Help a designer is destroying two years of work

[freejigsawpuzzles]

Help a designer is destroying two years of web positioning work. Owner has zip web knowledge. The designer has forwarded 20 domains to one domains instead of having a page for each domain. She has also deleted all web pages, other than the home pages that were listed on the search engines. Many of the domains, images and web pages were listed on the major search engines. She must know nothing about how to get web page ranked and listed in the search engines. Any idea how long it will be before the web pages that now go to a 404 error pages and forwarded domain will disappear from the search engines?
The google search engine listing now reads
Presented exclusively by: The Real Estate Company of America Beautiful Washington
State Acreage Since 1975. Phone <number removed> / 425 ...
Instead of my which read
Beautiful Washington State Land for Sale. Property nestled in 1,706,000 acres
Okanogan National Forest in northern Washington state. ...

<mod edit to remove name and phone# -flood6>

[incrediblehelp]

I dont understand your question here. Are you asking how to get back into the SERPs?

I wouldnt foward all the domains to one address like they have done either. Using a 301 redirect would work better if your goal is to send all domain trafic to one domain.

If the web designer you are working with now deleted pages you needed, well I gues you are in trouble then.

[mfrie01]

If you still have a relationship with the owner, don't you owe them a call explaining the situation? The business owner obviously doesn't understand the impact of these design changes. Put it into dollars for them. What results did you achieve that the designer is now throwing away?

I'd keep the discussion about the financial impact and away from esthetics. Is there a way to incorporate the SEO work into new designs so the owner can get what they want designwise and you can earn another fee?

Regarding recovery, just reinstall the web server backup from before the changes effected.

[jawn_tech]

This one is hard to advise on without knowing the nature of the relationships. What is your position, relationship to the owner, relationship to the designer, etc. Unless you have control or responsibility for the site itself, there's little you can do except for talking with the owner and sharing your observations, using the advice from mfrie01 (and incrediblehelp).

[robinev]

Originally Posted by incrediblehelp

If the web designer you are working with now deleted pages you needed, well I gues you are in trouble then.

Doing a 301 redirect from .htaccess does not require that the original page remain on the server. In fact, it's better if the page is removed.

I suspect there will be different theories on this, but it strikes me that it would be best to redirect individual pages from the old domains before redirecting the domain name. Create a redirect list for each of the old domains with all the pages that are to be replaced. Wait until Googlebots find the page redirections before redirecting the domain.

Unfortunately, because of Yahoo's persistent 301 bug which really messes up their entries for any redirected page, you may just have to give up on their index for awhile.

[incrediblehelp]

Originally Posted by robinev

Doing a 301 redirect from .htaccess does not require that the original page remain on the server. In fact, it's better if the page is removed.

Yes I realize this, but once again I am still not understanding if they want one domain for all traffic or bring back the old ones.

[freejigsawpuzzles]

Thanks. Sorry for not providing a better explanation.

The pages that now receive 404 error, where high ranked for important keywords, as where the domains that the designer forwarded to the one domain. These domains included important multiple keywords, while the referring domain has only one.
In addition to these problems, the new text on the one domain is not positioned for important keywords. This domain has only 25 low ranked links.
This designer is promoting herself as a webmaster of multiple websites, yet at the beginning of the year she was laid off or fired from an auto body shop.
I tried my best to get the owner to understand the problems, but my words and examples fall on deaf ears.
We don't need people like these in the profession.

[MtraX]

Hi

It's maybe not what you want to hear, but I would advise you to move on. The client has obviously made up his/her mind and it will be wasted energy on your side. I suggest that you write one final letter to the client, explaining what's going on and what impact it will have on his website, without being nasty or slagging the current designer and let it go. If things go wrong for him, he'll know where to find you...

Just my 2c.
MtraX

[freejigsawpuzzles]

I'm to old to be nasty. He will be the loser in the long run if he continues with this person. It's his problem, I have enough other things to worry about.

[Mel]

If the site owner paid you for the optimization then IMO you have an obligation to her to explain the impact of the new designs on her rankings and traffic.

I would also explain that there are ways to accomplish the same goals without losing so much of your rankings.

At this point you will either get some additional business helping out the designer, or if she continues on the current path you have at least pointed out the problems and your consicence should be clear.

[buddhu]

Originally Posted by Mel

If the site owner paid you for the optimization then IMO you have an obligation to her to explain the impact of the new designs on her rankings and traffic.

I would also explain that there are ways to accomplish the same goals without losing so much of your rankings.

At this point you will either get some additional business helping out the designer, or if she continues on the current path you have at least pointed out the problems and your consicence should be clear.

I totally agree with that. At least one of you will be behaving in a professional and competent manner.

I sympathise with your situation. It is *so* frustrating to have some idiot destroy good work through ignorance.

[pne]

Amen to the above!

pne

[freejigsawpuzzles]

You all are great.
I offered multiple times to work together with her to fix the site. I even tried a three way conversation between the owner, the designer and me, but she terminated the call.
My compensation is tied to the effectiveness of the site. My compensation is not reduced or eliminated if the owner hires additional people.
I launched the site and created his internet prospect program. I have been in commercial real estate since 1979, and hold an MBA in marketing (which taught me nothing about internet marketing).

[freejigsawpuzzles]

Thanks for the support. We resolved the problem.

[Mel]

Great!