #1 was probably not that accurate as my article wasn't 100% specific to porch ceiling. However, once again there are several fishy results ahead of this including:

Porch Ceiling | eHow.com
Why So Blue? Color Graces Many a Porch Ceiling : NPR
Porch Ceilings Image

The list goes on but you see my point.

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travlinguy 13 years ago

Originally Posted by ksmusselman

Yeah right. Thanks for the insult.

Saying you deserve to be slapped around by Google isn't an insult. It's called tough love. The point being, if you put all your eggs in one basket you'll end up regretting it. Another good example is WSOs. There are lots of people cleaning up with WSOs. And it's their only source of income. If something ever happened to this forum that income would stop cold.

Again, when you put too much faith or energy in something you don't control you set yourself up for problems, big problems. You've gotten some good advice in this thread.

One tidbit was to learn from this and keep on truckin. The other, as above, is to not depend on stuff outside of your control. Good luck.
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Dave90210

13 years ago

You must have done something to your site to cause it to drop. Try reindexing it again, also figure out what you may have done recently did you add or remove text?

I had a web site that i used to get good traffic from Google and then one day I got nothing. What did I do? For starters I cleaned up the site and took off some text and images to make my site look cleaner.

Try to figure out what you may have done.

What I recommend is make your site into a blog, if it's not already. Install the Google XML sitemap plugin. After you do that add some more page to your site. I would also suggest installing the pingo matic plugin too.

I have a web site I do nothing with and all I did is use those plugins and post a few times and now I get over 1000 uniques a day!!! It will also help you get indexed in mins

Originally Posted by ksmusselman

Yeah right. Thanks for the insult.

Let's put it this way, I've been getting traffic from Yahoo, Bing, Ask.com, Twitter, Facebook and a LOT of referrals from top ranking sites where I have links, directory listings, etc. Unfortunately, it just so happened that organically and naturally, most of my traffic has happened to come from Google. Why? Because - that's what most people use to search. That's just how it is. And Google knows it.

So before I've even had a chance to get this site noticed heavily in other areas besides Google, they de-index the site - twice - and I lose more than half the traffic and most of my revenue.

Like I said, the little mom and pop just got bowled over by the big guy - again.

And I am NOT the only one this is happening to. Not that it's making me feel any better, but listen to this guy, who has NOT relied solely on Google for traffic, wanna buy his business for $20 too? (from this latest thread on Google Think you're affected by the recent algorithm change? Post here. - Webmaster Central Help)

I've felt a HUGE impact to my site and I have to say the results in the SERPS are disturbing at best. I would VERY much like to speak with someone at Google to find out why. I've posted on several forums already looking for some insight and so far not much. There are quite a few examples that I can give that show horrible new results in the SERPS for some key words that I write about. The following are some examples.

Let me first preface that I've been writing original content for my site, Home Construction & Improvement - Expert Home Improvement Advice for almost 5 years. I'm an expert in construction, DIY and home improvement. I'm a respected member of the profession and I travel all over at the request of many large corporations. So when it comes to quality content I'm very certain I offer that. I also receive thousands of comments from folks thanking me for my content and wishing that had found the site sooner.

Last Friday I saw a 40%+ drop in traffic. To say I'm upset would be an understatement. Check out a few examples below to see why I'm really upset.

Example #1
Keyword Term - Basement Insulation
My article Insulate Basement Walls Using XPS Foam Board

Used to rank between #3 and #4 along with several other industry experts (I think it's important that I point out many of us in this niche have years of experience and expertise that we share with our content).

Now the site ranks #6 which doesn't sound all that bad but it sure ads up on 2,000 articles. So what burns my ass is two results that now show up ahead of mine.

Basement Insulation - This site/article is clearly written by someone who has absolutely NO experience in the industry, it's written by someone with horrible english and 95% of it is crap. If this isn't spam I don't know what is.

Basement and Stud Wall Fiberglass Insulation Installation Instructions - The Home Improvement Web Directory - This has extremely outdated incorrect information about how to properly insulate a basement. It's also not original content!

Example #2
Keyword Term - Foam Board Insulation
My article Foam Board Insulation - R Values and Types

Used to rank #4.

Now it ranks #9 below some really crappy sites including:
Foam Board Insulation - This site / article has only one purpose and that was to rank for that single term. There's nothing of value on it and it's probably one of the best examples of spam I've seen.

Example #3
Keyword Term - Asphalt Driveway Cost
My article Asphalt Driveway Cost - How To Estimate Before You Call A Contractor

Used to rank #1

Now it ranks #3 behind one fishy site:
Driveway Cost - This site is a mess again, hard to believe this is better quality.

Example #4
Keyword Term - Porch Ceiling
My article Using Vinyl Beadboard Soffit for Porch Ceilings

Used to rank #1
Now it ranks #9

Now I agree that #1 was probably not that accurate as my article wasn't 100% specific to porch ceiling. However, once again there are several fishy results ahead of this including:

Porch Ceiling | eHow.com
Why So Blue? Color Graces Many a Porch Ceiling : NPR
Porch Ceilings Image

The list goes on but you see my point.

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tpw

13 years ago

Originally Posted by Dave90210

You must have done something to your site to cause it to drop. Try reindexing it again, also figure out what you may have done recently did you add or remove text?

Yes, she did.

Originally Posted by Dennis Gaskill

If you want to know why it happened, look at post #51 at the top of page two.

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fluffythewondercat

13 years ago

Looking at your links using Yahoo Site Explorer, it appears you relied heavily on article marketing. It's hard to tell what else you did to promote the site.

Did you put up a Fiverr gig (say, 2 sample bookmarks for $5 plus shipping)?

Did you run a contest for brides? Give away some product in exchange for traffic -- and links on contesting sites stay up forever.

Your website itself has a number of structural issues. I'd say that any time you have to make a video explaining how to order -- that just proves you need a real shopping cart, not PayPal. Not to mention that many people just plain hate PP. And there is just *way* *too* *much* *stuff* on the home page. I'm also not a big fan of blank "Advertise Here" boxes above the fold -- it's a little too much like tumbleweeds blowing through a ghost town.

fLufF
--

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ksmusselman

13 years ago

Originally Posted by fluffythewondercat

Looking at your links using Yahoo Site Explorer, it appears you relied heavily on article marketing. It's hard to tell what else you did to promote the site.

Did you put up a Fiverr gig (say, 2 sample bookmarks for $5 plus shipping)?

Did you run a contest for brides? Give away some product in exchange for traffic -- and links on contesting sites stay up forever.

Your website itself has a number of structural issues. I'd say that any time you have to make a video explaining how to order -- that just proves you need a real shopping cart, not PayPal. Not to mention that many people just plain hate PP. And there is just *way* *too* *much* *stuff* on the home page. I'm also not a big fan of blank "Advertise Here" boxes above the fold -- it's a little too much like tumbleweeds blowing through a ghost town.

fLufF
--

Thank you for your feedback! I'd been considering a complete do-over of the site to an e-commerce site then using the blog as a way to do contests and things of that sort.

I've had a fiverr gig up for a while but no takers yet. No biggie on that front. I have my fiverr gigs suspended for the weekend as we head out of town.

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rts2271 13 years ago

ksmusselman, make sure to get that robots meta fixed today so you can get on the next update. Also again pick through the posts here that offer tidbits of focus advice and drill it. Your site is in a niche that with a bit of focus you could control the top couple search entries.

<meta name="robots" content="INDEX,FOLLOW" />
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blue_sky

13 years ago

what a stupid response!

Originally Posted by tpw

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but if you are relying only on Google for traffic, then you deserve whatever has befallen you.

Even if you are banned from Google, I will give you $20 for your site, and I will make money with it.

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Alan Petersen

13 years ago

I noticed the "INeedHits.com" banner on your site. Do you get to control the traffic their network sends you?

That could be a big a problem if your site is part of a network that has sites that violating Google's terms. You might get the boot with them even if you're on the up and up.

From their site...

Our website traffic comes from a large network of publisher websites who simply load your webpage in a seperate window along with their website. This ensures your website traffic is targeted to the category and region you've selected which can help to boost your conversion rates!

They don't even know how to spell "seperate"... "separate".

I'm not saying that's the source of your problems but looking at your site that is where I would start looking.

If you do sell it on Flippa, I hope you would be transparent about being de-indexed so you're not just unloading a problem site on some poor sap. That way the person that buys it know he/she can fix it and get it back on Google.

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ksmusselman

13 years ago

Originally Posted by Alan Petersen

I noticed the "INeedHits.com" banner on your site. Do you get to control the traffic their network sends you?

That could be a big a problem if your site is part of a network that has sites that violating Google's terms. You might get the boot with them even if you're on the up and up.

From their site...

They don't even know how to spell "seperate"... "separate".

I'm not saying that's the source of your problems but looking at your site that is where I would start looking.

If you do sell it on Flippa, I hope you would be transparent about being de-indexed so you're not just unloading a problem site on some poor sap. That way the person that buys it know he/she can fix it and get it back on Google.

ineedhits.com is just a directory submission service and yes, I got to pick where my site gets listed because it's a manual submission. I do that myself. It's other directories like Jayde.com and some others, nothing porn or anything like that. Family type directories.

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BloggingPro

13 years ago

Originally Posted by blue_sky

what a stupid response!

No. It wasn't a stupid response. It was a very good response. This isn't 2006 anymore. You can't rely on Google to drive a majority of your traffic anymore. It's really that simple. Pointless to even try arguing.

I've used the analogy of a burger joint having it sales nearly crippled by weeks worth of construction on the road that their entrance is attached to. I don't feel like typing that all out at the moment, buts its the same scenario.

On to the OP.

I am unsure why your site was de-indexed. These days for you to get indexed you are either using copied content or getting some really bad links. Did you happen to have any links to or from a Pharm site? Google is actually in a lawsuit right now regarding Pharm sites apparently advertising through them illegally--so you better believe if their algo finds those links its going to be pretty easy for it to execute the "de-index" command.

Not saying you did, just asking. Seems like the site is an ecommerce site, a static one at that. Had the domain ever been registered before you bought it up?

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ksmusselman

13 years ago

Originally Posted by BloggingPro

No. It wasn't a stupid response. It was a very good response. This isn't 2006 anymore. You can't rely on Google to drive a majority of your traffic anymore. It's really that simple. Pointless to even try arguing.

I've used the analogy of a burger joint having it sales nearly crippled by weeks worth of construction on the road that their entrance is attached to. I don't feel like typing that all out at the moment, buts its the same scenario.

On to the OP.

I am unsure why your site was de-indexed. These days for you to get indexed you are either using copied content or getting some really bad links. Did you happen to have any links to or from a Pharm site? Google is actually in a lawsuit right now regarding Pharm sites apparently advertising through them illegally--so you better believe if their algo finds those links its going to be pretty easy for it to execute the "de-index" command.

Not saying you did, just asking. Seems like the site is an ecommerce site, a static one at that. Had the domain ever been registered before you bought it up?

No, no links to/from any pharm sites. And I'm thinking that yukon may have found my problem with the html code. I'm hoping so! :rolleyes:

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Alan Petersen

13 years ago

Originally Posted by tpw

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but if you are relying only on Google for traffic, then you deserve whatever has befallen you.

Even if you are banned from Google, I will give you $20 for your site, and I will make money with it.

The first part fine, you're trying to help her with your opinion but the last part you're just kicking someone when they're down while tooting your own horn.

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BloggingPro

13 years ago

Originally Posted by Alan Petersen

The first part fine, you're trying to help her with your opinion but the last part you're just kicking someone when they're down while tooting your own horn.

What is the world coming to? I don't think he really meant that in an "in your face, shut up and leave" manner. Honestly if I was the OP I would take that statement as having hope more than anything else. "If this guy could make money with it, then there must be a way I can!"

Forum marketing, guest blog posting, banner advertisements, FACEBOOK, hell even advertisements in the OPs local area are all ways to generate traffic for this kind of site.

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Alan Petersen

13 years ago

Originally Posted by BloggingPro

What is the world coming to? I don't think he really meant that in an "in your face, shut up and leave" manner. Honestly if I was the OP I would take that statement as having hope more than anything else. "If this guy could make money with it, then there must be a way I can!"

Forum marketing, guest blog posting, banner advertisements, FACEBOOK, hell even advertisements in the OPs local area are all ways to generate traffic for this kind of site.

There is how you see it. And there is how I see it. No big deal. No worries, the world is not coming to an end.

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tpw

13 years ago

Originally Posted by Alan Petersen

Originally Posted by tpw

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but if you are relying only on Google for traffic, then you deserve whatever has befallen you.

Even if you are banned from Google, I will give you $20 for your site, and I will make money with it.

The first part fine, you're trying to help her with your opinion but the last part you're just kicking someone when they're down while tooting your own horn.

Not exactly Alan.

I was making the point that anyone who puts their mind to it can make money, even if they are getting no traffic from Google.

