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Good housekeeping

SES London Calling!

Tips for making information universally accessible

German Webmaster Blog turns one

Webmaster Tools keeps your “messages waiting”

First date with the Googlebot: Headers and compression

iGoogle Gadgets for Webmaster Tools

Cross-submissions via robots.txt on Sitemaps.org

Leap day hackathon for Google Gadgets, Maps, and more

7 must-read Webmaster Central blog posts

Feeling lucky at PubCon

Sitemaps FAQs

Remove your content from Google

Growing the Webmaster Help Groups Team

Looking back on 2007

A Festivus for our webmasterus

The Ultimate Fate of Supplemental Results

Taking feeds out of our web search results

Introducing Video Sitemaps

FYI on Google Toolbar’s latest features

The latest version of Google Toolbar for Internet Explorer (beta) just added a neat feature to help users arrive at your website, or at least see your content, even when things go awry.

It's frustrating for your users to mistype your URL and receive a generic "404 - Not Found" or try to access a part of your site that might be down.

Regardless of your site being useful and information-rich, when these issues arise, most users just move on to something else.  The latest release of Google Toolbar, however, helps users by detecting site issues and providing alternatives.


Website Optimizer or Website Optimiser? The Toolbar can help you find it even if you try "google.cmo" instead of "google.com".

3 site issues detected by Google Toolbar

1. 404 errors with default error pages
   When a visitor tries to reach your content with an invalid URL and your server returns a short, default error message (less than 512 bytes), the Toolbar will suggest an alternate URL to the visitor. If this is a general problem in your website, you will see these URLs also listed in the crawl errors section of your Webmaster Tools account.
   
   If you choose to set up a custom error page, make sure it returns result code 404. The content of the 404 page can help your visitors to understand that they tried to reach a missing page and provides suggestions regarding how to find the content they were looking for. When a site displays a custom error page the Toolbar will no longer provide suggestions for that site. You can check the behavior of the Toolbar by visiting an invalid URL on your site with the Google Toolbar installed.
   
   
2. DNS errors
   When a URL contains a non-existent domain name (like www.google.cmo), the Toolbar will suggest an alternate, similar looking URL with a valid domain name. 
   
   
3. Connection failures
   When your server is unreachable, the Google Toolbar will automatically display a link to the cached version of your page. This feature is only available when Google is not explicitly forbidden from caching your pages through use of a robots meta tag or crawling is blocked on the page through the robots.txt file. If your server is regularly unreachable, you will probably want to fix that first; but it may also be a good idea to check the Google cache for your pages by looking at the search results for your site.
   

Suggestions provided by the Google Toolbar

• A link to the corrected URL
  When the Toolbar can find the most probable, active URL to match the user's input (or link they clicked on), it will display it right on top as a suggestion. The correction can be somewhere in the domain name, the path or the file name (the Toolbar does not look at any parameters in the URL).
  
  
• A link to the cached version of the URL
  When Toolbar recognizes the URL in the Google cache, it will display a link to the cached version. This is particularly useful when the user can't access your pages for some reason. As mentioned above, Google may cache your URLs provided you're not explicitly forbidding this through use of a robots meta tag or the robots.txt file.
  
  
• A link to the homepage or HTML site map of your site
  Sometimes going to the homepage or a site map page is the best way to find the page that a user is really looking for. Site map pages (these are not XML Sitemap files) are generally recognized based on the file name; if the Toolbar can find something called "sitemap.html" or similar, this page will probably be recognized as the site map page. Don't worry if your site map page is called something else; if a user decides to go to your homepage, they'll probably find it right away even if the Toolbar doesn't spot it.
  
  
• A link to a higher level folder
  Sometimes the homepage or site map page is too far out and the user would be better off just going one step up in the hierarchy. When the Toolbar can recognize that your site's structure is based on folders and sub-folders, it may suggest a page one step back.
  
  
• A search within your site for keywords found in the URL
  It's a good practice to use descriptive URLs. If the Toolbar can recognize keywords within the URL which the user tried to access, it will link to a site-search with those keywords. Even if the URL has changed significantly in the meantime, the search may be able to find similar content based on those keywords. For instance, if the URL was http://example.com/party-gifts/holidays/ it will suggest a search for the words "party", "gifts" and "holidays" within the site example.com.
  
  
• An open Google search box
  If all else fails, there's always a chance that similar content already exists elsewhere on the web. The Google web search can help your users to find it - the Toolbar will help you by adding the keywords found in the URL to the search box.

