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My web hosting is with Ipowerweb. Previously I was on a cPanel server and had 200 Megs of storage available to me. I switched to a newer, faster vDeck server with 10 Gigs of storage. Before I switched I asked if my search engine positioning would change. I was told it would not and it shouldn’t have since all that was changing were essentially the DNS pointers to my domain. Prior to the switch my main page http://www.ravencues.com/ and my AgoraCart main page http://www.ravencues.com/Agora/agora.cgi both showed up on the first or second page of almost all my relevant search engine searches. Most importantly that is how it was with Google. That was cool, but when I switched to the new server things changed. In fact, when I made the switch my main page positioning did not change, but my AgoraCart main page fell off Google and the other search engines entirely. I am unhappy to say the least.

Most of my website was just copied to the new server and functioned as it had previously. AgoraCart was copied over but did not work, for whatever reason. Maybe I didn’t have to but I reinstalled it. It seemed like the most practical use of time.

When I first installed AgoraCart (on the old server) the installation was to a subdirectory of public_html. I don’t remember why it was installed there and not to cgi-bin? But, when I tried to install to the same directory (on the new server) I couldn’t do it. So far as I could tell I had to install to the cgi-bin directory http://www.ravencues.com/cgi-bin/Agora/agora.cgi .

Is this why my AgoraCart page doesn’t show up on searches anymore? Google has indexed the page, but it doesn’t show up like most of the other web pages do. Instead of the normal Title and Description there is just the URL. See below.

A normal Google page:

RAVEN Cue #54
This is a modified hustler style cue. Serial number 00053 is completed. It features a single butterfly point design that lines up with one of the four ...www.ravencues.com/cue54.html - 4k - Cached - Similar pages

My AgoraCart Google page:

www.ravencues.com/cgi-bin/Agora/agora.cgi
Similar pages

Is there anything I can do to make the AgoraCart page show up on search engines again? The switch was about a month ago.

Ipowerweb has always been a problematic web host. With their vdeck all cgi scripts have to be placed within the cgi-bin. That would be exactly why the store fell off the search engines, it's not in the same place as it was before.
Ya know, I really wouldn't worry too much about it as long as your site's home page is getting picked up by the search engines and you have a link to the store from there.
It will take a bit of time for the search engines to re-index the site and I'm not sure how frequently they do it...
Gotta love Ipower.... not really....

HTH!


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Bonnie - AgoraCart Moderator

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bummer dude! all that work and ya get hosed!
5/10 pr with frames. that's really good. if you take it out of frames you may place better on searches. pr may not increase but you will probably place better and i know you will do better with directory bots and other lesser search engines. your call.

ok here is what you do. this will work if google is still holding any ranking for your old store url.
in your htaccess you want to do a 302 for the /Agora/ directory to the cgi-bin/Agora directory. this will transfer any pr from the old store directory to the new store directory. then after a few months change the 302 to a 301 (permanantly moved).

you didn't say or i didn't see how long it has been since you changed the store path. hope it hasn't been too long.

a few more thoughts.
don't use mod rewrite to do the 302 and 301.
look in your error log in vdeck and keep an eye on all the 404's. do the 302/301 thingie for each 404.
do the htaccess in your public root (www or public_html).
check the search engines to see if they are still linking to your store's product pages. if so do a 302 then 301 later for each link.
if there is anything to salvage as far as pr goes this will restore (reassign) it. if not then this will help to rebuild.
do a robots.txt if you don't have one and do a favicon.ico for your site too. these will help fill in gaps and gain you some more brownie points.
good luck
d

one more thingie.
customize your 404 through cpanel. don't do an auto redirect but provide a link to your storefront. if somebody happens on the 404 they can click the link to the store and find their way to anywhere on your site if they want to. points being...

hitting the back button doesn't do much good if the last page they came from was google or a competitor!

most of your 404s will be the result of changing the store location.

when google or whatever bot comes in to check links it will have something to follow as opposed to a dead end. more brownie points.

by linking to the storefront they can click the link then you got them right where you want them! you want them in the store or what's the point? grin.
happy SEOing
d

thank you.

you're welcome. hope you can slavage something.
btw, i said not to use mod rewrite. that was in error. you can do a 302 for a month or two then a 301 in the htaccess file or you can do a 302 then a 301 in htaccess using mod rewrite. apparently it makes no difference.
there is an assuption that the temp (302) will transfer the pr from one domain to another then after a period of time a 301 (permanent) will make it permanent. this is after pr is assigned. it's supposed to be a better transistional method in relation to SEO. i can't swear by it though i am using the concept right now with no results yet. if in doubt use the 301 right off the bat. one possible reason to use the 301 and not the 302 method is there is a method to exploit traffic in google where 302s are used.
like anything else on the net it's a good idea to do your own research and draw your own conclusions.
sorry for the confusion. i can only go by what i become aware of as the data comes to my attention but at least you have some data to go on and research.
like i said i have a site that has a pr of 3/10 and am using the 302 method. if ranking goes in the dumper i'll post. it'll take a while, i think, to get results.
d

did ya get your pr restored for your new store location?. it may take awhile so not to worry too much if nothing has changed.
d