I'm setting up this thread to cover some of the unanswered questions
from yesterday's JuneTune chat session. I'll get started with some,
generally with short answers so that we can get through as many as
possible. We'll add more as we get to them:
Carlos Rodríguez - 11:26 pm
Q: how the link internal if important for the seo?
A: Internal links are very important for search engine crawlers. They
allow us to discover pages within your website and let us see the
relationships between individual pages.
Andrea Moro - 11:28 pm
Q: What about some improvement to google crawler that give some
"points" more to those web site that respects standard? Sometimes
there are tons of site written with the foot in top of the results
while other well-written are penalized. Why?
A: Most of the web does not strictly respect those standards. In
general, we let the users decide: if a website does not respect the
way they want to view it (mobile/desktop, browser, display resolution,
etc), they will usually skip it in the future as well & not recommend
it to friends. Also, by enforcing standards, we would effectively
raise the bar for the average webmaster; professionals (including
professional spammers) would have less of a problem complying.
John Jones - 11:20 pm
Q: Is it possible that a site can be removed for a single keyword in
the index that previously had no problem ranking? If so would that
show up in webmaster tools? What would be a few reasons for this
happening?
A: Fluctuations are always possible and natural within web search
results. There are many reasons why a page/site might change ranking
in general or for specific keywords.
Andrea Moro - 11:29 pm
Q: Is for Google better find relative or absolute Url in we b page
links (internal link)?
A: We understand and process both types of links. It's up to you :)
Briian M - 11:30 pm
Q: A page was dropped from Google, but remains at #1 in Yahoo and MSN.
I watched it appear in Google, then it sank until it was gone. It is
an innocent page, and It is in the sitemap on the site and in the XML
sitemap, so how do I get a single page back in?
A: You might want to read through http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=40349 or start a thread here.
Peter Faber - 11:37 pm
Q: What about special characters in urls?
A: I would recommend not including special characters in URLs unless
they are important for understanding by your users. Keep in mind the
not all users will be able to render all characters.
John Jones - 11:34 pm
Q: Speaking of sub directories and folders.. WHY does Google drop the
ball with http://www.google.com/adwords/. Most everything is third
level domain but at least redirect!
A: Thanks for your suggestion, I'll pass it on!
Julia Ciebiera - 11:36 pm
Q: Can page load time effect organic rankings? What is the industry
standard for page load time?
A: Indirectly it certainly can. I know that when I visit pages/sites
that are extremely slow, I tend to either not view as many pages or
skip the site the next time. I'm not aware of an industry standard,
but I'd try to keep it below a few seconds for the majority of your
users (for downloading + rendering; at least Firefox 3 is fast at the
latter :))
Quentin Muhlert - 11:33 pm
Q: Is getting the TLD better for internationalization? or is
assigning a subdomain in google webmasters tools just as good? or
should both be done? (301 the TLD version url)
A: I would check with your users. If they are happy with accepting
a .com with a subdomain for their country, then it should be fine.
Doing both would generally be a bad idea as it could cause confusion
in the search results.
Annisa Chan - 11:38 pm
Q: is position SIX a penalty?
A: There always has to be a listing in the 6th position. If you feel
that a site is not ranking the way it should be, then I would
recommend studying our Webmaster Guidelines and fixing any issues that
might be relevant. However, keep in mind that certain fluctuations are
normal and will always take place!
Du Nguyen - 11:39 pm
Q: And just wonder if now Underscores are treated equal like Dashes
yet?
A: I would generally not worry about this, I would especially not
convert a site from one to the other just because it's "in" at the
moment. We generally do a good job at recognizing these things.
Chris Mcgillin - 11:41 pm
Q: Matt, is article submission for link building frowned upon by G?
A: If you are submitting the exact same article to multiple sites for
publishing, it might be seen as unnecessary duplication and treated
accordingly. In general, writing and publishing unique and compelling
content on your own site is the best way to attract visitors to your
site and to keep them coming back.
steve boymel - 11:39 pm
Q: Could someone from Google comment on this thread on WMW:
http://www.webmasterworld.com/google/3668739.htm Is this a bad data push or a new update?
A: It's impossible to comment about changes in general without knowing
the specifics (like the URLs of these sites).
Andrea Moro - 11:38 pm
Q: About the WM Tool and 404 errors. Why don't you report also the
referer link where you find the missing link? Sometimes it's a real
military mission find it.
A: I would recommend using your server logs to determine if users are
finding the same 404 pages as well. If no users are seeing them, you
can generally ignore those URLs. If you do not have access to server
logs, you can use a tool like Google Analytics with your 404 pages
tagged accordingly to find the same information:
http://analytics.blogspot.com/2006/09/tip-tracking-404-pages.html
Dan Guay - 11:40 pm
Q: I have often wondered if my site www.domain.com is penalized for
"SEO Services", but I still show up top ten for SEO Seattle". Would a
re-inclusion request be needed?
A: Dan, for issues regarding individual sites, I recommend starting a
thread here in the groups.
Sheila Cole - 11:41 pm
Q: Does Google penalize sites "just a little bit" for minor
violations? Or would it be plainly obvious if a site was in violation
based on a sharp dropoff in rankings?
A: Google has various forms of "penalties." If you suspect that your
site is not ranking where it should be, I would recommend studying our
Webmaster Guidelines and fixing any issues that you find before
submitting a reconsideration request.
Mike Wilton - 11:41 pm
Q: Is there a rule of thumb to consider when thinking about PR vs the
number of links on a page and how many of those links will get some of
the link juice passed on?
A: We recommend less than 100 links on a page. Anything with many more
links may be confusing to a user (and a search engine crawler).
David Eaves - 11:43 pm
Q: Regular web-pages (as apposed to blogs and other sites with rss or
that get updated all of the time) do not seem to be getting indexed
and crawled as fast any more. Is there any reason for this?
A: I would recommend using a Sitemap file to inform us of changes on
your site. Blogs often submit their RSS feeds or have separate Sitemap
files, which might make a difference.
Scott Morrow - 11:43 pm
Q: GENERAL, Our website www.domain.com at the beginning of April
almost stopped receiving orders. We mass loaded alot of META TAGS so
over 40,000 Meta Tags changed. Would this cause a problem.
