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Google Now Reports “Practically 100%” Of Manual Actions

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Azizur Rahman

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More options Oct 18 2012, 2:48 pm

From: Azizur Rahman <prodevstu...@gmail.com>

Date: Thu, 18 Oct 2012 19:48:01 +0100

Local: Thurs, Oct 18 2012 2:48 pm

Subject: Google Now Reports “Practically 100%” Of Manual Actions

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Hi all,

Sorry I have not been showing up for last couple of months been busy with family responsibilities.

I know some of your (especially Roy's) site has been not ranking well lately. I wonder if it had anything to do with the manual reviews.

Check out this article: http://searchengineland.com/google-now-reports-practically-all-manual...

I have to say there others here provably has more info on this matter.

Regards,

Azizur
Sent from my iPhone

Discussion subject changed to "Google Now Reports "Practically 100%" Of Manual Actions" by Roy

Roy

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More options Oct 18 2012, 3:58 pm

From: "Roy " <r...@mantex.co.uk>

Date: Thu, 18 Oct 2012 20:58:49 +0100

Local: Thurs, Oct 18 2012 3:58 pm

Subject: RE: [MWUG] Google Now Reports "Practically 100%" Of Manual Actions

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Thanks for your concern Azizur

I don't want to come across as a complainer - especially in this forum where
everybody is so supportive

My main problem with loss of site ranking is as follows

I originally created my site from hand-crafter HTML pages - and got quite
good Google rankings - and had plenty of site visitors

Then I switched to a WordPress site, and my rankings have been going down
ever since

I used to get 2,000 visitors per day - now I am lucky if I get 1,000

Obviously I have far more control over content and features using WP

But the number of site visitors has dropped, and pages which once ranked are
now off the graph as far as Google is concerned

Yet -

1. I do not have any paid links

2. I have minimised the number of outgoing links on pages

3. There are only Google Ads and Amazon commercial links + occasional
advertising on pages

4. All of my pages (posts) are content rich, originally written, and
user-oriented

5. I see rival pages on Google search results that don't even have the
search terms in their titles, are badly written, 150 words long, and are
clearly just as adverts for something else

At the moment, I am trying to up the SEO quotient using Yoast's WordPress
SEO plugin

Any ideas very, very welcome

http://www.mantex.co.uk

Cheers

Roy

- Show quoted text -

Mike Little

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More options Oct 19 2012, 5:10 am

From: Mike Little <m...@zed1.com>

Date: Fri, 19 Oct 2012 10:10:13 +0100

Local: Fri, Oct 19 2012 5:10 am

Subject: Re: [MWUG] Google Now Reports "Practically 100%" Of Manual Actions

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On 18 October 2012 20:58, Roy <r...@mantex.co.uk> wrote:

- Show quoted text -

I suspect the problem is pages like these Roy:

http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/arts/
http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/creative-writing-reviews/
http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/typography/

They are just lists of links with adverts in the sidebar. That's no longer
acceptable to Google. I don't think they are particularly good for visitors
either.
At a bare minimum, I would add at least a sentence following everyone of
those links. Probably a hand crafted excerpt from the post.

Of course you want all those pages to be "noindex,follow" so they aren't in
Googles indexes and counting against your site, which I suspect hey are.

It's a (slow) process to resolve the issue, but I think you will be able to
get there. What's key is to monitor all the parameters you can:
Google Analytics, Webmaster tools, even tracking the lcount of pages google
has indexed (using the "site:domain.com" syntax). And confirm that you are
making progress in the right direction. But it won't be a quick fix - weeks
at least.

Mike
--
Mike Little
http://zed1.com/

Azzam Sheikh

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More options Oct 19 2012, 6:44 am

From: Azzam Sheikh <azzam.she...@gmail.com>

Date: Fri, 19 Oct 2012 11:43:52 +0100

Local: Fri, Oct 19 2012 6:43 am

Subject: Re: [MWUG] Google Now Reports "Practically 100%" Of Manual Actions

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Agree on the "noindex,follow". useful to the visitor but certainly no
benefit to the search engine spidering.

It is a 'human list', something one does not mind see after reading an
article to find further reading. But is it the first thing a visitor would
see landing on the page? What does it tell me? If it was a book I would
flip over to the other side.

