Steve234
asked on
SEO - explain google page rank, alexa rank, and others
Hi,
My web site has finally reached a point where I can begin to concentrate on marketing it, rather than codeing it. Although I've read how alexa explains their ranking system, and I understand google's page rank is supposed to be an indication of popularity, but something is just not clicking in my understanding of their meanings. I have a google pr of 5 but very little traffic to my web site. And I've seen sites with hugh traffic numbers compared to mine with a much lower google pr. And the same with alexa, I've seen dead pages with much higher rank than mine.
-1- Please explain page rank as it applies to google, alexa, and if there is any other ranking system, or links to tools, web sites, etc that tells realistically what other sites do in comparison.
-2- What can I do to increase my search engine presence? I paid an SEO company a large amount, but after 6 months they still had no results to show for it. I'm not in the top 1,000 sites for any keyword in my category of batteries. I have lots of text for search engines to capture, and almost every line of text on my home page is from a reverse search engine top results, so something else is seriously wrong with my site.
-3- Finally, the first box of 9 links in the top of the left margin is totally unnecessary to the function of the web site. They just add unnecessary clutter. I'd like to remove them, but they each bring up an additional page with a google rank of 3 (if "www" is added to their url). Will removing them cause a drop in my page rank and/or a drop in my already low search engine presence?
Thank you for your help. I will split points. Please give me some indication of your expertise in seo when giving your opinions to point 3 above. I've had answers for point 3 from one extreme to another.
Thank you.
Steve
<personal site address removed by PAQ_Man>
My web site has finally reached a point where I can begin to concentrate on marketing it, rather than codeing it. Although I've read how alexa explains their ranking system, and I understand google's page rank is supposed to be an indication of popularity, but something is just not clicking in my understanding of their meanings. I have a google pr of 5 but very little traffic to my web site. And I've seen sites with hugh traffic numbers compared to mine with a much lower google pr. And the same with alexa, I've seen dead pages with much higher rank than mine.
-1- Please explain page rank as it applies to google, alexa, and if there is any other ranking system, or links to tools, web sites, etc that tells realistically what other sites do in comparison.
-2- What can I do to increase my search engine presence? I paid an SEO company a large amount, but after 6 months they still had no results to show for it. I'm not in the top 1,000 sites for any keyword in my category of batteries. I have lots of text for search engines to capture, and almost every line of text on my home page is from a reverse search engine top results, so something else is seriously wrong with my site.
-3- Finally, the first box of 9 links in the top of the left margin is totally unnecessary to the function of the web site. They just add unnecessary clutter. I'd like to remove them, but they each bring up an additional page with a google rank of 3 (if "www" is added to their url). Will removing them cause a drop in my page rank and/or a drop in my already low search engine presence?
Thank you for your help. I will split points. Please give me some indication of your expertise in seo when giving your opinions to point 3 above. I've had answers for point 3 from one extreme to another.
Thank you.
Steve
<personal site address removed by PAQ_Man>
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SOLUTION
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Steve -
>Duz, are you saying it's better to have a lower number with Alexa,
Yes it means that more people with Alexa Tool Bars are visiting your site. (How many people have you met who have the Alexa TB installed?)
>meaning I'm nearer the top?
Nearer the top in that list, yes. But since no one uses it order to find a website it doesn't matter where you are in the list.
>I'm not at all familiar with Yahoo and MSN ranking systems.
Only the people employed to design the search algorithms for these companies are familiar with their ranking systems. The rest of us have to make do with the results when we use Yahoo or MSN search.
>What is a doorway page?
A doorway page is a page that is seen by the search engines but not by users. For example here is Google's cache of http://www.the-battery-shoppe.com/
http://216.239.59.104/search?q=cache:Cjnsm9GtGjEJ:www.the-battery-shoppe.com/+%22rechargeable+batteries,+AC+adapters+and+battery+chargers.++If%22&hl=en
However if a user clicks on the link http://www.the-battery-shoppe.com/ they arrive not at the page Google has in it's cache but here http://www.thebatteryshoppe.com/ which is a different page altogether.
So http://www.the-battery-shoppe.com/ is a doorway page, not a very good one and possibly unintentional but potentially dangerous as far as Google is concerned.
>What is the proper way to transfer this question to the OnLine Marketing category?
Ask for it to be moved in the Community Support channel and at the same time you probably want to get the duplicate question you posted in OnLine Marketing deleted.
- duz
>Duz, are you saying it's better to have a lower number with Alexa,
Yes it means that more people with Alexa Tool Bars are visiting your site. (How many people have you met who have the Alexa TB installed?)
>meaning I'm nearer the top?
Nearer the top in that list, yes. But since no one uses it order to find a website it doesn't matter where you are in the list.
>I'm not at all familiar with Yahoo and MSN ranking systems.
Only the people employed to design the search algorithms for these companies are familiar with their ranking systems. The rest of us have to make do with the results when we use Yahoo or MSN search.
>What is a doorway page?
