Just this once...

[Andilinks]

If anyone with experience with this can offer any advice I would be very grateful.

I have never done a mass emailing and never expected that I would. But now I would like to contact many of the ~6000 websites in my database with just one email--no follow-ups except to some of those who respond. I have begun preparing a segment of the list that contains 416 names.

I have a program that harvests email addys and have gotten 131 out of the 416 and will have to manually remove various "nospam" strings from these. I may send to "webmaster@ domain.tld" for the rest or I may laboriously visit each site.

It will be better if I can send out all 6000 on one day but that's not essential. I think it will be better if these are sent from my domain or if my domain is the return path but if using an outside mail house is better I could do that.

I may want to do just a small sampling first so I can tweak the message.

FWIW I am requesting a review or backlink from sites that I have been linking to for a long time, most for several years. I am doing this because Google has inexpilcably dropped many of my legitimate backlinks severely affecting my traffic from that source. The old backlinks still exist, Google is simply not counting them any more.

[georgeek]

The old backlinks still exist, Google is simply not counting them any more.How do you know that Google is not counting them any more?

- George

[Andilinks]

How do you know that Google is not counting them any more?It is impossible to know with certainty but that is the most likely explanation for the loss of traffic. These links disappeared from the "link:" search shortly after the traffic tanked. There was a relevance issue with these links, I obtained them when the site was more focused on technology and this may be why Google dropped them. In any case obtaining more backlinks is my best remedy for falling traffic.

I appreciate any suggestions with regard to the traffic problem but my greater question is about handling the large mailing which is why I posted here in the "Email & Mailing List Management" forum. I don't know much about mass mailings but I do know that putting 6000 addys in the BCC field and hitting "Send" is not a good idea. :)

[georgeek]

It is impossible to know with certainty but that is the most likely explanation for the loss of traffic. The most likely explanation for the loss of traffic is a lower ranking in the SERPs for the keywords associated with your website's pages.

These links disappeared from the "link:" search shortly after the traffic tanked. Definitely not cause and effect. Google disabled its link: command many years ago. The official Google line is that the command shows a sample of the links it knows about. Sometimes it is a very small sample.

Google will tell you though if it is your site. Just sign up for 'Google Webmaster Tools' and check out 'Pages with external links'.

I don't know much about mass mailings but I do know that putting 6000 addys in the BCC field and hitting "Send" is not a good idea. :)What will the email say?

- George

[Andilinks]

...a lower ranking in the SERPs for the keywords associated with your website's pages.There are a wide variety of keywords for the various pages but traffic dropped suddenly across the board. This explanation doesn't infer any remedy, I still see getting more backlinks as my best route to more traffic.Webmaster ToolsYes, the links that disappeared from the link: command do still appear in this location.
What will the email say?I haven't formulated an exact wording yet and I'm leaning more toward an individualized letter for the better prospects. I am going to ask for a review or link, these are all sites that I have been linking to for a long time, years in most cases.

Thank you for your interest George.

[Bob]

Andi,

I wonder if this post may be relevant to your situation?
http://www.webmasterworld.com/google/3563627.htm

I would be remiss if I did not also mention that any mass mailing to addresses that did not specifically request the mailing, requesting reciprocal links, could result in spam complaints and would violate the FutureQuest TOS.
http://www.FutureQuest.net/Services/TOS/#NoSpam

The whole question of reciprocal link requests seems to be a very hotly debated question in searching Google for relevant posts (http://www.webmasterworld.com/forum12/2066.htm), much of it negative, and what the best answer is I do not know...

Spam has ruined much that once was good with the Internet...

-Bob

[Andilinks]

I would be remiss if I did not also mention that any mass mailing to addresses that did not specifically request the mailing, requesting reciprocal links, could result in spam complaints and would violate the FutureQuest TOS.That is the whole point of this thread and my question to those who see this. The SEO aspect is incidental and something I brought up only as an explanation for the mailing which I see as a last resort. No, I won't violate the FQ TOS, I'm seeking a way to do it otherwise. There are advantages to mailing them all at once and different advantages to dribbling them out slowly. I'm undecided on that.

It is a suicide mission at this point, if I cannot regain the old traffic I'm going to chuck it and find something better to do with my time. But the dollar value of the old traffic is such that I must do everything possible to regain it before abandoning it.

I wonder if this post may be relevant to your situation?I have been following threads at WMW and elsewhere, have made some modifications but I can't find any real solutions there--they seem as confused as I am about fluctuating traffic. This has happened several times before, I'm getting sick of Google's reckless behavior.

[georgeek]

I am going to ask for a review or link, these are all sites that I have been linking to for a long time, years in most cases.You could use one of the web based mailing services like iContact (http://www.icontact.com). You could also create a newsletter instead of a spammy one-off link request.

...they seem as confused as I am about fluctuating traffic.This is true. I think it boils down to a lack of fundamental understanding of how search engines work. You see it's not just what happens to your website by way of off-page or on-page factors that determine your position in the SERPs. As important is what is happening on other pages that appear in the SERPs for your keywords.

It's like the New York marathon, where you finish depends not only on your own fitness but the fitness of all your competitors.

- George.

[Andilinks]

Thank you for your opinions George.

You could also create a newsletter...A credible (that is, not spammy or stolen) newsletter would require a large investment of my time with no certainty of a reasonable return. It is something I would do if I wanted a career as a newsletter editor and journalist and requires a serious career decision. It's not a likely choice for me but not out of the question.
...a lack of fundamental understanding of how search engines work.I believe Google and the others skillfully and deliberately obfuscate and confuse in order to confound those who would game their system. They do in fact follow the online discussions and use red herrings to provide contrary data when their methods are exposed. This is partly why there is so much collateral damage.

My website is still turning a non-trivial profit but not enough to warrant my attention after I have tried these remedial measures. Someday the traffic may return as suddenly as it left. In the mean time the information on the web decays.

This is the third time this has happened. The first time I took it personally and was very hurt and crushed. I've since come to expect as a matter of course that the web is a brutal and unfair place, just like the rest of the business world. I'm so very glad I took my own advice and bought gold. :)

[happety]

This is not related to your original question, but I ran across this recent article (http://www.avivadirectory.com/downloadblog/?p=338) related to Web Directory Sites and Google. It might be of interest.

[Andilinks]

Thanks for this Happety, it is informative. Unfortunately very few of the questionable practices that were corrected in the article were things that I ever indulged in. In fact, there was only one (crosslinking to another directory) which we had in common and I am still ambivalent about this.

I doubt I will do the spamming that was the subject of my original question. I do have some other plans in the works though before I decide to throw in the towel entirely.

I was once enamoured of Google as were most people but their recent behavior, quite apart from my own experience, has me disillusioned to say the least. I'm not the only one--their stock has been plummeting faster than the rest of the market, 6.6% just this morning at this writing.