I Overlooked Something Simple Yet Very Important!
I was hesitant to share this, because it's kind of embarrassing!
I decided to bring this up because there may be others who have done the same thing and you may benefit from my boo boo ! I don't wish anything bad for anyone, but I hope at least one person has done this, so I can stop feeling like an idiot.....or at least a lonely idiot! LOL
I went to the spelling bee and missed my ABCs!
Have you ever heard the old saying that you can't see the forest for the trees? That is what I most equate this blunder I'm about to share with you to!
I have been concentrating really hard on my two functioning websites! (One is in limbo)
My content planning has been going great, and the flow of content has been steady and really quick at times.
I have worked on several new themes and still haven't got the one going that I'm going to be using. That is going to start Saturday. (Paralysis by analysis! ) Everything has been going pretty well over all!
I have chosen to keep the main thing the main thing for now and that is content. I' have been sprinkling in other tasks along the way. I now have over 140 completed posts and have 4 scheduled for this coming week.
So what's wrong you ask?
I had a visitor to my website join Wealthy Affiliate and while looking into the analytics I discovered something that made my jaw hit the desk!
I wanted to see what posts were getting the most traffic etc and discovered in my checking that I had 29 posts that were not indexed into google !
It isn't like all these posts were of the new variety either! Some were over 4 months old !
I spent several days requesting indexing because I didn't want to do them all at once and make Google look at me like the IRS looks at Willy Nelson!
Of those 29 posts, 21 have now been indexed and the others have just been requested.
How Could I miss such an Elementary point?
I have been hammering the content and working on my lead magnet and just assumed..... I know it makes an A** of U and ME !
I had zero issues with indexing from the start and didn't think a lot of it! I have 27 posts in the top 5 of search results and hadn't been checking them all. Now I just wonder how much traffic I missed out on because these posts were just laying on the shelf for months!
I have now made a mind map (My new obsession) of my posting plans so that I don't miss anymore basic things!
It just goes to show that mistakes can get ya if you don't pay attention and use your plans !
Has anyone else had such an issue! Someone please lie and say yes! LOL
Please be gentle ! LOL
Have a great day, and the very best of success to you!
Mike
Recent Comments
94
You're not alone Mike. I discovered this very same thing last month, besides not filling in my SEO titles, descriptions, and tags, I spent the whole month adding all the correct SEO info, description tags, then did the whole Google Fetch, request index thing.
It took most of 2 weeks to get everything sorted out. We live and learn. Now I do a fetch/request index on each new article I write.
We live and learn...lol
Laura
If you've submitted your sitemap, then the bots should crawl over all your site, which should include all the posts.
Do you link internally, I mean from your homepage to all your posts/pages?
Ideally, each post or page should somehow link to all the components of your site, making it easier for the bots to reach all the corners of your entire website.
I have links internally on pretty much every post, as well as links to other sites.
Site Support told me to add a new site map after getting over 100 posts. I did and the issue looks to be fixed now.
I just have to finish up the last few index requests.
Have a great day!
Best of success to you!
Mike
I can't get my sitemap to show...I get an error when I try and add it to google analytics. Is it cause I'm under 100 posts?? Laura
Try not to mess around too much with your sitemap. I suggest that if you have issues with it, then go to Site Support and they'll sort you out faster than you can bat an eye-lid :)
Hey Mike,
Thanks for sharing, it serves as a reminder to all of us to be methodical in our approach. It is so easy to miss a step or as you say, make an assumption along the way that ends up ``costing us``.
I am working on content as well and I know that when I get back to training and then reviewing what I have done... something will pop up that I should have been doing all along (or worst yet that I know I should be doing but forgot about it).
Keep going, sounds like you are building a good thing. Imagine where you`ll be headed when all those posts get indexed!!!
Thanks Bud!
I'm not nearly as worried about it now as I would be when I get to the end of my five year plan on that site!
Can you imagine what a fiasco it would be if that 29 posts were 1000?
Best of success to you!
Mike
True enough. :)
The good thing is that it`s never too late to make adjustments and tweaks in the online world. But definitely better sooner than later.
I`m amazed at how much just one post being indexed changes your performance stats in Google.
New content falls in and out of index constantly. It's the Google dance. I wouldn't worry to much about it.
I have had an issue with my site for the past little while. Anything I have posted since October 12 keeps getting this message. I have NO idea how to fix it.
Hope you get yours all sorted out quick!
Have you messaged site support about that?
I drove them crazy for a while! LOL
Not as much now , but I'll still fire a question in a heartbeat.
\
Best of success !
Mike
I was getting the 'redirected' notice. I figured it out. I had put http instead of https, so google was having to redirect every one of my pages. I added the correct url, went through requesting it again and no more 'redirect'.
Hope this helps,
Laura
Your site security can expire on WA and you need to check the box to turn it back on sometimes. If your site has reverted to http instead of https I think that can cause the error you are getting. Does your site say http or https now?
If it is http, go to your list of Websites on WA. Click Details for the website in question. Look down the list at the SSL section and see if On or Off is checked. If it is Off, just check On.
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Definitely not alone on this one Mike, I currently have 2 post sat in limbo. Both several weeks old.