Chef Seattle, Changing Gears
Well, this is somewhat bad news, but even after our recent name change from Coffee.net to Chef Seattle, it looks like we’re going to be slowing down work on the website. With the slowing economy, especially in the restaurant and advertising industry, it’s been a bit of a double whammy for us here at Chef Seattle. Even with dramatic drop in advertising budgets, we had hoped to get creative with some really unique promotions to help both restaurants and readers.
Unfortunately, we were given a rude surprise last month when Chef Seattle was apparently penalized by Google. We at Chef Seattle have worked extremely hard over the last year to build links with relevant and trusted websites, while creating useful and genuine content - so this was a huge shock to us. Penalized websites are generally bottom of the barrel websites that trick users or engage in spammy tactics, so we’re both dumbfounded and surprised as to why this happened.
Our only guess is that it is related to a few links we purchased on the advice of a local SEO firm we hired in the last two months, but the scope is so small that we still can’t rationalize it. We’re linked to by the City of Seattle, King County, the University of Washington, non-profits, the PI and awesome local food blogs. We never paid for any of those links and in our entire history, have only paid for three links as part of advertising deals, not including directories. Yet, we’ve fallen on the bad side of Google.
As a result of the Google penalty, our traffic has dropped to a trickle. We can no longer charge our advertisers in good faith, so our revenues are now gone. Without the ability to pay employees, server bills or expensive dinner bills we’ve decided that this is the time to trim the fat.. along with the meat. Steve is saying farewell, new reviews are on hold and our dedicated servers will be moving to a cheaper, but slower alternative. In essence, Chef Seattle is now down to my own personal hobby.
All in all, it’s made for a depressing holiday season to see over a year of work reduced to nothing. We spent over two months working on our website to pass stringent WCAG 2.0 (Web Consortium of Accessibility Guidelines) standards, making us the only foodie website that is compatible with physically or visually impaired web visitors (try navigating CitySearch with your keyboard then try Chef Seattle). We were also the only food site that operated as a social venture organization - donating money to charities even though it put us in the red. So, for what it’s worth, we felt we did some good for a few people while it lasted.
Personally, I can say that I’ve learned a lot over the last year. I started the project only knowing basic HTML and can now code compliant, cross-browser XHTML and CSS on the fly. I also learned how to write fast, secure php and optimized mysql databases. I spent sleepless nights figuring out Linux and BSD, but eventually got around to that, with lots of help from my friends at Wow Rack, the guys who host Chef Seattle. But most of all, I met some great people, ate out at fantastic restaurants and had a great time doing so.
All good things must end however, so I guess this project just came to a halt sooner than expected. I suppose I could be angry at Google, but I’ve always lived with the belief that thing happen for a reason. Having the insight to see that reason has always been the tricky part.
I will still make blog posts here and there, but otherwise, it’s been fun! Best wishes for the new year everyone. :)
Related posts:
Oh no! Grant, I’m so sorry that this happened. If there’s anything I can do to help, please let me know. I still get a couple of hits a week to my blog from yours, and I’m very appreciative of that.
I think you’ve got a great site here, and I hope that you find some way to be able to recover.
Comment by Patricia Eddy — January 8, 2009 @ 5:31 pm
Thanks for the comments Patricia. I appreciate the comments and your offer for help.
I’m still cooking just about every day, so when I get over the shock, I’ll be back and blogging as normal :)
Comment by Grant — January 19, 2009 @ 11:42 pm
What the hell? This is quite shocking. Of all the websites, this happens to yours? Quite jacked. Oh well, now you have time to work on my MMA game or a new BJJ Website with me! ;) JK, hope you bounce back soon. Email me.
Comment by Jon — January 20, 2009 @ 3:58 pm
Nooo! I just found you!! After reading the review I initially wanted to (and no, I don’t default search w/Google) I spent the last half hour sifting through your site. It’s great! Sorry to hear about it going TU - take care and best of luck to you.
Looking forward to eating at Maneki, thanks to your crew’s review!
Comment by Kate — January 30, 2009 @ 5:26 pm
Was just looking up a review on a good Mexican Restaurant to take my husband for his birthday today and found your site. We are going to try out La Casa Del Mojito today! Then, I read your blog about what’s happening. I for one am glad I found your site and hope you hang in there!
Comment by Debbie — February 15, 2009 @ 6:27 pm
Ouch..thats really sad!! but hang in there..i just found you when i was searching on Live.com (MSN) for Seattle Food Blogs!!
I just love your site and have bookmarked it..so i’ll here pretty often!!
Comment by SuperChef — February 17, 2009 @ 9:12 pm
Just let me know if there’s anything I can do to help out.
Comment by Jule — March 31, 2009 @ 9:10 pm
i just discovered you! I was going to suggest a Twitter account for you, and maybe a facebook fan page. Easy and free, a great outlet. I’m reading through the blog now. It’s wonderful.
Comment by linda — June 17, 2009 @ 5:12 pm
Well thank gawd for the newly released bing.com, because over there you floated towards the top of “reviewers” for a restaurant I was researching. It’s my lucky day that I tripped into your spectacular site - I’ve posted it on my Facebook and look forward to using it in the future.
Good luck and if you need some help on the Eastside give a shout I’m always looking for a reason to try someplace new!
-Jenn
Comment by Jenn — July 6, 2009 @ 10:51 pm
I have started my own blogsite at http://www.northwestchefs.com.
I have to say this article is a little depressing to someone starting his own blog. Oh well the dream goes on. In my opinion we food writers freelance or otherwise need to help each other out. any advice on what not to do ?
Comment by scott — August 29, 2009 @ 12:13 pm
I use the search engine MelZoo more than Google because I like the way it’s set up much better (try it!). That’s how I found you. I think your site is great; please don’t give up! I was looking for a vegetarian restaurant in North Seattle or Mukilteo/Edmonds/Lynnwood, but haven’t located any, so far.
Comment by Jenny Garden — November 1, 2009 @ 6:50 am
I only just recently discovered your site so am sorry that things have recently taken a dive. I like your website a lot so hope you’re able to hang in there. I live on Whidbey so don’t get into Seattle a lot but when I do, I’m always looking for recommendations from someone reliable. I’m enjoying your blog as well.
Comment by Gwen — January 3, 2010 @ 12:04 am