I run several websites including aardvark.dj, my entertainment agency site, and VATease, my employer's website.
As with most commercial websites, search engine ranking is important to these sites. I have posted on the weblog about my successes and struggles.
Recently the VATease website has disappeared off the search results for the term vat advice, which is our most important search term. It's not just fallen a few pages, it's disappeared completely. The aardvark.dj website has disappeared for a couple of search terms that were important to me too. And I wondered whether there was a link.
You'll see (although probably not for much longer) links to several websites with which I am involved in the left hand column here. This will be replicated across all of the archive entries on this site, over 670 individual entry pages plus category archives and monthly archives. It occurred to me that this amount of linkage from a single website might be frowned upon by Google. Google may have specifically blacklisted my sites for search terms that appeared in the links to counter a perceived attempt to improve ranking. I hadn't considered that when I added these links to the template.
I think I'm going to have to remove them. But I also think its time I rethought my decision to make the archive pages reflect the main page template. At least in the format they do now. Each change to the template necessitates a rebuild of the whole site. Server-side includes might be an alternative.
If my suspicions are correct, I just hope that removing the links corrects any damage done and Google removes any blacklisting during the next Google Dance.
Gosh I just felt compelled to write!
This is a little late I realise but I stumbled across your blog quite by accident whilst searching for somthing else about sound recording. I was taken to a page from your 2001 (I think)diary and got hooked!
It was about a month I think before your wife was going to give birth to your son Conner and I just could not believe what I was reading.
As a woman I tell you I could not imagine what that poor woman went through, I have never heard of such a thing! How did she cope with that!!!?? Was it like two months nearly she had to put up with labour pain day and night!???
I just still cannot believe it. Just thinking about it, if I or any of my family have a cold or a headache we are really sorry for ourselves.
I get bad period pain usually for a few hours once a month on the first day of my period if I can't find my naprogesic and I think I am major pain and suffering. But I know it will only be for X number of hours.
Your wife was in constant major pain, could take bugger all for it and had this huge stomach so it would have been all the more discomforted couldn't sleep and knew this would go on for weeks!
THE WOMAN DESERVES A BLOODY MEDAL!!! I AM TALKING NATIONAL RECOGNITION HERE!!!
How did she do it? I would have topped myself, I would have needed to be sedated or something. There is just NO way I could have done that NO WAY.
She was of course very lucky to have you there, as you sound like you were really empathetic and supportive as you could be. Unlike the majority of guys who generally seem to be ignorant, selfish, insensitive, pricks. Or just plain thick and usless.
How you manages through such an awkward time I do not know! Juggling all you had too! Just the other kids alone would be a huge deal.
I still can't believe you had two other young kids around at the same time!!!??? FUGGEDABOUTIT!!
I have two young newphews and my sister and her man come around with them every other weekend, and they are wiped at the end of everyday just through dealing with them. I mean absolutely wiped. And so am I just from having them around me!And my sister and her man are only young and have none of the other concerns and responsibilities you had to juggle even with out your poor wifes condition.
I just do not know how you guys got through all that. Bloody hell what nightmare....
After reading finally to connors birth and seeing his photo it was so great! Then when I realised I could click on it it was so weird but lovely to see photos of you and your family! I felt so priviledged to be sharing this special time somehow.
The first thing I noticed though was your wife. It was really amazing to see the woman who my heart had been aching for.
She looked so young and pretty! I could not believe, she looked so pretty and so good, after all the crap she had gone through! damn!
And then when you could see Connors ultrasound and all his other baby pictures....aaaaaw. Then seeing your other little tykes whom you had been mentioning holding their new brother.
It was so great it really was.
Thanks so much for sharing your life this way. I cannot wait to share this story with my sister and mother tomorrow, they will not believe it!! I mean OOOWWW!!!
I will never forget it, every time I think I am suffering or feeling sorry for myself and that I can't do something or cannot be bothered I am so going to remember this.
Best Wishes to you and your family (Esp your wife!)
Tell her about my sentiments here please! Go Girlfriend! Girlpower!
Lydia, from Canberra Australia
Hey are you from Staffordshire? My Dad is from Stafford! His parents and brother are still there. It is really pretty! Near Chebsey (sp?) I think!
Hey, i'm not sure how google works really.. But id did put key words on my website. However i did search for my site using it, but only the johnmryan returns results...
I do know there is a robot.txt file you can use to prevent certain pages being listed.
Very nice site design by the way. I'm always first drawn to a site by its design and then i read. (I know this is "sad" really but.... )
John
Lydia,
Thank you for your kind words. I'm glad you found our story interesting and inspiring. Sharon was made up at your comments.
Sharon and I don't feel like we've done anything special, simply coped with what's been thrown at us, as you do. And sometimes we didn't always cope brilliantly, but we made it through.
John,
What keywords are you targeting and where have you put them?
Well i have, a mixed bag really just where i'm from, irish blogs, my name... i have them on the header keaywords ( i insert using dreamweaver.
I hope to update the entire site in June, so i may try to put in better tagging system....
We've moved! theaardvark has a new home at www.theaardvark.co.uk
