Why Is It Always Google’s Fault?
I read a blog post today where some guy was pissed off because he had a page that ranked well for a desired search term for a given period of time and then suddenly it didn’t rank well anymore. This individual then publicly blamed Google for making a mistake. “My page is indexed, but does not appear in under any search term. I didn’t pay for any links and I didn’t do any spamming!”
Obviously this publisher feels like he has done no wrong and hasn’t broken any of the rules. And that may be true. But here is the thing… Just because you play by the rules and do everything that you’re supposed to do towards getting your pages ranked for the desired search term doesn’t necessarily mean that it will happen.
“I was following the rules, I wrote good quality content and I even generated a few backlinks” The problem with that statement is the fact that this individual believes that his content was of good quality. Who is he to judge how great or poor the content is? “There is a glitch in the algorithm! Things like this that make you realize you’re at the mercy of Google and If they screw up the publisher is the one that bites the bullet.”
The page that this individual was bitching about was targeting a very competitive search term. When I did a few keyword searches I did discover that this page was buried deep within the results. However, another thing that I did discover is that the pages that ranked above it were better. The page the publisher built was built for the purpose of making money online. So, now I am sure people will ask, “Well, Garry… who are you to judge the page?” Simple… I am the end user reading a page that someone else built. I don’t judge my own content, my readers and people who visit my blog do.
As it turned out, the page this publisher built really didn’t offer any real quality content that made me do back flips. The pages that ranked above it weren’t really too much better but they had many more elements that the adjusted page didn’t, such as PageRank, inbound links and incoming traffic.
I’ll tell you this though… even if you play by the rules and do everything right, this doesn’t guarantee that your page is going to rank exactly as you want it. Tiger Woods I am sure would like to make a hole in one on every shot and I am sure he tries to do that as well, but it doesn’t happen. Does Tiger Woods then blame is clubs for being faulty? Does he blame the ball as being defective?
If you build a page or write a blog post, etc.. and it turns out to not rank for the term(s) or desired positions you were aiming for, don’t blame Google or say that there is a glitch in the system. At one point in time, most people blamed God for everything. But now it seems like more people are blaming Google than they do God. Perhaps God Created Google so that He could have less people complaining to Him about things. 
My advice to you is simple. Build a site or a blog that is easily readable by people as well as search engines. Make sure that your content is getting indexed… From there, you do your job and then let the search engines do their job. In other words, don’t worry about it. Focus on building your pages or publishing your blog posts and then let nature takes its course.
Market and promote your content and ask others to do the same. If you produce content that people like, then you can almost count on search engines liking it too.
Popularity: 1% [?]
15 comments
Two things about this bother me:
1. Sounds like the guy thinks that Google owes him a ranking. They do not. If he had mediocre content MFA and got a mediocre ranking, then it sounds like Google got it right.
2. Sounds like this guy was not willing to do the work needed to understand the situation and fix it. There are lots of great resources that he could use to help himself — but instead he was wasting his time complaining.
Tell he that I recommend that he read some writings by a guy I know named Conn.
Well… it is frustrating to see pages that no longer rank well for things that you worked hard to achieve. I can vouch for that, for sure. But, come on… is fault to be placed on Google?
So many people struggle and work so hard towards achieving the whatever it is we call it… and when it doesn’t happen, it’s simply frustrating. I don’t discount myself from this either, and I’ll admit too, I have written many many many many posts on this blog that had similar complaints, luckily I push the delete button instead of the publish button. I’ve let a few slip, but not many.
This business is hard. There is no doubt about it. If you’re blogging with a purpose that involves certain elements such as making money, superior ranking and or dominating popularity, you’re up for a long battle.
The funny thing about blogging is that majority of bloggers don’t even think about this crap. Most bloggers have NO clue what SEO or SEM stands for, they don’t care about making money with their blog, they have no interest in being popular, nor do they give a flip about scoring traffic. They just want to pass some time writing and figure that they can do this either using a notepad and pencil, or they can do it online just in case someone happens to stumble upon it and read it.