A doorway page is a page that is seen by the search engines but not by users. For example here is Google's cache of http://www.the-battery-shoppe.com/
http://216.239.59.104/search?q=cache:Cjnsm9GtGjEJ:www.the-battery-shoppe.com/+%22rechargeable+batteries,+AC+adapters+and+battery+chargers.++If%22&hl=en
However if a user clicks on the link http://www.the-battery-shoppe.com/ they arrive not at the page Google has in it's cache but here http://www.thebatteryshoppe.com/ which is a different page altogether.
So http://www.the-battery-shoppe.com/ is a doorway page, not a very good one and possibly unintentional but potentially dangerous as far as Google is concerned.
>What is the proper way to transfer this question to the OnLine Marketing category?
Ask for it to be moved in the Community Support channel and at the same time you probably want to get the duplicate question you posted in OnLine Marketing deleted.
- duz
ASKER
Hi duz,
I've been reading the info at the site at seoconsultants.com I got from reading your previous answer - amazing info there. I will open several more questions based on what I read there so far.
The "doorway" pages referenced above concern me. (Actually, it's the same site for both url's. It's how the site looked a couple weeks ago.) That could be why I'm ranked at the bottom of google. Actually, I didn't know they were doorway pages. I originally thought I would create different se optimized web sites, host them somewhere and have them link to the product database at thebatteryshoppe.com. As of now, I have about a dozen similar url's including thebatterysource.com, thebatterystore.com, thebatterysupply.com etc. Right now they're all only just url's, they just sit at godaddy and all point forwarded to thebatteryshoppe.com. I don't have masking activated, but do you think I'd be better off, from an seo perspective, if I don't have the url's point anywhere? I've never done anything with any of them yet, so the customers lost because they see a "page not found" error would be minimal. Your opinion please. Do you think I should just put them (the url's) up for sale?
(By the way, how did you find the-battery-shoppe.com url?)
Thank you.
Steve
<personal site address removed by PAQ_Man>
I've been reading the info at the site at seoconsultants.com I got from reading your previous answer - amazing info there. I will open several more questions based on what I read there so far.
The "doorway" pages referenced above concern me. (Actually, it's the same site for both url's. It's how the site looked a couple weeks ago.) That could be why I'm ranked at the bottom of google. Actually, I didn't know they were doorway pages. I originally thought I would create different se optimized web sites, host them somewhere and have them link to the product database at thebatteryshoppe.com. As of now, I have about a dozen similar url's including thebatterysource.com, thebatterystore.com, thebatterysupply.com etc. Right now they're all only just url's, they just sit at godaddy and all point forwarded to thebatteryshoppe.com. I don't have masking activated, but do you think I'd be better off, from an seo perspective, if I don't have the url's point anywhere? I've never done anything with any of them yet, so the customers lost because they see a "page not found" error would be minimal. Your opinion please. Do you think I should just put them (the url's) up for sale?
(By the way, how did you find the-battery-shoppe.com url?)
Thank you.
Steve
<personal site address removed by PAQ_Man>
Steve -
>Right now they're all only just url's, they just sit at godaddy and all point forwarded to thebatteryshoppe.com.
That is fine and quite normal - people register a few domains decide to use one and have the rest point to it, no problem. But no advantage either unless one of the domains is a common misspelling in which case there might be a few 'type in' visitors. So it doesn't really matter is the answer.
What you want to avoid is pages with content that are redirected because this can be done for genuine reasons or to try and fool the search engines. At the moment the-battery-shoppe.com has a 302 (temporary) redirect, which is what GoDaddy use but either the content should be removed or the redirect changed to a 301 (permanent). Probably better just to remove the content and treat the domain like your dozen others. Then forget about them all and concentrate on thebatteryshoppe.com.
>That could be why I'm ranked at the bottom of google.
No. there is no single reason that you are not ranking well for your keywords on Google. As I say the site is a mess as far as SEO is concerned but there is a huge opportunity to get lots of targeted traffic. At the very least you should be near the top for keyword searches on battery models like UIM 486 and the hundreds of others. Great potential here!
>how did you find the-battery-shoppe.com url?
I took a text string "rechargeable batteries ac adapters and battery chargers if " from thebatteryshoppe.com and searched in Google for it and the-battery-shoppe.com shows up. What I was doing was searching for duplicate pages which also cause problems with Google.
- duz
>Right now they're all only just url's, they just sit at godaddy and all point forwarded to thebatteryshoppe.com.
That is fine and quite normal - people register a few domains decide to use one and have the rest point to it, no problem. But no advantage either unless one of the domains is a common misspelling in which case there might be a few 'type in' visitors. So it doesn't really matter is the answer.
What you want to avoid is pages with content that are redirected because this can be done for genuine reasons or to try and fool the search engines. At the moment the-battery-shoppe.com has a 302 (temporary) redirect, which is what GoDaddy use but either the content should be removed or the redirect changed to a 301 (permanent). Probably better just to remove the content and treat the domain like your dozen others. Then forget about them all and concentrate on thebatteryshoppe.com.
>That could be why I'm ranked at the bottom of google.
No. there is no single reason that you are not ranking well for your keywords on Google. As I say the site is a mess as far as SEO is concerned but there is a huge opportunity to get lots of targeted traffic. At the very least you should be near the top for keyword searches on battery models like UIM 486 and the hundreds of others. Great potential here!
