Weekly SEO news: 2 December 2008
Welcome to the latest issue of the Search Engine Facts newsletter.

This week, we're taking a look at what you can do when your Google rankings have dropped. Our action plan will help you.

In the news: Lycos Europe shuts down, Microsoft might want to acquire Yahoo's search business, Google treats words with and without accented characters as different words and more.

If you're interested in the top 500,000 keywords on Google ranked by AdWords bid then you should take a look at the corresponding section below.

Table of contents:

We hope that you enjoy this newsletter and that it helps you to get more out of your website. Please pass this newsletter on to your friends.

Best regards,
Andre Voget, Johannes Selbach, Axandra CEO

1. Action plan: what to do when your Google rankings have dropped

Has your website lost its rankings in Google? Did your rankings drop or did your website vanish completely from Google? Many things can cause a ranking drop. This article explains what you can do to get your rankings back.

Three reasons why your Google rankings might have dropped

There are several reasons that can cause a ranking drop:

  1. You changed your web pages. After a web page change, Google temporarily downranks web pages. This process has been described in a Google patent. In that case, you don't have to worry about the ranking drop and you'll get your old (or better) rankings back after some time.

  2. Other web pages are better than yours. No web page can keep its rankings forever. Your competitors might have built better web pages with better content and better inbound links. In that case, optimize your web page content for your keywords and try to get better inbound links.

  3. Google thinks that you use spam elements on your web pages and applied a penalty to your website. In that case, you have to file a reinclusion request.

How to find out if your website has been penalized

Search for your domain name on Google. If your website does not come as the first result, it's likely that it has been penalized.

If Google cannot find any page of your website if you search for "site:yourdomain.com" (replace yourdomain.com with your own domain name) then it's nearly sure that your website has been penalized.

Action planAction plan: what you can do to get your rankings back

Before you ask Google to reconsider your website, you should make sure that everything is okay with your site:

  1. Fix all on-site issues that might have caused the problem.

    If you use hidden text or nearly hidden text on your website then remove it. Reconsider any use of display:none and visibility:hidden that you use in the CSS code of your website.

    If you use keyword lists or any other form of keyword stuffing on your web pages, then remove these elements. Check your web page titles, the meta tags and even HTML comments.

    Remove any unnecessary redirects, unrelated links and all duplicate pages. If you use cloaking or bot blocking scripts on your server, disable these scripts. Make sure that your HTML code is clean and that your web pages look nice. Don't use any automatically created doorway pages.

  2. Fix all off-site issues.

    Off-site issues are often the reason for ranking penalties. If you participated in automated link exchange systems of if you paid a cheap overseas link building service to get links to your website then it's likely that these links have been flagged as spam links by Google.

    Google does not like automated link systems at all. Remove all automated link systems from your website and try to make sure that these linking systems do not link anymore to your site.

    If you purchased links to improve your rankings, try to get rid of these links. Google has officially stated that they consider paid links spam. Do not buy links.

How to file a reinclusion request

When you have removed all on-site and off-site elements that could have been flagged by Google, you can file a reinclusion request.

Keep your reinclusion request short and to the point. Be friendly and explain what exactly you have done to clean up your website.

Ranking drops can cost your business a lot of money. For that reason, you shouldn't use any search engine optimization services that promise quick-fix solutions. If something looks too good, too inexpensive or too easy to be true then it probably isn't true.

If you use ethical search engine optimization methods to optimize your web pages then you can be sure that your website gets high rankings without offending Google. It can take longer to get high rankings with ethical methods but you will also keep your high rankings much longer.

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2. Search engine news and articles of the week

Lycos Europe to shut down after failing to find buyer

"It’s the end of the road. After putting itself on the auction block in April, Lycos Europe has finally conceded what had become increasingly clear - no one wants to buy the ailing portal. It confirmed Wednesday morning it will wind up its portal and its web-hosting activities."



MicrosoftMicrosoft in $20bn Yahoo deal

"Software giant Microsoft is in talks to acquire Yahoo's online search business for $20 billion [...]

The proposal forms the centerpiece of a complex transaction that would see Microsoft support a new management team to take control of Yahoo. But there is no intention of Microsoft tabling another takeover bid for the web giant, after its aborted $47.5 billion offer this summer."

Related: There Is No $20 Billion Microsoft Deal to Buy Yahoo Search (Not Yet, at Least!)



Google AdWords treats words with accented characters as different words

"Accented characters are treated as their own letters, not variations on the base letters. That said, if you included one of these words in broad match, the chances of the keyword expanding out to the other variation is very good because the keywords are so similar. If everything is exact match, you will need to include both."



GatekeeperGoogle's Gatekeepers

"The most powerful and protean of these Internet gatekeepers is, of course, Google. With control of 63 percent of the world’s Internet searches, as well as ownership of YouTube, Google has enormous influence over who can find an audience on the Web around the world."



Microsoft puts more muscle behind its potential 'Kumo' search brand

"Kumo is one of a handful of potential new search brands Microsoft has been investigating as a replacement for Live Search, according to my sources. [...] But recently, Microsoft redirected some of its search servers to point to the Kumo.com domain, leading many to speculate that Kumo was the leader in Microsoft’s search-rebranding bake-off."



Search engine newslets

  • Yahoo is still the biggest player in Japan.
  • How to disable Google's SearchWiki.
  • Google ads for terrorism spotted on Mumbai stories.
  • Google reveals Chrome extensions plan.
  • Yahoo and Virgin agree British mobile search deal.
  • Google makes Wales Little Britain.
  • Google launches Street View in New Zealand.
  • Another 500K photos for Google Earth.
  • Breaking: Google News doesn't break tech news.
  • You're leaving a digital trail. What about privacy?
  • Chinese Internet giant sacks staff over paid for search listings.
  • Security firm: Google's Orkut being used to spread Trojans.

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3. Success stories

"We even managed the #1 spot in Yahoo.com."

Christian Wilson"Thanks to Axandra.com we were able to get the top 10 rankings for HawaiiTours.com for our main keyword within 60 days.

We even managed the #1 spot in Yahoo.com even though our competition has many more links than we have."
Christian Wilson, www.HawaiiTours.com



Get your website in front of more than 160,000 readers

Let us know how IBP has helped you to improve your website and we might publish your success story with a link to your website in this newsletter. The more detailed your story is, the better.

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4. The top 500,000 Google keywords by AdWords bid

If you run large campaigns on Google AdWords or if you run Google AdSense ads on your websites, then it is important to know which keywords work best.

You can now have a list of the 500,000 keywords for which advertisers pay the most per click on Google AdWords. (The keyword data is of November 2008.) This list is very valuable for both AdWords advertisers and webmasters who run AdSense ads on their sites.

You get everything you need to find top keywords

  • the most expensive keywords in 95 categories
  • a total of 527,776 clearly arranged keywords and ideas
  • sortable by keyword, bid price, number of searches and bid competition
  • a list with the overall top 500,000 keywords by AdWords keyword bid
  • keyword ideas for many popular categories

$70 per click for AdSense sites

If you run Google AdSense ads on your website then it's important to know for which keywords you will get the most money per click.

If you optimize your website for high paying keywords, it's very likely that you'll earn several hundred dollars more than with a website that uses unpopular keywords.

Choose keywords with a high big per click and you will see an immediate increase in your profits. The keywords list will show you the keywords with which you can earn the most. Some of the keywords have a CPC (cost per click) of more than US$70!

Click here for further information.

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