Hi there. I really do hope I get a Google response but I bet you get a thousand plus requests such as this. I started my website in 2003 and it is my sole source of income. I am a stay at home mom now (I just had a baby 4 mo. ago! It's a boy!!!!!) and I am not really a seo master or anything like that. I taught myself html and my knowledge is very limited. Initially, I made seo mistakes, as we all do. But I believe I have corrected everything and my site should be in perfect standing. I have hundreds upon hundreds of number one listings in Yahoo and other search engines. But for some reason...hardly anything in Google.
I used to belong to a link exchange program. Of course, I have deleted that. Recently, I had some difficulty with my h1 tags, but I fixed it. I have nothing sneaky with my site, no sneaky seo tricks or anything. It is very clean.
Every single page was written by me...but there may be people copying many of my articles here and there. All of my pages are 100% unique content.
I DO have affiliate links, it is a source of extra revenue for me, but it is all related content (relationship books, etc). I have two listings on the dmoz and lots of links (according to yahoo, but not google). My pr was recently going up with google, but then it went down I believe. On the Google directory, it shows all of the pr4 sites in my category...and I am way at the bottom!
I just don't know why. I have optimized and optimized and I can't really seem to get any answers or help from Google. I feel like my site has been arbitrarily pushed down on Google but I don't believe it should be. It is very popular, but would be much more so if I was as high up in Google as I am in Yahoo.
I think someone should check my site out from Google and help me out. Not that I am trying to build extra leverage....but this stay at home mom really needs the help! Mostly because if there is something wrong I am not aware of it. Again, I am not an expert.
I really hope someone can help. Much love! Rebecca
> Hi there. I really do hope I get a Google response but I bet you get > a thousand plus requests such as this. I started my website in 2003 > and it is my sole source of income. I am a stay at home mom now (I > just had a baby 4 mo. ago! It's a boy!!!!!) and I am not really a seo > master or anything like that. I taught myself html and my knowledge > is very limited. Initially, I made seo mistakes, as we all do. But I > believe I have corrected everything and my site should be in perfect > standing. I have hundreds upon hundreds of number one listings in > Yahoo and other search engines. But for some reason...hardly anything > in Google.
> I used to belong to a link exchange program. Of course, I have > deleted that. Recently, I had some difficulty with my h1 tags, but I > fixed it. I have nothing sneaky with my site, no sneaky seo tricks or > anything. It is very clean.
> Every single page was written by me...but there may be people copying > many of my articles here and there. All of my pages are 100% unique > content.
> I DO have affiliate links, it is a source of extra revenue for me, but > it is all related content (relationship books, etc). I have two > listings on the dmoz and lots of links (according to yahoo, but not > google). My pr was recently going up with google, but then it went > down I believe. On the Google directory, it shows all of the pr4 > sites in my category...and I am way at the bottom!
> I just don't know why. I have optimized and optimized and I can't > really seem to get any answers or help from Google. I feel like my > site has been arbitrarily pushed down on Google but I don't believe it > should be. It is very popular, but would be much more so if I was as > high up in Google as I am in Yahoo.
> I think someone should check my site out from Google and help me out. > Not that I am trying to build extra leverage....but this stay at home > mom really needs the help! Mostly because if there is something wrong > I am not aware of it. Again, I am not an expert.
> I really hope someone can help. Much love! Rebecca
I am an exhausted stay home Dad and have changed even more diapers than you, so there! :-)
I didn't even look for technical type things though you could pick a preferred domain in google webmaster tools for your site and 301 from advicediva.com to www.advicediva.com to avoid and issue called canonicals that seems to only happen in Google.
>From a social level Google has become a different engine, looking at
your advice pages you could really benefit from allowing comments under each page. Also, how often do you have people link to advice you have given? Do people ask all those questions or are you making them up? See what I am getting at here? I just watched the Wizard of Oz last night with my 5 year old and he was really surprised to find that the wizard was an ordinary man. Do people really know who you are?
> I'm am such an exhausted new mom. I forgot to leave the url. > advicediva.com > Silly but so much fun.
