A website that gives visitors, looking for a local product or service, exactly what they want including some relevant advice and information pertaining to their search query e.g. product reviews or customer testimonials.
A website that showcases the strengths and attributes of good quality local service providers, where the website owner has contributed to the content to make it a personal, unique and quality experience for visitors
A website that is fully compliant with the strict guidelines laid down by the major search engines (i.e. principally Google, Yahoo and Bing).
1.Do ask yourself if your site and information posted really helps users.
2.Do only use relevant keywords
3.If using affiliate programmes provide unique and relevant content that gives the user a reason to visit the site first e.g. product reviews or comparisons. Avoid little or no original content
1.Don’t deceive users by presenting different content to search engines than you display to users
2.Don’t use tricks to improve search engine rankings
3.Don’t participate in link schemes for the sole purpose of improving search engine rankings i.e. this should only be done for the genuine benefit of the website visitor
4.Don’t use hidden text or links, cloaking or sneaky redirects
5.Don’t send automated queries to Google
6.Don’t create multiple pages or sub-domains with substantially duplicate content.
7.Avoid ‘Doorway Pages’ (poor quality pages written for specific keywords)
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Our experience shows us that unless websites meet the above criteria they are of little value and at best will rank poorly in the organic results of the major search engines or at worst will be de-indexed and removed from search engines. We have included outline information on search engine compliance below. Search Engine Compliance Google (and the other search engines) set out key principles in terms of website construction. These guidelines are detailed on Google’s Website. We have reproduced the key principles below to highlight what Google is looking to achieve and what it prohibits:-
Breaching Google’s guidelines can result in de-indexing of the site i.e. removal from the search engine (see below for further details). It is our understanding that the new Google algorithm referred to as Caffeine, being rolled out in early 2010, will look increasingly closely for breaches of the above guidelines. The best approach is to play by the rules, which is exactly why we aim to be 100% compliant with search engine requirements. Google De-Indexing If websites breach the above requirements Google will often take action and de-index them from its search listings. This can be a major headache. We have first hand experience of Google de-indexing and can provide advice and guidance if this has happened to your site. Simplistically, if you suspect Google de-indexing has occurred to one of your websites you have to undertake the following steps:-
1. Confirm that your site has indeed been de-indexed. This is done by:
2. Fix the problems within your site that caused the de-indexing to occur. It is important to note that Google will not tell you exactly what you have done wrong. You have to read their guidelines and correct any deliberate or inadvertent breaches.
3. The site may then be re-submitted for verification and Google will notify you if the site “may” still be violating its guidelines or else will notify you that the site will be indexed. The process can be somewhat frustrating especially if there has been a genuine accidental breach as, according to Google, sometimes responses can take several weeks.
We have worked on websites where we have secured a re-indexing, with no loss of search position, within 24 hours of a site being de-indexed.
Reporting Offending Sites
Google have made it easy to report sites that break its design, technical and content guidelines. You can report sites after setting up a Google Account on the following webpage – Google Guideline Violation
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