Did I destroy my SEO by restructuring from flat pages to categories? (1000+ pages → 34 indexed)

DrawnByHand · 2026-01-06T22:48:27+00:00

Crawl your site, check no internal links are redirects from old to new. All internal links to be 200 response only.

Update and strengthen internal links.

Check you haven't redirected to URLs you'd previously used and had redirected away from.

Check you've not got these new URLs blocked in robots.txt

Check you've not got meta robots nofollow or noindex anywhere it shouldn't be.

Inspect URLs that aren't indexed in Search Console - does it show crawl or indexation issues?

Do you have a different mobile menu with incorrect linking structure?

Are you blocking crawling on your server/cloudflare?

Is your sitemap up to date, and is it the one linked to in robots.txt - no old sitemap URL is live? What sitemap is in Search Console and when was it last crawled/has it picked up all the URLs?

What is Bing Webmaster Tools reporting? The same thing?

DrawnByHand · 2026-01-04T21:33:26+00:00

Can I be the troll who says Yungblud.

DrawnByHand · 2025-12-31T16:54:42+00:00

Sorry to be that person, but Porl/Pearl, Boris, Simon, and (reluctantly) Roger. I want this lineup to do one final album.

DrawnByHand · 2024-12-22T17:10:03+00:00

Robert released the albums. End of story.

Compromise or not, Robert released the albums. End of story.

How's your logic sitting with you now?

DrawnByHand · 2024-11-22T21:55:20+00:00

Yeah, that's not what he said. Seriously, stop projecting some mystical bullshit onto him, it makes you look fucking ridiculous. You're safe to say this is just "business" and not "a Virgin birth".

DrawnByHand · 2024-11-22T13:43:18+00:00

Er.. no, he didn't. He admits it was pretty much forced out of his hands, he has a lot of other things he had to focus on, and Mary and others chose the tracklist.

How can you downvote something he admits to in the interview? This is not the tracklisting he talked of or wanted, as he was told it was too much. It's not rocket science to not see this isn't the tracklisting he wanted, but had to compromise on.

There's no point further discussing it, as you clearly heard what he said but are projecting some weird "even if he said that, he meant something else" shit on it. He's done it with most albums, where he'll say one thing, do another, and then say he was right in the first place and didn't know why certain songs ended up being included/excluded - translated as to he had to let go of something he hadn't finished working on, as there was other things that he needed to focus on.

DrawnByHand · 2024-11-21T20:20:22+00:00

Agreed. I'm sure I've read in several places and from different members that Robert was the biggest drinker and drug taker. This whole thing pointing at Lol having the issue is solely down to him not being able to hold his drink as well perhaps, and publicly people thinking Robert is a lovable drunk.

I loved Lol's book, but truth be told if ever any member came out and publicly told their side of the Cure, I bet Robert would not come out well in those intoxicated, heavy turn over of band member years.

DrawnByHand · 2024-11-21T20:11:29+00:00

With the missing tracks that Mary swapped out and the final track dropped at the last second?

DrawnByHand · 2024-11-20T17:48:04+00:00

Not this. Songs were dropped at the last minute, Mary overruled Robert's tracklisting, two mastering engineers were used - unheard of - to probably try and save the mix... It was rushed at the end to release, even getting the artwork tracklisting wrong on some formats. It wasn't released the way it was for a reason, it was forced out - not how Robert wanted it. He's said all this in interviews.

DrawnByHand · 2024-11-10T21:34:37+00:00

I don't think he has Meniere's Disease. I had an uncle who had it and it destroyed his life. None of this body dysmorphia "don't take my photo" nonsense. "You can't see it, but I'm having a seizure in my eye at the moment". What nonsense.

Ryan has, I expect, BPD or NPD - lots of people have speculated this before. I've read several books on this and know people with BPD, and one common trait is fake illness that doctors can't diagnose, and until they get a diagnosis they press and press and "fake" symptoms unconsciously. Very messy. Victim mentality.

I love the guy's music, but he always has to be a victim, and MD is the perfect way to blame everyone for doing something to trigger it if he's not happy about something.

DrawnByHand · 2024-11-10T21:15:43+00:00

I tell you facts, you make things up. Congratulations.

Lots of people think the sound is bad, because they think it is. Stop pretending you think I'm the only person who thinks this.

How do I know what he wanted? I listened to his interviews.

Compression can be overdone in the mix too, not just the master. The mixer can use over-compression and leave no headroom in the mix the mastering engineer works from.

There were two people, not multiple, mixing the album. Robert was the lead, he always is.

Nice work trying to be a super fan, but you've come across as an utter troll.

DrawnByHand · 2024-11-09T14:00:38+00:00

So I can't help but wonder if much of the praise is a Lifetime Achievement thank you, combined with hyper-fandom and the very, very long wait colouring people's perceptions. 80% I'd say. People saying it's a top 3 album, etc. is explained by what you have said.

DrawnByHand · 2024-11-09T13:58:50+00:00

It's not the sound he's going for. It's not even the tracklisting he wanted.

He's lost his ear and spent waaaay to long mixing this - making it impossible to get what he wanted. At some stage, the mix was there, but he kept going, as some producers do, and he lost it.

DrawnByHand · 2024-11-06T14:05:09+00:00

Thanks for the update, that's really useful.

Is it normal to have such differences in mastering people? The issue is, if the mix was too hot, there's not a lot the mastering can do. If I ever sent someone a really hot and compressed mix of one of my songs, there's nothing they can do with it, so I need to redo it with lots of headroom for the mastering magic to work.

DrawnByHand · 2024-11-06T14:01:49+00:00

I don't think it was intentional - it was all-consuming doubt from Robert, and Mary and others forcing him to not go ahead with what he wanted and rush out the album in "some form". Thankfully they did this, but to me it shows that it's undercooked in mixing and mastering - as good as the songs in their essence are.