And as far as selling a site that has been de-indexed by Google, not many people would be willing to buy a site that has been de-indexed for any respectable price.

I was offering $20, site unseen.

Someone who is already in that niche might be willing to pay a more respectable price for the site, but as potential buyers realize the site is de-indexed in Google, buyers will be dropping like flies, because most of the world thinks Google is the only answer for the traffic game.

A website is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it. And since I am not actually looking to buy someone else's problem website, I will only take it if the price is too good to pass up.

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sbucciarel

Banned 13 years ago

Originally Posted by tpw

I was making the point that anyone who puts their mind to it can make money, even if they are getting no traffic from Google. And as far as selling a site that has been de-indexed by Google, not many people would be willing to buy a site that has been de-indexed for any respectable price.

It has not been de-indexed. I checked and it has over 300 pages in Google.

Edit: Just checked and the main home page is de-indexed but all other pages are indexed. Strange.

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derekwong28

13 years ago

Originally Posted by sbucciarel

It has not been de-indexed. I checked and it has over 300 pages in Google.

Edit: Just checked and the main home page is de-indexed but all other pages are indexed. Strange.

The homepage has been de-indexed and I am seeing a number of pages with no description. This may be a blip but this may also be a prelude to full de-indexing.

This is why the first thing I would check is that there is no robots.txt file there that you are not aware of.

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ejb2059

13 years ago

Originally Posted by tpw

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but if you are relying only on Google for traffic, then you deserve whatever has befallen you.

Even if you are banned from Google, I will give you $20 for your site, and I will make money with it.

I'm sorry but I find this cold hearted, sarcastic comment way out of line ..

If you can't say something positive, keep it to yourself

Rev

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tpw

13 years ago

Originally Posted by ejb2059

Originally Posted by tpw

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but if you are relying only on Google for traffic, then you deserve whatever has befallen you.

Even if you are banned from Google, I will give you $20 for your site, and I will make money with it.

I'm sorry but I find this cold hearted, sarcastic comment way out of line ..

If you can't say something positive, keep it to yourself

Rev

The truth isn't always positive and uplifting, Rev.

Two valid points were made with that post:

1. Google is not, nor should it be considered, the only source of traffic for a website.

2. If I could make money with the site knowing nothing about the niche, then the current owner should be able to make money with it too. The fact that I have confidence in my ability to make money with the OP's site should give confidence to the OP that they can do it too.

The only thing offensive about my comments is the $20 offer for the website. But I am not going to pay big bucks for a site in a niche I am unfamiliar with. However, if the OP cannot sell it for the price they want, my $20 offer stands. I might even be willing to pay a little more, but that would require me to look at the site in depth, rather than reading about it in a forum post.

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MaverickUK

13 years ago

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rts2271

13 years ago

Originally Posted by MaverickUK

And the worlds biggest idiot award goes to... You sir. People like yourself don't deserve any success that comes their way. It's strange that it's the cold hearted and ruthless that usually make a business work.

If only I had a magic lamp with 3 wishes, you would soon be bankrupt and homeless. Yes, we can all be cold hearted freaks when we want to be.

To the OP, give it a week or two before selling the site, it may be a temporary thing.

Take your socialist tears back across the pond. He was making a calculated statement on what he would give for the site with the info presented. Sorry if that makes you butthurt. You know why in your terms cold hearted ruthless people are successful? Cause their not sitting their watching Dr Phil worrying about a koombaya moment. They are busy running a business and making money. Emotions should never EVER play into this. If your that emotionally attached to a site than your not running a business, your supplementing your self esteem.

I'll bet your one of those people who believes in income disparity, spreading the wealth and rich people are bad guys.

To the OP. I think the guy with the top post hit it. I didnt think to look at the metas or robots file. But definitely also take a look at the sites focus and pick out the advice from this thread and you will dominate your niche

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MaverickUK

13 years ago

Originally Posted by rts2271

Take your socialist tears back across the pond. He was making a calculated statement on what he would give for the site with the info presented. Sorry if that makes you butthurt. You know why in your terms cold hearted ruthless people are successful? Cause their not sitting their watching Dr Phil worrying about a koombaya moment. They are busy running a business and making money. Emotions should never EVER play into this. If your that emotionally attached to a site than your not running a business, your supplementing your self esteem.

I'll bet your one of those people who believes in income disparity, spreading the wealth and rich people are bad guys.

To the OP. I think the guy with the top post hit it. I didnt think to look at the metas or robots file. But definitely also take a look at the sites focus and pick out the advice from this thread and you will dominate your niche

Blah blah blah. You're one of those people people who think it's right to stick up for 'old timers' no matter what, even if they're being absolute idiots. Some of the people on here are really hilarious, especially those like you and 'him', or rather 'it'.

I'm sure you realise there's a way to go about things without being insulting without reason and also helping someone who is in need. His post did neither, yet you're still batting his ball... I guess some people are just born to be an absolute 'insert offensive word here'.

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rts2271

13 years ago

Originally Posted by MaverickUK

Blah blah blah. You're one of those people people who think it's right to stick up for 'old timers' no matter what, even if they're being absolute idiots. Some of the people on here are really hilarious, especially those like you and 'him', or rather 'it'.

I'm sure you realise there's a way to go about things without being insulting without reason and also helping someone who is in need. His post did neither, yet you're still batting his ball... I guess some people are just born to be an absolute 'insert offensive word here'.

I feel like singing feelings to you, but it might make you cry. He was not trying to be insulting. I took it as him essentially saying why bother selling it cause no ones gonna give you more then 20 in its current state. I'm so sorry that you don't like blunt conversation. Perhaps you should get out of IM and think about getting into needlepoint. At least their you will be dealing with little old ladies and most of them wont call you on your emo tendencies.

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tpw

13 years ago

Originally Posted by rts2271

Originally Posted by MaverickUK

Originally Posted by rts2271

Originally Posted by MaverickUK

Originally Posted by tpw

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but if you are relying only on Google for traffic, then you deserve whatever has befallen you.

Even if you are banned from Google, I will give you $20 for your site, and I will make money with it.

And the worlds biggest idiot award goes to... You sir. People like yourself don't deserve any success that comes their way. It's strange that it's the cold hearted and ruthless that usually make a business work.

If only I had a magic lamp with 3 wishes, you would soon be bankrupt and homeless. Yes, we can all be cold hearted freaks when we want to be.

To the OP, give it a week or two before selling the site, it may be a temporary thing.

Take your socialist tears back across the pond. He was making a calculated statement on what he would give for the site with the info presented. Sorry if that makes you butthurt. You know why in your terms cold hearted ruthless people are successful? Cause their not sitting their watching Dr Phil worrying about a koombaya moment. They are busy running a business and making money. Emotions should never EVER play into this. If your that emotionally attached to a site than your not running a business, your supplementing your self esteem.

I'll bet your one of those people who believes in income disparity, spreading the wealth and rich people are bad guys.

To the OP. I think the guy with the top post hit it. I didnt think to look at the metas or robots file. But definitely also take a look at the sites focus and pick out the advice from this thread and you will dominate your niche

Blah blah blah. You're one of those people people who think it's right to stick up for 'old timers' no matter what, even if they're being absolute idiots. Some of the people on here are really hilarious, especially those like you and 'him', or rather 'it'.

I'm sure you realise there's a way to go about things without being insulting without reason and also helping someone who is in need. His post did neither, yet you're still batting his ball... I guess some people are just born to be an absolute 'insert offensive word here'.

I feel like singing feelings to you, but it might make you cry. He was not trying to be insulting. I took it as him essentially saying why bother selling it cause no ones gonna give you more then 20 in its current state. I'm so sorry that you don't like blunt conversation. Perhaps you should get out of IM and think about getting into needlepoint. At least their you will be dealing with little old ladies and most of them wont call you on your emo tendencies.

Ralph: He is probably still mad about the other day...

See below:

Originally Posted by tpw

Originally Posted by MaverickUK

Originally Posted by CDarklock

Originally Posted by MaverickUK

CDarklock Your comment is amazingly arrogant.

He had a site that was making money, and turned it into a site that was not making money.

I suggest that this was rather a mistake.

Why, thank you. Yours seems remarkably uninterested in the facts.

You didn't even know his reasoning behind the change. You should bottle your arrogance and sell it to people like Alan Sugar.

Pot -> Kettle = Black

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Dan C. Rinnert

13 years ago

Originally Posted by MaverickUK

And the worlds biggest idiot award goes to... You sir. People like yourself don't deserve any success that comes their way. It's strange that it's the cold hearted and ruthless that usually make a business work.

He's an idiot because he knows how to monetize non-Google traffic? Wow. The definition of "idiot" must have changed recently.

Despite whatever people want to think, Google is not the be-all and end-all of traffic. There was even a time when Google didn't exist. And, still, people managed to find things online.

The thing is, if you are relying solely on Google for traffic and focusing solely on Google, you are putting all your eggs in one basket. Your entire livelihood depends on the whims of one entity.

The OP needs to find ways to make money off of traffic sources outside of Google. If that is not what the OP wants or is able to do, then it's probably best to cut her losses and dump or sell the site.

There are search engines other than Google. Bing and Yahoo, for example. Bing and Yahoo do send me less traffic than Google, yet a higher percentage of BUYERS come from Bing and Yahoo.

It can be good to have higher quality traffic than higher quantity traffic. And, from my experience, Google sends a higher percentage of tire kickers.

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vok

13 years ago

Like any 'real' business you need to manage your exposure to risk. Just Google isn't in the business of giving you free traffic hand outs all day long. They're not some kind of internet marketers benefit system, they don't owe you a living they don't owe you anything. There a business in itself, with it's own set of customers and clientele to please.

'Real' business people spread their risk around, and rightly invest into their businesses. People who are gamblers, hobbyists, or quick buck artists, make a dollar here and a dollar there and then get totally whipped out. All because they can't manage risk to save their own life.

The quick buck artists come and go everyday in this business and lucky enough it clears the way for the real business owners, company owners, and entrepreneurs.

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Peterdeg

13 years ago

A quick one here.

It is common to bounce around in Google and fall down the rankings, but it is not common to be de-indexed. This to me suggests that something is up with the site that Google hates.

To possibly solve this, join Google webmasters, wait a day or two and see if anything is flagged. If there is, sort it and resubmit it to Google and see where it ends up.

Hope this helps. I feel your pain!!

Pete

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tpw

13 years ago

Originally Posted by Peterdeg

A quick one here.

It is common to bounce around in Google and fall down the rankings, but it is not common to be de-indexed. This to me suggests that something is up with the site that Google hates.

To possibly solve this, join Google webmasters, wait a day or two and see if anything is flagged. If there is, sort it and resubmit it to Google and see where it ends up.

Hope this helps. I feel your pain!!

Pete

Yes, de-indexing is usually predicated by some action that Google considers black hat or against their TOS.

As far as a list of unhappy webmasters, who are upset about Google giving them the boot, even your list is very small.

Not saying specifically about you, but many people hose their businesses by relying solely upon Google for traffic.

Originally Posted by ksmusselman

I've been getting traffic from Yahoo, Bing, Ask.com, Twitter, Facebook and a LOT of referrals from top ranking sites where I have links, directory listings, etc. Unfortunately, it just so happened that organically and naturally, most of my traffic has happened to come from Google. Why? Because - that's what most people use to search. That's just how it is.

The fact that you are still getting traffic from Yahoo, Bing and Ask indicates some reliance on search engines.

The fact that you are using Twitter and Facebook also indicates free traffic.

Directory listings are more free traffic.

You have not really explained "top ranking sites", but I don't think you have disproved my original argument.

There are more than 3-dozen traffic strategies you could be using to deliver traffic to your website, utilizing millions of potential traffic sources, but you are only telling us about the "free traffic" sources.

My primary site got one-quarter million unique visitors and 1.3 million page views in 2010, and while my traffic from Google was substantial, Google only accounted for 35% of my total traffic.

In regards to search traffic, 45% of my total traffic came from search engines, but 10% of all my traffic came from the other 51 search engines that are not Google.

Yes, where search is concerned, Google is responsible for the largest part of the traffic, and that IS just the way it is.

While Google provided me 97,000 unique visitors in 2010 and the other 51 search engines gave me 28,000 unique visitors, 154,000 unique visitors came from somewhere else -- some was paid traffic and most was free and low-cost sources.

My point is this. If Google de-indexed my site, I could survive the loss of their traffic.

The only reason Google accounts for the majority of your traffic is because you are not diversifying your traffic sources.

No one should attempt to rely on Google for traffic, because Google is always looking out for Google and not for you.

The only entity that is always going to look out for you is you.

So look out for what is best for you -- and get your traffic from as many places as possible.

As long as you continue to believe that you NEED Google, you will be continuing to cripple your potential for survival.

So think outside the Google box, or sell your site to whomever is willing to buy a site that has been de-indexed by Google.

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tcraw1010 13 years ago

WOW . . .

