Google Reconsideration Requests no problem... So what do I do next?

[bjs2010]

Hi all,

So I recently filed a Google reconsideration request - but it came back saying "No manual spam actions found" - ok, so that's that. But from what I've read, if we have been hit by Panda for duplicate or thin content, we wouldn't know - in other words, Google does not report it as it is an algorhythm penalty as opposed to a manual one.

So what are my options - do I wait until the next Panda update? when can that be? Or do I start over on a fresh domain?

Input and views appreciated.

thanks,

[tomhall90]

Hey,

Have you checked out the Penguin Tool: http://www.barracuda-digital.co.uk/panguin-tool/

You can see which algo your website was penalised for, thus giving you an idea of what you need to work on.

Hope this shines a little light on your problem!

Tom

[bjs2010]

Hi Tom,

I think since the start of the site being online there has always been dupe content and thin content - it's an ecommerce store -

So, manufacturer descriptions have been copied etc...

So I think we never have really experience good traffic - site has 2000 products and we only get 70 hits a day or so.

So I think we have been stuck in a penalty since the start - so checking the graph will not necessarily gleam any positive results because there has been no major traffic surges or decreases - just a plodding along

any suggestions?

[tomhall90]

As you know, I run an ecommerce store too. I think the difference here is that we have a full time team here who write copy for all of our products. We take as much information as we can from the manufacturer and then we give it our own personal touch.

We sell a lot of DJ, Audio and Lighting equipment and we are all connected with music somehow, so our writers are passionate about what we sell. We know what bad speakers are, we know high quality when we see it (or hear it), so I think the key with our store is definitely the amount of effort we put into our listings.

Just by copying content from a manufacturer to your website is not going to do well with Google.

Here's just a few key things that we do:

• Never copy content from a manufacturer... ever! - The description is where you need to sell the item to a customer as well as use it to make the product page more exciting and attractive to search engined.
• Never keyword stuff! - This is something we have always tried our best to avoid. Our main keyword for Google UK is "disco speakers" and we have sat at number one for nearly 5 years. And it's simple: You write your content and then you keyword your page to the KEY words in the content. A lot of people think it's okay to say "Right, I want to rank number one for 'refurbished iphone 4' so I will make a website and in the title I will have 'Buy Refurbished iPhone 4' and then I will add a huge chunk of text on every page about refurbished iphone 4." - This isn't going to work. It's not a natural way of writing. Of course it's important to fit in the MAIN keywords the best you can, but if one of the writers here can't fit in "high quality audo cable" into a listing, then they don't put it in.
• **Be forever uploading **- This may sound confusing, but we upload new products (or previously out of stock products) every day. We are forever writing content for new products. Our website is never static. It's changing every day. By changing I mean growing bigger. We currently sell over 4,000 lines and attract around 20,000 hits a month or more (depending on season) and that's down to our team of content writers and inventory managers.
• Be unique - I hate this word... a lot! Because nothing is unique. But we rank quite high for images as well as keywords for our pages because all of our products are photographed and they get the whole photoshop treatment to look really appealing to our customers. As well as this, we keyword the alt tags very well to describe the image as well as match the content of the page.

That is the basics.

A few other little tips would be: **BLOG ABOUT YOUR PRODUCTS! **You need to have a blog that tells a story about your products, gives people an insight of what they can do with your products. Get excited about the things you sell and with a blog, your content will be dynamic and fresh and you WILL See an increase in traffic if you blog well about your store and products.

If you haven't got a blog and don't mind giving away a few products, find a blogger who does product reviews for products in your market, in return just ask for an honest review (so send a good product, hehe) and a backlink to your website.

You need to be vigilant with online stores, it's not a part time job by any means and you need to have your finger on that button 24/7.

Hope some of these points are of some help to you and good luck!

Tom

[bjs2010]

Thanks Tom - very helpful indeed.

We have adopted most of those strategies but obviously we are correcting past mistakes so playing catch up.

I am just wondering if it's worth moving to a new domain to try and start from scratch as our traffic does seem really low still and I have a sneaky feeling we are still in a penalty with Google.

mmm....

[tomhall90]

How badly 'damaged' do you believe your domain to be?

I mean, changing a domain name can be an issue depending on how much branding and money you've put into it.

But, on the same breath, you could say it's easier to cut your losses and if you have a strategic plan of action, then it could be a better option to start again a new.

What's your domain name, out of interest? Feel free to PM Me.

Tom