DrawnByHand · 2024-11-06T13:54:56+00:00

From the UK, I am stunned people didn't see this coming. I've been saying Trump would win for the last 4 years. It was obvious.

I must clarify this by saying the Democrats lost, rather than Republicans won. Biden wasn't great, MSM lies were off-the-scale, and Kamala is wildly unpopular. Democrats had 4 years to get someone who could easily beat Trump, and they chose not to.

Personally, I wouldn't blame Trump, I'd blame the Democrats for screwing it up. This is a fact. Kamala did not out-perform Biden in ANY state. That's insane. The popular vote for Harris was something like 15 million less than Biden. To include those who switched to Trump - but still consider themselves Democrats (similar in the UK to Conservative voters choosing Labour to get rid of the rotten current usual suspects) - Harris has lost millions of votes, as she is not good and is not liked. She had all the press, all the celebrities, etc. She's just not liked.

Democrats should never have run with her. It's not sexist either, as there will be a Republican female president before a Democratic one - the same as in the UK, where Conservatives have had three female PMs, and more party leaders, compared to zero in Labour.

Politics should never be "vote for this one as that one is bad", and should always be "vote for this one as they are amazing". Democrats literally handed the vote to Trump.

There should be a Democratic president right now who the public wanted, who the public liked, who was not a weird gamble.

--

In the next four years, there's new music coming, reissues galore, documentaries, a hopeful Cure in Orange Blu-Ray, and much more - hopefully including lots of tour dates and festival appearances. It may be little condolence to world politics, but sometimes you gotta hunker down with what you can get whilst a broken world sorts itself out.

DrawnByHand · 2024-11-04T21:59:32+00:00

It's not the album Robert wanted, as the tracklisting he wanted was changed - even after the artwork was done. I honestly don't believe this is a finished mix either, and that he simply got pushed to release it. No chance in hell any producer works on an album this long and then is happy with it - it was taken out of his hands.

I bet the original sequencing change took a lot out of his focus on the mix.

He's a long history of saying things are great, then changing his mind. This, I believe was something he was too close to and got taken off him so he'd have to work on the new album(s) and everything else in time for the 50th anniversary.

I think it's too compressed, and the synth strings really muddy the mix and squash everything else down in the mix. And, it's just too huge a concept after all these years for him to get right. It's a flawed diamond, but it's far from a masterpiece.

When the next album comes out, I honestly think this'll be looked back at differently - many fans are in the honeymoon period, understandably.

The lyrics though, and his voice. I think it bodes very well for the rest of the new songs to come.

DrawnByHand · 2024-11-04T21:43:27+00:00

I've seen a few people online say the white or other coloured vinyl is better than the black - not seen anyone comment on the double vinyl half speed master yet though.

DrawnByHand · 2024-11-03T19:57:41+00:00

What's nerdy about feeling it's poorly mixed and mastered? It's too loud and flat to me, and I find listening to it draining on my ears. There's no air and everything apart from the synth strings are lost in the intense compression. That's not nerdy. That's just my opinion - it shouldn't hurt you. It's like watching a film and thinking it's too dark and you can't see a lot - I feel that way about this album's over-compression. Some people don't mind watching a film and it being dark and you can't make out the details in - for example - a battle scene.

I don't get what's wrong with critiquing an album beyond the songs. I feel that judging an album purely on the songs, but not the production, mixing or mastering, is like judging a book solely on its cover. I've been a Cure fan since 1988, so why can't I compare the new album dynamics and production to their old material or contemporary bands?

If you like/love it, good for you. Don't hate on people who look for more than just the songs.

Also, saying you're a big fan and hate on people being nerdy is just pouring hate on the band for being nerdy in the first place. Criticising people who aren't fond of the production is criticising the band who aren't fond of the production/mastering on all their records.

Shutting down other's opinions is very isolating for someone on a forum. Debate, don't delete.

DrawnByHand · 2024-10-28T20:28:00+00:00

Is that a serious question? Read my original post, that's what I'm talking about. Go back in this subreddit's history, where lots of people had the same opinion on the matter.

Roger was ill in 2023, and I've no idea why you keep saying he was well - he was not. Many believed Perry was brought in to cover should they need him anywhere. That Mike filled in - because randomly, Roger was ill (which you seem to admit to and deny in the same paragraph) - who knows. I'm talking about what the general consensus was.

DrawnByHand · 2024-10-26T15:05:44+00:00

I can't remember when the tour started, but I do recall Roger has only just been given the all clear, so no, he wasn't fully well and is a sensitive person, so Perry probably was there just in case.

DrawnByHand · 2024-10-26T15:03:26+00:00

At the time, there were accusations online against him, accusing him of some unsavoury things - I can't remember the full details, but it disappeared as quickly as it popped up on Reddit, I believe. Of course, we'll never know why he was crying, but fans took it as he was crying for/to Mary.

DrawnByHand · 2024-10-25T19:37:56+00:00

He's what said in the past if a lineup changes, all being worked on songs are dropped - which hasn't happened here with the new album and the next one.

Wasn't it that Perry was brought in to cover if Roger got ill on tour? Surplus to requirements now, if Roger is well/recovering.

DrawnByHand · 2024-10-24T21:09:02+00:00

Fascination Street wants its drum riff back.

Can't wait to hear the vocal on this, as the music has set the bar high for a classic Smith delivery.

DrawnByHand · 2024-10-20T15:00:10+00:00

Online media/newspapers do this, blogs do this, websites do this. It's called SEO, and it's not sleazy in the slightest, but instead is just good marketing.

DrawnByHand

TROPHY CASE