So agreed with Mike, an excerpt that explains each a little. If this time
consuming then "noindex,follow" or even "noindex,nofollow" those pages and
take them out of the loop?

Kind Regards

Azzam Sheikh
<http://about.me/AzzamS/bio>Social Media and SEO Manager -
www.national.co.uk
Mobile: +447903 752 126 [UK]

Collaborative thoughts on Google+ Plus: +Azzam
Sheikh<https://plus.google.com/117023362235410985497/about?hl=en>
Follow me Twitter: @azzams <http://twitter.com/#%21/azzams>
Professional connection on Linkedin: http://uk.linkedin.com/in/azzams

On 19 October 2012 10:10, Mike Little <m...@zed1.com> wrote:

- Show quoted text -

> On 18 October 2012 20:58, Roy <r...@mantex.co.uk> wrote:

>> Thanks for your concern Azizur

>> I don't want to come across as a complainer - especially in this forum
>> where
>> everybody is so supportive

>> My main problem with loss of site ranking is as follows

>> I originally created my site from hand-crafter HTML pages - and got quite
>> good Google rankings - and had plenty of site visitors

>> Then I switched to a WordPress site, and my rankings have been going down
>> ever since

>> I used to get 2,000 visitors per day - now I am lucky if I get 1,000

>> Obviously I have far more control over content and features using WP

>> But the number of site visitors has dropped, and pages which once ranked
>> are
>> now off the graph as far as Google is concerned

>> Yet -

>> 1. I do not have any paid links

>> 2. I have minimised the number of outgoing links on pages

>> 3. There are only Google Ads and Amazon commercial links + occasional
>> advertising on pages

>> 4. All of my pages (posts) are content rich, originally written, and
>> user-oriented

>> 5. I see rival pages on Google search results that don't even have the
>> search terms in their titles, are badly written, 150 words long, and are
>> clearly just as adverts for something else

>> At the moment, I am trying to up the SEO quotient using Yoast's WordPress
>> SEO plugin

>> Any ideas very, very welcome

> I suspect the problem is pages like these Roy:

> http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/arts/
> http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/creative-writing-reviews/
> http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/typography/

> They are just lists of links with adverts in the sidebar. That's no longer
> acceptable to Google. I don't think they are particularly good for visitors
> either.
> At a bare minimum, I would add at least a sentence following everyone of
> those links. Probably a hand crafted excerpt from the post.

> Of course you want all those pages to be "noindex,follow" so they aren't
> in Googles indexes and counting against your site, which I suspect hey are.

> It's a (slow) process to resolve the issue, but I think you will be able
> to get there. What's key is to monitor all the parameters you can:
> Google Analytics, Webmaster tools, even tracking the lcount of pages
> google has indexed (using the "site:domain.com" syntax). And confirm that
> you are making progress in the right direction. But it won't be a quick fix
> - weeks at least.

> Mike
> --
> Mike Little
> http://zed1.com/

> --
> See the group blog at http://mwug.info

> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
> Groups "Manchester WordPress User Group" group.
> To post to this group, send email to
> manchester-wordpress-user-group@googlegroups.com
> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
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> http://groups.google.com/group/manchester-wordpress-user-group

Discussion subject changed to "SEO and WordPress" by Roy

Roy

View profile

More options Oct 19 2012, 7:12 am

From: "Roy " <r...@mantex.co.uk>

Date: Fri, 19 Oct 2012 12:12:45 +0100

Local: Fri, Oct 19 2012 7:12 am

Subject: SEO and WordPress

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Many thanks for the reply and the suggestion Mike

[and thanks to Azam for his confirmation]

Of course, I am not blaming WordPress for any of this

My site visitor numbers have dropped after the Google Panda and Penguin
algorithms

And I can see why Google wouldn't rate these index pages - though I think
they're useful to a visitor

So the 'noindex, follow' sounds like a good idea

The problem is that these pages are generated automatically

So WHERE and HOW do I add the 'noindex, follow' instruction?

Is it something that can be done within Yoast's WordPress SEO?

- or is it something that can be done Robots.txt?

Or somewhere else?

And come to think of it - would it make sense to put 'noindex, follow'
instructions on admin pages from within a site?