Those type of bloggers typically are popular, typically have tons of traffic and the ironic thing about it, is majority of those type of bloggers don’t even realize that people like me, see that they have a money maker. But they don’t care… and that is what makes them cool. They blog for their own purpose. And that in itself is an example of “if you build it, they will come” Many bloggers don’t even have a clue as to the little empire they have built. And that, in many ways, is what I consider blogging to be all about.
I can understand the guy getting ticked off at the end result, but as you say, there’s a lot of competition out there. Who knows? Maybe Google made a boo-boo, or maybe it will be corrected by Google, or even still it could just as easily bury somebody else’s ranking on the search term causing him to move up.
Having an online presence requires a thick skin to some degree. I’ve had my share of bumps, bruises and embarrassments, but I get over them — one of the many benefits my short-term memory loss provides me.
So as I was saying, I can understand the guy getting ticked off at the end result…oh wait, I already said that. Sorry, my bad.
I can say this… rather than invest the time into creating a rant style post (which typically are longer than normal posts) I would have posted three other normal posts that promote what was desired to be promoted in the SERPS instead. I don’t know… I feel like the rant post was a waste of time, yet It’s not really fair for me to say that because I have my own blend of rant posts as well.
This post is considered a rant post to many. I am ranting at people who rant about their misfortunes involving Google. lol!!!
People need to realize it is work, there is no magic formula.
If they would spend the time to really understand how all this stuff works, they would then be able to compete at a higher level.
Bitching and moaning is not going to get you a better placement in the SERPS, unless you are trying to get to the top with the phrase “Bitching and Moaning”, lol.
Maybe he should have done some research on those pages ranking above him. There’s several things that could cause him to get outranked:
*keyword authority
*PR
*# backlinks
*quality of backlinks
etc.
There’s too much going on behind the SERPS to just say that a good quality article deserves a better ranking.
I agree with you Garry, Good content brings me back. Great content brings me back every day. That’s what I’m working on. Great content. But like you said. I don’t determine if it’s great or not, other people do. Thanks for another “Great” post.
There is one and only one reason that Google has done as well as it has. They are the best at internet search, period. They are constantly working to find new and better ways to get people the information they are looking for. When they make changes, it may affect a website here or there. However, they are not doing it to be malicious. They are only doing it to improve their search functionality for their customers. If you have a website that it negatively effected, the best thing you can do is improve your website FOR PEOPLE, not for search engines.
Just my two bits,
- Dave
Now that is a breath of fresh air. Thanks for taking the time to drop the comment.
Well said.
Google didn’t just badly rank my site, they also gave me this damn headache, started world war I, caused the collapse of the US economy, gave my brother a bad haircut, mugged my granny and ate my hamster.
Bloody bullies, we shouldn’t stand for their free services anymore, b*****ds!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Actually I think tiger woods does blame his equipment. I heard a story about a couple of friends that went to a golf tournament he was in, but thats another story. Great article tho, Google Owes you nothing! If they want to index you, thats up to them. For anything that I write I don’t expect to be in the SERP’s if I get in the SERP’s thats just a bonus.
I kinda figured that. As I was writing the post, his name just popped into my head so I just used it. I think at the time, he had made the news for throwing his club at a tree and having it bounce off and hit a spectator. Joking…
My home page was having a PR 3 but it dropped to 0 after the google made update to PR. I am very tense
It’s ALWAYS Google’s fault. Just last night my wife asked me to take out the trash. I said “sure,” but then Google told me he’d do it for me.
Guess who didn’t take out the trash? Yup, Google. He got drunk and forgot all about it.
He’s forgotten to pick up my mail, let out the dog and all kinds of things. You just can’t depend on Google to be there for you–he’s a playboy and he just isn’t reliable.
Good analogy with God being blamed and Google being blamed.
I think people just expect to make easy money with no work and no failure.
Most business successes are riddled with failure. But the successful ones keep trying again.
As you said, just keep writing and producing good content and success will come.
People have no patience with God and prayer, and it seems to be the same with Google and SERPS.
AL
Leave a Comment