A: For individual sites, I would recommend starting a thread here in
the groups. In general, modifying meta tags to provide a better
experience for users in our search results should not be a problem.
Rabin Acharya - 11:48 pm
Q: i am just wondering if the search done in a private website and the
way users navigate based on the result is going to be used in the
organic search result?
A: I'm not aware of any algorithmic developments in this area.
However, if users are happy with your site and it's navigation, they
might recommend your site to others: so in that regard, it could be
indirectly reflected in the organic search results.
Angela Vedar - 11:48 pm
Q: If a credible website is redirecting searchbots differently than
users (conditional redirects) for valid reasons like dealing with
partner sites or a page with unnecessary parameters, would Google
still possibly penalize this site?
A: If you feel that a website is doing something against our Webmaster
Guidelines, I would recommend filing a spam report in your Webmaster
Tools account.
tim gill - 11:48 pm
Q: Does doing a site:domain.com query in image search show all images
indexed for that site? I have seen images that are hosted on one
domain but being shown on another. This is common with affiliates.
Is there a way to isolate only images on the domain
A: Images always have to be shown in the context of a page linking to
them. It is possible that an image is not hosted on the same domain as
the page that is best suited to be shown to a user. If this is an
issue, I would recommend adding hotlinking protection to the images
hosted on your site.
Quentin Muhlert - 11:48 pm
Q: Is there going to be a way to Geolocate in webmasters' tools to a
higher resolution (say california instead of USA) or is that going to
be handled by Google Local listings?
A: If you need this kind of resolution, it would probably be best to
handle it within the Google Local Business Center.
Mark Kaufman - 11:51 pm
Q: [Sorry, asking again as browser crashed] I've heard that Matt
recently said that Google will be coming down on sites using
conditional redirects. What if conditional 301 redirects are used to
eliminate duplicate content?
A: I would recommend redirecting users as well as search engine
crawlers in a situation like that.
Scott Morrow - 11:51 pm
Q: Is Google requiring more of the robots.txt file.
A: No, it's fully optional :). However, if you don't have one, it
might be that your server is logging "file-not-found" errors. To avoid
that, you could just use an empty robots.txt file.
shantanu sikdar - 11:51 pm
Q: Hi, my personalized search history will alter my SERP. Will it
alter what other will see too?
A: Personalized search is personalized -- for your account only.
Bill Quinn - 11:51 pm
Q: We have a site that is mydomain.com. We would like to create a site
mydomain.co.uk. The purpose is that we have slightly different points
to make to the UK market. (note: we sell computer management software)
A: That sounds like a good idea if you can provide unique and relevant
content to your UK-based visitors.
Scott Morrow - 11:52 pm
Q: I am trying to create a robots.txt file using Webmaster Tools and
it seems to take a long period of time. Should this be. THANK YOU
Scott
A: It should be fairly quick. You could also copy & paste the contents
into a text file and use it directly.
Patrick Daly - 11:52 pm
Q: I've noticed ESPN has two subdomains they host sites on, but both
are hosting the same content. Google hasn't recognized it as duplicate
and allows them 4 results. You can see an example by searching "espn
sports 103.3"
A: It looks like we are already ignoring a large part of that
duplication.
Michael Brandon - 11:52 pm
Q: would love to have a tag to let google know what links we would
like as sitelinks - ie rel=tag
A: Thanks, Michael, I'll pass that on!
Art Min - 11:54 pm
Q: Are there any differences between the personalized search product
for Enterprise search server and the google.com one?
A: We're only active on the web search side, sorry.
Lani Castro - 11:55 pm
Q: If we release a press release via PRWeb and have a duplicate
release on our website, is that duplicate content? Or will Google
honor the links from PRWeb - or stuff it as paid links?
A: If the content is the same, it could be seen as duplication. If you
would like to syndicate it, I would recommend making sure that the
syndicated versions have attribution and a link back to the original
source.
Carlos d'Avis - 11:56 pm
Q: Does the PageRank algorithm consider anchor rel values other than
"nofollow"? I've noticed the use of rel="designer" on WP theme
attribution. Alternately, what would be a good rel value for a widget
attribution link?
A: We ignore all other values of the rel-attribute. Feel free to use
these however you feel fit. Some people like to use it as a way to
style certain links with CSS, which is generally fine with us.
Rabin Acharya - 11:56 pm
Q: i once got warning in webmaster tool about 301 redirect when the
site that was directed to was a legitimate page because the old page
was either removed or deleted. one day i saw the warning, about two
days after me without doing anything i ddint see it!!?
A: You may have seen the warning with regards to Sitemaps. We expect
URLs listed in a Sitemap file to be the final URLs and not to
redirect.
shantanu sikdar - 11:57 pm
Q: If I manage to get 8 of my own sites in 1st SERP for a given
keyphrase, will that be considered as spam?
A: Possibly - depending on the intent. We prefer to provide a diverse
set of results so that the user can choose the page he wants to see.
Natasha Robinson - 11:57 pm
Q: regarding 301s
A: I regard them highly.
Andrea Moro - 11:57 pm
Q: Robots.txt: why don't you simply introduce a new stage? I mean, if
file miss at all, you will index only main page and don't follow link.
If file is there, but not reachable you try it later. This will assure
that you can concern webmasters to a better web
A: We do retry them regularly. If however a site's robots.txt is
absolutely not reachable (not just missing), we generally hold off on
crawling the site. Usually, if a robots.txt is not reachable, the rest
of the site will also not be reachable anyway.
J D - 12:00 am
Q: its a local news site, shows up for its brand and domain but not
for its brand with the keywords news, weather, etc
A: I would recommend starting a thread here in the groups.
Michael Toomey - 12:02 am
Q: What is the average time before new sites get spidered these days?
A: It depends a lot on the site and it's PageRank. We can generally
discover new sites fairly quickly (within a week or so).
Robert Penn - 12:04 am
Q: Even, thank you for the answer. So giving away a free subscription
in exchange for a link would be considered a Paid Link?
A: That could be seen as an unnatural way of attracting links.
Kyle James - 12:06 am
Q: Is on-page SEO less important than incoming links?
A: Both are important!
Kyle James - 12:05 am
Q: Does domain age affect SERPs?
A: Indirectly it
...