New: Content analysis and Sitemap details, plus more languages

• Title tag issues
• Meta description issues
• Non-indexable content issues

Selecting "Duplicate title tags" displays a list of repeated page titles along with a count of how many pages contain that title. We currently present up to thirty duplicated page titles on the details page. If the duplicate title issues shown are corrected, we'll update the list to reflect any other pages that share duplicate titles the next time your website is crawled.

Also, in the Title tag issues category, we show "Long title tags" and "Short title tags." For these issue types we will identify title tags that are way too short (for example "IT" isn't generally a good title tag) or way too long (title tag was never intended to mean <insert epic novel here>). A similar algorithm identifies potentially problematic meta description tags. While these pointers won't directly help you rank better (i.e. pages with <title> length x aren't moved to the top of the search results), they may help your site display better titles and snippets in search results, and this can increase visitor traffic.

In the "Non-indexable content issues," we give you a heads-up of areas that aren't as friendly to our more text-based crawler. And be sure to check out our posts on Flash and images to learn how to make these items more search-engine friendly.

Using ALT attributes smartly

Answering more popular picks: meta tags and web search

Written by John Mueller, Webmaster Trends Analyst, Zürich

In writing and maintaining accurate meta tags (e.g., descriptive titles and robots information), you help Google to more accurately crawl, index and return your site in search results. Meta tags provide information to all sorts of clients, such as browsers and search engines. Just keep in mind that each client will likely only interpret the meta tags that it uses, and ignore the rest (although they might be useful for other reasons).

Here's how Google would interpret meta tags of this sample HTML page:

<meta name="description" content="A description of the page">
This tag provides a short description of the page. In some situations this description is used as a part of the snippet shown in the search results. For more information, please see our blog post "Improve snippets with a meta description makeover" and the Help Center article "How do I change my site's title and description?" While the use of a description meta tag is optional and will have no effect on your rankings, a good description can result in a better snippet, which in turn can help to improve the quality and quantity of visitors from our search results.

<title>The title of the page</title>
While technically not a meta tag, this tag is often used together with the "description." The contents of this tag are generally shown as the title in search results (and of course in the user's browser when visiting the page or viewing bookmarks). Some additional information can be found in our blog post "Target visitors or search engines?", especially under "Make good use of page titles."

<meta name="robots" content="…, …">
<meta name="googlebot" content="…, …">
These meta tags control how search engines crawl and index the page. The "robots" meta tag specifies rules that apply to all search engines, the "googlebot" meta tag specifies rules that apply only to Google. Google understands the following values (when specifying multiple values, separate them with a comma):

• noindex: prevents the page from being indexed (see "Block or remove pages using meta tags")
• nofollow: don't follow links from this page when looking for new pages to crawl (also see "Block or remove pages using meta tags")
• nosnippet: don't show a snippet of this page when displaying it in the search results (see "Prevent or remove snippets")
• noodp: don't use text from ODP (The Open Directory Project a.k.a. dmoz.org) to generate a title or snippet for this page (see "How do I change my site's title and description?")
• noarchive: don't display a "Cached" link for this page in the search results (see "Prevent or remove cached pages")
• unavailable_after:[date]: remove this page from the search results after the specified date and time (see "Robots Exclusion Protocol: now with even more flexibility")

The default rule is "index, follow" -- this is used if you omit this tag entirely or if you specify content="all." Additional information about the "robots" meta tag can be found in "Using the robots meta tag." As a side-note, you can now also specify this information in the header of your pages using the "X-Robots-Tag" HTTP header directive. This is particularly useful if you wish to fine-tune crawling and indexing of non-HTML files like PDFs, images or other kinds of documents.

<meta name="google" value="notranslate">
When we recognize that the contents of a page are not in the language that the user is likely to want to read, we often provide a link in the search results to an automatic translation of your page. In general, this gives you the chance to provide your unique and compelling content to a much larger group of users. However, there may be situations where this is not desired. By using this meta tag, you can signal that you do not wish for Google to provide a link to a translation for this page. This meta tag generally does not influence the ranking of the page for any particular language. More information can be found in the "Google Translate FAQ".

<meta name="verify-v1" content="…">
This Google webmaster tools-specific meta tag is used on the top-level page of your site to verify ownership of a site in webmaster tools (alternatively you may upload an HTML file to do this). The content value you put into this tag is provided to you in your webmaster tools account. Please note that while the contents of this meta tag (including upper and lower case) must match exactly what is provided to you, it does not matter if you change the tag from XHTML to HTML or if the format of the tag matches the format of your page. For details, see "How do I verify my site by adding a meta tag to my site's home page?"

