MIVA MERCHANT AND GOOGLE
In part one of this series, we learned that Google
and Miva Merchant are not the enemies many make them out to be.
Free tips were also given on how to get Miva
Merchant category and product pages in the right format to be listed
in Google. For part two, let's review some valuable information on how
Google works and answer the most frequently asked questions about Miva
Merchant and Google.
1. "My links are in order now. How do I get my site indexed
in the first place?"
- First submit directory to Google with their add
url form.
- Just submit your top-level index page (i.e. http://www.yourdomain.com/index.html).
Google will index the rest of your site from there if it is done properly.
- If you have a javascript redirect to your Miva Merchant storefront, remove
it and consider using a static
index page (i.e. index.html). Otherwise, put a redirect command in a .htaccess file. This is not looked down upon by Google or other search engines
(i.e. DirectoryIndex /Merchant2/merchant.mvc)
Using this form does not guarantee that your site will be indexed. This is why the next point is so important to put your best foot forward.
- Submit your site to the Open Directory. If you site is listed in the Open Directory, you will be listed in the Google Web Directory. The Open Directory is also offered as an optional search resource for Google, AOL, Ask Jeeves, AltaVista, Netscape, Lycos, Hotbot, and AllTheWeb. Read a clarification on the most effective method of getting listed in Google.
- You can also get your site listed in Yahoo. However, Yahoo requires
a $299 annual fee to be listed and now displays Google
search results before their own directory listings.
- Get a link to your site from another website that is indexed by Google.
The more closely related the site is to yours, the better. More
on links from other websites in another issue. Google itself has
said that links from other pages are the best way to ensure that your
site is picked up.
2. How long will it take for Google to index my site?
- It depends on how Google finds your site.
- If you use the add url form, it is hard to say. When you
submit manually, Google will look for it in their next crawl of
the web. Their next crawl could be the next day or thirty
days from then. There is no guarantee using this method. That is why listings in the Open Directory Project and related sites are so important.
- If you submit your site to the Open Directory or Yahoo, Google
says it will be anywhere from 6 to 8 weeks once you are listed in
the Open Directory.
- If Google finds your site on another website, your url alone could
be listed rather quickly without a title or description. Google
will go back and index your site within the 4 to 8 weeks range.
- *Note - These times are not absolute and can
vary substantially at times. The most important thing to remember
is to be patient if your site doesn't show up right away.
3. The Googlebot indexed quite a few of my pages, but they are
not showing up in the index. Why not?
- Be patient. They will show up soon.
- The pages it crawled may have been flagged as duplicate content.
They might never show up in Google.
3. Some of my pages disappeared from Google! What happened?
- Every time Google makes a crawl, they pick up new sites, lose some
sites, and rankings change. This comes straight
from Google. This has allso been called Google's monthly Google
Dance.
- If your site was down when they crawled last, your site could have
been dropped. It should get picked back up again.
- Google has explained this occurrence by stating that the number of
sites linking to you may have decreased. This obviously applies to why
your ranking might have decreased, but we are uncertain as to what this
has to do with whether your site or any pages get dropped from their
index. The next paragraph goes into page rankings, so perhaps
Google jumped from being listed to the topic of ranking without proper
notice.
- Many of our clients have had groups of pages appear and disappear
without rhyme or reason. Their sites have had no downtime, and
they always reappear the next month. There is no reasonable explanation
for this - Google is just funny that way sometimes.
4. I searched for my site in Google, and my description was horrible!
Where does Google get the descriptions for sites, and how do I make mine
better?
- Google finds the search term within your page and extracts the words
and phrases around it for the description in the search results.
- Make sure you have good descriptive phrases around the targeted keywords
and phrases for each page. Having them as the first HTML text
on your page is also important as well. Most Miva Merchant store
owners want to target category and product names. Try using category
headers that not only mention the category name again but give it a
good description. For product descriptions, repeat the product
name while describing it. Some companies get a lot of traffic
from searches on their company name and even their url. You should
repeat your company name in your welcome message while giving it a good
description.
5. How do I check my Miva Merchant listings in Google?
6. What is PageRank? How do I check my PageRank?
-
PageRank measures the number of links pointing to your site as well
as the "importance" of those sites linking to you. You shouldn't
want low-quality sites linking to you (i.e. the page looks like a
toddler banged on the keyboard with Frontpage open, and has no quality
content other than family photos and information, free-for-all links,
etc.). The more relevant to your site, the better the link is
for your pagerank. An example of a quality link would be for a store
selling educational games and toys receiving a link from an educational
resource site for K-12 educators. Improving the quality of your
own site is also recommended. An example would be for a site
strictly selling educational games and toys for kids to offer articles
on the importance of developing critical thinking skills in young
people. Not only will this improve the quality of their site,
but it will also give other sites another reason to provide a link
for their visitors.
- To find out the pagerank of your site, and other sites as well, download
the Google toolbar.
7. How do I find out who links to my site via Google?
8. Why are some Miva Merchant product or category listings just
the url with no title or description?
- Google has picked up these links from other sites or on a page within
your site and has not actually crawled the page yet. They will
be crawled soon and have a title and description added.
9. If any of my Miva Merchant category and product pages show up
in Google, will they show up anywhere else? Yes, they will be available
in the following directories for starters:
10. I have told Google to stay away from certain pages with a robots.txt file and in some cases a meta robots tag within certain files, but I still find these files listed in Google. Why does Google still list these files and what can I do about it?
- We wondered the same thing as we found a huge amount of cgi-bin files listed in Google. A representative of Google explained that although the robots.txt file prevents their robots
from crawling certain pages, it will not prevent our robots from
adding a link to them if they are found on pages it is allowed to crawl. It was advised to not link to them, but this is unacceptable. Fortunately, another solution was provided. Google has a way of uploading your robots.txt file and than removing all the forbidden files.
Additional Links on Google for Miva Merchant Store Owners
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