> steve boymel - 11:39 pm
> Q: Could someone from Google comment on this thread on WMW:http://www.webmasterworld.com/google/3668739.htm > Is this a bad data push or a new update?
> A: It's impossible to comment about changes in general without knowing
> the specifics (like the URLs of these sites).
> Andrea Moro - 11:38 pm
> Q: About the WM Tool and 404 errors. Why don't you report also the
> referer link where you find the missing link? Sometimes it's a real
> military mission find it.
> A: I would recommend using your server logs to determine if users are
> finding the same 404 pages as well. If no users are seeing them, you
> can generally ignore those URLs. If you do not have access to server
> logs, you can use a tool like Google Analytics with your 404 pages
> tagged accordingly to find the same information:http://analytics.blogspot.com/2006/09/tip-tracking-404-pages.html
> Dan Guay - 11:40 pm
> Q: I have often wondered if my sitewww.domain.comis penalized for
> "SEO Services", but I still show up top ten for SEO Seattle". Would a
> re-inclusion request be needed?
> A: Dan, for issues regarding individual sites, I recommend starting a
> thread here in the groups.
> Sheila Cole - 11:41 pm
> Q: Does Google penalize sites "just a little bit" for minor
> violations? Or would it be plainly obvious if a site was in violation
> based on a sharp dropoff in rankings?
> A: Google has various forms of "penalties." If you suspect that your
> site is not ranking where it should be, I would recommend studying our
> Webmaster Guidelines and fixing any issues that you find before
> submitting a reconsideration request.
> Mike Wilton - 11:41 pm
> Q: Is there a rule of thumb to consider when thinking about PR vs the
> number of links on a page and how many of those links will get some of
> the link juice passed on?
> A: We recommend less than 100 links on a page. Anything with many more
> links may be confusing to a user (and a search engine crawler).
> David Eaves - 11:43 pm
> Q: Regular web-pages (as apposed to blogs and other sites with rss or
> that get updated all of the time) do not seem to be getting indexed
> and crawled as fast any more. Is there any reason for this?
> A: I would recommend using a Sitemap file to inform us of changes on
> your site. Blogs often submit their RSS feeds or have separate Sitemap
> files, which might make a difference.
> Scott Morrow - 11:43 pm
> Q: GENERAL, Our websitewww.domain.comat the beginning of April
> almost stopped receiving orders. We mass loaded alot of META TAGS so
> over 40,000 Meta Tags changed. Would this cause a problem.
> A: For individual sites, I would recommend starting a thread here in
> the groups. In general, modifying meta tags to provide a better
> experience for users in our search results should not be a problem.
> Rabin Acharya - 11:48 pm
> Q: i am just wondering if the search done in a private website and the
> way users navigate based on the result is going to be used in the
> organic search result?
> A: I'm not aware of any algorithmic developments in this area.
> However, if users are happy with your site and it's navigation, they
> might recommend your site to others: so in that regard, it could be
> indirectly reflected in the organic search results.
> Angela Vedar - 11:48 pm
> Q: If a credible website is redirecting searchbots differently than
> users (conditional redirects) for valid reasons like dealing with
> partner sites or a page with unnecessary parameters, would Google
> still possibly penalize this site?
> A: If you feel that a website is doing something against our Webmaster
> Guidelines, I would recommend filing a spam report in your Webmaster
> Tools account.
> tim gill - 11:48 pm
> Q: Does doing a site:domain.com query in image search show all images
> indexed for that site? I have seen images that are hosted on one
> domain but being shown on another. This is common with affiliates.
> Is there a way to isolate only images on the domain
> A: Images always have to be shown in the context of a page linking to
> them. It is possible that an image is not hosted on the same domain as
> the page that is best suited to be shown to a user. If this is an
> issue, I would recommend adding hotlinking protection to the images
> hosted on your site.
> Quentin Muhlert - 11:48 pm
> Q: Is there going to be a way to Geolocate in webmasters' tools to a
> higher resolution (say california instead of USA) or is that going to
> be handled by Google Local listings?
> A: If you need this kind of resolution, it would probably be best to
> handle it within the Google Local Business Center.
> Mark Kaufman - 11:51 pm
> Q: [Sorry, asking again as browser crashed] I've heard that Matt
> recently said that Google will be coming down on sites using
> conditional redirects. What if conditional 301 redirects are used to
> eliminate duplicate content?
> A: I would recommend redirecting users as well as search engine
> crawlers in a situation like that.
> Scott Morrow - 11:51 pm
> Q: Is Google requiring more of the robots.txt file.
> A: No, it's fully optional :). However, if you don't have one, it
> might be that your server is logging "file-not-found" errors. To avoid
> that, you could just use an empty robots.txt file.
> shantanu sikdar - 11:51 pm
> Q: Hi, my personalized search history will alter my SERP. Will it
> alter what other will see too?
> A: Personalized search is personalized -- for your account only.
> Bill Quinn - 11:51 pm
> Q: We have a site that is mydomain.com. We would like to create a site
> mydomain.co.uk. The purpose is that we have slightly different points
> to make to the UK market. (note: we sell computer management software)
> A: That sounds like a good idea if you can provide unique and relevant
> content to your UK-based visitors.
> Scott Morrow - 11:52 pm
> Q: I am trying to create a robots.txt file using Webmaster Tools and
> it seems to take a long period of time. Should this be. THANK YOU
> Scott
> A: It should be fairly quick. You could also copy & paste the contents
> into a text file and use it directly.
> Patrick Daly - 11:52 pm
> Q: I've noticed ESPN has two subdomains they host sites on, but both
> are hosting the same content. Google hasn't recognized it as duplicate
> and allows them 4 results. You can see an example by searching "espn
> sports 103.3"
> A: It looks like we are already ignoring a large part of that
> duplication.
> Michael Brandon - 11:52 pm
> Q: would love to have a tag to let google know what links we would
> like as sitelinks - ie rel=tag
> A: Thanks, Michael, I'll pass that on!
> Art Min - 11:54 pm
> Q: Are there any differences between the personalized search product
> for Enterprise search server and the google.com one?
> A: We're only active on the web search side, sorry.