As a relative "newb" who - after over four years of researching, learning, idea-developing, etc. - is FINALLY nearing the point of launching my first topic/theme site (the subject matter of which is very conducive to utilizing many affiliate programs and links), the topic of this thread and much of the informational responses following is VERY intimidating and daunting . . . especially for a (initially/currently) one-man operation.

To the original poster . . . PLEASE DON'T THROW IN THE TOWEL !!!

Although a relative novice (albeit with several years of "book/web learning/researching" under my belt), one of the things I have learned and am still coming to grips with is that - for virtually ANY business (in a free-market society such as the U.S.) - competition is always going to be one of the primary up-hill obstacles one will face .... especially on the internet. It's no newsflash that the internet provides a platform for virtually ANYONE to develop and launch their own business - of ANY size. As such - in my opinion - there are very few areas where one can/will be the "sole" vendor/provider of any given product and/or service. It's very much a situation of "who can play the game better and/or more creatively" to generate success.

Add to that the further obstacles of the "big boys" and "juggernaut" retailers of the world - be they brick-and-mortar+online (e.g. Walmart, Target, Best Buy, etc.) or just online (e.g. Amazon, Overstock, Buy.com, etc.) - who, if they even sniff a hint of threat of competition and/or division of market share from a (relatively) smaller online business, could (and sometimes do) flex their muscles and call-in favors to create even greater obstacles for/against the "little guy."

However, the internet is replete with stories of success of "little guys" who carved out their nooks on the web ... stuck with it ... thought creatively/out-of-the-box ... and realized varying levels of success. Two (likely unknown to most) that come to my mind are MyWeddingFavors.com and CoolComputerBags.com

The "nutshell" stroies . . .
MyWeddingFavors.com was started by a woman who, after attending a friend's wedding and asking questions about the various wedding favors utilized (quality, where they came from, prices, etc.), decided she wanted to create an online business based on the premise of offering quality merchandise at reasonable prices. It's a longer, though very inspirational, story ... but the bottom line is that she learned of/took an online course on opening up a Yahoo Store, signed up with Yahoo Small Business and used the Yahoo sitebuilder tools to build/launch her site. She initially sourced products via dropshipping (then, eventually through manufacturers in China). Within three months, her site was generating $30,000/month in sales - and, after six years, it's still going strong.

CoolComputerBags.com (from what I believe to be the case) was started by a young lady (in her 20's) in 2007 who had the idea to create a business based around sales of cool-looking laptop carrying cases. She utilized the FREE open-source Magento shopping cart platform and - after realizing some moderate success with the initial store - took advantage of Magento's multi-store abilities and created five ancillary stores (BackPackSuperstore.com, YummiHandbags.com, DiaperbagsOnly.com, WeKnowWallets.com and TheLuggageExperts.com). After only four years, she now has a staff of employees, an experienced CEO and has set up a "parent" company called "EcommerceSuperstores.com" as both a method of organization as well as to attract new vendors and affiliates. (See the "About Us" section of CoolComputerBags.com)

THE POINT TO ALL OF THAT is this . . . . success comes at/from varying levels. Some are fortunate enough to realize it more quickly than others. Some are fortunate enough to have more financial backing (be it personal or venture capital investment) than others. Some are a bit more web-savvy than others. (The list goes on). Add to that the reality that - as evidenced by some of the "tip of the iceberg" comments and information already offered within this thread discussion - there are literally hundreds upon hundreds of methods and strategies for marketing an online business ... so much so that it can be quite intimidating. (I know, I myself am quite intimidated by how much I still have to learn).

While I am quite sure there are many people here - who are far more experienced than I - who will differ in opinion . . . I am a firm believer that the sheer number and power of resources available via the internet is so vast and (for the most part) readily available to virtually anyone/everyone, that one does not have to take out a second-mortgage on one's home or empty one's retirement account to find and utilize very effective tools for virtually every aspect of development of an ecommerce store/business. MANY resources are absolutely FREE (such as the invaluable information/education available via community membership within The Warrior Forum) . . . some are VERY low/reasonably priced . . . and yes, some are quite expensive. The KEY is to STICK WITH IT and CONTINUE to research, learn and grow in your personal knowledge and experience with your project. Research and learn from what others have done before you and build upon such ideas/concepts utilizing a "best of all worlds" approach.

I know it can be frustrating . . . . BELIEVE ME I know (as someone who is constantly combating a very frustrating A.D.D. condition). However, I also know that personal drive and perseverance can and - more often than not - does pay off in the long run.

Sorry for the novelette . . . the inner blogger/writer in me often times takes over - especially on issues/topics I am passionate about.

GOOD LUCK TO YOU !!!

TOM
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cashcow

13 years ago

I think you have a big advantage because you sell your own product. This allows you to offer coupons, have sales etc... to bring in customers.

Have you tried marketing it on facebook with some sort of offer?

Maybe take out a facebook ad (yes, I know you said you don't have money for adwords but couldnt you just throw $20 into a facebook ad and see how many new customers you get?)

I think that these days you need to do more then just rely on google rankings - that should be the gravy but most of your efforts should be spent on trying to get your product in front of people that would want to buy it in a way that you have control over.

Selling it would probably not bring much money IMHO because it doesnt make much money, it just got delisted (actually it is still indexed it looks like to me) and they have to make the bookmarks so it's takes work to make the money.

Another thing you might consider is to focus on one "niche" like wedding bookmarks - give away a free wedding guide to get people on your list then sell the affilaite products as well as bookmarks.

Lee

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GameVoid

13 years ago

How come if I do:
site:wedding-favor-bookmarks.com there are 344+ pages in the google index

but if I do
site: www. wedding-favor-bookmarks. com there are only 2? (without spaces of course)

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BloggingPro

13 years ago

Originally Posted by GameVoid

How come if I do:
site:wedding-favor-bookmarks.com there are 344+ pages in the google index

but if I do
site: www. wedding-favor-bookmarks. com there are only 2? (without spaces of course)

Nice find. OP do you have a Google webmaster account? They may have simply removed the www version of your site and kept the non-www. Canonical issues can be finicky. Get a google webmaster account if you don't already have one and set Google to find your non-www version (since that's the site with all the pages still indexed).

You haven't really lost anything here (other than a ranking) but you weren't completely de-indexed which means with a backlink campaign you can reign supreme again.

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ksmusselman

13 years ago

Originally Posted by BloggingPro

Nice find. OP do you have a Google webmaster account? They may have simply removed the www version of your site and kept the non-www. Canonical issues can be finicky. Get a google webmaster account if you don't already have one and set Google to find your non-www version (since that's the site with all the pages still indexed).

You haven't really lost anything here (other than a ranking) but you weren't completely de-indexed which means with a backlink campaign you can reign supreme again.

Interesting. Yes, I do have a Google Webmaster account. I guess I'll have to go reset that. Thanks!

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Scott Ames

13 years ago

What a complete deflating thing to have happen. I don't blame you for getting angry, upset and wanting to quit. That's just human nature.

You have a nicely designed site from what I see. You just need traffic, again. Why not take some time off, noodle around with something else fun, then come back to this. You may get a second wind and decide to attack it and win.

I can't believe your site will stay out of the Google index. There must be a way to fix it. Ask for help here. There are lots of folks with excellent skills and experience that will help you to figure it out.

Get other sources of traffic as well. You already have, but get more.

Find someone to JV with and get sales that way.

Give up if you really are sick of it. It's really ok to give up. No one cares but you. Just ask yourself if giving up is really what you want. Sometimes the answer is yes. Sometimes you are just frustrated, angry, and want to lash out. If the latter is the case, lash out and overcome this.

Some inspiration that I like if you don't mind:

Remember Harland Sanders?

"In his travels, he was rejected on many occasions, laughed at about his attire of his starched white shirt and white pants. However, Sanders persevered, and after a little over 1,000 visits, he finally persuaded Pete Harman in South Salt Lake, Utah to partner with him. They launched the first "Kentucky Fried Chicken" site in 1952. "

Can you even imagine visiting 1,000 places and being rejected over and over? Most would give up after perhaps 10 to 20 visits and declare that no one is interested. When it got to 400 visits no one would have blamed him for quitting. The thing is he didn't quit UNTIL he got what he wanted. Easy to say, hard to do, but he did it.

Tony Robbins says "How long would you give your child to walk before you gave up?" We know eventually the child will learn so we expect the child to walk eventually and continue mentoring and teaching UNTIL the child does indeed walk.

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sbucciarel

Banned 13 years ago

Originally Posted by ksmusselman

I was holding #1 through #5 positions on Google for my main site's keywords for months. Then BAM. De-indexed. I've got a PR2 on a lot of my pages but I'm thinking I'd better get rid of it now while the Alexa rank is still holding okay at just under 250K.

First, you used the word de-indexed. It has not been de-indexed. It is still in Google. De-indexed would be completely removed from Google, never to return again.

So, if I were you ... I'd let Google do it's dance, wait a few weeks or so and check again. In the meantime as far as backlinks go, don't do anything that you haven't already been doing, providing that what you've been doing isn't some sort of black hat thing that would piss Google off.

As an example, if you've been getting relevant, quality backlinks regularly ... keep doing that, but don't go nuts and get a blast of thousands of backlinks to try to get back to page one.

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derekwong28

13 years ago

I cannot see anything wrong with your site, but the homepage has been de-indexed and the rest of the pages are under threat as well.

Can you make absolutely sure that you have not uploaded a robots.txt onto your site disallowing Googlebot to visit it? These things do happen and I have done it before by accident.

Otherwise, I would get a Google Webmaster Tools account and ask for re-inclusion.

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ksmusselman

13 years ago

Originally Posted by derekwong28

I cannot see anything wrong with your site, but the homepage has been de-indexed and the rest of the pages are under threat as well.

Can you make absolutely sure that you have not uploaded a robots.txt onto your site disallowing Googlebot to visit it? These things do happen and I have done it before by accident.

Otherwise, I would get a Google Webmaster Tools account and ask for re-inclusion.

Yup - it's a coding problem with the site that yukon pointed out, thank goodness. I just finished taking that piece out and re-uploaded all my sites. Whew!

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yukon

Banned 13 years ago

Originally Posted by ksmusselman

Yup - it's a coding problem with the site that yukon pointed out, thank goodness. I just finished taking that piece out and re-uploaded all my sites. Whew!

Just a heads up,

If I understand what you posted in the comment above.

Did you download the entire site, to correct the Index page meta tag?

Downloading an entire site, making edits, then uploading the site again, could be the reason the Index page now includes the NOINDEX tag (just saying it's possible)?

I think you mentioned you are running Adobe? Sometimes software can include different edits depending how you Save the finished files, example adding/deleting html header info, based on settings in the software that you might not realize are active while your doing edits.

What I'm trying to point out is, If it's a very small edit like the NOINDEX on the Index page (a single page), I wouldn't download the entire site for such a simple tweak.

Download a single page If that's the only page that needs the edit.

Always keep a backup of the entire site...

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ksmusselman

13 years ago

Originally Posted by yukon

Just a heads up,

If I understand what you posted in the comment above.

Did you download the entire site, to correct the Index page meta tag?

Downloading an entire site, making edits, then uploading the site again, could be the reason the Index page now includes the NOINDEX tag (just saying it's possible)?

I think you mentioned you are running Adobe? Sometimes software can include different edits depending how you Save the finished files, example adding/deleting html header info, based on settings in the software that you might not realize are active while your doing edits.

What I'm trying to point out is, If it's a very small edit like the NOINDEX on the Index page (a single page), I wouldn't download the entire site for such a simple tweak.

Download a single page If that's the only page that needs the edit.

Always keep a backup of the entire site...

I have my entire site on my hard drive, with a backup on a flash drive so I never have to download anything to work on it. And I usually only use Adobe Dreamweaver when I have to make edits in the code in more than one page and I don't want to bring up each page individually one by one in Notepad.

Turned out that stupid No Index code was in quite a few of the pages, not just the index, so to be sure I didn't miss any of them, I loaded the site into Dreamweaver and did a global find/replace. Then I double checked each page before I closed it. All should be okay now. :rolleyes:

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idk007

13 years ago

Sorry to sound harsh, but quit crying. It's not easy to make money anywhere. It takes work and dedication, just like anything anyone does.

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triste 13 years ago

You have to remember there are lots of other traffic sources out there...Google isn't everything.
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sbucciarel

Banned 13 years ago

Originally Posted by idk007

Sorry to sound harsh, but quit crying. It's not easy to make money anywhere. It takes work and dedication, just like anything anyone does.

If it were your site, you'd be frustrated too. This is a nice site. Looking it over, I can see no visible reason why it should be de-indexed.

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idk007

13 years ago

Originally Posted by sbucciarel

If it were your site, you'd be frustrated too. This is a nice site. Looking it over, I can see no visible reason why it should be de-indexed.

