Long-time Tripawds members may have noticed things are awfully quiet around here lately. Unfortunately, the crickets may be getting louder. That’s because Google hates Tripawds.com. Let us explain.
Why Google Hates Tripawds, and How to Help Change That
We know our headline sounds extreme, but extreme times call for these measures. Here’s why:
Do a Google search for phrases that concerned pet parents use when looking for answers to help their amputee dogs and cats, such as:
- “caring for tripod dogs”
- “three legged dog care” or
- “tripod cat care”
- “dog amputation help”
- “cat amputation help”
You will notice that Tripawds.com rarely ranks high in search results anymore. We used to be listed as one of the top three links in Google and in multiple pages thereafter. But no longer, thanks to various algorithims used for ranking search results (aka “Google PageSpeed Standards“).
This isn’t the first time Google has penalized websites with algorithim changes. Previously, they required websites to be more mobile friendly, so we addressed that issue. Later, they required us to implement more secure access to the site, so we took care of that too. Now, Google is penalizing websites for taking “too long” to load in web browsers.
Exactly what is too long, according to Google? Well, certain pages at Tripawds can take to six to ten seconds to load content capable of interaction by users. But now Google developers have made it so that the highest ranking search results are given to pages that load in milliseconds – regardless of of whether or not that page content is outdated or even helpful.
As a result, many of the most helpful resources available at Tripawds.com (like our Discussion Forums) are now buried deep in the dark corners of the internet, since Google owns over 90% of all search engine traffic. Sadly, fixing this issue is more complicated than plugging into faster hardware.
Meanwhile, less informative, much older and outdated web pages and articles are out-ranking us.
This is why our forums have been eerily quiet over the last month.
New members cannot find us.
Our traffic has dropped to unprecedented lows, and so have Tripawds Gear sales and commissions that help support our community. Awareness of Tripawds Foundation assistance programs and vital donations to keep them going are likely to follow.
As soon as we discovered this was happening, Admin Guy began frantically working long hours to address this situation. He is continuously doing his best to improve site speeds. In geek speak, he is: minfying scripts, eliminating render blocking resources, optimizing server performance, compressing images, and much more. Whew!
The sad truth is, certain resources will likely have to go if we are ever to compete with Google PageSpeed standards. The stylish design, photo galleries, live chats, discussion forums, random widgets and rotating banners all impact our search results now.
This massive animal amputee support community we have lovingly built from the ground up for the last twelve years, will undergo dramatic changes if we are to survive.
Tripawds As You Know It, Will Change
Keeping the Google monster happy means we must strip Tripawds.com resources and design down to a bare bones format, focusing on information and functionality. Many of the bells and whistles added over the years may disappear. Of course, the Tripawds Discussion Forums will remain, though some of its additional features may be removed.
For a sense of the time and money involved in the overhaul required, professional website development firms have provided project estimates to us that range from $17,000 to $70,000.
Yep, our two person operation with one do-it-all website administrator has built a valuable content-rich, feature laden resource that would cost that much for anyone else to create.
So unless we win the lotto, we cannot pay this kind of money and must continue to address these issues ourselves.
We are not asking for donations for this situation. We would prefer that any contributions go to Tripawds Foundation so our programs can remain. Admin Guy is stuck with the job, and that’s all there is to it. His primary goal will be to improve PageSpeed ranking, which in turn should help improve search engine results. As he identifies specific deliverables others may be able to assist with, contractors will be hired – with no funds coming from the Foundation. So, be prepared to see some changes coming soon.
This complicated Tripawds.com de-construction will cost us more time, effort, and money than we ever anticipated spending on website development at one time. This is time and money that we personally don’t have, because we spend most of our work days dedicated to this labor of love that doesn’t even come close to paying what a California McDonald’s worker earns. We will need to take on extra freelance graphic design and writing work to pay the bills, which delays a fix for this problem.
As our Internet presence remains buried, Google’s search engine tactics hurt us financially, but more importantly Google is hurting pet parents the most, at a time when they desperately need our many free resources.
Here’s How You Can Get Pet Parents the Dog and Cat Amputation Help They Need
We must get the Tripawds name out into the veterinary community and keep it there. The more vets who refer clients to the blogs and forums, the better.
Here’s what we can all do until the Tripawds.com makeover is complete:
Engage in the Tripawds Discussion Forums and share your stories in your own Tripawds blog. Show the people who do find us that you care and are ready to help. Plus the more activity throughout our network, the better chance that other search engines will continue ranking us highly in search results.
Share your blog posts on social media. If you have a Tripawds Blog, your posts are shared to the Tripawds Facebook page automatically. Help spread the word by sharing your posts in your news feed or other groups.
Request a stack of free Tripawds Foundation brochures for your veterinary clinic.
Share your story about how Tripawds has helped you on veterinary websites and Facebook pages.
Ask veterinary clinics and anyone you know in the veterinary field to include Tripawds.com as a resource on their website. The more of these “backlinks” we have on respected websites, the better.