> On Sep 23, 9:09 pm, Becca800 wrote:
> > Hi there. I really do hope I get a Google response but I bet you get > > a thousand plus requests such as this. I started my website in 2003 > > and it is my sole source of income. I am a stay at home mom now (I > > just had a baby 4 mo. ago! It's a boy!!!!!) and I am not really a seo > > master or anything like that. I taught myself html and my knowledge > > is very limited. Initially, I made seo mistakes, as we all do. But I > > believe I have corrected everything and my site should be in perfect > > standing. I have hundreds upon hundreds of number one listings in > > Yahoo and other search engines. But for some reason...hardly anything > > in Google.
> > I used to belong to a link exchange program. Of course, I have > > deleted that. Recently, I had some difficulty with my h1 tags, but I > > fixed it. I have nothing sneaky with my site, no sneaky seo tricks or > > anything. It is very clean.
> > Every single page was written by me...but there may be people copying > > many of my articles here and there. All of my pages are 100% unique > > content.
> > I DO have affiliate links, it is a source of extra revenue for me, but > > it is all related content (relationship books, etc). I have two > > listings on the dmoz and lots of links (according to yahoo, but not > > google). My pr was recently going up with google, but then it went > > down I believe. On the Google directory, it shows all of the pr4 > > sites in my category...and I am way at the bottom!
> > I just don't know why. I have optimized and optimized and I can't > > really seem to get any answers or help from Google. I feel like my > > site has been arbitrarily pushed down on Google but I don't believe it > > should be. It is very popular, but would be much more so if I was as > > high up in Google as I am in Yahoo.
> > I think someone should check my site out from Google and help me out. > > Not that I am trying to build extra leverage....but this stay at home > > mom really needs the help! Mostly because if there is something wrong > > I am not aware of it. Again, I am not an expert.
> > I really hope someone can help. Much love! Rebecca
> I didn't even look for technical type things though you could pick a > preferred domain in google webmaster tools for your site and 301 from > advicediva.com towww.advicediva.comto avoid and issue called > canonicals that seems to only happen in Google.
So I guess I am not getting any extra points with dirty diapers then....lol
I guess I could have people leave comments, I worry about spam. I would have to find a way to do that. Yes, people ask me lots of questions, I get emails every day but not enough time to answer them all, I can only select a few. I see what you are getting at but I am not sure how or what to change so that Google would take me more seriously.
> I am an exhausted stay home Dad and have changed even more diapers > than you, so there! :-)
> I didn't even look for technical type things though you could pick a > preferred domain in google webmaster tools for your site and 301 from > advicediva.com towww.advicediva.comto avoid and issue called > canonicals that seems to only happen in Google.
> >From a social level Google has become a different engine, looking at
> your advice pages you could really benefit from allowing comments > under each page. Also, how often do you have people link to advice you > have given? Do people ask all those questions or are you making them > up? See what I am getting at here? I just watched the Wizard of Oz > last night with my 5 year old and he was really surprised to find that > the wizard was an ordinary man. Do people really know who you are?
> On Sep 23, 9:13 pm, Becca800 wrote:
> > I'm am such an exhausted new mom. I forgot to leave the url. > > advicediva.com > > Silly but so much fun.
> > On Sep 23, 9:09 pm, Becca800 wrote:
> > > Hi there. I really do hope I get a Google response but I bet you get > > > a thousand plus requests such as this. I started my website in 2003 > > > and it is my sole source of income. I am a stay at home mom now (I > > > just had a baby 4 mo. ago! It's a boy!!!!!) and I am not really a seo > > > master or anything like that. I taught myself html and my knowledge > > > is very limited. Initially, I made seo mistakes, as we all do. But I > > > believe I have corrected everything and my site should be in perfect > > > standing. I have hundreds upon hundreds of number one listings in > > > Yahoo and other search engines. But for some reason...hardly anything > > > in Google.
> > > I used to belong to a link exchange program. Of course, I have > > > deleted that. Recently, I had some difficulty with my h1 tags, but I > > > fixed it. I have nothing sneaky with my site, no sneaky seo tricks or > > > anything. It is very clean.
> > > Every single page was written by me...but there may be people copying > > > many of my articles here and there. All of my pages are 100% unique > > > content.
> > > I DO have affiliate links, it is a source of extra revenue for me, but > > > it is all related content (relationship books, etc). I have two > > > listings on the dmoz and lots of links (according to yahoo, but not > > > google). My pr was recently going up with google, but then it went > > > down I believe. On the Google directory, it shows all of the pr4 > > > sites in my category...and I am way at the bottom!
