Search Engine - Metatags - Argh(*&^%$#(^!!!

[moonrock]

I created 2 sister sites. One went right to number 4 in google search on the primary keyword phrase. The other didn't show up at all on any page! I read the document here on SEO and concluded something must be wrong somewhere. I hired someone to look at it. He said simple and he could get it to page one at least. He got it to page 5 which is still no help. I have two burning questions:

1. If I do an upload, will it just overwrite the metatag changes he made? (I don't know what they are by the way)

2. Where can I find someone who can help with this and who also knows NOF?

[gotFusion]

Did you read over the info on these pages?

http://www.gotfusion.com/tutorials/tut.cfm?itemID=4051

http://www.gotfusion.com/tutorials/tut.cfm?itemID=4052

You can see the meta tags by going to the page with a web browser, right clicking, then selecting "view source". You can add the meta tags from that page using the method in the 2nd URL above.

[chuckj]

1. Yes... if you republish and manual changes were made in the site pages, those changes will be lost.

1.a - Look at the page source on the web server for your index page and any other pages where meta-tag changes were made. In the head section you'll see them and be able to copy and paste into the proper meta-tags in Site View in Fusion.

2. Sure. But you need to give us a URL to look at.

[moonrock]

I had read the first link but not the second one. The overwrite thing is no longer a problem. Is there anything that could be pushing a site back to page 3 in a google search on its primary keywords when you KNOW it has vastly more content and is 100% on subject compared to all the matches coming ahead of it? I know - links and hits matter. But like I said in the OP, the sister site was done the same way, the subject matter is similar, and it shot right to #4 when launched. The two sites in question are:

www.kensingtonrunestone.us The "problem" site

www.newporttower.org The sister site

[gotFusion]

Longevity is one of the weights used. If your side is new (less than a year old) and the ones above it have been on the web for over a decade, you are just going to have to wait your turn to get the longevity that is part of the ranking algorithm.

A new site will show up near the top as the content is considered "fresh" but as it ages the site will disappear and start moving up based on what the current ranking algorithm is looking for.

[moonrock]

Another SEO question: Does duplicate content hurt a site in the algorithm? I have some pages that I redid and then just left the originals up but unlinked in case I changed my mind. Do the bots look at just how many bytes there are? I would think if they did, it would be a common trick to just fill extra pages with... filler. I know the algorithm is secret, but are there any good guess which factors count more and which less in a total ranking? I'm working on more links and more hits, but wonder about the site content and structure.

[gotFusion]

Orphan pages should not be an issue with ranking. Some may even have links into them from other sites which would help with ranking.

[moonrock]

How can a site be 4th or 5th on page one on Yahoo and Bing, and be on page 5 with google? Is there way to determine exactly what it is google doesn't like? The sister site to this one is #4 on google which is fine, but even it is #2 on Yahoo and Bing.

[gotFusion]

the algorithm used to determine ranking is constantly changed and a closely guarded secret.

The ranking is based on the search words used. You have no way to tell what someone is going to use to search for your site.

Supply good relevant content and don't worry about ranking, it will only drive you nuts