Tag Archive for Google

How not to Depend on Google Traffic

January 12, 2011 Joe On The Move No comments

Back in September I wrote depending on Google and other search engine traffic might bite you sooner or later. Well I have been bitten by Google News team and I must say that came quite un-expected.

My business blog MWD was listed in Google News and after 1 year they send me this:

Upon reviewing your site, http://www.mwd.com/, we found that we can no
longer include it in Google News at this time. We have certain guidelines
in place regarding the quality of sites which are included in the Google
News index.

There was no explanation why they removed it except the link to their guidelines which MWD was following all along. So what will happen to MWD now? Well after reviewing traffic for 2010 out of 2.7 Million pageviews we only got 350.000 from Google News the rest of the traffic was coming from Google Web search and other search engines. Sure it will impact my traffic but still its not end of the world to get back to where I was before.

Reason I am writing this to you is because you could learn thing or two.

  • Don’t depend on 1 or 2 sources of incoming traffic
  • Always search for new sources
  • Bing, Yahoo, Forums, Back Links from others, Social Media (Twitter, Facebook)
  • Add your website to known directories
  • Don’t make your competitor an enemy, be friends with them and help each other
  • Talk to people via Social Media that are relevant to your website

    • Even though Google did not state why they removed MWD from Google News, I have certain feeling that one or few top blog owners did not like how MWD ranked for specific keywords. Yesterday when iPhone 4 for Verizon news was released I wrote an article explaining when people will be able to buy iPhone 4 etc.. that article alone made over bit over 15.000 pageviews and was ranking No.1 for keywords like iPhone 4 verizon, Verizon iPhone 4 release date etc… I am pretty sure that top blog owners looked if they rank high enough, and found out that MWD outranked them, and since most of them know Google PR, Google Employees it is easy for them to just say: Cut him off.

    Am I worried? Not really nor should you in case that ever happens to you, as I said above search for different alternatives and don’t depend on one source of incoming traffic.

    Well folks it was fun writing this, hope you had fun reading it too.

    Google Knows Everything About You, EVERYTHING

    November 29, 2010 Random Thoughts One comment

    Many were opposed when government said that they could tap into your phone calls without your knowledge, many also got scared about their indentify theft, so why are they using Google?

    Google is coming out with new “features” every week so to say and it’s most likely free, but living in United States for 10 years now Free word always had some catch behind it all.

    Here is the quick and dirty rundown how Google knows everything about you.

    Google Adsense:

    • Where you live
    • How much income you made (W-99, IRS)
    • Your Social Security and more

    Google Checkout:

    • They know your bank account
    • How much you spend and what you spend on
    • Again your address
    • Birth date

    Google Maps:

    • Possibly Your Network Connection and all devices behind your network
    • Picture of your house and whatever you have outside (car, pool, junk, dead bodies)

    Google Search:

    • Everything you searched for past 12 years and which links you clicked on

    Google Calendar:

    • Everything you set your calendar for , they know (Birthdays, Anniversaries, Doc Appt’s, Events etc…)

    Google Android OS:

    • GPS
    • All phone numbers (also saved in Gmail)
    • etc…

    Google Gmail:

    • Every email you read, received, sent and All contacts

    I mean I could go on and on about these Google services but in reality who cares right? As long as they don’t do anything to you, you are ok with it…and even if government is behind the whole Google structure, you don’t care either right? or do you?

    Does it make difference if company name that hold’s all your information is called Google or Government? I mean you or many opposed and made big fuss about government monitoring calls etc.. but in reality Google can, do that or does that already just by having you phone powered with Android OS or using Google Voice.

    Anyway,

    Ill just leave you at that, and have you think about how much Google knows about you as of today.

    What services are you using and what those “free” services provide you…and just think about how those same services can be used against you.

    Who knows, maybe in 10-20 years they will come up with Google Chip that you can inject into your body so you can read your health status online for free , but I am sure you will be fine with that sites it’s just Google :)

    Depending On Google, Bing, Yahoo and SEO is Business Time Bomb

    September 17, 2010 Random Thoughts No comments

    The other day I read how one guy lost $4.000.000 because Google removed him from search engine. Sorry  I forgot the name of the guy, if I find it I will update this post.

    So basically what that tells you is that if your business depends on Google and other search engines to that extend its like Business ticking bomb when it will explode and ruing your business.

    I recently (2 days ago) filed for LLC for my blog and I have given a though of “What if”

    What if Google removes me from Google News?

    What if Google marks my page as “Malware” because some hacker decided to place malicious code on my blog?

    After so many “What if’s” I was not one bit terrified because I experienced that all in past 7 years of blogging. And I know how to deal with it. 

    If your business depends so much on search engines like Google, Bing, Yahoo start thinking about how much money, audience and customers would you lose if your business is not listed for certain keywords or not listed at all.

    Don’t think what you would do then, think as if it will happen in next 5 minutes.

    Who would you contact?

    How would you find the problem?

    How will you get removed pages back on search engines?

    And most important which I will write about next, How many audience or customers do you have who talks highly about your business? (Word of mouth).

    Back in 2009 when I was at the verge of success with blog called LiveCrunch, reaching million point two visitors per month, some hacker decided to place malicious code into my wordpress blog just moments later Google and all other search engines including Firefox (Mozilla) marked my blog as “Spam, Malware”.

    You get that big fuc***ing banner with text like …Enter this website with confidence, there is known malware on this website that can harm your computer…

    My website plunged 95% down! 

    The visit rate was horrifying.

    Anyway, I took immediate actions: Cleaned Code from WP, Contacted all parties that marked my blog as spam. My site was operational 16 hours later.

    The next day and almost month later my site of 1.2 million pageviews dropped to 700.000 because after they removed my site, keywords I ranked high for, ware taken by others.

    Let me not bore you too much with my real life examples…

    The message here is to you that you shall be prepared. You should not always count on SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and Search Engines to drive your traffic.

    Word of mouth can’t be killed if you do good! It spreads like virus… and that is exactly what I am doing lately.

    Fu** the SE’s I want to connect with my audience because they either chose to love me or hate me. But it’s our responsibility to be loved and gain that word of mouth confidence.

    Your homework for business:

    • If your business depends on Search Engines how would you minimize the workload and who you would contact for help?
    • Gain more word of mouth in positive way of speaking

     

    My name is Joe Hobot and I approve this message :)