Question For Internet Gurus

**Tommy C** · 07-03-2010, 01:36 PM

Hey gurus... on my Google organic search result there is the active link 'cached'. This leads to the message that "this is a snapshot of my site as of such and such a day at such and such a time".

Is this the actual date and time that Google last crawled my site?

**cleaningservicepros** · 07-03-2010, 04:05 PM

No.

Cache is basically an archive of your site.

Google spiders crawl and index on a frequent basis, but this is not related to cache.

**latinguy2004** · 07-03-2010, 06:01 PM

Actually yes. Google's cache date also corresponds to the date your site was last crawled.

This is why it's important to be updating your content on a regular basis or have a blog built into your website. Doing so will make sure that the google bots frequent your website.

Another thing is make sure you build some good backlinks to your website. Otherwise Google will think your website is not relevant enough and won't even bother crawling it.

**cleaningservicepros** · 07-03-2010, 08:37 PM

Andres is correct, I misspoke.
What I meant was that you sometimes will not always see that updated cache immediately.

Tommy,

If you're doing your site on your own you may want to use Google Webmaster Tools.

IMO, this does not take the place of using a professional, but does take a lot of guesswork out the process and gives you a much better understanding:

www.google.com/webmasters/tools/

Sorry for the confusion and seriously consider using that tool.

Good luck.

**Tommy C** · 07-03-2010, 11:02 PM

Originally Posted by cleaningservicepros

Andres is correct, I misspoke.
What I meant was that you sometimes will not always see that updated cache immediately.

Tommy,

If you're doing your site on your own you may want to use Google Webmaster Tools.

IMO, this does not take the place of using a professional, but does take a lot of guesswork out the process and gives you a much better understanding:

www.google.com/webmasters/tools/

Sorry for the confusion and seriously consider using that tool.

Good luck.

Hey, it's all good. I am learning so much more than I ever thought I would about the internet. Thanks for the tip on google webmaster tools. That is one of those things I have seen and learned some of it but need to go deeper. The main thing I am learning about SEO is there is no 'perfect' method. Google seems to like keeping everyone guessing which is frustrating and challenging at the same time. God help us all.

**cleaningservicepros** · 07-03-2010, 11:38 PM

Yes, unless it comes from the mouth of Google it is generally conjecture.

Webmaster Tools is pretty dense and not an enjoyable read, but if you want to do SEO on your own it is the best source to use. It should also be used as a verification tool whenever possible if you're taking advice and strategy from any of the millions of SEO blogs out there.

**Ackthpt** · 07-04-2010, 06:55 PM

Google Webmaster tools are CRUCIAL for your online endeavors. No question. In one place you can check:

- top search queries for your site
- find out who is linking to your site
- find if your site has any errors
- find out if your site loads to slow (and how to fix)
- crawl statistics
- suggestions to make your site more "crawlable"

... and finally, the most important:

- YOU CAN SET YOUR GEOGRAPHICAL TARGET for your customers/site (yes, only by country, but still incredibly important to do this)

There's probably more reasons....

Also, you should be doing the same thing for Yahoo, and Bing:

http://www.bing.com/webmaster/Webmas...SitesPage.aspx
https://siteexplorer.search.yahoo.com/mysites

And you DEFINITELY should be submitting sitemaps to ALL THREE of these search engines. Don't put all your eggs in one basket.

I know, alot of work :( But this is probably one of the things your competition is doing.

Hope this helps, cheers

**Steve Toburen** · 07-04-2010, 07:31 PM

Originally Posted by Ackthpt

I know, alot of work :( But this is probably one of the things your competition is doing.

Hope this helps, cheers

Lots of good points in the posts above. But the "a lot of work" is an essential thing that I feel gets lost in all the SEO hoop-la. Sure, SEO is important. But too many carpet cleaners spend a lot of money and effort gettingtheir sites up and then I notice that no one has touched them in two years! Google hates this!

Steve
SFS.JonDon.com

PS I always use the example of a owning a hot rod in SFS. I ask the class one simple question: "Is a hot rod ever 100% 'done'?" the answer from any one hos owned a hot rod is a resounding NO simply because their is always osmething to tune p or add on to a hot rod. Same way with your web site! View it as on ongoing 'work of art". Or if you don't like that how about a really great hobby???

**NJCleaner** · 07-09-2010, 10:04 AM

One way to know for sure when your site has been last crawled by Google is to go to webgrader.com. Its free, just enter your site and they will also give you a breakdown of what you should do to improve the searchability of your site.

**Tommy C** · 07-09-2010, 10:54 AM

Originally Posted by NJCleaner

One way to know for sure when your site has been last crawled by Google is to go to webgrader.com. Its free, just enter your site and they will also give you a breakdown of what you should do to improve the searchability of your site.

Thanks Joe, but I tried to go to www.webgrader.com and it was redirected to a different site. An online summer school for kids... are you trying to tell me something?