Has Bigdaddy dumped me out of Google?

Well, I had a great week away in France and hope to write a little more about this later - however, I have arrived back to a little problem. (Well, its a pretty big problem really!)

My main online shopping site has just been dumped by google. I have gone from having over 100,000 pages indexed to only 300 pages in the course of a couple of months. This happened pretty much in 2 stages, the first drop happening at around the time I changed servers, from a US based to UK based server so I was of the impression that this may have caused the first drop and have been waiting for the site to bounce back in the listings. Unfortunately, having now check after returning from the holiday, it has slumped to an alltime low of 300 pages indexed.

What has happened? Well, I am putting it down to the Bigdaddy updates at google. It appears that most of my product info pages have been dropped. The pages that are indexed, the top category pages are doing better than ever with regards to search result positions so I all is not disastrous. However, I need to get these product info pages back into google somehow, before the secondhalf of the year and definately before xmas.

Reading Matt Cutts article about the Bigdaddy Updates - (theres a lot of reading there!) I am pretty sure its this update that has bombed me out of the listings. Out of the reasons he gives for peoples site having pages dropped, it seems that google now no longer considers my site as being important enough to have the (maybe fourth level) product pages stored in its index. After having read his lengthy article and a fair few of the comments, the only conclusion I can come to is that my site does not have enough backlinks.

I have never really chased back links in the past - the site is listed in the ODP and a few other directories but other than that - I am just not a fan of chasing links for the sake of it. Looks like I might have to change my view now though.

Anyhow, I know that a fair few of you are pretty well up on SEO, so if you get chance to drop by www.heritage-gifts.co.uk then please do and let me know your thoughts.

Also, any suggestions on how to start increasing the number of back links? I know articles are hot at the moment but I dont think they will particularly work with this site (ie, alot of totally different products). I can see how they can work for Peter and his Coffee shop as he is trying to target a far more specific range of keywords. Free directories dont seem to hold a lot of weight any longer by all accounts. An affiliate scheme is not something that I can really offer (due to operating at low margins). Forum posts are supposed to be pretty worthless now, recipricol linking is out.......... Hmm, doesnt seem to leave a lot of avenues open to a humble online storekeeper. I can see how ranking an information site by inbound links may work but I cant see how more inbound links can prove that a shop is worth visiting. If it has the item you need at the right price....... Well, then its worth visiting.

Ahh well, I am off to try and find out more info and dream up a link strategy.

Cheers,
Rich

So busy in the quiet period...

Ok, so I was looking forward to this time of year. I had big plans for the AIS. What went wrong? Why no posts on the blog? Well, I decided to setup a new online store and needless to say, with trying to run the current one and setup a new one, there has not been alot of spare minutes in the day. (I wont even mention the time spent with the family - which, as anyone with a 2 year old will know, is not only essential but also unmissable!)

So, where do things stand? Well, I was hoping to have had the new website up and running by now but its moved to the right (as all good projects should!), its about 90% ready but as we know, that last 10% can well take up a huge amount of time and effort. I am going on holiday for a week next wednesday so this will delay things further - still, disneyland for the lad and Paris for the wife should be a very enjoyable week.

The current site is still growing well - sales this year are still doubling last year so thats good - just alot more work though, making it difficult to work on the new site.

Externally, the edirectory listing has just gone through so it will be interesting to see if this was a worthwhile layout - I will let you know.

My online presence has been (very) minimal this last month and I apologise to the forums/blogs that I usually frequent. If its any consellation, I allways find the time to read even if I havent got the time to post.

As such, a quick round up of my favorite blogs follows:-

Gary Burton - Well, he has finally taken the plunge and moved to Wordpress - I gotts tell you, from what I can see this should be a great move with regards to search engine saturation - It might seem strange but AFAICS, google doesnt seem to like blogger blogs as much as wordpress when it comes to search engine results. Anyhow, we will soon see from Garys setup - personally, I intend to go the same route as soon as time permits!!!!! So, Garys new link is http://www.osworld.biz/

Jason Chance - JC has started a very informative series of posts on setting up and running an online ecommerce store. The thing I like about JC's posts (and contributions to the osC project/forum) are that they are very much business based thoughts, as opposed to the sometimes very programming based views found with other osCommerce designers. Anyhow, for anyone either starting out online or looking to improve their online presence, jcCommerce.com is well worth a read. Also, Jason has recently setup a personal site at Disappointed Idealist for anyone that is interested in finding out a little more about the man behind jcCommerce.

