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Please Note: The "Google Dance" has been "suspended" as Google has gone to a continuous update. This change occurred in the summer of 2003.

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There is a lot of confusion as to what exactly the Google Dance is and what it does. Many people believe this is the time when Google updates their massive index. That is not true. Google is constantly updating their index, which is why you can search on breaking news stories and be routed to top news sources. The Google Dance is the time when Google updates the PageRank and backlinks of each page in its index.

Each "dance" begins with Google making a major, deep crawl. If your site has a PageRank of 5/10 or better, you should realize a deep crawl through your site. If your site ranks lower, generally only your home page is indexed in this crawl. This is why it is vital to have a solid PageRank to allow for your site to not only get re-indexed more often, but you will be indexed deeper as well.

Note: A "deep" crawl refers to the number of levels your site is spidered.

Google will post the new results of the crawl on its secondary datacenters. To access them, you can go to www2.google.com and www3.google.com, but there are many others. The Dance begins when the number of backlinks on the secondary datacenters is different than the backlinks for the primary datacenter. When this occurs, the Dance has begun.

During "The Dance" the search results are often rapidly switched between the databases and Google runs tests on each. As this "swapping out" occurs it seems as if Google is "dancing" - thus the name. The "Google Dance" continues for 3-10 days. If there is a major algorithm change, the Dance will take longer to complete.

Often, if a site is included in Google's index before the Google Dance for the first time, after the Dance has concluded, the site will disappear from the index. This is normal. Google is only comparing what it had after the last update. When Google crawls again, the site will be picked up again. There are exceptions to this, but generally, it takes two major crawls from Google before the site is stable in Google's index.

In conclusion, never look at the Google Dance as the "magical period" for your website to be included. Google updates their index daily. The Dance is a solid reminder to know if your marketing plan is on the right track or not. If your PageRank goes down, or disappears, you need to re-tool your plan.

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Jerry West is the Director of Internet Marketing for Web Marketing Now. He has been consulting on the web since 1996 and has assisted hundreds of companies gain an upper-hand over their competition. Visit Web Marketing Now for the latest in marketing tips that are tested and proven.

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