I have had many sites deindex, I moved on. Plus, his site doesnt look good. If I see a site that looks like it was made in 1995, I usually click away. It's mean, but it's the truth. I do what I can to make my sites look fresh, up to date, and that's why I hire designers for sites.

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sbucciarel

Banned 13 years ago

Originally Posted by idk007

I have had many sites deindex, I moved on. Plus, his site doesnt look good. If I see a site that looks like it was made in 1995, I usually click away. It's mean, but it's the truth. I do what I can to make my sites look fresh, up to date, and that's why I hire designers for sites.

Taste is subjective. I like the site. Seen a whole lot worse from people getting started here.

Since you've had many sites deindexed, what good does your fresh, up-to-date look do you?

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fluffythewondercat

13 years ago

Originally Posted by sbucciarel

Taste is subjective. I like the site.

Conversion isn't subjective, though, and this site is not optimized for conversions.

fLufF
--

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sbucciarel

Banned 13 years ago

Originally Posted by fluffythewondercat

Conversion isn't subjective, though, and this site is not optimized for conversions.

fLufF
--

Originally Posted by ksmusselman View Post
Well, it was making about $500/mo - for one or two months. It was just starting to pick up some speed when....

Sounds like conversions to me.

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fluffythewondercat

13 years ago

Originally Posted by sbucciarel

Originally Posted by ksmusselman View Post
Well, it was making about $500/mo - for one or two months. It was just starting to pick up some speed when....

Sounds like conversions to me.

I didn't say she wasn't making conversions; I said it wasn't optimized for such.

As others have pointed out, just the purchase process is painful. And it needn't be. You can easily get a merchant account and a real shopping cart.

Shoppers are trained to look for an Add to Cart button. You can check any product page on my ecommerce site: JCearrings.com

Not perfect but it does convert nicely and there's absolutely no confusion about how to order. :-)

fLufF
--

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dannygnenerate

13 years ago

Originally Posted by ksmusselman

I was holding #1 through #5 positions on Google for my main site's keywords for months. Then BAM. De-indexed. I've got a PR2 on a lot of my pages but I'm thinking I'd better get rid of it now while the Alexa rank is still holding okay at just under 250K.

I'm just so freaking sick of working my a s s off, getting excellent positioning and then getting socked for no reason except ... well I don't know. I guess they got another bug up theirs and now, well, I'm just really, really pissed.

And I do not have the funds to go buying AdWords, which is probably what they're hoping I'll do. Or to invest in any other kind of free traffic because the money from my last couple of sales is gone - bills and necessities.

This business was supposed to be my livelihood, supplement my disability income. But I'm so sick and tired of this crap. It's like working all week and not getting paid, you know?

And I'm just too damned old and tired to be playing these stupid games with the big baby G. I worked HARD and played by all their inane changing rules; I was making some decent steady sales for a while then nothing. This morning I got up and checked again, and guess what? They decided to take down two more of my last remaining three pages on their index.

And no, I'm not even ashamed to admit it - I'm just sitting here crying like, why the F did I even bother. This was like the last straw for me. I've been busting my a s s for over a YEAR and this is the third time Baby G had a temper tantrum and got rid of all my pages.

So how much is this site worth now that instead of 150 visitors/day it's down to 30/day thanks to Google? Can anyone please give me an estimate on what this site might worth now that Google's pretty much just put me out of business? I feel like a little mom & pop shop that just got bowled over by Walmart.

Should I just list it on flippa and see what happens?

Edited: This is for my bookmarks site at Bookmark Wedding Favors and Custom Laminated Bookmarks for All Occasions

Boy oh Boy... I'll try to make this simple... Google's crappy analytical rules have changed and so have their crawling bots and everyone is effected who doesn't understand all this technical jargon. But but but... Why? Please tell me why everyone is still following these old recipes for success? They don't work and you know they don't work but everyone still uses them and keep getting no results, hoping one day these old method will work. It's a joke, you can't keep doing the same things and expect different results.

"Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results." - Albert Einstein

You have to make things simple. I was in the same shoes as everyone else here about 7 years ago until I WOKE UP. You can't keep doing this to yourselves... You guys are at an internet marketing forum and it "SEEMS" like no one here is even making 3,000 dollars a week. Why? I'll tell you why, because you guys are stuffing your heads with too much information from people who aren't successful, this community needs to be filtered more. Do you think a Millionaire or Billionaires take financial advice from a person who isn't already making real money. If you're not making money ask yourself why? Then write it down. Be critical. I'm 28 years old, black and I came up from absolutely nothing... My house burnt down and I had only 15 bucks, which I used to buy my wife and two kids food... Now come on, I know darn well if I can do this all of you can too. I'm sorry about your site but everything happens for a reason. Get rid of these old useless methods and use things that work ONLY. I'm successful for a reason and my motivation is to help. I'm good at what I do. You are here for the same thing, to be helpful and make money doing it. It's time to generate some income in you life but first understand this one thing... Change you definition of failure... Failure is just a way to filter out what doesn't work and remember abundance if just the ability to do what you need to do when you need to do it... Money IS NOT the only form of abundance and if you think it is then you are closing the door to other forms of abundance... I you want to make some real money all you have to do is ask me... it's that simple

Good luck..

Danny

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rts2271

13 years ago

/critiqueon
Page to busy

Ad blocks need ads or removed. I would go for affiliate linked products related to niche in these spots.

Can't tell what the site does in under 10 seconds

Cant see where to buy in under 10 seconds

To many links

Looks like it was written to make sense for the site owner, not the buyer

The site looks like you frankenstined a sales page, a cart, a blog and a branding site. No focus

/critiqueoff

Look the simple fact is if human eyes can't tell what your page does in 10 seconds a spider and algo are going to give up in about 2. The only reason you were listed is from article marketing which in its previous incarnation is essentially a dead industry now. Once your article marketing efforts were nullified all the rest fell apart because your page is to difuse.

You need 3 separate sites not one frankensite.
A branding site
A sales page
A blog
A shopping cart

You've got all the content, now you just need to split up where it goes and laser focus the sites. Also you need a strong call to action and tell the customers what you want them to do. NOT A VIDEO on how to order. If your purchase process is so difficult that you have to make a video to explain it, you need a new purchase process.

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Duggs

13 years ago

golden info...I hope the OP uses this I know i will. Seems like he has all the info needed to make the site in question a success from this thread only!!

Originally Posted by rts2271

/critiqueon
Page to busy

Ad blocks need ads or removed. I would go for affiliate linked products related to niche in these spots.

Can't tell what the site does in under 10 seconds

Cant see where to buy in under 10 seconds

To many links

Looks like it was written to make sense for the site owner, not the buyer

The site looks like you frankenstined a sales page, a cart, a blog and a branding site. No focus

/critiqueoff

Look the simple fact is if human eyes can't tell what your page does in 10 seconds a spider and algo are going to give up in about 2. The only reason you were listed is from article marketing which in its previous incarnation is essentially a dead industry now. Once your article marketing efforts were nullified all the rest fell apart because your page is to difuse.

You need 3 separate sites not one frankensite.
A branding site
A sales page
A blog
A shopping cart

You've got all the content, now you just need to split up where it goes and laser focus the sites. Also you need a strong call to action and tell the customers what you want them to do. NOT A VIDEO on how to order. If your purchase process is so difficult that you have to make a video to explain it, you need a new purchase process.

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ksmusselman

13 years ago

Originally Posted by rts2271

/critiqueon
Page to busy

Ad blocks need ads or removed. I would go for affiliate linked products related to niche in these spots.

Can't tell what the site does in under 10 seconds

Cant see where to buy in under 10 seconds

To many links

Looks like it was written to make sense for the site owner, not the buyer

The site looks like you frankenstined a sales page, a cart, a blog and a branding site. No focus

/critiqueoff

Look the simple fact is if human eyes can't tell what your page does in 10 seconds a spider and algo are going to give up in about 2. The only reason you were listed is from article marketing which in its previous incarnation is essentially a dead industry now. Once your article marketing efforts were nullified all the rest fell apart because your page is to difuse.

You need 3 separate sites not one frankensite.
A branding site
A sales page
A blog
A shopping cart

You've got all the content, now you just need to split up where it goes and laser focus the sites. Also you need a strong call to action and tell the customers what you want them to do. NOT A VIDEO on how to order. If your purchase process is so difficult that you have to make a video to explain it, you need a new purchase process.

"frankensite" ROFLMAO!! I love it!

Thank you for all these suggestions.

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DireStraits

13 years ago

Originally Posted by dannygnenerate

Boy oh Boy... I'll try to make this simple... Google's crappy analytical rules have changed and so have their crawling bots and everyone is effected who doesn't understand all this technical jargon. But but but... Why? Please tell me why everyone is still following these old recipes for success? They don't work and you know they don't work but everyone still uses them and keep getting no results, hoping one day these old method will work. It's a joke, you can't keep doing the same things and expect different results.

"Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results." - Albert Einstein

You have to make things simple. I was in the same shoes as everyone else here about 7 years ago until I WOKE UP. You can't keep doing this to yourselves... You guys are at an internet marketing forum and it "SEEMS" like no one here is even making 3,000 dollars a week. Why? I'll tell you why, because you guys are stuffing your heads with too much information from people who aren't successful, this community needs to be filtered more. Do you think a Millionaire or Billionaires take financial advice from a person who isn't already making real money. If you're not making money ask yourself why? Then write it down. Be critical. I'm 28 years old, black and I came up from absolutely nothing... My house burnt down and I had only 15 bucks, which I used to buy my wife and two kids food... Now come on, I know darn well if I can do this all of you can too. I'm sorry about your site but everything happens for a reason. Get rid of these old useless methods and use things that work ONLY. I'm successful for a reason and my motivation is to help. I'm good at what I do. You are here for the same thing, to be helpful and make money doing it. It's time to generate some income in you life but first understand this one thing... Change you definition of failure... Failure is just a way to filter out what doesn't work and remember abundance if just the ability to do what you need to do when you need to do it... Money IS NOT the only form of abundance and if you think it is then you are closing the door to other forms of abundance... I you want to make some real money all you have to do is ask me... it's that simple

Good luck..

Danny

What is this, seriously? All very well, but the OP was working on their site to earn money. If it's about the money for them, it's about the money. You telling them otherwise isn't going to change that.

All of this "be grateful", "it's about more than that" spirituality mumbojambo isn't going to help rectify the OP's problem. So before you start casting aspersions on other members of the forum who apparently earn nothing, talk crap and "don't get it" (yet are at least trying to come up with some proper solutions to the problem at hand), you might want to ask yourself exactly where in this post (and perhaps others) you've presented any real, workable solutions yourself.

Sending your 100% super-secret-sauce tips to someone you don't know via PM isn't going to stop them being spilled publicly.

Posts like this - nice though they sound - from relative newcomers to the forum, that give absolutely no workable advice to anyone at all, except "PM me" or "click my conveniently relevant sig-link", scream of nothing more than self-promotion.

***

In other news, the NOINDEX thing (which I'll admit I overlooked, myself, when having a browse through the OP's code) could very well be - and probably is - the culprit. Well spotted, Yukon.

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rts2271 13 years ago

Yukon wins!!!
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richgrad

13 years ago

Don't give up! It's when things look really bad that a breakthrough is around the corner... I've been screwed by google before... had both my adsense and adwords account shut down... been screwed by merchants that didn't pay (and that was a five figure commission!)... been hacked... you name it, I probably have gone thru it...

I know it looks like the end of the world now... Trust me... It isn't... The skills you picked up didn't go away just because some guy/big company tried to screw you over...

Chin up , dust yourself off the floor... You're just getting started!

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rhinocl 13 years ago

I'd like to suggest a middle route between the op giving up or putting more work into what she sees as a losing cause. Truly competent SEO people don't want to help with a brand new site on a percentage of future profits basis--but perhaps here with a site that has a track record...
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AlexisMoore

13 years ago

Maybe while you are working on fixing the issue with your home page you could begin looking into ideas for multiple streams of income so that when one goes down you will not be so devastated financially or emotionally. Don't get rid of the site, you will probably figure out exactly what the problem is and be able to smooth it out. But meanwhile, start creating one or two other forms of income.

I hope that things look up for you soon.
Lexi

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WhamSoft 13 years ago

Hi,

I'm sorry to hear of your bad luck with Google, I'm sure that your site will return to its previous search position in time. I think you should stick with the website but diversify your traffic sources, have you made the best use of the articles on your website? are you building a list? using video sites or social media?

A lot can be learn't from your experience with Google and I hope many other website owners are taking notes.

Don't put all your eggs in one basket.

Best of luck.
Lee
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- ehawkmarketer 13 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by WhamSoft
  
  Hi,
  
  Don't put all your eggs in one basket.
  
  Best of luck.
  Lee
  
  This sums it up. I think I will try to diversify further after your story. Thanks for sharing.
  
  Warren buffet has a diverified portfolio of entire companies and different industries within his Berkshire Hathaway.
  
  why should the web be any different?
  
