Getting out of Google’s supplemental index

 

I have read many articles on Google’s supplemental index, and how many search engine marketing experts consider it a valley of death. It is a fact that many pages included in this index are rarely included in the regular organic search results. So, what do you do to avoid this trap or this ‘valley of death’?

 

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If you check on the Google FAQ page, the supplemental results are part of Google’s auxiliary index (main results are drawn from the main index) and pages, which appear on the supplemental listing, have “fewer restrictions” than those that appear on the main results page.

 

They further say that the inclusion of sites on the main or supplemental index is purely automated and does not affect page rank at all – personally I don’t agree with this statement, as the pages from the supplemental index only appear once ‘normal’ search results have been exhausted, which is a very rare occurrence if ever at all, when you consider how many pages are now indexed on the Internet.

 

 

It is a fact that Google's supplemental results are only included when the main index fails

 

In truth however, pages that appear on the main index will almost always show up first in a search. Supplemental search results will only show up if there are very few or no results at all in the main index.

 

Plenty of older web sites also tend to populate the supplemental results page. Needless to say the supplemental results page is not where you want your site to end up.

 

 

Why are pages relegated to the supplemental index?

 

So how does a site end up in the supplemental results page? And a more important question; How does one get out, or even avoid inclusion in the supplemental index in the first place?

 

There are several factors which may affect your inclusion in supplemental results, but please keep in mind it is always best to avoid these factors at the outset, as it is easier to stay out of the supplemental results than to get out.

 

One of the most important factors to consider when optimising your web page is the content of the page; whether it be the Title Tag, Description Tag or the actual web page content. The title and description MUST vary from one page to the next. It is seen all too often when designing websites, that the title and description are used over and over again from one page to the next.

 

Therefore, when writing the title tag, ensure that you don’t use the same title for more than one page. Also, make sure that the title is actually related to the page contents and that is not very long or that it does not exceed the recommended 64 characters.

 

If Google believes a page is ‘spam-based’ then it will almost always send the page to the supplemental index.

 

 

Do not Duplicate Your Page Content

 

As with your title and description tags, having duplicate content text in several different pages, even if they are buried within the structure of your site, will almost certainly result in your page being included in the supplemental index.

 

Pages with little or no text content are another candidate for the supplemental index; image tags, prices and small descriptive text do not normally count. Google will generally consider these as commercial pages, and as such the contents will be destined for the supplemental index.

 

Long URL’s or dynamic URL’s with lots of dashes are also generally thought of as spam material, and again Google will mark these for the supplemental index. This is usually one the main reasons why many pages hosted by free sites end up in the supplemental index. Although that said, many people are now getting wise to the offer of ‘free sites’ and staying well clear.

 

 

How to Structure the Website

 

Apart from ensuring the content of your web page is correct, another important factor is the actual structure of your website. An orphaned page (one that is not linked from your site or other sites) and any pages with poor or no back-links may also be relegated to the supplemental index.

 

It is also important that you don’t nest the pages too deep, since pages that are nested several pages deep in your web site, can also end up in the supplemental index.

 

Unfortunately, Google again tends to look onto be of lesser importance than better-designed sites, so off to the supplemental index they go.

 

 

How many keywords to use

 

Using too many or identical keywords, is another common error found in the title tags, and yes you guessed it, the pages will be heading for the supplemental index if this is found to be the case.

 

This also applies to the description tags as well, so take care to ensure that the text in the description tags is not too long or repetitive, or even worse still – not related to the page’s content.

Another mistake to be careful of, is not to use a description tag that uses undecipherable language or using a different language than the content of the page.

 

 

You must have head by now that content is king

 

If however, you didn’t take all these factors into consideration when designing your site, and now your cherished web site is on the supplemental results page - what do you do next to fix the issue?

 

The first, and most important thing you can do is to write some good content for your site. A few lines of text will not be enough, you need to ensure that the content is relevant for a start, to your subject and that potential visitors to your site will enjoy reading it.

 

This same rule applies for all of the pages on your website. Don’t have less than 50 words on any page on your site, and if you have any text content that you “borrowed or copied” from another site, now would be a good time to change the pages.

 

Don’t forget to rewrite your title and description tags, and be as descriptive and relevant to your site as possible, but don’t make them too long or contain repetitive keywords, see earlier....

 

 

Correct site structure and working links

 

You may wish to consider revising the linking structure of your web site; it is better to send your back links to various pages within your website rather than to just one page, this will help when the site is reindexed.

 

A back-link is a link posted somewhere on the web to your website (posted preferably on a popular website – Do not use links to Warez or Hacking site, regardless of how popular they may seem, this will do you more harm than good – and may even get you blacklisted)

 

Ensure that your pages are not nested too deep within your website. You can probably get away with links three pages deep, but two pages deep is more desirable. Also, don’t forget to check for any orphaned web pages, again this can get them relegated to the supplemental index!

 

 

Are there any pages remaining in the index, once you have followed these simple rules?

 

Regardless of your best efforts, and in spite of all the modifications you have carried out, in correcting all those common problems, one or more of your web pages still stubbornly show up in the ‘valley of death’ commonly know as the supplemental results page.

 

You might consider making some new, more prominent links to these stubborn pages from your main index page. In some cases more drastic measures may be necessary like a complete reworking of the link structure of your entire web site, or even publishing them on a new URL. I would only recommend using a new URL as a last resort.

 

As with most problems, being proactive in the first place, is much better than having to be reactive once you realise that your site is in the supplemental index. Rectifying these issues after the horse has bolted, and you have realised your website has already been placed in the supplemental index, does not guarantee relocation to the main index; remember it is much easier to avoid being placed in the supplemental index than it is to be taken out.

 

So do it right the first time and ensure that Majestic IT Services assist you when designing your website. This way it will be designed correctly, and hopefully you can enjoy the benefits of main index listing and the high result ranking that you wish for - Contact Us now!!!

 

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