Help..! and I'm SO glad I found this site

[Gerald]

Hello, and I think I'll be SO happy I found this site.. I'm very frustrated at this point. Where to begin. Well.. I guess asking ONE question at a time would be best..

A little background. I buy and sell industrial equipment, been doing it for about 15 years and work from home.. Life is great, until about 6 months ago. My web traffic went from about 10 leads a day to I'll be lucky if I get 1 or 2 now.

I'm 100% web-lead driven and my life depends on my website rankings as in when people looking for the type of machine I might be brokering, they'll type in that make / model and or will type it general SEO phrases (like Used Car dealer, Used Cars, , etc).. I've also started a blog as a friend showed me he uses one and no kidding, he's ranked NUMBER 1 on google just 10 minutes after he updates his blog with what machine he's just located or is looking for (i.e. Wanted: 1986 Ford Focus with A/C or For Sale: We just located a 1990 Grand Sport Chevelotte Corvette).. and *BOOM* he's ranked number 1. I do the same thing and I'm not even LISTED anywhere on Google. I've copied his add exacty to see if it was the text perhaps. (We're very good friends and costantly help each with tips and tricks for rankings and we do not mind copying from eachother in the least)..

I've done some reading on this site and from what I can gather I've got some things that google is perhaps penalizing me on. For example (I do my own website and I'm NOT a professional but I know enough to get in trouble and to do my own) just now I read that hidding a link in a period or a "-" or a "," would penalize your website. Well, I just found I had FOUR on my home page.

Is there anywhere I can see or visit to see if in fact my website is penalized or not being indexed by google? I have a feeling it's not as we do a search for the exact phrase I may use and I'm not even listed anywhere on google.. Would taking those hidden things out help my rankings? Also since there are many many makes and models of machinery a lot of us in the industry have compiled a list and have placed that at the end of certain pages (the text is not WHITED out, but it is close to color of background so as to not stand out )

Would anyone be kind enough, in laymans terms to work closely with an individual who's willing to learn and be taught this complicated stuff about google, yahoo, froogle, etc?

I'm very sorry for the long post... But I really do not know where to start. I guess to see if I'm penalized would be a good start with the above mentioned things.