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ehawkmarketer

13 years ago

If you're done with it, I suggest you do some research on flippa, and historical records, and then list it. It would list with a better chance if you do certain things, like get it on the front page listing. The copy is also important, etc.

But it sounds like you have a bit of experience with ebay so you should do ok listing on flippa.

Alternatively, you can boost it with paid traffic sources, then sell later...

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wmguild

13 years ago

Ouch - I definitely empathize with you - the problem with any new business is that it takes a while to get established, and what do you do until your fledgeling business takes off?

Rather than chuck the whole thing, you may want to consider taking on an outside source of income until then.

I noticed on your site that you write really good copy - maybe you can earn some extra money writing articles, etc.

Don't let discouragement steal your dreams from you!

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ksmusselman

13 years ago

Originally Posted by wmguild

Ouch - I definitely empathize with you - the problem with any new business is that it takes a while to get established, and what do you do until your fledgeling business takes off?

Rather than chuck the whole thing, you may want to consider taking on an outside source of income until then.

I noticed on your site that you write really good copy - maybe you can earn some extra money writing articles, etc.

Don't let discouragement steal your dreams from you!

Thanks Larry. I've been pushing my transcription business a little more heavily lately too and slowly picking up some new clients. I've been doing that for longer than the bookmarks. I started my side income in typing/word processing back in the early 90s but I slowed down with it when I started the bookmarks business but never closed it up all together.

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kakaboo

13 years ago

You probably won't be able to use Adwords even if you wanted to

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ksmusselman 13 years ago

Originally Posted by kakaboo

You probably won't be able to use Adwords even if you wanted to

Nope, don't want to.
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yukon

Banned 13 years ago

Problem Solved!

OP, your HTML code is telling Google not to index your site!

Why are you complaining about Google, your the one that created your own problem!

Remove the code in the red box (screenshot below) from your site, when your ready to be indexed by Google (you decide when your ready)!

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tpw

13 years ago

Originally Posted by yukon

OP ---> FAIL!

OP, your HTML code is telling Google not to index your site!

Why are you complaining about Google, your the one that created your own problem!

Remove the code in the red box (screenshot below) from your site, when your ready to be indexed by Google (you decide when your ready)! :rolleyes:

The big evil Google was only doing as they were asked.

It really is a shame that so many people think that my comments were "cold-hearted"...

Personally, I think it would have been far more "cold-hearted" to let the OP blame others for her misfortune.

There is always hope for a profitable tomorrow, provided one has not closed themselves off to opportunity and their true potential.

Unfortunately, blaming others for misfortune is often a crutch that allows a person to justify failure. Those who will be successful in life and business are those who accept the full responsibility for failure and success.

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yukon

Banned 13 years ago

Originally Posted by tpw

The big evil Google was only doing as they were asked.

It really is a shame that so many people think that my comments were "cold-hearted"...

Personally, I think it would have been far more "cold-hearted" to let the OP blame others for her misfortune.

There is always hope for a profitable tomorrow, provided one has not closed themselves off to opportunity and their true potential.

Unfortunately, blaming others for misfortune is often a crutch that allows a person to justify failure. Those who will be successful in life and business are those who accept the full responsibility for failure and success.

We all make mistakes sooner or later.

Like me for instance, I've never locked my keys in the car & had to sit on the porch outside my house waiting for my wife to get home with her keys [wink, wink].

As long as we learn from the mistakes, it makes life a little easier too manage in the future.

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ksmusselman

13 years ago

Originally Posted by yukon

Problem Solved!

OP, your HTML code is telling Google not to index your site!

Why are you complaining about Google, your the one that created your own problem!

Remove the code in the red box (screenshot below) from your site, when your ready to be indexed by Google (you decide when your ready)!

OMG!!!!

THANK YOU!!! I'm not a programmer so I never would have thought to look at that! When I checked in the Webmaster Tools, it said "no problem with html code."

I'll pull this thing up in Dreamweaver and remove that right away!!! You're a blessing!! Thank you!!

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sbucciarel

Banned 13 years ago

Originally Posted by yukon

Problem Solved!

OP, your HTML code is telling Google not to index your site!

Remove the code in the red box (screenshot below) from your site, when your ready to be indexed by Google (you decide when your ready)!

Perfect. No need to panic now. Just remove the noindex code and you'll be good to go. Once you remove that, ping it and social bookmark it to get the indexing of the main page back.

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yukon

Banned 13 years ago

Originally Posted by sbucciarel

Perfect. No need to panic now. Just remove the noindex code and you'll be good to go. Once you remove that, ping it and social bookmark it to get the indexing of the main page back.

That should do it!

Myself, I would create a few (4-5 links) higher PR backlinks pointing at the Index page. That would keep Google returning, each time picking up new internal links & content, plus it would help in the SERPs rank. OP said they were on page #1 once before, so the site should bounce back pretty easy.

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Steven Dybka

13 years ago

Originally Posted by yukon

Problem Solved!

OP, your HTML code is telling Google not to index your site!

Why are you complaining about Google, your the one that created your own problem!

Remove the code in the red box (screenshot below) from your site, when your ready to be indexed by Google (you decide when your ready)!

Very well done Yukon,Op take that out and you will be back in business.

Steve

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ksmusselman 13 years ago

Originally Posted by Steven Dybka

Very well done Yukon,Op take that out and you will be back in business.

Steve

Done, uploaded and pinged!
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- Steven Dybka 13 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by ksmusselman
  
  Done, uploaded and pinged!
  
  I'm still seeing that noindex tag on your home page.
  
  Steve
  
  Thanks
  
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  DireStraits 13 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by Steven Dybka
  
  I'm still seeing that noindex tag on your home page.
  
  Steve
  
  Yup - me too.
  
  Might want to double check that to avoid further disappointment, OP.
  
  Thanks
  
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  ksmusselman 13 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by Steven Dybka
  
  I'm still seeing that noindex tag on your home page.
  
  Steve
  
  On it now...one page at a time. Thank you.
  
  Thanks
  
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yukon

Banned 13 years ago

OP, next time you have a problem with the search engines, post your forum thread in the SEO forum.

I just happend to be looking at new forum updates for the entire warrior forum, when I found this thread.

Meta tags are one of the first things I check when someone is having problems with the Search engines (Google, etc...), pretty easy to spot, If you know what your looking for.

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JR Consulting 13 years ago

Did you have a thread going the other day about alternative traffic methods, where people gave you a lot of great alternatives to Google? Why would you throw in the towel and sell your site before you try some of those alternatives?

Despite what many people think, Google really isn't out to get you. They're not dropping you in the serps so you'll pay for Adwords, nor do they increase your rankings if you do use Adwords. Like someone else said, if they gave top 10 rankings to people that used Adwords, those people would stop using Adwords because the whole point of using Adwords is to get on the first page until you can rank there organically.

You've been given some great advice in both of your threads. If you really want to give up and sell your site, do it. I suggest that you stick with it, take that advice and run with it. There are more than enough people here that are willing to offer solutions and alternatives to your Google issues.

Best of luck no matter what you decide, but I hope you stick with it.
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Kalyken

Banned 13 years ago

[DELETED]

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tcraw1010 13 years ago

Originally Posted by Kalyken

Another one out of the game?

More money for me!

Dude ... Not Cool
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ksmusselman

13 years ago

Originally Posted by Kalyken

Another one out of the game?

More money for me!

Not so fast, not so fast! ROFLMAO!!!

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rts2271

13 years ago

ksmusselman,

This is no joke. Judging by your content and the niche your in, saturation and real competition. I would think you could probably pull 1500 a week by the end of the year out of that site on product sales alone, not including potential ad revenue. I don't think you really have much work to do to get this number either. Not knowing your niche I may well be calling this number way short as I have a buddy in a much more shallow niche and he is banking about 2.5k a week between his 4 entities in the niche.

One other thing, if your not married to the ads make them your products that appear there or push them off to your blog. You don't want buyers leaving your site where they could be buying a product for X dollars to lose them for a link you will only get cents for.

Remember this date because in a year you will laugh at this post.

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ksmusselman

13 years ago

Originally Posted by rts2271

ksmusselman,

This is no joke. Judging by your content and the niche your in, saturation and real competition. I would think you could probably pull 1500 a week by the end of the year out of that site on product sales alone, not including potential ad revenue. I don't think you really have much work to do to get this number either. Not knowing your niche I may well be calling this number way short as I have a buddy in a much more shallow niche and he is banking about 2.5k a week between his 4 entities in the niche.

One other thing, if your not married to the ads make them your products that appear there or push them off to your blog. You don't want buyers leaving your site where they could be buying a product for X dollars to lose them for a link you will only get cents for.

Remember this date because in a year you will laugh at this post.

Yes, the wedding industry is really, really competitive. Now, I don't have a lot of competition in the paper laminated "bookmarks" category but for "bookmarks" generally, the wedding favor people realized that bookmarks were popular, so whereas back in the 90s when my girlfriend had a similar business that paid her mortgage, today the wedding favor industry has these cute little "mass produced" trinket bookmarks that I have to say really are very cute.

You can't customize them like you can the paper laminated bookmarks, but today, since they're so cheap and brides are looking to save money, they're a nice option to buying the laminated ones.

I'm really almost to the point of "selling out" homemade to mass produced and simply buying into a Kate Aspen wedding favors store but keeping my blog to push traffic since I've written so many original wedding favor articles. It's an option I'm tossing around, like if ya can't beat 'em, join 'em.

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rts2271

13 years ago

Originally Posted by ksmusselman

Yes, the wedding industry is really, really competitive. Now, I don't have a lot of competition in the paper laminated "bookmarks" category but for "bookmarks" generally, the wedding favor people realized that bookmarks were popular, so whereas back in the 90s when my girlfriend had a similar business that paid her mortgage, today the wedding favor industry has these cute little "mass produced" trinket bookmarks that I have to say really are very cute.

You can't customize them like you can the paper laminated bookmarks, but today, since they're so cheap and brides are looking to save money, they're a nice option to buying the laminated ones.

I'm really almost to the point of "selling out" homemade to mass produced and simply buying into a Kate Aspen wedding favors store but keeping my blog to push traffic since I've written so many original wedding favor articles. It's an option I'm tossing around, like if ya can't beat 'em, join 'em.

No if you can't beat them, snag all their traffic and dent their sales until they buy you out. Be the barbarian at the gate.

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ksmusselman 13 years ago

Originally Posted by rts2271

No if you can't beat them, snag all their traffic and dent their sales until they buy you out. Be the barbarian at the gate.

Love it!
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WebPen

13 years ago

Sorry to hear about your bad luck- at least you're still getting some traffic.

I like SEO, but I definitely think it shouldn't be a business's main source of traffic.

a.k.a. I know it shouldn't after my website went from about $200/week to nil thanks to big G

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MaverickUK

13 years ago

tpw, the only thing I care about is your lack of compassion. That's all. I find it hard to sit back and read people writing sarcastic comments to others when they're staring adversity right in the face.

You pop along, on your high horse and words of wisdom and make things worse for the OP. It really doesn't matter if it was her fault, Google's fault, your fault, my fault - no matter who's fault it is, you shouldn't be mocking people like you're an upper class citizen.

That's the way I see it at least.

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tpw

13 years ago

Originally Posted by MaverickUK

tpw, the only thing I care about is your lack of compassion. That's all. I find it hard to sit back and read people writing sarcastic comments to others when they're staring adversity right in the face.

You pop along, on your high horse and words of wisdom and make things worse for the OP. It really doesn't matter if it was her fault, Google's fault, your fault, my fault - no matter who's fault it is, you shouldn't be mocking people like you're an upper class citizen.

That's the way I see it at least.

Then you must be wearing sunglasses at night.

I don't lack compassion for anyone who is looking to pick themselves up in the face of adversity.

But when the OP is looking to scapegoat someone else for their failure, then they are trying to dodge the personal responsibility that is needed to conquer adversity.

If she wants to sell and quit her business, that is her call. Some people are not cut out for running a business, and if she has decided that is a definition that fits her, so be it.

But my point in that original post was two-fold:

1. Anyone relying solely on Google for success is making a grave mistake, since Google only looks out for Google.

2. If anyone can make money with the OP's website, then anyone committed to success will be able to make money with that website also.

The OP is much better positioned than I to make money with her website, and I could make the money with her website. She needs to stop looking for scapegoats and start looking for solutions.

The only thing that I said that could be construed as questionable is my offer to buy her site for $20. But I don't buy sites unseen for more money than that, especially when the seller just told me that the site is not earning well.

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Matt.Lake

13 years ago

Out of interest, if that "no index" tag is the culprit, why has the site been ranking well up until now despite it telling Google to not even index the site/page?

I'm presuming that the tag wasn't added recently... may be it was.

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ksmusselman

13 years ago

Originally Posted by Matt.Lake

Out of interest, if that "no index" tag is the culprit, why has the site been ranking well up until now despite it telling Google to not even index the site/page?