>how did you find the-battery-shoppe.com url?
I took a text string "rechargeable batteries ac adapters and battery chargers if " from thebatteryshoppe.com and searched in Google for it and the-battery-shoppe.com shows up. What I was doing was searching for duplicate pages which also cause problems with Google.
- duz
ASKER
Hi duz,
First, about the url the-battery-shoppe.com, it does not and never has had any content. It simply points to my site, www.thebatteryshoppe.com like the other url's point to it.
A couple sub-questions:
1- Is "pointing" to a domain technically the same as "forwarding" a domain name? If not, which should I use in regards to seo for all my domain names? And is masking the domain preferrable?
2- I don't know what a temporary (302) vs permanent (301) redirect is, and neither does tech support at godaddy.com. Could you please explain it a bit more?
3- There are about 50 sites that exchange links with me, but I'm not sure of the best way to have other sites display my links from an seo perspective.
What I presently use on other people's sites are these three:
<A href="http://www.TheBatteryShoppe.com/">www.TheBatteryShoppe.com</A>
or
<A href="http://www.TheBatteryShoppe.com/">www.The-Battery-Shoppe.com</A>
or
<A href="http://www.TheBatteryShoppe.com/">The-Battery-Shoppe
I was told its best to use the name of the site in the link. Do you agree? Or would something like the following be better from googles perspective for link exchanges:
<A href="http://www.TheBatteryShoppe.com/">Laptop Notebook Camcorder and phone batteries</A>
Thank you for your help and insights. And thanks to anyone else who may comment on this question.
Steve
www.TheBatteryShoppe.com
> the site is a mess as far as SEO is concerned but there is a huge opportunity to get lots of targeted traffic. At the very least you should be near the top for keyword searches on battery models like UIM 486 and the hundreds of others. Great potential here!
Am I permitted to ask if I can hire someone here to unlock some of my site's seo potential? My web site has the email address where anyone can contact me directly. Thanks.
First, about the url the-battery-shoppe.com, it does not and never has had any content. It simply points to my site, www.thebatteryshoppe.com like the other url's point to it.
A couple sub-questions:
1- Is "pointing" to a domain technically the same as "forwarding" a domain name? If not, which should I use in regards to seo for all my domain names? And is masking the domain preferrable?
2- I don't know what a temporary (302) vs permanent (301) redirect is, and neither does tech support at godaddy.com. Could you please explain it a bit more?
3- There are about 50 sites that exchange links with me, but I'm not sure of the best way to have other sites display my links from an seo perspective.
What I presently use on other people's sites are these three:
<A href="http://www.TheBatteryShoppe.com/">www.TheBatteryShoppe.com</A>
or
<A href="http://www.TheBatteryShoppe.com/">www.The-Battery-Shoppe.com</A>
or
<A href="http://www.TheBatteryShoppe.com/">The-Battery-Shoppe
I was told its best to use the name of the site in the link. Do you agree? Or would something like the following be better from googles perspective for link exchanges:
<A href="http://www.TheBatteryShoppe.com/">Laptop Notebook Camcorder and phone batteries</A>
Thank you for your help and insights. And thanks to anyone else who may comment on this question.
Steve
www.TheBatteryShoppe.com
> the site is a mess as far as SEO is concerned but there is a huge opportunity to get lots of targeted traffic. At the very least you should be near the top for keyword searches on battery models like UIM 486 and the hundreds of others. Great potential here!
Am I permitted to ask if I can hire someone here to unlock some of my site's seo potential? My web site has the email address where anyone can contact me directly. Thanks.
SOLUTION
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ASKER
Hi and I thank everyone for their comments and help.
When I hired the previous seo company, as far as I can tell, they did nothing except create my metatags. Apparently they didn't even do that correctly. I'm presently considering my next moves.
Thanks.
Steve
<personal site address removed by PAQ_Man>
When I hired the previous seo company, as far as I can tell, they did nothing except create my metatags. Apparently they didn't even do that correctly. I'm presently considering my next moves.
Thanks.
Steve
<personal site address removed by PAQ_Man>
Still interested, but happy to defer to your judgement, Venabili.
ASKER
hi,
I will let you know my decisions shortly.
Thank you everyone for your help.
Steve
<personal site address removed by PAQ_Man>
I will let you know my decisions shortly.
Thank you everyone for your help.
Steve
<personal site address removed by PAQ_Man>
Update please...
Venabili
EE Cleanup Volunteer
Venabili
EE Cleanup Volunteer
ASKER
Duz, are you saying it's better to have a lower number with Alexa, meaning I'm nearer the top? I'm not at all familiar with Yahoo and MSN ranking systems. I'll check them out. Thanks.
What is a doorway page? Is it one of the 9 pages I link to from the top box in the left margin - the ones I'm considering eliminating?
I'm moving this question to the Web Development - OnLine Marketing section. I missed it somehow when I was looking where to place this question.
Humeniuk and duz, please post a comment there so I can award you points, and close this.
What is the proper way to transfer this question to the OnLine Marketing category?
Thanks.
Steve
<personal site address removed by PAQ_Man>