There is no magical phone line to reach the organic search department at Google.  As much as we would love to have the equivalent of the number to the flashing red phone used to reach Batman (Adam West version) in the original series, we have instead a twisted maze of online submission links and help forums.  But do not lose hope, depending on your problem, the next step is simply finding the right contact form or help piece.

First, if you are a webmaster, you should bookmark the following five websites:

Google’s Webmaster Guidelines
Google Webmaster Tools
Google’s Webmaster Central Blog
Google Webmaster Help – YouTube Videos
Google Webmaster Help Forum

Second, you should identify your problem.  Is it something that you and your team can work out using the above guidelines, blog posts or videos? Do you need to bring in expert help such as an agency? Or are you looking for the page on which to contact Google about your issue?

The following graphic illustrates a few hurdles that Webmasters may face while in charge of a website (the blue boxes).  The next course of action to take in order to contact Google about such hurdles is delineated in the arrows.  You can read more about the following submissions and requests and find the links on Google’s Webmaster Forum Page: Webmaster Help and Contacts.

Google released a way to submit new and updated URLs for indexing within Google Webmaster Tools. Using the Fetch as Googlebot feature, the search engine will be promoted to crawl the URL that is submitted. Google doesn’t guarantee that every page they crawl will be indexed, but this new feature seems to speed up the evaluation process.

The new solution can help in several situations:

1. New site/page launch: If you’ve just launched a new site, and/or added new pages, you can ask Google to find and crawl it them immediately.
2. URL Reconsideration: If you have recently updated key pages on the site and would like Google to index the latest version, you can submit the updated pages for reconsideration.
3. Accidental Indexing: If you find that Google has indexed a page you did not want to show, you can submit your site to update the cached version after you’ve removed the page from your site.

That said, XML Sitemaps are still the best way to provide a complete list of your website’s URLs to Google and encourage The GoogleBot to crawl and index those pages. However, this new feature is ideal for times when you add new pages to your site or have a major update.

How to submit a URL
First, use Diagnostics > Fetch As Googlebot to fetch the URL you want to submit to Google. If the submission is successful, you will see a new “Submit to index” link appear next to the fetched URL.

Once you click “Submit to index” a dialog box will be displayed and allow you the option to choose whether you want to submit only the one URL, or that URL along with all the pages linked to it.

You can submit up to 50 URLs a week via Fetch as a GoogleBot within the Google Webmaster Tools platform. Though, Google does limit URL submissions that link all of the pages listed within that URL to 10 per month.
This new feature is not the “end all” solution to getting your pages indexed, but it shows how Google is continuing to make strides toward interacting site owners.

Those who have been following news from Google are well aware of the impact (or panic, depending on who you ask) the Panda update has had on search results. But just how is Panda changing the way Google views your website?

Panda was often referred to as an update to Google’s ranking algorithm. However, Search Engine Land has since pointed out that it’s really more like another ranking factor similar to page rank, but with more importance.

Whenever Google runs a Panda update (which appears to be shaping into a monthly schedule) Panda looks at your website to determine if it contains quality content. Pages on your site that contain low-quality content – such as spammy text; unoriginal, plagiarized, or duplicate content; irrelevant text; too much unmanaged user submitted content; etc. – get penalized (or “pandalized” in some circles) and suffer on the SERPs.

If you notice a drop off in your analytics that coincides with a Panda update, there is a good chance you may have a content quality issue with your website. Reevaluate the text on affected pages and look for ways to increase quality and relevancy. Unfortunately, you may not see a recovery in your analytics until Panda checks your site again.

Please keep in mind that, if your site is providing relevant, useful content to searchers, then Panda is nothing for you to worry about. Simply stay on the right track, and watch your website grow.