I'm presuming that the tag wasn't added recently... may be it was.

That's a really good question! I have no idea! Seriously! I had to have put it in there because it's in the code but I really have no idea why I. :confused: Like I said, I'm not a programmer. The only thing I know how to do on Dreamweaver is find/replace if I want to make global changes on my site. Otherwise, I do my pages in pure html in Notepad.

But if that's what fixes the problem, along with changing my settings so Google lists the site as a non-www, I'll be happy.

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JamesGw

13 years ago

Google has been on a tear lately when it comes to deindexing sites. I had a site deindexed for linking to bad content, when I was literally only pointing to two clickbank offers in strength and conditioning niches (not even make money online.)

The odd part is that my site got deindexed, but the sales pages I was linking to are still up on Google. Go figure.

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KamauAustin

13 years ago

Wow a little more finesse in some of the comments could have made the point just as well. Tough love huh? You only use tough love when you have to be tough.

Diversify, Diversify, Diversify, did I say Diversify?

Facebook, Twitter, and social media I noticed in my traffic stats can easily drive as much traffic as Google these days. And YOU control the flow of Traffic more with proactive promotion. Google is a big crap shoot now!

Okay everybody said this already. But if you know SEO you should also be able to start a local web portal, mobile ad agency and/or Google places business selling ad campaigns to local business. You'd make a lot more money this way and be a BIG fish in a little pond. I'd try this approach before giving up.

What I like about this approach to supplement your income is although you would rely on Google somewhat you can build the brand of your local portal with flyers, events, posters, newspaper ads, and links from other local sites to build visibility. Once people know your local portal they will go to Google and search for your local web portal (web site with local news, events, and content).

Therefore you flip the script on Google. You no longer need Google but now Google needs you. This is because you've become an established local brand for neighborhood news that now Google has to respond to in it's index.

Ha! The little guy RULEs for a change!

This is one way to turn the online promotion dynamics in your favor as a small business person. You'd be surprised the amount of information is searched for even for a small town.

For instance a small town with only 35,000 people could be getting 1 million searches a month for local event, biz, or news information. If you have all the skills to get a good Google ranking (despite the slap - we've all been there) you could easily dominate SEO for your local town, sell ads - PR - or SEO to small businesses and do 5 to 6 figure business without relying on Google.

A word to the wise. Just my 2 cents.

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tpw

13 years ago

Originally Posted by rts2271

ksmusselman, make sure to get that robots meta fixed today so you can get on the next update. Also again pick through the posts here that offer tidbits of focus advice and drill it. Your site is in a niche that with a bit of focus you could control the top couple search entries.

<meta name="robots" content="INDEX,FOLLOW" />

Ditto.

Originally Posted by ksmusselman

I added the site link to my initial post: Bookmark Wedding Favors and Custom Laminated Bookmarks for All Occasions

I am pretty sure we have spoke before, and I think by phone, because I have seen your site before.

Originally Posted by KamauAustin

Diversify, Diversify, Diversify, did I say Diversify?

Facebook, Twitter, and social media I noticed in my traffic stats can easily drive as much traffic as Google these days. And YOU control the flow of Traffic more with proactive promotion. Google is a big crap shoot now!

Okay everybody said this already. But if you know SEO you should also be able to start a local web portal, mobile ad agency and/or Google places business selling ad campaigns to local business. You'd make a lot more money this way and be a BIG fish in a little pond. I'd try this approach before giving up.

What I like about this approach to supplement your income is although you would rely on Google somewhat you can build the brand of your local portal with flyers, events, posters, newspaper ads, and links from other local sites to build visibility. Once people know your local portal they will go to Google and search for your local web portal (web site with local news, events, and content).

Therefore you flip the script on Google. You no longer need Google but now Google needs you. This is because you've become an established local brand for neighborhood news that now Google has to respond to in it's index.

Ha! The little guy RULEs for a change!

This is one way to turn the online promotion dynamics in your favor as a small business person. You'd be surprised the amount of information is searched for even for a small town.

For instance a small town with only 35,000 people could be getting 1 million searches a month for local event, biz, or news information. If you have all the skills to get a good Google ranking (despite the slap - we've all been there) you could easily dominate SEO for your local town, sell ads - PR - or SEO to small businesses and do 5 to 6 figure business without relying on Google.

A word to the wise. Just my 2 cents.

Even though Kamau is new to the Warrior Forum, I can vouch for him and his advice. He is very credible.

Originally Posted by ksmusselman

I've been working it "as a real business" for over a year; direct mail, print catalogs in bridal salons, samples to wedding consultants who called to request them, paid ads in newspapers, paid display ads in special bridal shows, 250 free bookmarks to a few bridal shows across the country, sponsored some contests, posted fliers, press releases, "business spotlight" articles in the paper, Chamber of Commerce, $300 to have fliers put in all the chamber newsletters, guest articles it the chamber newsletters, physical trade shows, craft shows, etc., etc.

And I ran out of money before I made any sales. So that's when I turned to the online venue. Going on my second year with this business and I still have never made any local offline sales. I don't even have any clients in my own STATE let alone my own county. Every one of my sales has come from online.

So I'm seriously beginning to think it's not me, it's the industry and maybe I just picked the wrong thing to do. :confused:

But I'm going to hold on for a bit I guess and see if fixing that screw up in the html code changes some things. :rolleyes:

I like the idea that you have sent advertising through those offline channels, but I would suggest that your advertising to date has involved too much shotgun and not enough rifle.

While the wedding consultant should jump in line for your offer, they are going to be more conservative about what they recommend to their clients.

I think you would be far more effective sending samples to the bride and her family. You should be able to get information about people starting the process from bridal registries.

Funeral homes would seem to be another obvious target, but once again, they have people who are shaking in their shoes about the high cost of funerals.

I would probably attempt to reach families whose family member is in the hospice system. That might seem "cold-hearted" because that could make you look like a ambulance chaser, but these folks are already preparing for the worst, and you have the opportunity to put a positive on a negative.

This product would also fit well with graduation ceremonies. Once again, reaching them may be difficult, unless you strike deals with businesses that offer prom dresses and the like.

Instead of advertising to wide markets, try to target your advertising a little more tightly to find the people who are most likely to buy what you are selling.

And as I said before, steer clear of Adwords. Adwords can quickly break the bank.

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xstortionist

13 years ago

How much money is your site making a month?

Also, 30 visits a month isn't really all that bad, plus did you try doing a search with adobe browserlab? Sometimes google displays pages differently based upon search habbits, the browserlab systems are in the UK. Check it out.

Thanks
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ksmusselman

13 years ago

Originally Posted by xstortionist

How much money is your site making a month?

Also, 30 visits a month isn't really all that bad, plus did you try doing a search with adobe browserlab? Sometimes google displays pages differently based upon search habbits, the browserlab systems are in the UK. Check it out.

Well, it was making about $500/mo - for one or two months. It was just starting to pick up some speed when....

I've never heard of Browserlab. I'll have to look into that. Thanks!

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BloggingPro

13 years ago

Originally Posted by ksmusselman

Well, it was making about $500/mo - for one or two months. It was just starting to pick up some speed when....

I've never heard of Browserlab. I'll have to look into that. Thanks!

And it WILL make that again. Just can't let yourself get discouraged. Persistence is key. It's cliche, but it also works!

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BloggingPro

13 years ago

This was a very dramatic thread. Gotta love Friday's, big red bolded lettering and heat on Bill (what else is new? lol). To the OP hope you get things fixed and back onto the road of success and sales. I understand your frustration. When I first started out (not saying you are a beginner) I would struggle every time I didn't understand something. We live and learn I guess!

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ksmusselman

13 years ago

Originally Posted by BloggingPro

This was a very dramatic thread. Gotta love Friday's, big red bolded lettering and heat on Bill (what else is new? lol). To the OP hope you get things fixed and back onto the road of success and sales. I understand your frustration. When I first started out (not saying you are a beginner) I would struggle every time I didn't understand something. We live and learn I guess!

I think we can all take the heat off Bill now. Oddly enough, I think there were more people offended by his posts than I was! And I wasn't offended, stung or anything by what he posted. Hell, if I was in worse shape, I just might have sold the site for $20!

After a long overdue upcoming mini-vacation this weekend, I'll be starting back on Tuesday with a new To-Do List for both of my sites and take it from there.

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Boricua

13 years ago

Originally Posted by ksmusselman

I was holding #1 through #5 positions on Google for my main site's keywords for months. Then BAM. De-indexed. I've got a PR2 on a lot of my pages but I'm thinking I'd better get rid of it now while the Alexa rank is still holding okay at just under 250K.

I'm just so freaking sick of working my a s s off, getting excellent positioning and then getting socked for no reason except ... well I don't know. I guess they got another bug up theirs and now, well, I'm just really, really pissed.

And I do not have the funds to go buying AdWords, which is probably what they're hoping I'll do. Or to invest in any other kind of free traffic because the money from my last couple of sales is gone - bills and necessities.

This business was supposed to be my livelihood, supplement my disability income. But I'm so sick and tired of this crap. It's like working all week and not getting paid, you know?

And I'm just too damned old and tired to be playing these stupid games with the big baby G. I worked HARD and played by all their inane changing rules; I was making some decent steady sales for a while then nothing. This morning I got up and checked again, and guess what? They decided to take down two more of my last remaining three pages on their index.

And no, I'm not even ashamed to admit it - I'm just sitting here crying like, why the F did I even bother. This was like the last straw for me. I've been busting my a s s for over a YEAR and this is the third time Baby G had a temper tantrum and got rid of all my pages.

So how much is this site worth now that instead of 150 visitors/day it's down to 30/day thanks to Google? Can anyone please give me an estimate on what this site might worth now that Google's pretty much just put me out of business? I feel like a little mom & pop shop that just got bowled over by Walmart.

Should I just list it on flippa and see what happens?

Hopefully you saw what the solution for your problem was, I expanded on the details on why you dropped so much traffic. At least, I gave you a huge 'reason why' of your traffic lost.

Once again, check the articles on your index page and enter your domain name URL at copyscape.com. You can't have the same articles on two websites Ks.

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SteveJohnson 13 years ago

Originally Posted by Boricua

Once again, check the articles on your index page and enter your domain name URL at copyscape.com. You can't have the same articles on two websites Ks.

Huh? Of course you can.
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tpw

13 years ago

Originally Posted by BloggingPro

heat on Bill (what else is new? lol).

Definitely not anything new.

Originally Posted by Boricua

You can't have the same articles on two websites Ks.

Just when everything is settling down, I get to tell the dude with the laser weapon where to find me again.

This statement just isn't true, except for those people who put more faith in myth than factual information.

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Boricua

13 years ago

Originally Posted by Boricua
You can't have the same articles on two websites Ks.

Originally Posted by tpw

This statement just isn't true, except for those people who put more faith in myth than factual information.

Of course 'tpw', you've 4,000+ post, who would disagree with your opinion.

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tpw

13 years ago

Originally Posted by Boricua

Of course 'tpw', you've 4,000+ post, who would disagree with your opinion.

Lot's of people...

Stick around... You will find a lot of people who disagree with me fairly regularly...

In fact, reread this thread. I got more opposition in this thread and the one about the FTC and Google, than I have seen in a long time.

P.S. Post count does not make me smarter than anyone else. Post Count only says I have been around for a while and I participate in the forum.

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Dan C. Rinnert

13 years ago

Originally Posted by Boricua

Of course 'tpw', you've 4,000+ post, who would disagree with your opinion.

I did. Just last week!

Originally Posted by tpw

Stick around... You will find a lot of people who disagree with me fairly regularly...

In fact, reread this thread. I got more opposition in this thread and the one about the FTC and Google, than I have seen in a long time.

Yep, right in that thread there. And then I got bored and didn't stick with it until the end.

Originally Posted by tpw

P.S. Post count does not make me smarter than anyone else. Post Count only says I have been around for a while and I participate in the forum.

"I participate in the forum" is code for "I spend way too much time here."

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tpw 13 years ago

Originally Posted by Dan C. Rinnert

"I participate in the forum" is code for "I spend way too much time here."

Yes, that is the unspoken code.

Thank you for speaking what should never have been spoken... :p
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Boricua

13 years ago

Originally Posted by tpw

Lot's of people...

Stick around... You will find a lot of people who disagree with me fairly regularly...

In fact, reread this thread. I got more opposition in this thread and the one about the FTC and Google, than I have seen in a long time.

Somehow I missed that one, must be the writing/submissions, but that's a good and long thread for morning tea. Thanks. Between submission reports and finding a way to prize myself with a Game of Thrones episode, so need to dance it@@@

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tpw

13 years ago

Originally Posted by Boricua

Somehow how I missed that one, must be the writing/submissions, but that's a good and long thread for morning tea. Thanks. Between submission reports and finding a way to prize myself with a Game of Thrones episode, so need to dance it@@@

You probably missed it because it got locked down.

