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Optimizing a Web site for Google's crawler
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05/20/08 09:33 PM EST
posted by JER email web |
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I'm doing a little experimentation tonight. No, still not gay, just trying to optimize a Web site for Google's crawler.
For example, I want to make it easy for people in Annandale, VA to find Sherlock's Pest Control. I created a service areas page that lists each of the cities & zip codes that they serve. Each service area links then to a page explaining the services offered in that area.
This technique has resulted in a few clickthroughs from very specific searches ("sterling va skunk removal"). On the down side, searching google for site:sherlockspest.net shows that only a few of these service area pages were actually indexed.
I haven't found confirmation anywhere that Google ignores spam-ish pages that regurgitate a bunch of similar content, but it seems to me that a good crawler would be smart enough to do so. Without resorting to this technique, what other options have worked for you? Maybe randomizing the services that are listed on each page? Perhaps adding testimonials or other unique content sprinkled within? |
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05/24/08 02:16 PM EST
posted by Doug1 web |
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If it's similar content, you may be ok, but if it's duplicate content (or large portions are), then yes, there are specific penalties for it, namely whatever is deemed the authoritative content gets the higher rank and the rest get duplicate content penalties (or not indexed on a low-pr site). The other issue at hand is how new is that site or domain or the content. With a low page rank or new domain, Google will not index aggressively at all. The best way to get those pages indexed and vouched for in a sense is to get incoming links to them from other sources. This is why SEO is so hard/expensive these days - lots of link buying and directory submissions are needed if you can't generate links any other way.
Randomizing the services might help, but might be confusing for people too. Other unique content like testimonials would definitely help as long as they aren't all further down the page after a big block of duplicate content. I'm not sure if true randomization would make the content look more spammy though. Rather just mixing stuff up per page would be the best. Sounds like you're on the right track though.
If the leads are very well-qualified and you can possibly measure ROI, then it probably would be very cost efficient to spend some time advertising through Google Adwords too. Using very targetted keywords and local search, you shouldn't have much competition and you also won't have enough volume to need much of a budget. As the SEO of the site improves you can kill off those adwords or keep them running (esp if you get top-placement on Google's SERPs).
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| Thanks for the feedback, Doug. I've noticed that the crawler is definitely ignoring my redundant content. I think I'm going to have to strike a compromise: one thorough listing of cities & services accompanied by city pages that list only a few services. |
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