Has volvoclub.org.uk upset google?

[jimbolya]

does anyone else find that google doesn't bring volvoclub website in the first ten or so results anymore? it used to be number 1, but takes ages to find it usually on the 3rd or fourth page.

anyone know why?

[GorgeousGeorge]

jim

4th hit on .co.uk, you using google.com by chance ?

[gnhuk]

I had a similar problem yesterday and didn't think of using .co.uk..............

[bobcat]

yeah, noticed this the other day. even volvo-tech comes in higher!!!

[Bob]

This is hot topic on some of the IT sites I visit. It seems Google have made some major changes to their systems and it has caused many results similar to this for many sites. It's not too clear what has happened, but things may get back to 'normal' over a period on a few weeks or a few months.

Bob

[peteS40]

I think google were recently doing some changes to eliminate sites which put themselves unnaturally high in the search list, could it be something to do with that? I think it is that pages on a site would have many links to pages on a sister site and so on and hence search robots would percieve the site to be linked to lots of the internet and so it would appear near the top of the search list.

Pete

[Bob]

There are lots of arguments and counter arguments about search engines and bots etc. One thing that is discussed is having too many pages with the same keywords; or the same keyword used too many times on one page. Then that is countered by the argument that modern search bots don't bother with keywords, it is content they read.

I get a headache reading some of the bumf that is generated on this subject, and wonder if it really matters at all.

One thing I have noticed is that since May 1st the number of people who visited this web site on a daily basis has reduced by about 40%. Strange that this happened on May 1st; why not April 30th?

Oh well. Pour another glass of wine and all will be well.

Bob

[jimbolya]

Hi there, thanks for all the replies, glad its not just me then. I am using google.co.uk and it keeps jumping position. not really an issue anymore as i finally figured out what "Favourites" are for! hehe, two clicks and i'm here.

Its a sad thing though if it stops people finding us, definately not a good thing. its surprising the amount of people that just look at the first 10 results on google and don't bother with the second page, they just try a different keyword.

anywhoo, like bob says, maybe it doesn't matter, just an observation.

ta again!

jimbo

[cumbrianmale]

Hi there, thanks for all the replies, glad its not just me then. I am using google.co.uk and it keeps jumping position. not really an issue anymore as i finally figured out what "Favourites" are for! hehe, two clicks and i'm here.

jimbo

Or download Mozilla and add volvo forums to your favorites bar and then just 1 click!!!!!

[jimbolya]

hehe, very true! i hear bad stuff and good stuff about mozilla (mostly good! ie: "anything is better than internet explorer!" but definately worth a look! just like when i used to be a big fan of netscape but changed computer and couldn't be bothered to D/L it again. ah well.

[cumbrianmale]

I find it alot quicker loading pages than IE6

[Bob]

I have now found out why Google dumped us big time.

You might have seen the advertising links at the bottom of all the pages, these were dynamically generated by a program. None of them were car related, and Google does not like that, having just read an indepth report about Google and its recent changes, so they dumped us.

Despite the very nice revenue from that advertising I have now removed it. So we should start moving back to our original ratings over the next few weeks.

Bob