Google’s Farmer Update Kicked My Site Off the Search Engine

When it comes to internet marketing, I’m pretty well versed in the different tactics you can use to increase website visibility and generate traffic. Several years ago, in fact, I had a website where I wrote about internet marketing, web design, and article writing. Even though this is an erotic fiction story site, you can find many of these articles in my archives from when I moved them from the original sites.

Anyway, everyone is up in arms about the Google Farmer update which was supposed to address the problem of spammy content and content farms. I didn’t think anything of it because all of the content on my blog is original even if it is a few years old. But if Google’s update managed to deindex popular sites like the Cult of Mac, then I should not have been surprised to find that this blog no longer ranks for my name Daria Black.

Instead, when you search for my name, Daria Black, my WordPress.com blog comes up (dariablack.wordpress.com). I suspect this is because Google thinks that blog is the original site of the content found on this blog. This is true in a way. When I took my hiatus from the internet, I transferred all of the posts on the websites I owned at the time to that blog and it sat there gaining links and traffic for two years. So I guess in Google’s eyes my current website is just a duplicate of the WordPress.com blog since I transferred all of the posts from that blog to this one.

The thing is, though, I’ve written some original content since then, have been building links to this blog, and even got a few comments on some of my new posts. But apparently, that wasn’t enough to escape the duplicate content flag. The interesting thing is that this blog is still in the index. When you type in DariaBlack.com, you will see all of my posts listed. So, despite the sensationalistic title, I have not been kicked off Google. But I no longer show up for many of the keywords I once ranked for.

When I first realized that this blog had been dropped out of the SERPs, I was upset. But then I realized that there is both a lesson to be learned here and an opportunity. The lesson is that you should never put all of your eggs in one basket. I had gotten lazy and just focused on search engine optimization and search engine marketing. Just like you should have multiple streams of income, you should never be completely dependent on any one source of traffic and the latest Google update illustrates this perfectly. At any moment, Google can turn off your traffic and, for many people, your income.

While it is true that probably 80% of the internet still uses Google to find information online, the truth is they aren’t the only game in town. Social media sites like Twitter and Facebook are being used as well. There are tons of other ways to generate traffic to your website outside of the search engines and I’ve decided to take this opportunity to explore other options and tactics besides SEO/SEM.

One thing I’m realizing in life is that people gain power because we give it to them. If you, like me, have been dropped out of the Google search engine, I encourage you to read my previous article 13 Ways to Market Your Website. Even though I wrote it several years ago, the advice remains relevant.

I’m fully aware of the fact that I haven’t posted any new erotic fiction stories. Unfortunately, I don’t make a full time income from this site so I still have to work for my supper which cuts into my fiction writing time. I know, excuses excuses. However, I do have a few stories in the pipeline. To be notified when I post new erotic fiction stories, subscribe to the RSS feed for the stories or sign up for email notification. To be notified when I post new articles to the blog, subscribe to the blog’s RSS feed.

Have you been affected by the Google Farmer update? Tell me about it in the comments section.

(Rejected photo courtesy of Smemon87)

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1. Ask Google: What is the Point?
2. How to Blog: A Beginner’s Guide
3. Get More Website Traffic Than You Can Handle
4. Product Review: Feedburner
5. Making the Most of Your Article Marketing

2 Responses to “Google’s Farmer Update Kicked My Site Off the Search Engine”

1. Victor Jing says:

   April 8, 2011 at 10:14 am

   Hi, Daria, I’m wondering if there is an option at WordPress.com to turn off the posts from being indexed by search engines like Google. If Google only gets all your posts here, maybe everything will be fine .
   • Daria Black says:

     April 10, 2011 at 10:00 pm

     Hi Victor! It’s always wonderful to have a visit from you.

     You know I didn’t think about that. I’ll try that and see what happens. I also think that if I start posting more that will probably help too.