SEO tips = better search engine ranking

Still improving, still falling

When I wrote about getting off Google's blacklist, my travel blog was #8 for "travel plan idea", 82 for "travel idea", and nowhere for "travel plan".

With no new incoming links, the rankings are improving... sort of. #4 for "travel plan idea", 134 for "travel idea" (still #1 for allinanchor:travel idea). This can't be explained by Google's blacklist - Why would they have me at #4 if I were blacklisted?

It does sound like the Google sandbox, but I've been wondering about that since June and the site has been up since January. Plus other sites of mine have not been affected as badly (sites with fewer links did better).

I must be getting penalized for linking into a bad area. When I first started the site I found many travel link exchange systems and I used a few figuring it was a quick way to get hundreds of links. Now I wonder if that was a smart idea. I think I'll be setting up a WSNlinks directory and deleting all my old links - maybe it's time to start over.

Oh and there is one other difference. The travel blog has been my least active. Less fresh content might mean longer sandbox time. Anyway, you know there's something weird going on when Yahoo sends you 283 visitors and Google sends you 3!

Posted by James Trotta at November 21, 2004 8:41 PM