I don't believe "the sandbox" applies, but ...

[Dakota Free]

Our website has been online since Jan. 2001. We've enjoyed good ranking and traffic from Google, then boom - this hit.

Google now has only 28 pages of our pages indexed; the site contains well over 100 pages.

DakotaFree.com is not a directory and I can't see how "the sandbox" idea can apply. I wonder what there is about the sites construction that has prompted Google to drop indexing so many of our pages.

I'm confused by the change and hope someone here can provide insight and ideas for me.

Thank you.

[weslinda]

A couple of things for you. First, a lot of people have realized this issue with Google as the new datacenters have been rolled out. You may find your site starts coming back, but it could take some time.

One item from a site standpoint I'd look at is that your pages do not have unique titles, meta keywords, and meta descriptions. Many of the pages listed in Google all have the same descriptions, and that will devalue your site.

Starting with this issue may help you, and changing up your content a little might help.

Also, google is getting known for not showing all pages it knows are on your site, and it's known for not showing all inbound links. I think content is your issue and working on your title and meta tags will help immensely.

[incrediblehelp]

You more than likely have the same issues as millions of other websites out there that have seen the number of pages Google has indexed go down in the last 3 months, since Big Daddy rolled out.

Check out GrayWolf post on "sandbox crawling"

[greeneagle]

I haven't been crass in a while, but I thought the sandbox myth died:

http://www.webproworld.com/viewtopic.php?t=64281

Do we need to go another round?

Ken

[Dakota Free]

Thank you, I'm glad I asked; most of the time I just cruise in the shadows here at webpro. I wish you well.

[greeneagle]

Dakota Free,

No need to cruise in the shadows. I would encourage all lurkers to post.

There are differing opinions on the algs and always will be on topics that are based in Proprietary Confidentiality.

Post on.

Ken

[rms7design]

lot of work... today I love Google.... after many months of hard work I finally put my client's website on the 1st page for competitive keywords.... I believe the last round of changes (on search engine side) have been beneficial in this case... although I had a big plunge in the past 2 weeks, this week everything is back to normanl and even better...

[Dakota Free]

Thank you Ken.
You make me feel welcome.

I tend to "lurk" instead of post because I am not as knowledgeable and experienced as the majority who post the information from which I learn.

This site is invaluable; keep up the good work and I'll keep reading.

(Look - you've already prompted me to post more than usual.)

[KCWill]

I can appreciate your concerns. My website currently only has two pages indexed by G, 6 by MSN and 168 by Yahoo.

I'm working on bulding a G sitemap with the hope of increasing the number of pages indexed in G.

The problem I have run into is that trying to spider my site uses all of the available resources on a 2ghz Pentium with 256 megs of ram, and the same thing happens on a machine with Quad Xeon processors and 2 gigs of ram.

I may have to wind up having it done. I think the number of pages, 2000+, and the filters I'm using may be the problem, but I'm not familiar enough with the tools to know how to do much more.

Any tips would be appreciated. I'll let you know how the sitemap impacts the number of indexed pages in G.

Originally Posted by Dakota Free

Our website has been online since Jan. 2001. We've enjoyed good ranking and traffic from Google, then boom - this hit.

Google now has only 28 pages of our pages indexed; the site contains well over 100 pages.

DakotaFree.com is not a directory and I can't see how "the sandbox" idea can apply. I wonder what there is about the sites construction that has prompted Google to drop indexing so many of our pages.

I'm confused by the change and hope someone here can provide insight and ideas for me.

Thank you.

[danners02]

I would concur that your site is suffering from a Big Daddy slapdown due to duplication and possibly linking arrangements - more good info is here.

[KCWill]

Hi Dan. I think your reply was to me, so I'll ask you what you mean about duplication and Link Arrangements?

All of my pages are different, and I only have 3 links on my website to other websites. Maybe I don't understand something here. Thanks.

Originally Posted by danners02

I would concur that your site is suffering from a Big Daddy slapdown due to duplication and possibly linking arrangements - more good info is here.