> Lani Castro - 11:55 pm
> Q: If we release a press release via PRWeb and have a duplicate
> release on our website, is that duplicate content? Or will Google
> honor the links from PRWeb - or stuff it as paid links?
> A: If the content is the same, it could be seen as duplication. If you
> would like to syndicate it, I would recommend making sure that the
> syndicated versions have attribution and a link back to the original
> source.
> Carlos d'Avis - 11:56 pm
> Q: Does the PageRank algorithm consider anchor rel values other than
> "nofollow"? I've noticed the use of rel="designer" on WP theme
> attribution. Alternately, what would be a good rel value for a widget
> attribution link?
> A: We ignore all other values of the rel-attribute. Feel free to use
> these however you feel fit. Some people like to use it as a way to
> style certain links with CSS, which is generally fine with us.
> Rabin Acharya - 11:56 pm
> Q: i once got warning in webmaster tool about 301 redirect when the
> site that was directed to was a legitimate page because the old page
> was either removed or deleted. one day i saw the warning, about two
> days after me without doing anything i ddint see it!!?
> A: You may have seen the warning with regards to Sitemaps. We expect
> URLs listed in a Sitemap file to be the final URLs and not to
> redirect.
> shantanu sikdar - 11:57 pm
> Q: If I manage to get 8 of my own sites in 1st SERP for a given
> keyphrase, will that be considered as spam?
> A: Possibly - depending on the intent. We prefer to provide a diverse
> set of results so that the user can choose the page he wants to see.
> Natasha Robinson - 11:57 pm
> Q: regarding 301s
> A: I regard them highly.
> Andrea Moro - 11:57 pm
> Q: Robots.txt: why don't you simply introduce a new stage? I mean, if
> file miss at all, you will index only main page and don't follow link.
> If file is there, but not reachable you try it later. This will assure
> that you can concern webmasters to a better web
> A: We do retry them regularly. If however a site's robots.txt is
> absolutely not reachable (not just missing), we generally hold off on
> crawling the site. Usually, if a robots.txt is not reachable, the rest
> of the site will also not be reachable anyway.
> J D - 12:00 am
> Q: its a local news site, shows up for its brand and domain but not
> for its brand with the keywords news, weather, etc
> A: I would recommend starting a thread here in the groups.
> Michael Toomey - 12:02 am
> Q: What is the average time before new sites get spidered these days?
> A: It depends a lot on the site and it's PageRank. We can generally
> discover new sites fairly
> > steve boymel - 11:39 pm
> > Q: Could someone from Google comment on this thread on WMW:http://www.webmasterworld.com/google/3668739.htm > > Is this a bad data push or a new update?
> > A: It's impossible to comment about changes in general without knowing
> > the specifics (like the URLs of these sites).
> > Andrea Moro - 11:38 pm
> > Q: About the WM Tool and 404 errors. Why don't you report also the
> > referer link where you find the missing link? Sometimes it's a real
> > military mission find it.
> > A: I would recommend using your server logs to determine if users are
> > finding the same 404 pages as well. If no users are seeing them, you
> > can generally ignore those URLs. If you do not have access to server
> > logs, you can use a tool like Google Analytics with your 404 pages
> > tagged accordingly to find the same information:http://analytics.blogspot.com/2006/09/tip-tracking-404-pages.html
> > Dan Guay - 11:40 pm
> > Q: I have often wondered if my sitewww.domain.comispenalized for
> > "SEO Services", but I still show up top ten for SEO Seattle". Would a
> > re-inclusion request be needed?
> > A: Dan, for issues regarding individual sites, I recommend starting a
> > thread here in the groups.
> > Sheila Cole - 11:41 pm
> > Q: Does Google penalize sites "just a little bit" for minor
> > violations? Or would it be plainly obvious if a site was in violation
> > based on a sharp dropoff in rankings?
> > A: Google has various forms of "penalties." If you suspect that your
> > site is not ranking where it should be, I would recommend studying our
> > Webmaster Guidelines and fixing any issues that you find before
> > submitting a reconsideration request.
> > Mike Wilton - 11:41 pm
> > Q: Is there a rule of thumb to consider when thinking about PR vs the
> > number of links on a page and how many of those links will get some of
> > the link juice passed on?
> > A: We recommend less than 100 links on a page. Anything with many more
> > links may be confusing to a user (and a search engine crawler).
> > David Eaves - 11:43 pm
> > Q: Regular web-pages (as apposed to blogs and other sites with rss or
> > that get updated all of the time) do not seem to be getting indexed
> > and crawled as fast any more. Is there any reason for this?
> > A: I would recommend using a Sitemap file to inform us of changes on
> > your site. Blogs often submit their RSS feeds or have separate Sitemap
> > files, which might make a difference.
> > Scott Morrow - 11:43 pm
> > Q: GENERAL, Our websitewww.domain.comatthe beginning of April
> > almost stopped receiving orders. We mass loaded alot of META TAGS so
> > over 40,000 Meta Tags changed. Would this cause a problem.
> > A: For individual sites, I would recommend starting a thread here in
> > the groups. In general, modifying meta tags to provide a better
> > experience for users in our search results should not be a problem.
> > Rabin Acharya - 11:48 pm
> > Q: i am just wondering if the search done in a private website and the
> > way users navigate based on the result is going to be used in the
> > organic search result?
> > A: I'm not aware of any algorithmic developments in this area.
> > However, if users are happy with your site and it's navigation, they
> > might recommend your site to others: so in that regard, it could be
> > indirectly reflected in the organic search results.
> > Angela Vedar - 11:48 pm
> > Q: If a credible website is redirecting searchbots differently than
> > users (conditional redirects) for valid reasons like dealing with
> > partner sites or a page with unnecessary parameters, would Google
> > still possibly penalize this site?
> > A: If you feel that a website is doing something against our Webmaster
> > Guidelines, I would recommend filing a spam report in your Webmaster
> > Tools account.
> > tim gill - 11:48 pm
> > Q: Does doing a site:domain.com query in image search show all images
> > indexed for that site? I have seen images that are hosted on one
> > domain but being shown on another. This is common with affiliates.
> > Is there a way to isolate only images on the domain
> > A: Images always have to be shown in the context of a page linking to
> > them. It is possible that an image is not hosted on the same domain as
> > the page that is best suited to be shown to a user. If this is an
> > issue, I would recommend adding hotlinking protection to the images
> > hosted on your site.