> > > I just don't know why. I have optimized and optimized and I can't > > > really seem to get any answers or help from Google. I feel like my > > > site has been arbitrarily pushed down on Google but I don't believe it > > > should be. It is very popular, but would be much more so if I was as > > > high up in Google as I am in Yahoo.
> > > I think someone should check my site out from Google and help me out. > > > Not that I am trying to build extra leverage....but this stay at home > > > mom really needs the help! Mostly because if there is something wrong > > > I am not aware of it. Again, I am not an expert.
> > > I really hope someone can help. Much love! Rebecca
Simply allowing people to ask questions under that advice would be a HUGE improvement in future more social algorithms. If you are doing business in social areas, really get social, all that added topical text under each advice Q/A would really be helpful and useful to humans and engines. Really hard to explain but Google is looking for ways to gauge your success, you telling people that you get emails is not good enough maybe? What are your qualifications, I read some advice, it does appear that you know what you are talking about (you do not need a degress for this).
So my simple idea would be to really get people involved, my wife still suffers from depression after our child was born, she is afraid and doesn't want more children but I do, I would love to read what you AND others have to say about this in a comment area, make sense? :)
> > I didn't even look for technical type things though you could pick a > > preferred domain in google webmaster tools for your site and 301 from > > advicediva.com towww.advicediva.comtoavoid and issue called > > canonicals that seems to only happen in Google.
> So I guess I am not getting any extra points with dirty diapers > then....lol
> I guess I could have people leave comments, I worry about spam. I > would have to find a way to do that. Yes, people ask me lots of > questions, I get emails every day but not enough time to answer them > all, I can only select a few. I see what you are getting at but I am > not sure how or what to change so that Google would take me more > seriously.
> Thanks for the comments. :-)
> On Sep 23, 10:22 pm, Admin Aaron wrote:
> > I am an exhausted stay home Dad and have changed even more diapers > > than you, so there! :-)
> > I didn't even look for technical type things though you could pick a > > preferred domain in google webmaster tools for your site and 301 from > > advicediva.com towww.advicediva.comtoavoid and issue called > > canonicals that seems to only happen in Google.
> > >From a social level Google has become a different engine, looking at
> > your advice pages you could really benefit from allowing comments > > under each page. Also, how often do you have people link to advice you > > have given? Do people ask all those questions or are you making them > > up? See what I am getting at here? I just watched the Wizard of Oz > > last night with my 5 year old and he was really surprised to find that > > the wizard was an ordinary man. Do people really know who you are?
> > On Sep 23, 9:13 pm, Becca800 wrote:
> > > I'm am such an exhausted new mom. I forgot to leave the url. > > > advicediva.com > > > Silly but so much fun.
> > > On Sep 23, 9:09 pm, Becca800 wrote:
> > > > Hi there. I really do hope I get a Google response but I bet you get > > > > a thousand plus requests such as this. I started my website in 2003 > > > > and it is my sole source of income. I am a stay at home mom now (I > > > > just had a baby 4 mo. ago! It's a boy!!!!!) and I am not really a seo > > > > master or anything like that. I taught myself html and my knowledge > > > > is very limited. Initially, I made seo mistakes, as we all do. But I > > > > believe I have corrected everything and my site should be in perfect > > > > standing. I have hundreds upon hundreds of number one listings in > > > > Yahoo and other search engines. But for some reason...hardly anything > > > > in Google.
> > > > I used to belong to a link exchange program. Of course, I have > > > > deleted that. Recently, I had some difficulty with my h1 tags, but I > > > > fixed it. I have nothing sneaky with my site, no sneaky seo tricks or > > > > anything. It is very clean.
> > > > Every single page was written by me...but there may be people copying > > > > many of my articles here and there. All of my pages are 100% unique > > > > content.
> > > > I DO have affiliate links, it is a source of extra revenue for me, but > > > > it is all related content (relationship books, etc). I have two > > > > listings on the dmoz and lots of links (according to yahoo, but not > > > > google). My pr was recently going up with google, but then it went > > > > down I believe. On the Google directory, it shows all of the pr4 > > > > sites in my category...and I am way at the bottom!
> > > > I just don't know why. I have optimized and optimized and I can't > > > > really seem to get any answers or help from Google. I feel like my > > > > site has been arbitrarily pushed down on Google but I don't believe it > > > > should be. It is very popular, but would be much more so if I was as > > > > high up in Google as I am in Yahoo.
