Google seems to have shut me down?

[Dave_ST220]

Thanks. I guess is all else fails it's a question of starting from scratch again with a new domain etc. I need to be busy again for my own sanity!!

[NorthDave]

Dave_ST220 said:

Thanks. I guess is all else fails it's a question of starting from scratch again with a new domain etc. I need to be busy again for my own sanity!!

Don't do that! I'm no expert but length of time you have been online for is a massive positive.

Although you might not want SEO in the sense of dodgy link building etc I would get someone to review your site from a search engine point of view. Even a fresh set of eyes can be a massive help from a user experience point of view. I can probably recommend someone if you want to drop me an email (or I'm sure there are a few people here who could help).

[akirk]

loafer123 said:

We removed the default trasnfer of mobile users to our mobile site as they preferred the desktop one, even though it doesn't comply with Google rules.

there is nothing to stop your desktop website adapt to suit a mobile user - this is what is meant when people talk about responsive websites - the website responds to the device being used... A good example of technology that underpins this is Bootstrap (produced by Twitter originally) which sits as an underlying control over the infrastructure - based on a grid of 12 (c.f. http://www.w3schools.com/bootstrap/bootstrap_grid_... in the code you set how many bits of the grid will be used - so for example on an ecommerce site you might display a grid of products 6 across, and however many rows down... you would tell it to use 2 columns per item at a large size (12 / 6 = 2) but at a mid size to use 3 / at a small size use 6 and at extra small use 12... As you shrink the website you would see the row adapt from 6 across to 4 across to 2 across to 1 across - that is responsive - it keeps the item roughly the same size so that it is usable...
of course it gets far more complex, but roughly speaking that is it...

worth remembering that it is not just mobiles - you have different sizes of mobile / tablets (from ipad mini or 7" android to ipad Pro) / laptops / computers with a vast range of screen sizes - you could code for them all, or simply let the website respond - and Google will analyse suitability for the device on which the person is searching...

528Sport said:

Just so I get my head round this.

In order to keep Google "happy" you have to regularly add content to your site?
This seems very unfair. What if you have a simple consultancy business and just want a "shop window" for your services? Your content may never change for weeks/months.

I've been thinking of a website and I just cant see how I'll regularly update it, I don't sell products as such and don't want to spend hours doing pointless updates to keep the mighty Google empire happy.


Sorry Op for jumping on this, just trying to understand. Hope you get sorted soon

Lots of alternatives, from a) not worrying about it - clearly it is more about credibility when someone checks you out, rather than marketing b) manually keep it up to date c) have an automated system to change content frequently...

[Dave_ST220]

NorthDave said:

Don't do that! I'm no expert but length of time you have been online for is a massive positive.

Although you might not want SEO in the sense of dodgy link building etc I would get someone to review your site from a search engine point of view. Even a fresh set of eyes can be a massive help from a user experience point of view. I can probably recommend someone if you want to drop me an email (or I'm sure there are a few people here who could help).

Yeah there is that but some people say if Google has in some way tagged your site then recovery will never happen no matter what, see this for eg :-

https://www.webmasterworld.com/google/4798321.htm

My other thought is to start again with an off the shelf cart system that is responsive. The current system was written by a PH'er and is long in the tooth now to say the least. Customers(when we have them!) still comment on how simple it all is and like the way it works. But if they can't find me that's pointless so I must abide the Internet police AKA Google

[loafer123]

akirk said:

loafer123 said:

We removed the default trasnfer of mobile users to our mobile site as they preferred the desktop one, even though it doesn't comply with Google rules.

there is nothing to stop your desktop website adapt to suit a mobile user - this is what is meant when people talk about responsive websites - the website responds to the device being used... A good example of technology that underpins this is Bootstrap (produced by Twitter originally) which sits as an underlying control over the infrastructure - based on a grid of 12 (c.f. http://www.w3schools.com/bootstrap/bootstrap_grid_... in the code you set how many bits of the grid will be used - so for example on an ecommerce site you might display a grid of products 6 across, and however many rows down... you would tell it to use 2 columns per item at a large size (12 / 6 = 2) but at a mid size to use 3 / at a small size use 6 and at extra small use 12... As you shrink the website you would see the row adapt from 6 across to 4 across to 2 across to 1 across - that is responsive - it keeps the item roughly the same size so that it is usable...
of course it gets far more complex, but roughly speaking that is it...

worth remembering that it is not just mobiles - you have different sizes of mobile / tablets (from ipad mini or 7" android to ipad Pro) / laptops / computers with a vast range of screen sizes - you could code for them all, or simply let the website respond - and Google will analyse suitability for the device on which the person is searching...

528Sport said:

Just so I get my head round this.

In order to keep Google "happy" you have to regularly add content to your site?
This seems very unfair. What if you have a simple consultancy business and just want a "shop window" for your services? Your content may never change for weeks/months.

I've been thinking of a website and I just cant see how I'll regularly update it, I don't sell products as such and don't want to spend hours doing pointless updates to keep the mighty Google empire happy.


Sorry Op for jumping on this, just trying to understand. Hope you get sorted soon

Lots of alternatives, from a) not worrying about it - clearly it is more about credibility when someone checks you out, rather than marketing b) manually keep it up to date c) have an automated system to change content frequently...

Thanks. My ecommerce element is responsive, but not the front page. I was using dynamic rerouting to a simple site for mobile users, and they hated it and preferred the desktop version which is, to be fair, very pretty (customer views, not mine!).

I might have a play to see if I can build that responsively, too, given it is on a grid pattern anyway, but I haven't tried competing on SEO, given the market is very compeititive anyway, and we have built the business on customer service, product quality, Facebook, Amazon, Ebay and constant communications with our email list and blog.

Being beholden to search rankings would give me the shivers...