> > Quentin Muhlert - 11:48 pm
> > Q: Is there going to be a way to Geolocate in webmasters' tools to a
> > higher resolution (say california instead of USA) or is that going to
> > be handled by Google Local listings?
> > A: If you need this kind of resolution, it would probably be best to
> > handle it within the Google Local Business Center.
> > Mark Kaufman - 11:51 pm
> > Q: [Sorry, asking again as browser crashed] I've heard that Matt
> > recently said that Google will be coming down on sites using
> > conditional redirects. What if conditional 301 redirects are used to
> > eliminate duplicate content?
> > A: I would recommend redirecting users as well as search engine
> > crawlers in a situation like that.
> > Scott Morrow - 11:51 pm
> > Q: Is Google requiring more of the robots.txt file.
> > A: No, it's fully optional :). However, if you don't have one, it
> > might be that your server is logging "file-not-found" errors. To avoid
> > that, you could just use an empty robots.txt file.
> > shantanu sikdar - 11:51 pm
> > Q: Hi, my personalized search history will alter my SERP. Will it
> > alter what other will see too?
> > A: Personalized search is personalized -- for your account only.
> > Bill Quinn - 11:51 pm
> > Q: We have a site that is mydomain.com. We would like to create a site
> > mydomain.co.uk. The purpose is that we have slightly different points
> > to make to the UK market. (note: we sell computer management software)
> > A: That sounds like a good idea if you can provide unique and relevant
> > content to your UK-based visitors.
> > Scott Morrow - 11:52 pm
> > Q: I am trying to create a robots.txt file using Webmaster Tools and
> > it seems to take a long period of time. Should this be. THANK YOU
> > Scott
> > A: It should be fairly quick. You could also copy & paste the contents
> > into a text file and use it directly.
> > Patrick Daly - 11:52 pm
> > Q: I've noticed ESPN has two subdomains they host sites on, but both
> > are hosting the same content. Google hasn't recognized it as duplicate
> > and allows them 4 results. You can see an example by searching "espn
> > sports 103.3"
> > A: It looks like we are already ignoring a large part of that
> > duplication.
> > Michael Brandon - 11:52 pm
> > Q: would love to have a tag to let google know what links we would
> > like as sitelinks - ie rel=tag
> > A: Thanks, Michael, I'll pass that on!
> > Art Min - 11:54 pm
> > Q: Are there any differences between the personalized search product
> > for Enterprise search server and the google.com one?
> > A: We're only active on the web search side, sorry.
> > Lani Castro - 11:55 pm
> > Q: If we release a press release via PRWeb and have a duplicate
> > release on our website, is that duplicate content? Or will Google
> > honor the links from PRWeb - or stuff it as paid links?
> > A: If the content is the same, it could be seen as duplication. If you
> > would like to syndicate it, I would recommend making sure that the
> > syndicated versions have attribution and a link back to the original
> > source.
> > Carlos d'Avis - 11:56 pm
> > Q: Does the PageRank algorithm consider anchor rel values other than
> > "nofollow"? I've noticed the use of rel="designer" on WP theme
> > attribution. Alternately, what would be a good rel value for a widget
> > attribution link?
> > A: We ignore all other values of the rel-attribute. Feel free to use
> > these however you feel fit. Some people like to use it as a way to
> > style certain links with CSS, which is generally fine with us.
> > Rabin Acharya - 11:56 pm
> > Q: i once got warning in webmaster tool about 301 redirect when the
> > site that was directed to was a legitimate page because the old page
> > was either removed or deleted. one day i saw the warning, about two
> > days after me without doing anything i ddint see it!!?
> > A: You may have seen the warning with regards to Sitemaps. We expect
> > URLs listed in a Sitemap file to be the final URLs and not to
> > redirect.
> > shantanu sikdar - 11:57 pm
> > Q: If I manage to get 8 of my own sites in 1st SERP for a given
> > keyphrase, will that be considered as spam?
> > A: Possibly - depending on the intent. We prefer to provide a diverse
> > set of results so that the user can choose the page he wants to see.
> > Natasha Robinson - 11:57 pm
> > Q: regarding 301s
> > A: I regard them highly.
> > Andrea Moro - 11:57 pm
> > Q: Robots.txt: why don't you simply introduce a new stage? I mean, if
> > file miss at all, you will index only main page and don't follow link.
> > If file is there, but not reachable you try it later. This will assure
> > that you can concern webmasters to a better web
> > A: We do retry them regularly. If however a site's robots.txt is
> > absolutely not reachable (not just missing), we generally hold off on
> > crawling the site. Usually, if a robots.txt is not reachable, the rest
> > of the site will also not be reachable anyway.
Scott Morrow - 12:19 am
Q: To all Panelists>>> Can you please just input any websites you feel
we can benefit from so when I save this chat that I can reference this
for the verbal sites are great but this is a ton of data and I have
missed alot of it. THANK YOU....
A: This is definitely something we want to do. Stay tuned!
Kun Dang - 12:19 am
Q: Is there ANY manual ranking overrides with any search results?
A: To reiterate what Matt Cutts said in the chat: Google can demote or
penalize websites that violate our Webmaster Guidelines, but will not
manually boost sites in our search results.
pravish thomas - 12:21 am
Q: Say we have a domain with .us extension and i want to target only
the US locations as my store is only for US customers then would
the .us domain extension would be better than .com as i only need the
US visitors. What would u recommend ?
A: Either would be fine, as long as you build content on that domain
which is relevant for the type of visitors you wish to attract. If
you have a .com, you can always use the geographic targeting feature
in Webmaster Tools to associate your site with the United States.
Michael Brandon - 12:22 am
Q: good integration from adwords to analytics, but not from analytics
to adwords when not first logged to adwords. Needs better webmaster/
multiclient with webmaster tools/adwords/analytics. And be good to
have multi access with googlelocal
A: You probably want to provide a more detailed question in the
Analytics group at:
http://groups.google.com/group/analytics-help
Damien Anderson - 12:23 am
Q: For a brand new domain name, with lots of orginal user friendly/
intended content - how log until it has a chance to be included in
SERPS?
A: We can generally discover new sites fairly quickly (within a week
or so).
