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Diary of a Google Gazumpee
Copyright 2004 Heidi Perry
Back in November, when the Google Dance began, Barry Lloyd
of makemetop.co.uk wrote an article entitled "Been Gazumped
by Google?" GAZUMPED! What a wonderfully descriptive
term. In fact, it succinctly describes what happened to us
when our website went from #1 to oblivion a few months ago.
We were gazumped, swindled, cheated out of what was
rightfully ours. Okay, who's to say what search engine
position rightfully belongs to anyone. I mean, let's face
it, getting to the top of the search engines for coveted
keywords is really just a crap shoot, isn't it?
Or is it?
The SEO Cycle...
We've been at this internet game for a long time, a decade,
in fact. Dinosaur days! We don't pretend to be search
engine experts, it's not our forte. Nevertheless, we have
been around long enough to see some patterns emerge.
Here's a recurring pattern we've observed in Search Engine
Optimization:
1) The SEO experts research and make claims of what works
to get a website to the top of the search engines.
2) It works for a time, and websites implementing their
tactics move up the ranks.
3) Eventually, the algorithms change, and websites gain or
lose rankings.
4) SEO experts make adjustments, then back to step one in
the cycle again.
Around and around we go like mice on the optimization
exercise wheel. Furthermore, we do not foresee any chance
of stepping off of the optimization wheel for years to
come. From our experience, as long as search engines
exist, the algorithms will always change, and the SEO
experts will always have a job.
But, is Search Engine Optimization really necessary?
To Optimize or Not...
If you've set up a flow of traffic to your website outside
of search engines, there really is no need to optimize.
However, if you want search engine traffic, you'll need to
step onto the wheel. Furthermore, you need to know there's
some pretty fierce competition riding the same wheel. But,
be forewarned. Once you step onto the wheel, it will
become part of your regular marketing exercise.
Is search engine traffic worth stepping onto the endless
wheel?
Marketing experts tell us all the reasons why search engine
traffic is targeted. But, let's put that aside for a
moment and talk about real-world experience for a minute.
In the past 10 years, our websites have received traffic
from every imaginable source. But, you want to know about
search engine traffic, right? We'll give it to you
straight.
Search engines have sent us some of our best customers. A
significant number have stayed with us for years, and a
surprising number have made purchases on their first visit
- direct from the search engines.
Now, with this is mind, perhaps you can understand why we
have felt gazumped after losing a significant amount of
search engine traffic.
So, what exactly happened to us?
Dancing With Google...
For years, we have been building a professional community
where home-based entrepreneurs can network with one another
and find the resources they need. As a clearinghouse of
information, it has been a real task to organize the
thousands of pages of information and make it
user-friendly.
We had been #1 on Google for years for the coveted term
"home business," among other terms. As such, we enjoyed
traffic that brought us a significant number of customers
and subscribers. Traffic and sales grew consistently for
those years. Our Alexa rating showed the continued growth
by going from a ranking of 30,000 to almost 15,000 in a
year.
Enter the 'Florida' Update.
In November, we were still #1 on Google. Traffic and sales
were good.
In December, it appeared the Update was good for us. We
remained #1 and sales were at an all-time high. "We're
getting through this just fine," we gloated. Nothing to
worry about.
But, then things began to change - drastically!
- Gazump #1
Around January 3rd, our traffic plummeted to an all-time,
two-year low
(
http://www.alexa.com/data/details/traffic_details?q=&url=htt
p://www.homebusinessonline.com/ ).
After a quick perusal of our traffic logs, it became
obvious Google was playing with our rankings. You know,
playing the dance floor. Google may have come to the dance
with us as her date, but she left with a different partner.
A little research confirmed that not only had we dropped in
our rankings for our coveted search term, but we were
nowhere to be found in even the top 1,000. What? From #1
to oblivion? How could that be? The date was over...
Gazumped by Google!
- Gazump #2
Some weeks later, typing 'link:www.ourURL' in the Google
toolbar brought another startling revelation. While our
inbound links before the dance were around 800
(http://www.linkpopularity.com/linkpop.cgi?url=http%3A%2F%2F
www.homebusinessonline.com),
Google now listed only 69. Now, that doesn't even make
sense after almost a decade online, especially when typing
in our URL returns 2,620 links
(http://www.google.com/search?q=%22homebusinessonline.com%22
).
Gazumped by Google!
- Gazump #3
But, why stop there? Let's add a little salt to the wound,
shall we? It also appeared that Google was only spidering
a few, select parts of our website. No more deep crawls
where all the meaty content can be found. Gazumped by
Google!
So, where from here?
Lessons Learned...
After two months of a substantial drop in traffic and
sales, we are not out of business. Why not? For one, we
have not counted on Google as our sole source of traffic.
We are still receiving decent traffic, but we could be
doing better. I'm afraid we had been gliding on the
coattails of Google for too long. Sometimes you just need
a good kick in the pants. This wake-up call has been good
for us. Like multiple streams of income, we will up the
anti on multiple streams of traffic. That way, when one
traffic source dries up, it will not effect us
significantly.
It's time to make some well-needed changes to our website.
It could be better. A lot better. We're going to stop
talking about them, hunker down, and make those changes.
We believe this dance is not over yet and Google may decide
to return to the dance floor. Considering 'Gazump #2'
above, it only makes sense that there are still plenty of
bugs to be ironed out.
We'll get our traffic back and in a big way. If not
through Google, certainly through other traffic sources.
There's more than one way to reach the summit.
The Very Best Strategy...
The fact is you could spend hours upon hours in search
engine optimization, and while we believe that optimizing
your website is important, it shouldn't be the main focus.
We're of the opinion that websites should first be built
for customers and prospective customers, and second for
search engines. Take a look at your website from your
customer's perspective. Does it do what you want it to do?
Go ahead and hop on the optimization wheel. Get it
turning, but don't become obsessed with it. If you have
the resources for it, consider hiring an SEO specialist to
help. Be sure you have plenty of traffic sources, don't
rely on just one or two.
Finally, anything online, including the search engines, are
driven by the market's opinion. When the dance is over, if
Google doesn't provide the very best search results, the
market will go elsewhere. For this reason, no matter what
might happen to us personally through the Google Dance, the
end result will be better search results - if not Google,
then another search engine.
Either way, the market will determine who wins in the end.
About the Author:
Seasoned entrepreneurs, Dave and Heidi Perry have developed
half a dozen businesses and are founders of
HomeBusinessOnline.com and PrettyGreat.com. Known for their
unique insights and straight-shooter style, Heidi and Dave
are editors of HomeBizBytes. Receive a free issue at
http://www.HomeBusinessOnline.com/nsl.htm?sya
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