> > > > I think someone should check my site out from Google and help me out. > > > > Not that I am trying to build extra leverage....but this stay at home > > > > mom really needs the help! Mostly because if there is something wrong > > > > I am not aware of it. Again, I am not an expert.
> > > > I really hope someone can help. Much love! Rebecca
Congrats on the baby boy! I'm not a parent myself, but given how much of a pain I was to my folks, I can sympathize with what you must be going through.
It sounds like you're learning a lot and making positive changes with your site! I do have some extra bits of advice for you:
- Aaron is absolutely right that you should make sure your site shows up consistently for EITHER www.advicediva.com OR advicediva.com. Your best bet is to pick one and then use 301 redirects to always redirect to your preferred version AND/OR choose your "preferred version" in Webmaster Tools. - You haven't set up a Webmaster Tools account yet? I highly recommend doing so! :) Go to http://www.google.com/webmasters and get started; it should only take a few minutes, and you'll get lots of useful info about how people and our Googlebot see your site. - You have a large amount of compelling and original content within your Diva's Advice section, but -- while I recognize and respect your interest in using affiliate links to earn income -- I'm finding that most of your other sections seem to be comprised of lists of general links and affiliate links. I think that focusing on even more original and compelling content on your site would be a great strategy for improving not only your site's presence in Google, but its popularity with visitors, too. Even something as little as writing your own reviews for the books you feature would help!
Best of luck, Rebecca... and start teaching your kid HTML early! ;)
Book reviews are a great way to build useful content. ;-)
Let's hope Rebecca comes back to read this post, if she expanded upon her good ideas (advice column) she just might do really well in Google...in the future.
> Congrats on the baby boy! I'm not a parent myself, but given how much > of a pain I was to my folks, I can sympathize with what you must be > going through.
> It sounds like you're learning a lot and making positive changes with > your site! I do have some extra bits of advice for you:
> - Aaron is absolutely right that you should make sure your site shows > up consistently for EITHERwww.advicediva.comOR advicediva.com. Your > best bet is to pick one and then use 301 redirects to always redirect > to your preferred version AND/OR choose your "preferred version" in > Webmaster Tools. > - You haven't set up a Webmaster Tools account yet? I highly > recommend doing so! :) Go tohttp://www.google.com/webmastersand get > started; it should only take a few minutes, and you'll get lots of > useful info about how people and our Googlebot see your site. > - You have a large amount of compelling and original content within > your Diva's Advice section, but -- while I recognize and respect your > interest in using affiliate links to earn income -- I'm finding that > most of your other sections seem to be comprised of lists of general > links and affiliate links. I think that focusing on even more > original and compelling content on your site would be a great strategy > for improving not only your site's presence in Google, but its > popularity with visitors, too. Even something as little as writing > your own reviews for the books you feature would help!
> Best of luck, Rebecca... and start teaching your kid HTML early! ;)
Thank you for writing back. I do have a webmasters tools account with Google and I submit my sitemap. But I don't find it to do anything for me really.
Adam,
Thank you for replying! You made my day.
You said that most of my section are comprised of general links and affiliate links? Oh I do have to disagree. While there are a few pages which are affiliate driven, most sections are not. The advice column has hundreds of pages of columns, the forum has hundreds of pages of unique content and lots of members, the articles section has tons of pages of articles, actually, I could go on and on and on about all of the original content in all of my sections. There are only a few pages which are affiliate driven...a few out of hundreds and hundreds...and I think THAT is the kind of bias which is hurting me. I hope Google can see through this and recognize that my site should not be pushed down so low. You even wrote: "Even something as little as writing your own reviews for the books you feature would help! ".....and I have a book review section again with tons of original articles (book reviews) which you didn't see: http://advicediva.com/ad/bookclub/ Almost every review here is listed number one in yahoo for the book name + book review. You must have only saw the three single affiliate driven pages. Every other section is packed with my stuff! Maybe I should just delete those three pages, but they help me make some money and three out of hundred and hundreds......?
Adam...do you know if I have penalties which are hurting me?
"Aaron is absolutely right that you should make sure your site shows up consistently for EITHER www.advicediva.com OR advicediva.com. Your best bet is to pick one and then use 301 redirects to always redirect to your preferred version AND/OR choose your "preferred version" in Webmaster Tools. " Okay, I will figure out what this is about. I have no idea really what this means (snicker) but I will figure it out!