Alan Rothstein - 12:25 am
Q: What happened to Universal Search? I don't see too many images,
news, and other verticals in results anymore.
A: It depends on your query. I'm seeing a lot of Universal Search
results when I search on Google.
Scott Morrow - 12:26 am
Q: What can I do to increase my PageRank since Google considers it so
HIGH of an importance.
A: You may be overstating Google's emphasis on PageRank. Creating a
Google-friendly site that abides by our Webmaster Guidelines is a
great way to start:
http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/topic.py?topic=8522
Jean Costa - 12:26 am
Q: Whats the difference between 1 relevant one way link, vs 1
unrelevant one way link. Whats the value ratio?
A: There's no value ratio I can provide, except that a relevant link
is going to bring relevant visitors who may in turn recommend your
site and link to it, creating more relevant links.
Manny Marrero - 12:26 am
Q: what is the best way to identify duplicate content and canonical
issues?
A: Take a snippet of your site and search for it in Google to see if
it's duplicated within your site or across other domains. Simply
loading a www or non-www version of your site is an easy way to see if
you've set-up a correct redirect to your preferred domain. You can
also perform a site: search on Google to confirm we're indexing the
correct version of your site.
Great questions! I thoroughly enjoyed chatting with you all!
- Reid
> > > steve boymel - 11:39 pm
> > > Q: Could someone from Google comment on this thread on WMW:http://www.webmasterworld.com/google/3668739.htm > > > Is this a bad data push or a new update?
> > > A: It's impossible to comment about changes in general without knowing
> > > the specifics (like the URLs of these sites).
> > > Andrea Moro - 11:38 pm
> > > Q: About the WM Tool and 404 errors. Why don't you report also the
> > > referer link where you find the missing link? Sometimes it's a real
> > > military mission find it.
> > > A: I would recommend using your server logs to determine if users are
> > > finding the same 404 pages as well. If no users are seeing them, you
> > > can generally ignore those URLs. If you do not have access to server
> > > logs, you can use a tool like Google Analytics with your 404 pages
> > > tagged accordingly to find the same information:http://analytics.blogspot.com/2006/09/tip-tracking-404-pages.html
> > > Dan Guay - 11:40 pm
> > > Q: I have often wondered if my sitewww.domain.comispenalizedfor > > > "SEO Services", but I still show up top ten for SEO Seattle". Would a
> > > re-inclusion request be needed?
> > > A: Dan, for issues regarding individual sites, I recommend starting a
> > > thread here in the groups.
> > > Sheila Cole - 11:41 pm
> > > Q: Does Google penalize sites "just a little bit" for minor
> > > violations? Or would it be plainly obvious if a site was in violation
> > > based on a sharp dropoff in rankings?
> > > A: Google has various forms of "penalties." If you suspect that your
> > > site is not ranking where it should be, I would recommend studying our
> > > Webmaster Guidelines and fixing any issues that you find before
> > > submitting a reconsideration request.
> > > Mike Wilton - 11:41 pm
> > > Q: Is there a rule of thumb to consider when thinking about PR vs the
> > > number of links on a page and how many of those links will get some of
> > > the link juice passed on?
> > > A: We recommend less than 100 links on a page. Anything with many more
> > > links may be confusing to a user (and a search engine crawler).
> > > David Eaves - 11:43 pm
> > > Q: Regular web-pages (as apposed to blogs and other sites with rss or
> > > that get updated all of the time) do not seem to be getting indexed
> > > and crawled as fast any more. Is there any reason for this?
> > > A: I would recommend using a Sitemap file to inform us of changes on
> > > your site. Blogs often submit their RSS feeds or have separate Sitemap
> > > files, which might make a difference.
> > > Scott Morrow - 11:43 pm
> > > Q: GENERAL, Our websitewww.domain.comatthebeginning of April
> > > almost stopped receiving orders. We mass loaded alot of META TAGS so
> > > over 40,000 Meta Tags changed. Would this cause a problem.
> > > A: For individual sites, I would recommend starting a thread here in
> > > the groups. In general, modifying meta tags to provide a better
> > > experience for users in our search results should not be a problem.
> > > Rabin Acharya - 11:48 pm
> > > Q: i am just wondering if the search done in a private website and the
> > > way users navigate based on the result is going to be used in the
> > > organic search result?
> > > A: I'm not aware of any algorithmic developments in this area.
> > > However, if users are happy with your site and it's navigation, they
> > > might recommend your site to others: so in that regard, it could be
> > > indirectly reflected in the organic search results.
> > > Angela Vedar - 11:48 pm
> > > Q: If a credible website is redirecting searchbots differently than
> > > users (conditional redirects) for valid reasons like dealing with
> > > partner sites or a page with unnecessary parameters, would Google
> > > still possibly penalize this site?
> > > A: If you feel that a website is doing something against our Webmaster
> > > Guidelines, I would recommend filing a spam report in your Webmaster
> > > Tools account.
> > > tim gill - 11:48 pm
> > > Q: Does doing a site:domain.com query in image search show all images
> > > indexed for that site? I have seen images that are hosted on one
> > > domain but being shown on another. This is common with affiliates.
> > > Is there a way to isolate only images on the domain
> > > A: Images always have to be shown in the context of a page linking to
> > > them. It is possible that an image is not hosted on the same domain as
> > > the page that is best suited to be shown to a user. If this is an
> > > issue, I would recommend adding hotlinking protection to the images
> > > hosted on your site.
> > > Quentin Muhlert - 11:48 pm
> > > Q: Is there going to be a way to Geolocate in webmasters' tools to a
> > > higher resolution (say california instead of USA) or is that going to
> > > be handled by Google Local listings?
> > > A: If you need this kind of resolution, it would probably be best to
> > > handle it within the Google Local Business Center.
> > > Mark Kaufman - 11:51 pm
> > > Q: [Sorry, asking again as browser crashed] I've heard that Matt
> > > recently said that Google will be coming down on sites using
> > > conditional redirects. What if conditional 301 redirects are used to
> > > eliminate duplicate content?
> > > A: I would recommend redirecting users as well as search engine
> > > crawlers in a situation like that.
> > > Scott Morrow - 11:51 pm
> > > Q: Is Google requiring more of the robots.txt file.