Finally, please encourage your friends and family to use the following Amazon links when making purchases. Tripawds.com receives a small commission from sales. These links are only good for 30-day increments, so please share them periodically:
US Residents: Start Shopping at Amazon Here to Help Tripawds
Canada Residents: Start Shopping at Amazon Here to Help Tripawds
UK Residents: Start Shopping at Amazon Here to Help Tripawds
Thank You for Caring Enough to Read This Far
If you’ve read this far, we are grateful for your attention span. In a world where ten seconds is too slow for the average search engine user, your dedication to our community is a breath of fresh air.
We promise to keep you apprised of the situation as we have more to report. Thank you for all you do to help Tripawds everywhere.
First of all, thank you SO much for the website and all the effort going into it.
I just arrived here today, after a canine cancer diagnosis, and amputation was suggested for our wonderful 10 year old border collie. I entered “tripod dogs” into Google — your landing page was the fourth hit. Another page on this site was the fifth hit. So something is right. By rights, pages from this site should have been #1 through 1000….
Hi Dennis, welcome. We are so sorry to hear about your pup, and hope you will join us in the Forums for help from the community. Thanks for your kind words about our community, we are trying hard to increase our ranking.
Well to understate the problem this just sucks! We have made so many longtime friends because of tripawds.com and are so grateful to be part of this community. I try to post on FB links to the sight as much as possible. And always refer anyone who has a pet who is or will be becoming a TriPod. I will be ordering more brochure to give to vets office as well. I wish there was more we could do but we will continue to spread the word as much as possible.
Thank you for everything you do! You guys see PAWsome!!
Denna & TriPod
“Living life to the fullest……one hop at a time”
Wow and my spellcheck is awful apparently after I re-read this post
Oh gosh don’t you worry about spelling or typos Denna! Thank you for your supportive message and all that you do to help us spread the word. We WILL get through and over this temporary hurdle thanks to the love and concern from great members like you. 3-paws up to you and the pack!
I dont have tons of google experience . Wouldn’t buying google ads help?
Sure, if we had an unlimited advertising budget. Sadly this is not our reality. Thanks for the suggestion though!
I thought it was kind of quiet in here… sheesh! What a terrible thing to happen. You would think with all the hits that the site has gotten over time would bring it up in popularity. I know speed is the issue here, but there are plenty of other slow sites (Verizon for example) that have awfully slow sites but they don’t appear to get blackballed for it.
I will continue to advocate for this wonderful group in any way that I can. I don’t Facebook but I do Instagram. I will make some posts advocating for the site as I have a lot of tripawds on my list 🙂
Hugs,
Jackie and Huck
Oh my gosh you are so right, Verizon’s site is awful! Thanks for your support Jackie, we are furever grateful!
I am saddened to hear about the issues that Google is giving this wonderful site. When I adopted Jake at my local animal shelter I knew absolutely nothing about caring for him as he was only two days out from his back left leg being amputated. I looked at many places to find information but kept coming back to Tripawds.com because the best information and dialogue was here. I will start beating the drum on FB as often as I can even though I’m rarely on FB anymore because of their policies. Jake is doing super well only one month out from his amputation and I feel comfortable having my new three legged critter in my life. This site, the blogs and forums have truly been a God send for both myself and Jake!! May my Lord and God continue to bless your gift to all of us three legged critter owners.
Gloria and Jake
Gloria it is good to hear from you, how wonderful that Jake is doing so well! Thanks for caring and helping us get the word out, it’s greatly appreciated. Keep us posted on how your sweet boy is doing!
Why don’t we build a really super duper speedy but bare bones website that’s really fast and pleases Google. Then we can refer or link to our wonderful website here that we have been using successfully for years! There HAS TO BE a way around this Google nonsense! As all Tripawds know, faster does NOT mean better! Thurston mantra!
Because it is the content that matters. We need all of our amazing resources to rank higher for the keywords they contain…and we’re working hard to make that hapen. 🙂
This is really upsetting. It is unfortunate how the world has changed so much in this way. I had zero idea Google did this kind of thing and always figured the most relevant information came up when searching. I wish there was more I could do. You guys have been so helpful to me and I’d like to see you at the top of the world.
Thanks you Shubeanie. Yeah there are things that go on behind the scenes that affect lots of websites’ visibility, it’s an ongoing struggle to stay visible. Thank you for the kindness and reading our post. Spreading the word is the best way to help, we greatly appreciate it.
Ugh. Sorry you are getting picked on by the Borg. I will keep beating the Tripawds drum at every opportunity!
Thanks TC! We know you already do and appreciate it greatly.
This sucks 🙁 I know you and Admin are working the best you can. I certainly hope the things your mentioned do not have to go away. They are important.
hugs
Michelle, Angels Sassy & Bosch.
Paw shucks Michelle, you work hard around here too to help others, this team effort WILL get us where we need to be on the Google monster. Thanks for all you do. xoxo