Chris Webb

I have had several frustrating months in getting my website listed in the Google index. For the first 9 months, this blog was not listed anywhere on Google. I had several quality links in, was writing good content, following all the guidelines – but still no Google listing. I was providing a Google Sitemap, used Google Analytics and utilized the Google Webmaster Tools, and worked on SEO-friendly post titles but was still nowhere to be found on Google.

I went through several steps including 301 redirects for www.ckwebb.com, a revamped robots.txt, and an optimized Google sitemap, but the thing that finally got this site listed in Google is one you might not think of. I finally came to the conclusion that the problem with my blog was not that Google couldn’t find it – it was getting crawled. The problem was that my website was banned from Google – blackballed, shut out, ignored – non-existent as far as the majority of web searchers were concerned.

I racked my brains trying to figure out what I had done – what had I written to cause the Google Gods to shun me? It finally dawned on me that it might not be something I had done. I started thinking that perhaps my domain name was on the ban list at Google.

I purchased ckwebb.com in February 2007. A quick lesson here – don’t assume that just because a domain name is available that it has never been used before. In my case, ckwebb.com has had a varied past. According the Internet Archive, ckwebb.com has a history dating back to 1998 when it was a portfolio site for photographer Charles K. Webb. But it was the activity on ckwebb.com from 2000-2002, a weird spammy landing site and doorway page that likely caused Google to shut the door.

I resubmitted my site for reconsideration via Google Webmaster Tools, and in about 48 hours ckwebb.com emerged as a legitimate website in the Google index.

So the takeaway here is to be sure and check the history of your domain before you buy it and to be aware of it possibly seedy past.