Such as 'terms and conditions', 'shopping cart', 'thanks for your order',
'cancelled order', and so on?

I'm not worried if all this will take time - I've been at this for twelve
years now J

Cheers - and thanks again

Roy

From: manchester-wordpress-user-group@googlegroups.com
[mailto:manchester-wordpress-user-group@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Mike
Little
Sent: 19 October 2012 10:10
To: manchester-wordpress-user-group@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: [MWUG] Google Now Reports "Practically 100%" Of Manual Actions

On 18 October 2012 20:58, Roy <r...@mantex.co.uk> wrote:

Thanks for your concern Azizur

I don't want to come across as a complainer - especially in this forum where
everybody is so supportive

My main problem with loss of site ranking is as follows

I originally created my site from hand-crafter HTML pages - and got quite
good Google rankings - and had plenty of site visitors

Then I switched to a WordPress site, and my rankings have been going down
ever since

I used to get 2,000 visitors per day - now I am lucky if I get 1,000

Obviously I have far more control over content and features using WP

But the number of site visitors has dropped, and pages which once ranked are
now off the graph as far as Google is concerned

Yet -

1. I do not have any paid links

2. I have minimised the number of outgoing links on pages

3. There are only Google Ads and Amazon commercial links + occasional
advertising on pages

4. All of my pages (posts) are content rich, originally written, and
user-oriented

5. I see rival pages on Google search results that don't even have the
search terms in their titles, are badly written, 150 words long, and are
clearly just as adverts for something else

At the moment, I am trying to up the SEO quotient using Yoast's WordPress
SEO plugin

Any ideas very, very welcome

I suspect the problem is pages like these Roy:

http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/arts/

http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/creative-writing-reviews/

http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/typography/

They are just lists of links with adverts in the sidebar. That's no longer
acceptable to Google. I don't think they are particularly good for visitors
either.

At a bare minimum, I would add at least a sentence following everyone of
those links. Probably a hand crafted excerpt from the post.

Of course you want all those pages to be "noindex,follow" so they aren't in
Googles indexes and counting against your site, which I suspect hey are.

It's a (slow) process to resolve the issue, but I think you will be able to
get there. What's key is to monitor all the parameters you can:

Google Analytics, Webmaster tools, even tracking the lcount of pages google
has indexed (using the "site:domain.com" syntax). And confirm that you are
making progress in the right direction. But it won't be a quick fix - weeks
at least.

Mike

Mike Little
http://zed1.com/

--
See the group blog at http://mwug.info

You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
Groups "Manchester WordPress User Group" group.
To post to this group, send email to
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Roy

View profile

More options Oct 19 2012, 10:51 am

From: "Roy " <r...@mantex.co.uk>

Date: Fri, 19 Oct 2012 15:51:42 +0100

Local: Fri, Oct 19 2012 10:51 am

Subject: RE: [MWUG] SEO and WordPress

Print | Individual message | Show original | Report this message | Find messages by this author

Hi Mike and Azam (any anybody else reading)

I think I might have found part of the answer to my own previous question

"Where should I add 'noindex' attributes?"

Whoopee! Just discovered that the amazing Yoast actually allows me to edit
CATEGORIES - which is where my index pages are generated

But there are some other settings on the page I could use a word of advice
on

SEO title - is that the name of the category as it appears on the site? Or
can I make up something more attractive?

SEO description - ditto - as above

Cannonical - do I grab this URL from the page when it has been generated?

Breadcrumb title - ????

Noindex this category - 'Always noindex' ?

Include in sitemap - auto detect? OR 'always include'?

More work - but might be getting there!

Cheers

Roy

PS - do other people with web sites have these problems? Or am I uniquely
dim?

From: manchester-wordpress-user-group@googlegroups.com
[mailto:manchester-wordpress-user-group@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Roy
Sent: 19 October 2012 12:13
To: manchester-wordpress-user-group@googlegroups.com
Subject: [MWUG] SEO and WordPress

Many thanks for the reply and the suggestion Mike

[and thanks to Azam for his confirmation]

Of course, I am not blaming WordPress for any of this

My site visitor numbers have dropped after the Google Panda and Penguin
algorithms

And I can see why Google wouldn't rate these index pages - though I think
they're useful to a visitor

So the 'noindex, follow' sounds like a good idea

The problem is that these pages are generated automatically

So WHERE and HOW do I add the 'noindex, follow' instruction?

