Google Dropped My Site From Their Index
After going through nearly 4 months of frustration with Google’s G Bot, I finally got indexed on 02/09/2007 for the second time. When I first started this blog, I made the mistake of submitting duplicate articles to Ezine. To do such a thing is against Google’s TOS, because of duplicate content issues. They dropped my site from the index, and even after deleting the Ezine articles, it took around 2 months for Google to “favor” my site again.
The long wait paid off. Now, Investor Trip has a Google Page Rank 4.
Work hard to get on Googlebot’s Good Side
If you make a mistake like I did, then work hard to figure out the error and improve your results. Some of my friends give up sooner than they should when faced with difficult obstacles. A good friend of mine dropped out of college when school was becoming too much to handle, but I knew in high school he was capable of achieving anything.
For these tough situations, I remember my father’s old adage - “A setback is a setup for a comeback.”
When things go awry, only you have the power to change the results for the better. Even though I broke Google’s TOS rules, that was not the biggest mistake I could have made. The biggest mistake would have been to give up on this blog and Google’s index. I knew the reward was much greater than the wait, so I continued on. When the reward is not worth the effort, spend your time elsewhere.
Failure is a learning experience
“The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them” - Albert Einstein
In the end, I learned a lot about search engines and how they read web pages. While I was trying to figure out the problems with my blog, I was really gathering extensive information on search engine optimization. I wouldn’t have read so much material on Google if my site was properly indexed. Sometimes you gain unexpected knowledge from the most undesirable circumstances. It’s funny how life works that way.
I’m confused… did you submit the article before you actually posted it on your blog? otherwise, if google reads it on your site first, there should be no duplicate content penalty. If the article links back to your site it should be a boost to your ranking in the SERP’s.
I submitted the article after I posted it, but Google gave the priority to Ezine. They told me when two sites publish the same content, the site that ranks higher gets the pass, and the other site receives the penalty.
At the time, Ezine was like a PR 7 or something, and Investor Trip had been online for only a month. So my site received the penalty. Sorry if that wasn’t clear before.
That’s what Google and others told me.
Its good to hear that you learned from your mistakes.
Wooohoo, back up, this came from Google? They almost never tell you stuff like that! What exactly did they say?
Sort of. I contacted Google, and they informed me about a -1 Page Rank score for Investor Trip.
Then I asked them how to correct this, and got no response. So I went to the Search Guild Forums, and they told me it was a duplicate content issue.
Google hinted to the problem, but never really gave the answer. I was surprised to even get a response from Google. I usually get auto replies, and never hear from them, again.
Yes its true, google panelize the website that uses duplicate content. Only fresh content will give good traffic and pr.