thread in search engines

disaster-master's picture

She has: 2,154 posts

Joined: May 2001

I was just checking a site that I submitted here for critique a while back using the Market Leap link popularity checker and in the results was a thread from TWF. Not sure I like this. Is there anyway that you can keep this from happening?

Is it possible for someone to do a search on my critiqued site and get a TWF thread as a result? That would be really good for my business. LOL ARG!!!

Here is what the results looked like. The thread link below doesn't go to the thread but in the search results at Market Leap it did.

2. The Webmaster Forums | Direct discussion with the webmaster community
The Webmaster Forums » Designing and Building your Website » Concept, Layout, and Graphics Design » Is she holding together
http://www.webmaster-forums.com/showthread.php?... (86.8 kB)

Maybe I am over reacting but I can just vision my client searching for his site on google and finding a thread where I am screaming for help. Oh, my....think I will go have a nightmare.

Suzanne's picture

She has: 5,507 posts

Joined: Feb 2000

Oh dear. I hear your pain, but here's what I do -- I tell the customers upfront that if I run into a programming problem, and for beta testing since I can't have every possible configuration, I "use the power of the Internet" and have beta testers, helping hands, et cetera look at the site.

Most clients are happy to hear that.

And for what it's worth, I donate hours a week to moderating and answering questions on a number of bulletin boards to help out where I am strong.

I usually use private beta testers, but the end result is the same. If nothing else, you can prove to the customer that you were doing everything in your power to make sure his/her site was as robust as possible.

Smiling Suzanne

The Webmistress's picture

She has: 5,586 posts

Joined: Feb 2001

I have had this happen before from another forum. There isn't anything you can do to stop it but as Suzzane says tell the client that you asked for testing & advise on the site and they should accept it.

Julia - if life was meant to be easy Michael Angelo would have painted the floor....

taff's picture

They have: 956 posts

Joined: Jun 2001

Alternatively, do all your development and testing on your own server and just move the finished product. I learned that one from getting critiques at "Web Pages That Suck" - there's something you don't want popping up in the log files Smiling

.....

Mark Hensler's picture

He has: 4,048 posts

Joined: Aug 2000

I made a post at vBulletin.org requesting a hack...
http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=35032

Let's see if anyone bites. Wink

Mark Hensler
If there is no answer on Google, then there is no question.

They have: 601 posts

Joined: Nov 2001

Use ROBOTS.TXT files or pass META no-cache headers with that paticular forum?

mairving's picture

They have: 2,256 posts

Joined: Feb 2001

It is rare for Google to index these pages. If I do a search for mairving, then I come up with this site, but apparently it is only picking up the moderated by mairving and not diving into the threads. This appears on all sites that are V-bulletin that I post on.

So I think if you can keep the name of the site out of the title, then it won't be indexed by a search engine. For instance, a search on Google for Disaster-Master yielded a thread that was last post by Disaster-Master, which wasn't there when you clicked on it.

Mark Irving
I have a mind like a steel trap; it is rusty and illegal in 47 states

He has: 424 posts

Joined: Mar 1999

There is no way for me to prevent this and I doubt a hack could prevent it. Search engines will index whatever they want, whenever they want, however they want. They ignore rules listed int he robots.txt file half the time. I completely understand your frustration and I wish there were something that I could do but...

disaster-master's picture

She has: 2,154 posts

Joined: May 2001

I think I will just do as Suzanne suggested and tell the clients that I do test their sites. Taff also made a good point. Guess that the shock of finding that thread just freaked me a bit.

Thanks for checking into this Chad, Mark and Mairving.

Want to join the discussion? Create an account or log in if you already have one. Joining is fast, free and painless! We’ll even whisk you back here when you’ve finished.