Is it something that can be done within Yoast's WordPress SEO?

- or is it something that can be done Robots.txt?

Or somewhere else?

And come to think of it - would it make sense to put 'noindex, follow'
instructions on admin pages from within a site?

Such as 'terms and conditions', 'shopping cart', 'thanks for your order',
'cancelled order', and so on?

I'm not worried if all this will take time - I've been at this for twelve
years now J

Cheers - and thanks again

Roy

On 18 October 2012 20:58, Roy <r...@mantex.co.uk> wrote:

Thanks for your concern Azizur

I don't want to come across as a complainer - especially in this forum where
everybody is so supportive

My main problem with loss of site ranking is as follows

I originally created my site from hand-crafter HTML pages - and got quite
good Google rankings - and had plenty of site visitors

Then I switched to a WordPress site, and my rankings have been going down
ever since

I used to get 2,000 visitors per day - now I am lucky if I get 1,000

Obviously I have far more control over content and features using WP

But the number of site visitors has dropped, and pages which once ranked are
now off the graph as far as Google is concerned

Yet -

1. I do not have any paid links

2. I have minimised the number of outgoing links on pages

3. There are only Google Ads and Amazon commercial links + occasional
advertising on pages

4. All of my pages (posts) are content rich, originally written, and
user-oriented

5. I see rival pages on Google search results that don't even have the
search terms in their titles, are badly written, 150 words long, and are
clearly just as adverts for something else

At the moment, I am trying to up the SEO quotient using Yoast's WordPress
SEO plugin

Any ideas very, very welcome

I suspect the problem is pages like these Roy:

http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/arts/

http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/creative-writing-reviews/

http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/typography/

They are just lists of links with adverts in the sidebar. That's no longer
acceptable to Google. I don't think they are particularly good for visitors
either.

At a bare minimum, I would add at least a sentence following everyone of
those links. Probably a hand crafted excerpt from the post.

Of course you want all those pages to be "noindex,follow" so they aren't in
Googles indexes and counting against your site, which I suspect hey are.

It's a (slow) process to resolve the issue, but I think you will be able to
get there. What's key is to monitor all the parameters you can:

Mike

Mike Little
http://zed1.com/

--
See the group blog at http://mwug.info

Mike Little

View profile

More options Oct 19 2012, 7:09 pm

From: Mike Little <m...@zed1.com>

Date: Sat, 20 Oct 2012 00:08:38 +0100

Local: Fri, Oct 19 2012 7:08 pm

Subject: Re: [MWUG] SEO and WordPress

Print | Individual message | Show original | Report this message | Find messages by this author

Not got chance to answer this till after weekend....

Mike

On 19 October 2012 15:51, Roy <r...@mantex.co.uk> wrote:

- Show quoted text -

> Hi Mike and Azam (any anybody else reading)****

> ** **

> I think I might have found part of the answer to my own previous question*
> ***

> ** **

> “Where should I add ‘noindex’ attributes?”****

> ** **

> Whoopee! Just discovered that the amazing Yoast actually allows me to edit
> CATEGORIES – which is where my index pages are generated****

> ** **

> But there are some other settings on the page I could use a word of advice
> on****

> ** **

> SEO title – is that the name of the category as it appears on the site? Or
> can I make up something more attractive?****

> ** **

> SEO description – ditto – as above****

> ** **

> Cannonical – do I grab this URL from the page when it has been generated?*
> ***

> ** **

> Breadcrumb title - ????****

> ** **

> Noindex this category – ‘Always noindex’ ?****

> ** **

> Include in sitemap – auto detect? OR ‘always include’?****

> ** **

> More work – but might be getting there!****

> ** **

> Cheers****

> ** **

> Roy****

> ** **

> PS – do other people with web sites have these problems? Or am I uniquely
> dim?****

> ** **

> *From:* manchester-wordpress-user-group@googlegroups.com [mailto:
> manchester-wordpress-user-group@googlegroups.com] *On Behalf Of *Roy
> *Sent:* 19 October 2012 12:13
> *To:* manchester-wordpress-user-group@googlegroups.com
> *Subject:* [MWUG] SEO and WordPress****