Generally when Godin's Law kicks in, some of the best threads get locked.

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King Louie

13 years ago

I don't know why Google deindexed your site but that happened to one of my sites before. I just added more content and made some tweaks to the design. I applied for consideration using Google Webmaster Tools. Good thing they reinstated my site and it's been on page 1 ever since.

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Dennis Gaskill

13 years ago

Originally Posted by King Louie

I don't know why Google deindexed your site but that happened to one of my sites before. I just added more content and made some tweaks to the design. I applied for consideration using Google Webmaster Tools. Good thing they reinstated my site and it's been on page 1 ever since.

Hi King Louie ... If you want to know why it happened, look at post #51 at the top of page two.

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King Louie 13 years ago

Originally Posted by Dennis Gaskill

Hi King Louie ... If you want to know why it happened, look at post #51 at the top of page two.

Yes, I just checked it out. I didn't read all the posts because of the commotion.

I have actually seen several pleas for help from webmasters who discovered that their sites were deindexed, only to find out that the culprit was the dreaded "nofollow" tag.
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celente

13 years ago

Originally Posted by King Louie

I don't know why Google deindexed your site but that happened to one of my sites before. I just added more content and made some tweaks to the design. I applied for consideration using Google Webmaster Tools. Good thing they reinstated my site and it's been on page 1 ever since.

Happend to one of my sites too, one of the ones that i spent my blood sweat and tears on. was a real shame too.

I like your tip with the Google webmaster tools...I have had success with that in the past, but forgot about it.

But glad you are back to page one.!!

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SteveJohnson

13 years ago

One more thing to look at - your sitemap. It has quite a few really odd URLs. The Big G likes sitemaps, and yours is really a mess. I don't know how you generate it, but it might not hurt to scrap it and start over.

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Ross Vegas 13 years ago

The original victimized tone of this post irked me quite a bit, but I'm glad the actual problem was resolved.

Now this might be over your head tech wise....

BUT

If you get indexed and continue to generate sales make absolute certain you are tracking them on the keyword level all the way through checkout.

If some future disaster occurs you can safely invest in Adwords knowing precisely which keywords were generating the sales and how much per click.

Tracking will also allow you to run some blanket ads and discover additional keywords you never ranked for but also generate sales.

Google analytics is your friend.
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ksmusselman

13 years ago

Originally Posted by SteveJohnson

One more thing to look at - your sitemap. It has quite a few really odd URLs. The Big G likes sitemaps, and yours is really a mess. I don't know how you generate it, but it might not hurt to scrap it and start over.

Good idea. I used Google's XML generator before but when I went to do a new one today, it didn't find anything. :confused:

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zachary0611

13 years ago

Definitely try to improve your on page seo, but focus on other traffic sources from now on.

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Dennis Gaskill

13 years ago

In addition to removing the NOINDEX command, also remove the NOFOLLOW command if you want the search engines to follow the links on your home page, like, to the rest of your content.

If I were you I'd check the rest of my pages to make sure the NOINDEX, NOFOLLOW isn't on any of your other pages as well.

Lastly, you've hopefully learned some good lessons here, including the need to diversify your traffic sources.

@ Yukon - Nice catch!

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Dennis Gaskill

13 years ago

Originally Posted by Dennis Gaskill

In addition to removing the NOINDEX command, also remove the NOFOLLOW command if you want the search engines to follow the links on your home page, like, to the rest of your content.

Actually, you shouldn't remove those, you should change them to: INDEX, FOLLOW

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ksmusselman 13 years ago

Originally Posted by Dennis Gaskill

Actually, you shouldn't remove those, you should change them to: INDEX, FOLLOW

Now you tell me! ROFLMAO! I'll deal with that AFTER vacation.
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- Dennis Gaskill 13 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by ksmusselman
  
  Now you tell me! ROFLMAO! I'll deal with that AFTER vacation.
  
  Better late than never at all.
  
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  ksmusselman 13 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by Dennis Gaskill
  
  Better late than never at all.
  
  Absolutely!!
  
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yukon

Banned 13 years ago

Originally Posted by Dennis Gaskill

Actually, you shouldn't remove those, you should change them to: INDEX, FOLLOW

The search engines will still index a page without the INDEX meta tag. If the NOINDEX meta tag doesn't exist in the page source code they will INDEX by default.

I never include that tag on any of my sites/pages & have 100% of my WP pages indexed. At least GWT (Google Webmaster Tools) says I do.

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Dennis Gaskill

13 years ago

Originally Posted by yukon

The search engines will still index a page without the INDEX meta tag. If the NOINDEX meta tag doesn't exist in the page source code they will INDEX by default.

I never include that tag on any of my sites/pages & have 100% of my WP pages indexed. At least GWT (Google Webmaster Tools) says I do.

True enough for a site that's never had a NOINDEX tag, but I figured in this case it might be better to include it. It sure can't hurt, and it may help, if not with Google, then perhaps with other search engines.

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NoBSGuy

13 years ago

Don`t throw in the towel my dear. Try to figure out what could`ve gone wrong and why. Concentrate on what to improve next.

Deindex means that there was something google didn`t welcome much and therefore sandboxed it. Here`s my experience with big G`s sandbox: whenever my sites got sandboxed, they returned much stronger over the next weeks. So don`t panik, your deindexed sites will rank again.

150 visitors per day are not the same as 1500 visitors per day. That`s the reason why I put double efforts on keyword research.

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Mr Lim

13 years ago

Learning on selling website such like yours in flippa.

If I could help, I'm glad to help....

Subscribed to this thread, waiting for your result. =)

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timpears

13 years ago

I too am on disability and want this to supplement my welfare check I get from the government. Hopefully so I could tell them that I don't need it any more. But I am getting close to the age where I would get my Social Security anyway.

But you can't just give up. Quitters never win, and winners never quit. I had a short term success with a news site, and like a dumb **** I sold the site and could never repeat it. So I am trying my best with regular blogs. It isn't easy, let me tell you. I don't care how those WSO sellers try to tell us it is.

You made it once, you can do it again. Just don't give up.

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ksmusselman

13 years ago

Originally Posted by timpears

I too am on disability and want this to supplement my welfare check I get from the government. Hopefully so I could tell them that I don't need it any more. But I am getting close to the age where I would get my Social Security anyway.

But you can't just give up. Quitters never win, and winners never quit. I had a short term success with a news site, and like a dumb **** I sold the site and could never repeat it. So I am trying my best with regular blogs. It isn't easy, let me tell you. I don't care how those WSO sellers try to tell us it is.

You made it once, you can do it again. Just don't give up.

Thank you, Tim! And best of luck to you too with your endeavors!

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DPM70

13 years ago

rts2211 - I've never heard such nonsense in all my life.

"This is no joke. Judging by your content and the niche your in, saturation and real competition. I would think you could probably pull 1500 a week by the end of the year out of that site on product sales alone, not including potential ad revenue. I don't think you really have much work to do to get this number either. Not knowing your niche I may well be calling this number way short as I have a buddy in a much more shallow niche and he is banking about 2.5k a week between his 4 entities in the niche."

Let me tell you that yes, this is a joke.

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rts2271

13 years ago

Originally Posted by DPM70

rts2211 - I've never heard such nonsense in all my life.

"This is no joke. Judging by your content and the niche your in, saturation and real competition. I would think you could probably pull 1500 a week by the end of the year out of that site on product sales alone, not including potential ad revenue. I don't think you really have much work to do to get this number either. Not knowing your niche I may well be calling this number way short as I have a buddy in a much more shallow niche and he is banking about 2.5k a week between his 4 entities in the niche."

Let me tell you that yes, this is a joke.

No not really, for you perhaps. I know personally a half dozen or so IM people who are pulling +5k a month on what I like to term sub-niches. Maybe its the number that bothers you. Is it too big? Not big enough? Its not BS there's many people doing it and the OP can too. 6k a month is not alot and with a bit of effort its a doable milestone that can be hit.

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tpw

13 years ago

Originally Posted by rts2271

Originally Posted by DPM70

rts2211 - I've never heard such nonsense in all my life.

"This is no joke. Judging by your content and the niche your in, saturation and real competition. I would think you could probably pull 1500 a week by the end of the year out of that site on product sales alone, not including potential ad revenue. I don't think you really have much work to do to get this number either. Not knowing your niche I may well be calling this number way short as I have a buddy in a much more shallow niche and he is banking about 2.5k a week between his 4 entities in the niche."

Let me tell you that yes, this is a joke.

No not really, for you perhaps. I know personally a half dozen or so IM people who are pulling +5k a month on what I like to term sub-niches. Maybe its the number that bothers you. Is it too big? Not big enough? Its not BS there's many people doing it and the OP can too. 6k a month is not alot and with a bit of effort its a doable milestone that can be hit.

I agree. Where is the joke exactly, DPM70?

Are the numbers too high for you or too low?

+5k a month is very doable. Well, at least I have done it for most of the last 7 years. So maybe we should say it is very doable by those who believe that they can.

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Spyder77

13 years ago

Originally Posted by ksmusselman

I was holding #1 through #5 positions on Google for my main site's keywords for months. Then BAM. De-indexed. I've got a PR2 on a lot of my pages but I'm thinking I'd better get rid of it now while the Alexa rank is still holding okay at just under 250K.

I'm just so freaking sick of working my a s s off, getting excellent positioning and then getting socked for no reason except ... well I don't know. I guess they got another bug up theirs and now, well, I'm just really, really pissed.

And I do not have the funds to go buying AdWords, which is probably what they're hoping I'll do. Or to invest in any other kind of free traffic because the money from my last couple of sales is gone - bills and necessities.

This business was supposed to be my livelihood, supplement my disability income. But I'm so sick and tired of this crap. It's like working all week and not getting paid, you know?

And I'm just too damned old and tired to be playing these stupid games with the big baby G. I worked HARD and played by all their inane changing rules; I was making some decent steady sales for a while then nothing. This morning I got up and checked again, and guess what? They decided to take down two more of my last remaining three pages on their index.

And no, I'm not even ashamed to admit it - I'm just sitting here crying like, why the F did I even bother. This was like the last straw for me. I've been busting my a s s for over a YEAR and this is the third time Baby G had a temper tantrum and got rid of all my pages.

So how much is this site worth now that instead of 150 visitors/day it's down to 30/day thanks to Google? Can anyone please give me an estimate on what this site might worth now that Google's pretty much just put me out of business? I feel like a little mom & pop shop that just got bowled over by Walmart.

Should I just list it on flippa and see what happens?

Mine was pretty new when it got de-indexed, along with the rest, for being on .co.cc free domain. Though there are many who will point out that I should have seen it coming, I was also new to IM and unaware of the spam issue others were using it for (and familiarization with .co.uk domains gave it credibility to me, even though they have nothing in common except naming structure).

After a week spent scrubbing it of all traces to .cc.co and rebuilding links adding content, and watching it sit in the sandbox (it was indexed on its blogspot URL, but not being crawled) I finally moved all of my content off site and nuked the Blogger account. By then I'd bought my own domain & hosting.

An "it really sucks" doesn't do justice to the experience of finding your site gone and all effort toward getting it out of the penalty box going nowhere. I learned from it what I could and continue going forward. I've become less of a fan of G and wary of the power they wield with their search engine near-monopoly status combined with a profit model based around their ability to derive revenue from the search results themselves (AdSense and Adwords), rather than using a different profit model: most would recognize this, correctly, as a conflict of interest ripe for abuse. Yet nobody sees that or seems to care, while we're all largely dependent (to one degree or another) on remaining in G's good graces.

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tpw

13 years ago

Originally Posted by Spyder77

I've become less of a fan of G and wary of the power they wield with their search engine near-monopoly status combined with a profit model based around their ability to derive revenue from the search results themselves (AdSense and Adwords), rather than using a different profit model: most would recognize this, correctly, as a conflict of interest ripe for abuse. Yet nobody sees that or seems to care, while we're all largely dependent (to one degree or another) on remaining in G's good graces.

I disagree with you totally on this, but a lot of people do share your view, as can be evidenced here.

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Spyder77

13 years ago

Originally Posted by tpw

I disagree with you totally on this, but a lot of people do share your view, as can be evidenced here.

Is it the role of a SE to return results based on what the user is entering, or to provide China style censoring of the results based on executive prerogatives? Note that I consider it valid for them to de-index sites that are breaking the law or serving only as MFA sites that provide no value to the user. I further agree that in taking steps to weed out both, there will be an occasional unintended consequence which doesn't, in itself, invalidate those efforts.

I just think G is going beyond the above today, and their views are - as is inevitable - becoming further muddled with their investment in Adsense & Adwords.

I also think that as they move further and further away from their primary role - that of a search engine - they come closer to alienating enough people to do the damage that can't be undone, and lose that core business to a new startup. G was not the first game in town. They were initially a bit player who capitalized on the turn off (the prominence of too many banner ads) to using the then established engines like Lycos and Alta-Vista. And they gained overnight a fanatical following that propelled them to where they are today.

