This month Google changed their algorithm. Their algorithm is what controls what sites show up for a keyword search. This change was meant to clean out the "content farm" type websites that showed up in Google's results, but the change also negatively affected many sites that were not content farms, including Loving From A Distance. If you are curious there is more information here in this CNN article.

LFAD used to rank around #3 for the keyword "long distance relationships" in Google in the United States. It now has dropped to the 2nd page in the United States, and in many countries it has entirely dropped off the search results... possibly buried back many pages.

After this change, we have noticed a HUGE loss of international traffic coming from different countries. United States traffic has dropped as much as 21% and other countries by as much as 36%.

This is quite disheartening for Frank and I; we have always appreciated the diversity of members in the forum.


Help us out and get an entry in our Giveaway

There are a couple ways that I know of that shows Google the value of a website's content.

One way they know that the information on a website is valuable is when visitors of the site spend time browsing on it after they have clicked on it.

We used to have hundreds of visitors via the Google search for "long distance relationships" yesterday we had less than 10 visitors who found us with that keyword search. So our chances of "proving" ourselves anytime in the near future without your help are very slim.

Another way Google knows that you have valuable content on your site is when other sites link to your site. These are called backlinks.

So here's how you can help...

1. Google "long distance relationships. Find lovingfromadistance.com in the search results (make sure you find either the main page of the site or the forum page. If you can find the main page, that would be most preferable.) .... it might be like finding a needle in a haystack for some of you. Once you find our site, click on it and then browse at least 2 pages of the site. = 1 entry

2. If you have a website or blog share our link in a post of yours. Preferably hyperlink the words "long distance relationships" but however it works in your blog/website is fine = 1 entry

All you have to do is 1 of the above things. If you do both you get a bonus entry in our contest. I will take the emails of those that entered and put them in an excel sheet and will select 3 at random to win the following prizes:

1st prize = 1 "Worth it" t-shirt, 1 "Love knows no distance" bracelet, 1 "Worth it" sticker

2nd prize = 2 "Love knows no distance" bracelets (shipping to one address only)

3rd prize = 1 "Worth it" Sticker (3x3")


***Winners will be drawn May 7th***


Click here to enter! you can fill out this entry form as much as twice per day, so make sure to save this link

Make it easy, check which page LFAD is on in your country for the google search "long distance relationships" click here


With your help, hopefully LFAD won't whither away. Without enough site visitors the cost of keeping the site running becomes too much for 1 girl to handle. As the traffic increased a lot of our costs went up per month to accommodate the increased traffic and that was fine when the site was making enough to cover the costs, but with the 30% drop in traffic, there has been a huge loss, and I still have to pay what I was paying before the traffic drop.