Sarah G - Going down the same route of splitting blogs into personal and technical is Sarah. From her original blog Sarah Freelance, we now have an AIS specific http://ais.sarahfreelance.co.uk/ and a personal http://sarah.sarahfreelance.co.uk/. Sarah, I believe has been/is on holiday at present. Should be back soon. Still, her blog is really very informative with regards to programming and is a great insight into running your own web design business - again, if you are thinking of getting started in this business, a wuick read of Sarahs blog will give you a good insight into the pros and cons - well worth considering before you plough on in.

Barefoot Boo - After a brief time away form blogging, Boo is back in town and, contrary to the two above bloggers, Boo has decided to consolidate and keep all her posts back in the one blog. I gotta say it makes it easier to keep track of from a readers pov. Plus, although I can understand the idea of keeping a blog specific for a certain amount of SEO benefit, there is also the fact that the search engines like a good sized site. Internal links are something that shouldnt be ignored so a blog with a daily post may be worth more than three seperate blogs with posts only once every three days - guess its a matter of personal opinion.

JavaRoasters - Although, not too frequently updated (much like this blog), I love reading up about Petes work. Primarily about his Coffee site, I believe he is going exactly the right way about promoting his osC store and I am looking forward to reading up about his success after having kept track of his workings. For anyone looking into promoting an online store, I would highly recommend tracking back through a few of Petes posts and following his procedure. I am convinced he will soon be ranking on the first page in google for any Coffee related search!!

$1 a Day & Dans AIS Challenge - Both blogs essential reading for anyone looking to get started in the adsense income world. Both these guys have started out at the same time, with slightly different methods and both seem to be raking in a very reasonable extra income from primarily adsense sites, with a fair bit of affiliate income thrown in. I reckon that both of these blogs show that you can create a worthwhile adsense income with a little hardwork and both blogs will give you a good idea of how to go about it. Again, neither blog is posted to frequently but there us plenty of worthwhile info when a post is made.


Escape Route 44 - Mattian - Not only does Matt enjoy blogging - he also loves to host others blogs! I like Matts blog as to me it is what blogging should be about - not only do you get the updates to how his Mattian site is going but also a good mix of personal and newsworthy posts - He posts about what he wants to write, maybe more than what he thinks others want to read - that is what a blog should contain - at least thats what I think.

pesos per diem & oliciv - Both good reads for anyone thinking of starting down the AIS/adsense routes. At pesos per diem, you will find a good indication of results and some good ideas of how to get started. Oli is obviously a guy who has decided to put a fair bit of effort into AIS and has the ambition to try out other avenues apart form adsense that I hope will come good for him - Again, at both blogs you will find plenty of useful information that goes beyond the standard adsense site setups.

Chemo - Left Bobby till last - dont really know what to say about Bobbys blog other than the fact that I was pretty devasted to read about his health problems. I obviously dont know the guy personally - same as any of the other people mentioned in this post - still, its pretty depressing to read about the deteriorating health of someone you know of and respect even if it is in a "cyber" world!! For a guy that had so much online prescence, primarily throught the osC forums/community, to suddenly announce a terminal illness... Well, its a bit of a shocker. All that remains to be said really is that my thoughts are very much with him.

Ok,. I thinks that covers the blog roll up till now - just a couple of new entries to go:-

Plans to Prosper - Chris H - Another great blog for anyone interested in reading up about getting started in am adsense/affiliate income, with the the blessing of the lord to boot - Seriously, you will find a lot of great info on Chris's blog and whether or not you are of a religious belief, you could do a lot worse than keeping track of his posts. Personally I am not religious but I do like his blog - its not only informative but also personal and interesting.

Brighton Vibes - Dave over at Brighton Vibes has not been blogging for too long but has certianly been busy since setting up - His bog has a lot of detail on his network of income creating sites and his Money Making Forum is very well attended and has information that is growing daily. One to bookmark for sure and if your short of ideas - you wont be after a quick visit here.

Right, thats it - I am sure there are many other blogs I should be reading and many that I will start to read shortly - this however is the current must read list. After a long interlude of not posting, I felt it was right to comment on others sites as, despite not having the time to post myself, I do find the time to keep track of others blogs and fully appreciate the effort that goes into keeping well updated and informative blogs. Keep up the good work all of you and with any luck, once I get the new site finished and next weeks holiday out the way - I may be able to post a little more here before the xmas rush comes round - (who mentioned xmas!!)

Cheers,
Rich