<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="…; charset=…">
This meta tag defines the content-type and character set of the page. When using this meta tag, make sure that you surround the value of the content attribute with quotes; otherwise the charset attribute may be interpreted incorrectly. If you decide to use this meta tag, it goes without saying that you should make sure that your content is actually in the specified character set. "Google Webauthoring Statistics" has interesting numbers on the use of this meta tag.

<meta http-equiv="refresh" content="…;url=…">
This meta tag sends the user to a new URL after a certain amount of time, sometimes used as a simple form of redirection. This kind of redirect is not supported by all browsers and can be confusing to the user. If you need to change the URL of a page as it is shown in search engine results, we recommended that you use a server-side 301 redirect instead. Additionally, W3C's "Techniques and Failures for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0" lists it as being deprecated.

(X)HTML and Capitalization
Google can read both HTML and XHTML-style meta tags (regardless of the code used on the page). In addition, upper or lower case is generally not important in meta tags -- we treat <TITLE> and <title> equally. The "verify-v1" meta tag is an exception, it's case-sensitive.

revisit-after Sitemap lastmod and changefreq
Occasionally webmasters needlessly include "revisit-after" to encourage a search engine's crawl schedule, however this meta tag is largely ignored. If you want to give search engines information about changes in your pages, use and submit an XML sitemap. In this file you can specify the last-modified date and the change-frequency of the URLs on your site.

If you're interested in more examples or have questions about the meta tags mentioned above, jump into our Google Webmaster Help Group and join the discussion.

Information about buying and selling links that pass PageRank

Many people who work on ranking at search engines think that selling links can lower the quality of links on the web. If you want to buy or sell a link purely for visitors or traffic and not for search engines, a simple method exists to do so (the nofollow attribute). Google’s stance on selling links is pretty clear and we’re pretty accurate at spotting them, both algorithmically and manually. Sites that sell links can lose their trust in search engines.

Search engines hate this kind of paid-for popularity. Google's Webmaster guidelines ban buying links just to pump search rankings. Other search engines including Ask, MSN, and Yahoo!, which mimic Google's link-based search rankings, also discourage buying and selling links.

The reality is that most paid links are a.) obviously not objective and b.) very often irrelevant. If you are asking about those then the answer is absolutely there is a risk. We will not tolerate bogus links that add little value to the user experience and are effectively trying to game the system.

The anatomy of a search result

A dozen ways to discuss “webmaster help”

Salut, I come from the French city Bordeaux where I spent most of my time, before I moved to Paris and then Dublin where I work now in Google Search Quality. When not in front of my computer, I like to go to the cinema, play chess and organize dinners
with my friends.
- Guide Google

Ciao, my name is Stefano and I’m responsible for the Italian Webmaster Help Group. I work on search quality issues in Italian. I’m from Italy and have been living in Ireland for more than 2 years. I do love the multicultural environment you can find in Dublin and all the people from everywhere you get to know here, but sometimes it’s difficult to be so far away from my favorite football team, so now and then I really have to fly back home to get a bit of Serie A.
- Guida Google

Grüss Gott! My name is Uli, and I post in the German Webmaster Help Group. I am originally from Germany but live in Ireland now. Unfortunately, I don't have my own website to show off. The German Help Group has grown into a big, vibrant community of very helpful and savvy webmasters, so if you speak German, go and check it out!
- Google Webmeister Guide

Hola! My name is Alvar and I'll be monitoring the Spanish Webmaster Help Group. Please join us if you speak a word or two in Spanish :-) More on the personal side, I don't own a portal or something like that but rather a tiny blog with nearly no visibility on the Internet, and I'm happy with that. I studied telecommunication engineering and my hobbies include soccer, foosball, table tennis, basically almost any other sport, traveling, photography, cinema, and technology, so I admit sitting in front of a computer can be counted as a hobby :-) Another important fact about me is that I'm from Barcelona, a city everyone should visit at least once in their life. What are you waiting for?
- Guía de Google para webmasters

Hola, I'm Rebecca. I studied to be a librarian but somehow along the way ended up being drawn into the digital side of information. So while I still snuggle up to books at night, computers take up most of my day. As for things I like to do (but wouldn't go so far as to call them hobbies…) I'm still pretty new to Dublin so I rather enjoy walking around until I'm lost and then trying to figure out how to get back home, and then when I get back home I like to play with my cat, best known for her fantastic Gollum impersonation when she gets riled up.
- Guía de Google

Hallo, I'm Andre. I'm very fond of Dutch music. But since living in Dublin for almost 2 years now, my taste for music has fused with the Irish sound. I like listening to live music in pubs, hanging out with the locals, have a pint or two and talking about upcoming gigs, artists, and all other topics that pass the day.
- André