> > > A: No, it's fully optional :). However, if you don't have one, it
> > > might be that your server is logging "file-not-found" errors. To avoid
> > > that, you could just use an empty robots.txt file.
> > > shantanu sikdar - 11:51 pm
> > > Q: Hi, my personalized search history will alter my SERP. Will it
> > > alter what other will see too?
> > > A: Personalized search is personalized -- for your account only.
> > > Bill Quinn - 11:51 pm
> > > Q: We have a site that is mydomain.com. We would like to create a site
> > > mydomain.co.uk. The purpose is that we have slightly different points
> > > to make to the UK market. (note: we sell computer management software)
> > > A: That sounds like a good idea if you can provide unique and relevant
> > > content to your UK-based visitors.
> > > Scott Morrow - 11:52 pm
> > > Q: I am trying to create a robots.txt
Q: Matt, I'm experiencing a huge flux in SERP's result (especially for
my website). I see positions change soemtime in seconds, so they are
very "liquid". Will this settle down or is this here for good.
John Mueller - 5:38 pm
A: Thanks!
I'd like to see the real answer to that one please - are we even going
to get an acknowledgement that the shuffle exists?
> Scott Morrow - 12:19 am
> Q: To all Panelists>>> Can you please just input any websites you feel
> we can benefit from so when I save this chat that I can reference this
> for the verbal sites are great but this is a ton of data and I have
> missed alot of it. THANK YOU....
> A: This is definitely something we want to do. Stay tuned!
> Kun Dang - 12:19 am
> Q: Is there ANY manual ranking overrides with any search results?
> A: To reiterate what Matt Cutts said in the chat: Google can demote or
> penalize websites that violate our Webmaster Guidelines, but will not
> manually boost sites in our search results.
> pravish thomas - 12:21 am
> Q: Say we have a domain with .us extension and i want to target only
> the US locations as my store is only for US customers then would
> the .us domain extension would be better than .com as i only need the
> US visitors. What would u recommend ?
> A: Either would be fine, as long as you build content on that domain
> which is relevant for the type of visitors you wish to attract. If
> you have a .com, you can always use the geographic targeting feature
> in Webmaster Tools to associate your site with the United States.
> Michael Brandon - 12:22 am
> Q: good integration from adwords to analytics, but not from analytics
> to adwords when not first logged to adwords. Needs better webmaster/
> multiclient with webmaster tools/adwords/analytics. And be good to
> have multi access with googlelocal
> A: You probably want to provide a more detailed question in the
> Analytics group at:http://groups.google.com/group/analytics-help
> Damien Anderson - 12:23 am
> Q: For a brand new domain name, with lots of orginal user friendly/
> intended content - how log until it has a chance to be included in
> SERPS?
> A: We can generally discover new sites fairly quickly (within a week
> or so).
> Alan Rothstein - 12:25 am
> Q: What happened to Universal Search? I don't see too many images,
> news, and other verticals in results anymore.
> A: It depends on your query. I'm seeing a lot of Universal Search
> results when I search on Google.
> Scott Morrow - 12:26 am
> Q: What can I do to increase my PageRank since Google considers it so
> HIGH of an importance.
> A: You may be overstating Google's emphasis on PageRank. Creating a
> Google-friendly site that abides by our Webmaster Guidelines is a
> great way to start:http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/topic.py?topic=8522
> Jean Costa - 12:26 am
> Q: Whats the difference between 1 relevant one way link, vs 1
> unrelevant one way link. Whats the value ratio?
> A: There's no value ratio I can provide, except that a relevant link
> is going to bring relevant visitors who may in turn recommend your
> site and link to it, creating more relevant links.
> Manny Marrero - 12:26 am
> Q: what is the best way to identify duplicate content and canonical
> issues?
> A: Take a snippet of your site and search for it in Google to see if
> it's duplicated within your site or across other domains. Simply
> loading a www or non-www version of your site is an easy way to see if
> you've set-up a correct redirect to your preferred domain. You can
> also perform a site: search on Google to confirm we're indexing the
> correct version of your site.
> Great questions! I thoroughly enjoyed chatting with you all!
> - Reid
> On Jun 20, 10:48 pm, Ankit Rawat wrote:
> > Thanks John for the post !!
> > On Jun 21, 5:48 am, Manca wrote:
> > > Thanks for those John!
> > > On Jun 20, 3:46 pm, JohnMu wrote:
> > > > More!
> > > > steve boymel - 11:39 pm
> > > > Q: Could someone from Google comment on this thread on WMW:http://www.webmasterworld.com/google/3668739.htm > > > > Is this a bad data push or a new update?
> > > > A: It's impossible to comment about changes in general without knowing
> > > > the specifics (like the URLs of these sites).
> > > > Andrea Moro - 11:38 pm
> > > > Q: About the WM Tool and 404 errors. Why don't you report also the
> > > > referer link where you find the missing link? Sometimes it's a real
> > > > military mission find it.
> > > > A: I would recommend using your server logs to determine if users are
> > > > finding the same 404 pages as well. If no users are seeing them, you
> > > > can generally ignore those URLs. If you do not have access to server
> > > > logs, you can use a tool like Google Analytics with your 404 pages
> > > > tagged accordingly to find the same information:http://analytics.blogspot.com/2006/09/tip-tracking-404-pages.html
> > > > Dan Guay - 11:40 pm
> > > > Q: I have often wondered if my sitewww.domain.comispenalizedfor > > > > "SEO Services", but I still show up top ten for SEO Seattle". Would a
> > > > re-inclusion request be needed?
> > > > A: Dan, for issues regarding individual sites, I recommend starting a
> > > > thread here in the groups.
> > > > Sheila Cole - 11:41 pm
> > > > Q: Does Google penalize sites "just a little bit" for minor
> > > > violations? Or would it be plainly obvious if a site was in violation
> > > > based on a sharp dropoff in rankings?
> > > > A: Google has various forms of "penalties." If you suspect that your
> > > > site is not ranking where it should be, I would recommend studying our
> > > > Webmaster Guidelines and fixing any issues that you find before
> > > > submitting a reconsideration request.
> > > > Mike Wilton - 11:41 pm
> > > > Q: Is there a rule of thumb to consider when thinking about PR vs the
> > > > number of links on a page and how many of those links will get some of
> > > > the link juice passed on?