> ** **

> Many thanks for the reply and the suggestion Mike****

> ** **

> [and thanks to Azam for his confirmation]****

> ** **

> Of course, I am not blaming WordPress for any of this****

> ** **

> My site visitor numbers have dropped after the Google Panda and Penguin
> algorithms****

> ** **

> And I can see why Google wouldn’t rate these index pages – though I think
> they’re useful to a visitor ****

> ** **

> So the ‘noindex, follow’ sounds like a good idea****

> ** **

> The problem is that these pages are generated automatically ****

> ** **

> So WHERE and HOW do I add the ‘noindex, follow’ instruction?****

> ** **

> Is it something that can be done within Yoast’s WordPress SEO?****

> ** **

> – or is it something that can be done Robots.txt?****

> ** **

> Or somewhere else?****

> ** **

> And come to think of it – would it make sense to put ‘noindex, follow’
> instructions on admin pages from within a site?****

> ** **

> Such as ‘terms and conditions’, ‘shopping cart’, ‘thanks for your order’,
> ‘cancelled order’, and so on?****

> ** **

> I’m not worried if all this will take time – I’ve been at this for twelve
> years now J****

> ** **

> Cheers – and thanks again****

> ** **

> Roy****

> ** **

> *From:* manchester-wordpress-user-group@googlegroups.com [
> mailto:manchester-wordpress-user-group@googlegroups.com<manchester-wordpres s-user-group@googlegroups.com>]
> *On Behalf Of *Mike Little
> *Sent:* 19 October 2012 10:10
> *To:* manchester-wordpress-user-group@googlegroups.com
> *Subject:* Re: [MWUG] Google Now Reports "Practically 100%" Of Manual
> Actions****

> ** **

> On 18 October 2012 20:58, Roy <r...@mantex.co.uk> wrote:****

> Thanks for your concern Azizur

> I don't want to come across as a complainer - especially in this forum
> where
> everybody is so supportive

> My main problem with loss of site ranking is as follows

> I originally created my site from hand-crafter HTML pages - and got quite
> good Google rankings - and had plenty of site visitors

> Then I switched to a WordPress site, and my rankings have been going down
> ever since

> I used to get 2,000 visitors per day - now I am lucky if I get 1,000

> Obviously I have far more control over content and features using WP

> But the number of site visitors has dropped, and pages which once ranked
> are
> now off the graph as far as Google is concerned

> Yet -

> 1. I do not have any paid links

> 2. I have minimised the number of outgoing links on pages

> 3. There are only Google Ads and Amazon commercial links + occasional
> advertising on pages

> 4. All of my pages (posts) are content rich, originally written, and
> user-oriented

> 5. I see rival pages on Google search results that don't even have the
> search terms in their titles, are badly written, 150 words long, and are
> clearly just as adverts for something else

> At the moment, I am trying to up the SEO quotient using Yoast's WordPress
> SEO plugin

> Any ideas very, very welcome****

> ** **

> I suspect the problem is pages like these Roy:****

> ** **

> http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/arts/****

> http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/creative-writing-reviews/****

> http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/typography/****

> ** **

> They are just lists of links with adverts in the sidebar. That's no longer
> acceptable to Google. I don't think they are particularly good for visitors
> either. ****

> At a bare minimum, I would add at least a sentence following everyone of
> those links. Probably a hand crafted excerpt from the post.****

> ** **

> Of course you want all those pages to be "noindex,follow" so they aren't
> in Googles indexes and counting against your site, which I suspect hey are.
> ****

> ** **

> It's a (slow) process to resolve the issue, but I think you will be able
> to get there. What's key is to monitor all the parameters you can:****

> Google Analytics, Webmaster tools, even tracking the lcount of pages
> google has indexed (using the "site:domain.com" syntax). And confirm that
> you are making progress in the right direction. But it won't be a quick fix
> - weeks at least.****

> ** **

> Mike****

> -- ****

> Mike Little
> http://zed1.com/****

> --
> See the group blog at http://mwug.info

> ****

> --
> See the group blog at http://mwug.info

> ****

> --
> See the group blog at http://mwug.info

--
Mike Little
http://zed1.com/

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