Hejsan! My name is Hessam and I'm responsible for the Swedish Webmaster Help Group. I've been with Google for the last 2 years, working on search quality issues in Sweden. I'm originally from Sweden but moved to Dublin two years ago. My main interest is traveling and living in Dublin makes it easy to visit to all corners of Europe without blowing the budget. Thanks to cheap airlines, it takes merely a few hours from my door to the beer gardens of Munich, wine bars of Paris, ski slopes of Italy or beaches of Spain, depending on the mood. Looking forward to talking to you all!
- Google Webbansvarig Guide

Hei, I'm Anu and I work in the Search Quality team. I'm originally from Finland but these days I hold my umbrella high in Dublin. When I'm not online, you can catch me cycling (be it one or two wheels), playing virtual tennis or at the airport. I've been bitten by the travel bug, and try to see as many places near and far as possible. Besides all things webmaster related, I also have an interest in foreign languages, books and films. I look forward to meeting you in the Finnish Webmaster Help Group!
- Googlen Web-ylläpidon Ryhmän Opas

Cześć, I'm Guglarz (it stands for Googler in Polish), the Googler on the Polish Webmaster Help Group. I was lucky to grow up in the city of Kraków, Poland's most beautiful city and the place where Google recently opened a research center. I've been with Google for two years now and I still love this job as much as I did the very first day. It's my favorite hobby activity in fact. If I don't work, I like to keep myself busy with general aviation, running or bowling, a sport I recently found out I was talented in. ;-)

I discovered my passion for the Internet early in school and after graduating in information science studies I was looking for a challenging position in the industry, although after the year 2000 crash there was little hope for that. It took me a couple of jobs in the established industries and some traveling around the globe before I found my dream job here at Google.

Ever since I started helping on the Polish Webmaster Help Group, it has been growing rapidly, both in terms of user numbers as much as in terms of the activity. It's really exciting to see how Polish webmasters help each other and make the web a more interesting place. Three group members, Cezary Lech, Umik and krzys in particular made an effort to vitalize the community in its early days. I'd like to say dziękuję (thank you in Polish) and please keep up the great spirit - thumbs up!
- Guglarz

Olá, my name is Pedro. I'm Portuguese and I'm part of the Search Quality team. I've been working at Google since March 2006 mostly focused on the Portuguese language markets. I grew up in Tavira, a small town in the Algarve region – South of Portugal – and I always had a nerdy side, playing with computers since my very early days when memory meant 128KB. Most of my interests fall on my origins, I enjoy sailing and scuba diving, music is also on my top list. I'm based in the European Headquarters – Dublin office, and I'll be looking to strengthening contact with Portuguese webmasters (non Portuguese are also welcome).
- Ajuda a Webmasters do Google

Привет! My name is Oxana and I come from Moldova, a teeny tiny country in Eastern Europe. My background is in mathematics and computer sciences and I have worked as a web developer for more than 7 years now. Of course I have a web site, but it features only an, unfortunately, eternal "under construction" message and a hope for a better future. :) I love to read and to travel, and at the moment I am a helpless wannabe photographer. Also, I'm a passionate WoW player and soon I'll become the best Warlock Orc on this side of Kalimdor! When I'm a grown-up person I work at Google on the Search Quality team and I primarily support the Russian market.
- Оксана

Hej, my name is Jonas, and I am from Copenhagen, the wonderful capital of beautiful Denmark. I've been a webmaster of a blog since 2001, where I still drop a few lines every now and then. I am a jack of many trades, with a background in human geography and communication, design, and media. I've done some authoring for the web, but mostly administrative backends in PHP/MySQL, so they are not that interesting. I've been active on Usenet for awhile as well, and spent many hours there, getting smarter with the help of others.

I've been with Google for a couple of years now, working exclusively with search quality and I am now helping out in the Danish Webmaster Help Group. Looking forward to seeing you there (:
- GoogleGuide

Bringing the conference to you

• John Müller covers SMX Stockholm
• I recap the AMA's Search Engine Marketing conference

Go Daddy and Google offer easy access to Webmaster Tools

A spider’s view of Web 2.0

Wysz's Hamster Farm -- hamsters, best hamsters, cheap hamsters, free hamsters, pets, farms, hamster farmers, dancing hamsters, rodents, hampsters, hamsers, best hamster resource, pet toys, dancing lessons, cute, hamster tricks, pet food, hamster habitat, hamster hotels, hamster birthday gift ideas and more!

Happy Halloween to our spooktacular webmasters!