History often repeats itself and, as big as they are, I think they're playing a dangerous game that puts their whole core business at stake. Anyway, time will tell. I could have it totally wrong, but I'd applaud if someone with the bucks and savvy to do it were to beat G at their own game by entering the game around the same model that G first started with.

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tpw

13 years ago

Originally Posted by Spyder77

Is it the role of a SE to return results based on what the user is entering, or to provide China style censoring of the results based on executive prerogatives? Note that I consider it valid for them to de-index sites that are breaking the law or serving only as MFA sites that provide no value to the user.

I don't want to go in the direction of the Google argument, because I don't want to derail the original discussion that was happening here.

Besides, I was more than vocal in the referenced thread, so people pretty much know where I stand.

The only thought I want to share with you here is "food for thought":

Who determines what is to be considered sites that "provide value to users"? If not Google, then who?

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Andy Kobe 13 years ago

With only 150 visitors a day I'd hardly say that you built
a business.

What you need is a wake up call:

- Google doesn't owe you anything (did you pay to have your pages
indexed and guaranteed rankings on their search engine? No)

- You obtained a status of 150 visitors per day (This is like dust, and
did you build a list while at it?)

- And are you just NOW figuring out that Google will always be shuffling
around rankings with algorithm updates, shifts and newer technology
(ignorance is bliss, in any business approach).
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Spyder77

13 years ago

Originally Posted by tpw

I don't want to go in the direction of the Google argument, because I don't want to derail the original discussion that was happening here.

Besides, I was more than vocal in the referenced thread, so people pretty much know where I stand.

The only thought I want to share with you here is "food for thought":

Who determines what is to be considered sites that "provide value to users"? If not Google, then who?

That brings us full circle back to the caveats I gave in the beginning, acknowledging that I see nothing wrong with them doing certain things to protect their business and promote its profitability - same thing everyone of us is here to do, and I'd be a hypocrite to damn them for doing the same fundamental thing I do.

So I stop short of that. Instead I liken it to a tight rope they are walking and one where even G doesn't know how thin it is. Each act of interfering in the "content"/"value" role of SERPs has its pros and cons. I see one pro of it in that proactive steps keep government out (and most in business would agree this is a good thing, with some necessary exceptions).

The con side of coin is each act of involvement is one that may alienate the delivery side: those pages G provides to users and which it wouldn't have to provide if web masters decided they don't want analytics, adsense, or G crawling their pages. Here is another framework to view it from:

Web masters big and small = supply side;
end users = demand side
G = middle man (transport company) who connects both.

They're kind of the 'net equivalent to US mail. Right now most from both camps not only are content with G, but rely on them as well. Alienate either group and they go the way of other has been's, which size alone is not enough to protect them from.

Is this likely? I don't think so. Possible? maybe.

Note that I'm both a consumer with G and one whose business model is bound to as well, so I have no wishes to see them fold, nor think it likely. My comment regarding a new start up based on the same roots G came from had more to do with serving as a wake up call and warning to them than any desire to see them fail.

In the end I suspect we'd probably agree on more than we disagree on here, and I likewise don't wish to threadjack the OP.

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dagaul101

13 years ago

It's unfortunate but the earlier assumption that Google makes it a level playing field for the mom and pop businesses versus big businesses, might be a tad too early, as it seems Google wants everyone to have a professional presence

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VegasVince 13 years ago

This entire thread is living proof how ass backwards marketing is taught and/or implemented.

This OP seems like a nice person....and while I don't see any purpose in beating him up....I see little point in t attempting to clean up something that is fundamentally flawed from the jump street....and it's not just him.

This applies to the vast majority of IM'ers who jump in the game...fall in love and wrap their "business" around tactics that change often on a daily basis.

Build your biz around google traffic? What's your biz. Sadly for most it's the traffic from google which is why they are left battered and bruised when the big G slaps them, bans them, and doesn't send the X-mas card.

You Tube doing well for you peeps? Go ahead and build your entire future around it.....and ouch....don't come a cryin' when we know it to ....IS JUST A MEDIUM...IT AINT A BIZ IN THAT CONTEXT.

How about that amazing new piece of software that cranks leads faster then a flock of sailer's to the hookers ball? Damn it works. Ouch...somebody smarter figured out how to make sure it not only doesn't work...it's obsolete baby.....and so is your business...cuz that was your business in reality.

Offers aka selling **** people want is a good starting point. But now days it's the last thing most think about.

Bells, Whistles, and applications....change daily. Methods and metrics have stood the test of time....and some of you need to go back and read Scientific Advertising by Claude Hopkins....cuz it applies today in terms of knowing your friggin' numbers.

I'm sorry...but a whole lot of millionaires and billionaires got rich long before twitter , facebook, Pay Pal, and oh yes....Google.

They got rich because they sold something PEOPLE WANTED...THEY KNEW THEIR METRICS.....AND THEY NEVER WRAPPED THEIR ENTIRE CAMPAIGN AROUND A SINGLE MEDIUM .

Those who do.....you live and die by that sword.Personally I hate Pay Pal....hence I don't use it.

Tactics are not strategies.......tactics change....either out of apathy, a change in direction, or something better.....but to build your future around what google does or does not do.....or ebay or any of these companies is a recipe for disaster.

A good offer will find an audience. People bought long before the yellow pages got replaced by google....

The ironic part is that the "internet" only represents about 2 to 3 % of the entire commerce done. Think about that for a second and realize that their are buyers everywhere. And they buy for the same damn reason they bought 100 years ago.

Good luck to all.....

peace,

Vegas Vince
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Cam Connor

13 years ago

Originally Posted by ksmusselman

I was holding #1 through #5 positions on Google for my main site's keywords for months. Then BAM. De-indexed. I've got a PR2 on a lot of my pages but I'm thinking I'd better get rid of it now while the Alexa rank is still holding okay at just under 250K.

I'm just so freaking sick of working my a s s off, getting excellent positioning and then getting socked for no reason except ... well I don't know. I guess they got another bug up theirs and now, well, I'm just really, really pissed.

And I do not have the funds to go buying AdWords, which is probably what they're hoping I'll do. Or to invest in any other kind of free traffic because the money from my last couple of sales is gone - bills and necessities.

This business was supposed to be my livelihood, supplement my disability income. But I'm so sick and tired of this crap. It's like working all week and not getting paid, you know?

And I'm just too damned old and tired to be playing these stupid games with the big baby G. I worked HARD and played by all their inane changing rules; I was making some decent steady sales for a while then nothing. This morning I got up and checked again, and guess what? They decided to take down two more of my last remaining three pages on their index.

And no, I'm not even ashamed to admit it - I'm just sitting here crying like, why the F did I even bother. This was like the last straw for me. I've been busting my a s s for over a YEAR and this is the third time Baby G had a temper tantrum and got rid of all my pages.

So how much is this site worth now that instead of 150 visitors/day it's down to 30/day thanks to Google? Can anyone please give me an estimate on what this site might worth now that Google's pretty much just put me out of business? I feel like a little mom & pop shop that just got bowled over by Walmart.

Should I just list it on flippa and see what happens?

As Winston Churchill once said, "If you're going through hell, keep going."

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ksmusselman 12 years ago

Wow! I had unsubscribed from this thread weeks ago, then came back to review it as I'm still working on the site and there were more comments! This group is fun!

So I just want to again say thank you all for the feedback, suggestions, comments - good, bad and indifferent - and I'm taking every one of them under consideration.

I realized a couple more things besides the initial problem in the coding, and that was that I had literally "over-optimized" my site (old SBI tactic there that no longer works); and I had some "spammy" links coming in to the former domain that carried over to the new domain name when I pointed the old domain to the new one.

I've fixed both of those issues.

I completely overhauled the site, paid a programmer to build me a custom order form that works with PayPal's gateway and it's great. I've had quite a few orders come through with the new order form seamlessly and between that and a new FAQ page, it's cut down on the amount of phone call questions because I've detailed a lot of the information throughout the pages.

My site still hasn't come all the way back from the latest Google Penguin slap - as if I needed anything else to happen on the heels of the NOINDEX, NOFOLLOW code screwup - but I'm still hanging in there!

In fact, as I've been overhauling my site, I've noticed that one of my top competitors has noticed too and she's adding some new lines to her site to compete with me. So I'm doing something right!

I did an analysis of my backlinks and went back to as many as possible and changed the links from wedding-favor-bookmarks.com and/or memorial-bookmarks.com to the-bookmarks-store.com. I'm seeing the traffic slowly pick back up and as I get some large orders in, I'm taking some of the cash and doing some paid advertising - but not with AdWords or Facebook yet. I'm not quite ready to venture into PPC.

Right now I'm working on rebuilding a new html sitemap to add to the site and I'm using the blog for all new articles that will point back to the site.

I'm also still doing some article marketing, not a whole lot, as I'm going to start writing the articles more for guest blog posting instead.

I also edited the site in Google Analytics so it's now an e-commerce site and Analytics will be tracking sales as well. This will help in the future when I do sell the business, because at almost 54 years old, I do not want to still be printing, laminating, cutting, hole punching and shipping bookmarks when I should be in retirement. LOL (And Bill, it won't be selling for $20 )

Okay, I'm going to stop babbling. I just wanted you all to know that I greatly, greatly appreciate you all helping, and as a blanket post in response to those to whom I did not respond personally -

Thank you! :p
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christopher jon

13 years ago

I'm sorry but I find this cold hearted, sarcastic comment way out of line ..

If you can't say something positive, keep it to yourself

Completely disagree.

Sugar tipped tongues whispering sweet nothings into a struggling newbies ear doesn't do them any good.

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Laurie Rogers 13 years ago

Just finished reading this entire thread ... holy cow.

I'm glad the OP found the problem with some help of fellow warriors.

Somewhere in here, somebody said article marketing was "dead" (or something along those lines) ... article marketing is still a good source of traffic, sorry to inform you, but it is and if it wasn't I wouldn't be doing it and people wouldn't be paying me good money to ghost write articles for them. However, I do agree you shouldn't put all your eggs in one basket where that's concerned.

What some people seem to be missing is, that sometimes people need to vent about business crap and sorry, but there's nothing wrong with doing that here or elsewhere, nor does it make someone "unprofessional". Sometimes, you just gotta bitch, that's life.

For those of you whom like to be harsh with newbies, no you don't have to sugar coat anything or side step either, but there's a thing called "TACT" and you can be blunt and straight to the point without coming across as being arrogant, tactless, asses.

To the person that said, "the possibility of making $1500 a week from the OP's site was a joke." The jokes on you dude, because the ONLY thing stopping the OP from achieving that goal is themselves. You are only limited to what you limit yourself in doing.

To the person that ASSumed most of us that post in here "make peanuts", honestly dude you have NO clue about who makes what in this forum and you obviously have NO clue about who some of the members in this forum are. There ARE indeed a lot of heavy hitters in here, as well as those of us who do pretty damn good for ourselves. So don't ASSume anything.
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Gimitrix

13 years ago

Just make sure you check what offer you can get for the site

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nebraska

13 years ago

She needs to fix what's wrong with Google though. To say there's more traffic sources than Google, and claim that you could make it without them is just irresponsible advice. Google is a large part of most website's traffic and, from the looks of it, fixing what's wrong is not too difficult of a task. Get your site up to speed and get back in the organic traffic game. Cherry pick some of their jacked up advice and seek out other forms of traffic, but by no means should you turn your back on free search traffic from the largest source of it in the world.

Do not sell your site to anyone here, on flippa or anywhere else! You put all the work into it and it seems to be something you care about and like. Keep working on the site. Add a blog in a sub-domain and keep it updated regularly. Create some other sites based on wedding niches and link em together. Keep building and keep your spirits up.

Remember, this forum is here to help you and the members are more than willing to do so. Ignore the buffoons and their $20 offers and just keep fighting the fight.

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derekwong28

13 years ago

Having run a successful e-commerce operation before, I agree it is too simplistic to blame somebody for relying too much on Google. The truth is that you cannot apply the same rules for getting traffic and sales for Clickbank products as E-commerce shops.

For a start, the margins are usually much lower and so is the actual profit per sale. What that means is that small e-commerce shops are hard pushed to use PPC or other advertising methods. Because the profit is small, they can rely on affiliate marketing either since they are unable to pay out that much to affiliates. As for mailing lists, just how popular do you think a list for bookmarks? Also, you are not going to get many conversions unless you give out a deep discount coupon.

There are not many people experienced in e-commerce who participate in the WF. But informal surveys I have seen in e-commerce forums usually show that the vast majority of shop owners rely on SERPs, in other words Google. Only a small percentage use PPC to a good extent, and almost no one rely on affiliate marketing or mailing lists at all.

Since our average profit was around $20 per order, I could afford to use PPC. However, it was highly debatable it was worth since we had to employ extra staff in order to handle the orders.

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I'm done. I'm ready to sell my site and say to H with it.

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