> Congrats on the baby boy! I'm not a parent myself, but given how much > of a pain I was to my folks, I can sympathize with what you must be > going through.
> It sounds like you're learning a lot and making positive changes with > your site! I do have some extra bits of advice for you:
> - Aaron is absolutely right that you should make sure your site shows > up consistently for EITHERwww.advicediva.comOR advicediva.com. Your > best bet is to pick one and then use 301 redirects to always redirect > to your preferred version AND/OR choose your "preferred version" in > Webmaster Tools. > - You haven't set up a Webmaster Tools account yet? I highly > recommend doing so! :) Go tohttp://www.google.com/webmastersand get > started; it should only take a few minutes, and you'll get lots of > useful info about how people and our Googlebot see your site. > - You have a large amount of compelling and original content within > your Diva's Advice section, but -- while I recognize and respect your > interest in using affiliate links to earn income -- I'm finding that > most of your other sections seem to be comprised of lists of general > links and affiliate links. I think that focusing on even more > original and compelling content on your site would be a great strategy > for improving not only your site's presence in Google, but its > popularity with visitors, too. Even something as little as writing > your own reviews for the books you feature would help!
> Best of luck, Rebecca... and start teaching your kid HTML early! ;)
Oh wait, I see what you mean...reviews on the "relationship books" section which are affiliate driven....I see, yes. I have not read them all...because I can't afford to! But I could put in comment boxes on them if I can find some code for that......would that help or should I delete that entire section? What would be "best".
The wee one and I just got up and I am still groggy...
> Congrats on the baby boy! I'm not a parent myself, but given how much > of a pain I was to my folks, I can sympathize with what you must be > going through.
> It sounds like you're learning a lot and making positive changes with > your site! I do have some extra bits of advice for you:
> - Aaron is absolutely right that you should make sure your site shows > up consistently for EITHERwww.advicediva.comOR advicediva.com. Your > best bet is to pick one and then use 301 redirects to always redirect > to your preferred version AND/OR choose your "preferred version" in > Webmaster Tools. > - You haven't set up a Webmaster Tools account yet? I highly > recommend doing so! :) Go tohttp://www.google.com/webmastersand get > started; it should only take a few minutes, and you'll get lots of > useful info about how people and our Googlebot see your site. > - You have a large amount of compelling and original content within > your Diva's Advice section, but -- while I recognize and respect your > interest in using affiliate links to earn income -- I'm finding that > most of your other sections seem to be comprised of lists of general > links and affiliate links. I think that focusing on even more > original and compelling content on your site would be a great strategy > for improving not only your site's presence in Google, but its > popularity with visitors, too. Even something as little as writing > your own reviews for the books you feature would help!
> Best of luck, Rebecca... and start teaching your kid HTML early! ;)
Alright, I logged into my google webmasters account and set the preferred domain. I didn't even know you could do that, and (to be honest), I don't even know what it means to do that or how it will impact my site from a seo standpoint...but thanks for the tip and advice!
As far as my relationship books section goes, I am going to find some comment box codes which I can use for each and every book. Does anyone have a recommendation on free script for that?
> Oh wait, I see what you mean...reviews on the "relationship books" > section which are affiliate driven....I see, yes. I have not read > them all...because I can't afford to! But I could put in comment > boxes on them if I can find some code for that......would that help or > should I delete that entire section? What would be "best".
> The wee one and I just got up and I am still groggy...
> On Sep 24, 1:56 am, Adam Lasnik wrote:
> > Hi Rebecca,
> > Congrats on the baby boy! I'm not a parent myself, but given how much > > of a pain I was to my folks, I can sympathize with what you must be > > going through.
> > It sounds like you're learning a lot and making positive changes with > > your site! I do have some extra bits of advice for you:
> > - Aaron is absolutely right that you should make sure your site shows > > up consistently for EITHERwww.advicediva.comORadvicediva.com. Your > > best bet is to pick one and then use 301 redirects to always redirect > > to your preferred version AND/OR choose your "preferred version" in > > Webmaster Tools. > > - You haven't set up a Webmaster Tools account yet? I highly > > recommend doing so! :) Go tohttp://www.google.com/webmastersan
