Pages falling out of the Google index.

[mpilatow]

Last Friday I had 9 pages indexed and when I checked today there were 2. One was the home page and the other was a supplemental result for a PDF article. Webmaster tools is not showing any errors and my site is being crawled without any problems. It also shows the most popular page as our About Us page last for October but it is not even indexed anymore and just last Friday it showed a different sub page that is no longer indexed as the most popular page for November. Now it shows the home page as the most popular as it is the only page currently indexed. The last time Googlebot visited the site was November 2 and it crawled without any problems.

I was wondering if anyone has experienced this recently and if I should be too concerned about it or if it is a normal fluctuation?

[incrediblehelp]

If this is a fairly new website it is normal for Google to give a you quick boost in rankings and even to be included included in the index for about 2-3 weeks. Do you have any IBL's pointing to internal pages on the website? If not get some.

I have heard a lot of people with this issue in the last 2-3 months. I feel it is because of duplicate content/page structure and/or the lack of IBLs to the inner pages. Most of the time websites owners go out and get links all pointing to the home page. This is not advisable anymore.

Why do you think blogs work so well online still? Many IBL's point to blog postings and not the home page. Another benefit is good blogs are content machines.

Is the website in your sig?

[mpilatow]

Yes it is the website in my sig. I have a few IBL's to internal pages but not too many. That is my current focus right now along with adding more content.

[incrediblehelp]

The website looks to be VERY new. I think that is the issue more than anything. Keep plugging away and you will make it to the top with some patience.

[mpilatow]

Thanks incrediblehelp.

[incrediblehelp]

Why not create a blog and start syndicating those blog entries?

Check out this post here at WPW.

[mpilatow]

I have already proposed setting up a blog and hope to get it done at some point. That was one of the first things I brought up when I started. I think I need to start pushing for it a bit more.

[greeneagle]

Welcome to WPW mpilatow,

But where the heck are you coming from? Right now we are looking at building a Real Estate Site for a client with a launch of 150-200 pages of listings, news, calculators etc that almost don't end.

This is an extremely competetive market... How could anyone expect to "march out" and make a "bang" with less?... and he is just a little guy doing just 4 counties in Texas...

How on EARTH in this day and time could you expect to be played out hard with a "Real Estate" related site with a few pages?

Sorry,

That's the "DEAL YOU ARE DEALING IN"., these days in a highly competitive and extremely spammed market.

You need to set your goals higher... There's just no room to play the game any other way... and believe me I have done a lot of research there lately.

We are looking at introducing that client with 150-200 pages, with a concerted effort across 3 developers... just to walk out the door.

You are going to have to ramp up your competition level to meet market play at best!

And believe me I have just come off of at least 60 hrs of (personally) competitive analysis, IDX, MLS and RETs review and analysis there.

Sorry if that is bad news, but we all really need to understand the level of competition in any market we go to play in.

I couldn't possibly feel comfortable walking out the door with less, and I wouldn't expect a "today's" client to do so either in that competitive an environment.

Ken

[mpilatow]

greeneagle, I agree with everything you are saying and my main priority right now in fact building more content. I am fully aware that what we currently have is woefully inadequate. I did not think I would "march out" and "make a bang" with what is currently there. I honestly don't think we will be competitive until we get a lot more content up and that was not really my concern. My concern was not related to traffic or rankings at all but rather the fact that pages that were previously indexed no longer showing up. I figured it was just a fluctuation in the index and understand that I have my work cut out for me to get the desired results. That's one of the reasons why I took this opportunity when it presented itself.

[greeneagle]

Sorry mpilatow:

But all there is between "Here and There" is what some webmasters like to refer to as the gawd awsome "sandbox" that snags their a__ every time!

Quoting Frank Zappa; "That's the deal you are dealing in".

Either the "Sinister little midgets, with a bucket and a mop" will clean it up, or we can.

That's fact, not just in this market, but many where we hear "Foul Cries".

I really don't mean to be a "sarcastic SOB", as I may seem here, but my god when are we going to come to grips (as webmasters) with the ever increasing competitive levels of play out there and quit excusing it off as "foul play"?

There seems to be an ever growing chasm between what we realize as competition in a rapidly expanding media and what we want to excuse off for our clients!

SANDBOX!-SANDBOX!-SANDBOX!

Sorry mpilatow - This definitely isn't aimed at you... But my god when are we all going to start "bucking-up" as webmasters and place the blame squarely where it belongs?....at out own doorstep.

Sorry guy.. I wasn't going off on you, but you need to understand...

I am tired of webmaster excuses, sandboxes, childs-play and the likes. Does anybody do competitive analyses? - Does anyone, anywhere know where their and their client's markets are, anymore? Did they ever?

It's time we all "bucked-up" here folks!

Ken