> > > > A: We recommend less than 100 links on a page. Anything with many more
> > > > links may be confusing to a user (and a search engine crawler).
> > > > David Eaves - 11:43 pm
> > > > Q: Regular web-pages (as apposed to blogs and other sites with rss or
> > > > that get updated all of the time) do not seem to be getting indexed
> > > > and crawled as fast any more. Is there any reason for this?
> > > > A: I would recommend using a Sitemap file to inform us of changes on
> > > > your site. Blogs often submit their RSS feeds or have separate Sitemap
> > > > files, which might make a difference.
> > > > Scott Morrow - 11:43 pm
> > > > Q: GENERAL, Our websitewww.domain.comatthebeginningof April
> > > > almost stopped receiving orders. We mass loaded alot of META TAGS so
> > > > over 40,000 Meta Tags changed. Would this cause a problem.
> > > > A: For individual sites, I would recommend starting a thread here in
> > > > the groups. In general, modifying meta tags to provide a better
> > > > experience for users in our search results should not be a problem.
> > > > Rabin Acharya - 11:48 pm
> > > > Q: i am just wondering if the search done in a private website and the
> > > > way users navigate based on the result is going to be used in the
> > > > organic search result?
> > > > A: I'm not aware of any algorithmic developments in this area.
> > > > However, if users are happy with your site and it's navigation, they
> > > > might recommend your site to others: so in that regard, it could be
> > > > indirectly reflected in the organic search results.
> > > > Angela Vedar - 11:48 pm
> > > > Q: If a credible website is redirecting searchbots differently than
> > > > users (conditional redirects) for valid reasons like dealing with
> > > > partner sites or a page with unnecessary parameters, would Google
> > > > still possibly penalize this site?
> > > > A: If you feel that a website is doing something against our Webmaster
> > > > Guidelines, I would recommend filing a spam report in your Webmaster
> > > > Tools account.
> > > > tim gill - 11:48 pm
> > > > Q: Does doing a site:domain.com query in image search show all images
> > > > indexed for that site? I have seen images that are hosted on one
> > > > domain but being shown on another. This is common with affiliates.
> > > > Is there a way to isolate only images on the domain
> > > > A: Images always have to be shown in the context of a page linking to
> > > > them. It is possible that an image is not hosted on the same domain as
> > > > the page that is best suited to be shown to a user. If this is an
> > > > issue, I would recommend adding hotlinking protection to the images
> > > > hosted on your site.
> > > > Quentin Muhlert - 11:48 pm
> > > > Q: Is there going to be a way to Geolocate in webmasters' tools to a
> > > > higher resolution (say california instead of USA) or is that going to
> > > > be handled by Google Local listings?
> > > > A: If you need this kind of resolution, it would probably be best to
> > > > handle it within the Google Local Business Center.
> > > > Mark Kaufman - 11:51 pm
> > > > Q: [Sorry, asking again as browser crashed] I've heard that Matt
> > > > recently said that Google will be coming down on sites using
> > > > conditional redirects. What if conditional 301 redirects are used to
> > > > eliminate duplicate content?
> > > > A: I would recommend redirecting users as well as search engine
> > > > crawlers in a situation like that.
> > > > Scott Morrow - 11:51 pm
> > > > Q: Is Google requiring more of the robots.txt file.
> > > > A: No, it's fully optional :). However, if you don't have one, it
Sorry, that was an answer to a different question (I must have clicked
on the wrong entry, you guys posted a lot of questions :-)).
It's pretty hard to give an answer to this question in way that
satisfies everyone & I don't think it would be possible to answer it
quickly in a fast-paced chat like we had. There are many factors that
could result in fluctuations like that. Sometimes it depends on the
site in question, sometimes it is from factors outside of that site.
Without knowing the site and keywords in question, it's impossible to
make a general comment as to why it could happen. I think Miles posted
here in the groups, so I'll try to find that posting and follow up on
it just to be sure.
Fluctuations are always going to happen as different users search, as
we modify our infrastructure (or as your queries reach different parts
of our infrastructure), as we adjust our algorithms, as webmasters
modify their sites (including webmasters of the competition) and as
the connections between sites change. While it would be nice to be
able to return a single "best answer" to all queries, things are not
always that static in real life.
So in short: fluctuations will always take place, though fluctuations
of high frequency & amplitude are generally rare and should resolve
themselves as things settle down over time.
Does that help a bit?
Please feel free to repost other questions that were answered in a way
that left you expecting more :).
I unfortunately missed the chat as it was very early morning my
current timezone.
I appreciate your answer, but to be honest this issue is not about the
possible changes you mention below. The shuffling occurs on single
keyword high-volume searches, and happens both intra-day and inter-
day. If I were to hazard a guess this is something quite deliberate,
i.e part of the results serving. The most obvious manifestation is
that sites in the 4+ ranks will be shuffled about as if testing is
occurring. results 1-3 remain generally unaffected. I've witnessed
this myself, but for obvious reasons cannot discuss the keyword here.
> Sorry, that was an answer to a different question (I must have clicked
> on the wrong entry, you guys posted a lot of questions :-)).
> It's pretty hard to give an answer to this question in way that
> satisfies everyone & I don't think it would be possible to answer it
> quickly in a fast-paced chat like we had. There are many factors that
> could result in fluctuations like that. Sometimes it depends on the
> site in question, sometimes it is from factors outside of that site.
> Without knowing the site and keywords in question, it's impossible to
> make a general comment as to why it could happen. I think Miles posted
> here in the groups, so I'll try to find that posting and follow up on
> it just to be sure.
> Fluctuations are always going to happen as different users search, as
> we modify our infrastructure (or as your queries reach different parts
> of our infrastructure), as we adjust our algorithms, as webmasters
> modify their sites (including webmasters of the competition) and as
> the connections between sites change. While it would be nice to be
> able to return a single "best answer" to all queries, things are not
> always that static in real life.
> So in short: fluctuations will always take place, though fluctuations
> of high frequency & amplitude are generally rare and should resolve
> themselves as things settle down over time.
> Does that help a bit?
> Please feel free to repost other questions that were answered in a way
> that left you expecting more :).
|
