Is this a wise move..?

uptown47 · #1 (**permalink**) 09-16-2009, 06:49 AM

Hi all,
I've just launched my website last week. I won't post the link due to your spam policy but I will say that there isn't much text on the front page so there's not a lot for google to get its teeth into. Especially as I've also read that meta keywords are basically now defunct.
I've created another single page site that has a common mis-spelling of my main domains URL. With this site I've link to the main site but also written in depth about what my site is all about.

My plan (as if you hadn't guessed) was that people searching google for my keywords will hopefully find my 'stepping stone' site and from there come to my page.

So... my questions are:
1) Is this a sound strategy in your opinion?
2) Are there any other ways of increasing my search engine ranking when there is very little text on the front page?

Thanks for any advice you can give.

Earnest · #2 (**permalink**) 09-16-2009, 09:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by uptown47

when there is very little text on the front page?

It is possible to rank pages with minimum amount of text on them by means of a solid amount of links with proper anchor text.

uptown47 · #3 (**permalink**) 09-16-2009, 09:41 AM

Earnest

There are links to other pages on the front page but it is a Wordpress based site and I'm using "permalinks". I'm not sure if they are fully listed or not on Google. I've searched for pages on my site using very specific phrases and they've not shown up on Google. Although my site has only just appeared on google a few days ago.

Does it take a while for Google to fully propogate the site?

Or are sites on a kind of Google probation initially?

Earnest · #4 (**permalink**) 09-17-2009, 12:30 AM

Actually what I meant was inbound links - those pointing to your pages.

First of all, try doing a site: search on google to see how many of your pages are in the index.

As to the probation period - in fact people do report a drop in rankings after a site has been around for a while, but this is not something to be worried about - all the same, it is necessary to acquire links in order to be able to rank.

uptown47 · #5 (**permalink**) 09-17-2009, 04:23 AM

Earnest

There's a lot of my pages indexed. It seems like its just the new pages that aren't showing up (those pages that are only a few days old).

Is there any way to get Googlebot to crawl my site more often?

I do have quite a few links in to the site from forums and things like that but for some reason in my Google Webmaster tools it still doesn't show any links coming to my site? Any reasons why this would be? Do you think it is because the site is only a couple of weeks old perhaps?

Thanks for your help

Benj · #6 (**permalink**) 09-17-2009, 10:57 AM

Hello uptown47,

The obvious question one must ask before answering is: Why does the main page not have any text on it - why are you forcing people to jump from a one page website to the main website? Wouldn't it be better if they landed on the main site first?

uptown47 · #7 (**permalink**) 09-17-2009, 11:02 AM

Hi Benj

I'll try and explain it better...

I have my main site which only has a paragraph (or so) of text on it. It is a pucker site and does not use any SEO Black Hat techniques etc...

I also registered a domain with a common mis-spelling of my main domain. Instead of just sticking a redirect on there I decided that this would be a good opportunity to add some text and utilise the site for keywords. So basically I explain that the visitor has come to the wrong site and give them the url to the main site.

I was wondering whether this method would be deemed inappropriate by Google and punished ?

Hope that clears things up a bit.

Cheers

** EDIT ** My sig is showing up now so I might as well give you the links to the 2 sites to have a look at:
My main site: Friends At Rest
My mis-spelled site: http://www.freindsatrest.co.uk

Whaddya reckon?

Jenie0109 · #8 (**permalink**) 09-29-2009, 01:07 AM

Yup, due to misleading keywords. Matt Cutts himself, announced that Google disregards the meta keywords tag. What you can do is - use your keywords in the title and description tag.

Earnest · #9 (**permalink**) 09-29-2009, 05:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jenie0109

Yup, due to misleading keywords. Matt Cutts himself, announced that Google disregards the meta keywords tag. What you can do is - use your keywords in the title and description tag.

Keywords in description tags are disregarded as well.

uptown47 · #10 (**permalink**) 09-29-2009, 05:51 AM

I've changed it now so that my mis-spelled urls simply redirect to my main page. Early signs are that my site is doing quite well in google. All I need to do now is get the googlebot to spider my site more frequently as it takes over a week to get my new pages on google!

Earnest · #11 (**permalink**) 09-29-2009, 07:36 AM

Look, I seem to have been completely hung up on technicalities and missed the main point in what you were asking.

Setting up a page that redirects to another page from search results could be regarded as a deceptive practice, i.e. a doorway. I won't claim I am completely sure this is the case here, but I would suggest you look deeper into this matter just to make sure everything is okay. Sorry about being of little help here, but this is how I see it right now. In the meantime, I will try to look for answers myself and let you know if I am able to confirm or debunk anything.

uptown47 · #12 (**permalink**) 09-29-2009, 07:37 AM

Nice one. Thanks Earnest. I sort of expected that it would be "frowned upon" ;-)

If you dig anything up for sure though please let me know.

Thanks.

Earnest · #13 (**permalink**) 09-29-2009, 08:14 AM

Anytime, I thought it was best to alert you of any possible adverse developments because if it is in fact regarded a doorway, the site can be as much as thrown out of the index.

uptown47 · #14 (**permalink**) 09-29-2009, 08:33 AM

Eeeek!! That's the last thing I need at the moment. I've only just launched the site!! ;-)

DavidhallY2J · #15 (**permalink**) 11-02-2009, 04:12 AM

This is one great post. Yes, it makes a lot of sense to me too. If the things go right, it will be a good knowledge earning and I must add it is a great idea.
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