Barely Indexed By Google

[Daedalus]

My website has been online for 13 months, has 150 pages of unique content (including blog and message board) and since April of this year has dropped from 25 pages in the index to just 2 pages.

I've tried adding a sitemap to the site and this did not work. I've also tried Google Sitemaps and pages started to slowly drop out of the index after implementing this feature, so I discontinued using Google Sitemaps and removed all code.

Here is the other information requested for this post:


Is the site completed or under construction? Completed


If completed, how long? 13 months


Which group listed below best describes the content of your website?

• A product of your own hard work. Yes!
• Developed using affiliate content.
• Developed using RSS content.
• A built for AdSense site.
• A scraper site.


Was your site designed using templates? Yes.


If your site uses a "CMS" or other type of software, please list the name of the software (phpNuke, Joomla, vBulletin, etc.) and it's version. No CMS.


Is this site a:

• Business site Yes.
• Personal / Hobby site
• Site you're developing for a client.


What's the nature (topic) of the site and what audience are you targeting? It's a hydrogen car site targeting those who are tired of high gasoline prices, technical people and the environmetally conscious.


Has the site previously had any SEO work done to it? Yes.


If yes, was the SEO work done by you or by an SEO? By myself.


Have you validated your code?

• Validate HTML & XHTML here: W3C Markup Validation Service (it's free) No.
• Validate CSS here: W3C CSS Validation Service (it's free)
• Validate RSS here: RSS Validator (it's free)


Have you set up a 301 Moved Permanently redirect from your non-www domain to your www domain? No.
• All about 301 redirects


Have you checked to make sure your site is cross-browser compatible?
• BrowserCam (free for 24 hrs & up to 200 captures) No.


Does your site have incoming links from any of the following?

• Directories Yes.
• Link Exchanges No.
• Paid Textlinks No.


Has the site ever been banned? No.


Would you like your code reviewed for errors? Yes!


Would you like suggestions regarding your design or layout? Yes!


Are you in a position to make changes to the site? Yes!

[ScottR]

I'm wont comment on the SEO issues. But if your interested on your code I can help. Currently your page has 42 errors.

Scott

[Quadrille]

You need a 301 redirect from non-www to www and you need to change all internal links to the home page to www.domain.biz/ - or / - remove all references to index.htm

I'm also concerned that the page is about hydrogen cars - but all the Yahoo ads are mortgages and credit; are you seeing that?

Right about the code; even the images have fonts, but no ALT text.

You also need to use unique descriptions to get the best results

I'd use a Google sitemap - if it doesn't immediately help, it's telling you there's a problem to be sorted.

[Quadrille]

Have you made any radical changes in the site or your linking pattern recently?

Did you buy the domain 'fresh' - or was it a pre-owned item?

You say it's a business site, but I cannot see what you are selling; what business would you say you are in?

Incidentally, I see the .com is for sale - you might consider offering a few dollars. With two visitors a month, I doubt they expect a lot!

[Daedalus]

ScottR, thanks, though I'm more interested in the SEO issues than the validation errors since my other websites have lots of errors but still rank well. Now, if there is a specific error that is holding my site back from ranking well, I'm all ears!

Quadrille, I thought the Big Daddy update addresssed the non-www vs. www issue? I'm not sure why I need redirects?

Also, yes, the Yahoo ads are not context sensitive on the homepage but on the subpages, they are (I'm pulling my hair out trying to figure out why). I too believe this is an indicator of something that is wrong on the homepage which is why Google is not wanting to index it.

I'm not concerned about the alt text since my other sites have no alt text but rank well and the images are indexed as well.

Google Sitemaps actually made matters worse for this website (not for several others I currently have using their Sitemaps, though) so I don't want to go back to the Sitemap until I've figured out what the other issues are.

The domain name is fresh as I am the original owner. I haven't gone out of my way within the last several months to gain links. I did most of the link building for the site last year.

The site doesn't sell anything. It's more of an online magazine for those interested in this subject and makes its money through advertising.

Thanks for the tip on the .com version being available. I shutter to think that I may have to buy another domain and do 301 redirects to the new domain and then wait another 12 - 18 months to get past the Google aging filter for the new domain when my present domain should be ready to get out of the sandbox at any time (or not considering the present situation).

[Comeran]

I was about to reply with a huge list and just deleted it all as I saw the new post.

All of the things you were told are important, they wouldn't be pointed out had they not been.

The only reason your other sites still have rankings is because G hasn't come around to them yet, trust me give it 6 months and you will see.

Com-

[Quadrille]

If someone can find a major problem with the site, that can be good, as you can fix it and move on.

Sometimes, however, life ain't so simple, and there may be many, many tiny factors that are doing the damage.

Until you find that One Big Thing, you really have no choice but to deal with Every Little Thing.

Google says they fixed the WWW thing; signs are that they have not, and if Google is seeing your site twice, that is not helping - so fix it.

Internal links to index.htm coupled with other links to domain.com/ can have the same effect - so fix it.

ALT text is there for a good reason, and there's strong evidence that it is one of the 1xx items Google cares about - so fix it.

And so on.

Fixing web sites is not always easy - but it still needs to be done.

I'm currently wading through several web sites where I was 'not concerned' about having meta descriptions, and in some cases, I didn't even bother about a unique title - I'm now paying the price.

If there's no obvious 'big things', then the Little Things Matter.

[ihelpyou]

LOL my goodness.

You ask for a review/critique. Members spend their "valuable" time to give you "free" advice, and you take that advice and ignore it? You must be joking?

If you believe that your code has nothing to do with search engines,.... I can't help you.

Almost every client my firm helps has to have their code fixed, or we simply redesign the site the "right" way. IMO, your code is extremely important. Just because another site is doing something, do you always do the same thing? I guess you do. Just because one site is there now means nothing at all.

I'm not going to look at your site as you might blow off my advice as well. We offer our advice for free in here. Members spend nothing for it.

[Blue]

Some of the issues that were brought up address more than just "ranking in the search engines."

Accessibility is something that is important to me as I would sure hate to be ignored if I was handicapped.

[Daedalus]

My apologies for coming off as “blowing people off” which is not my intent. Instead of thinking out loud, I should be more gracious with all of the valuable feedback that has been given. I’m just frustrated with my own abilities to isolate and solve this problem. Thanks to all who have taken the time to respond.

[Connie]

On the 301 issue if I search for
site:www.hydrogen-cars.biz 2 pages shown.

site:.hydrogen-cars.biz shows 4 of a possible 5 pages. 2 of the pages shown are shown with the www and two without.

You can draw your own conclusions, but it looks to me like the domain vs www.domain issue is not helping you.

As far as I know Google still recommends the use of a 301.

How unique is your content? If you have just gathered information and changed a few words, it is possible that you are being dropped for duplicate content.

I'm not suggesting that's the case, but something you might want to consider.

What you consider as unique content may not be so unique.

[Connie]

Just looked at the source code of three of your pages.

Two had identical titles. All three had the same meta description, and key words. You need unique titles, descriptions, and keywords listed for each page.

I really believe the above can make the difference when the pages of a site contain near duplicate content in whether the SEs see them as duplicate of different pages.

for instance on your Audi A2 page this is the title which is the same as the home page.

Hydrogen Cars - Alternative Fuel Vehicles

I would have the term Audi A2 in the title. I would write the description based on the Audi A2. Key words should reflect Audi A2.

Title, description, and keywords may be similar but by focusing each page on the car that you are providing information about you can help the SEs know that each page is different.

[Daedalus]

Thanks for the feedback, Connie, I will check it out.