Did Your SERPs Take A Nose Dive?

[jacksonlin]

Hi Warriors

I just noticed all the sites that I created in the past 6 months that were ranking in the search engines took a massive nose dive in terms of rankings.

I was wondering if anyone else has experienced a massive reduction in their rankings of late?

Thanks

[Myheavens]

Hi, this explains a bit :

YouTube - Can you give us an update on rankings...

[sebas]

Originally Posted by jacksonlin

Hi Warriors

I just noticed all the sites that I created in the past 6 months that were ranking in the search engines took a massive nose dive in terms of rankings.

I was wondering if anyone else has experienced a massive reduction in their rankings of late?

Thanks

Same thing happened to me yesterday, maybe some kind of Google dance, hopefully.

[jacksonlin]

Originally Posted by waqas

Hi, this explains a bit : YouTube - Can you give us an update on rankings for long-tail searches?

No, I'm not talking about that video, but thank you for your response.

The keywords affected are not long term keywords and plus the May day update that was mentioned in the video was referring to an issue in MAY. It's June now.

Anyone else want to share their responses?

I have found that my older sites, the ones that have been for a year or longer haven't been affected.

Hmmmm...?

[Groovystar]

I never really noticed a change in where my site is/was. Still the same place, pretty much, where it was in early April when it launched. Maybe because I don't do long tail keywords? How many words long is considered 'long tail'? I know 'long tail' the term itself doesn't mean actual physical length of the keyword but a more specific search, still those tend to have more words in them right?

Sorry for sounding kind of n00bish.

[Peter Gregory]

Originally Posted by Groovystar

I never really noticed a change in where my site is/was. Still the same place, pretty much, where it was in early April when it launched. Maybe because I don't do long tail keywords? How many words long is considered 'long tail'? I know 'long tail' the term itself doesn't mean actual physical length of the keyword but a more specific search, still those tend to have more words in them right?

Sorry for sounding kind of n00bish.

Usually 3 or 4 word is considered long tail, but it obviously doesn't stop there.

Nikon D50 6.1MP Digital SLR Camera with 18-55mm

would be another example, doesn't get as much traffic as 'nikon cameras' or 'nikon digital cameras' obviously, but it is more targeted and usually easier to rank for. If you had a bunch of those tackled you'd be looking pretty good.

[nettech]

The last 48 hours have been absolutely abysmal. I'm experiencing absolutely huge drops for my 'XFactor' type sites. non of these sites use the XFactor template, are all individually designed with their own WP themes, all unique content. All whitehat. This is VERY VERY worrying indeed!

[jacksonlin]

So it's not only me that's experiencing these kind of weird results.

My sites are not XFactor sites and it's happening across all the sites that I have created in the last 6 months or so.

My sites are up to 50 pages per site and all of them are experiencing this weird SERP drop.

Anyone else care to share?

[nettech]

When I say XFactor, I mean AdSense based sites using his methodology and tips. In no way are they using his templates etc.

I've spent the last few hours doing some research and I think it may be the effects of the 'MayDay' Google Update. This seems to have really affected 'long tail keywords'. Ive just run SEO Elite and Im experiencing some SHOCKING drops. One of my main sites that makes me ok money has dropped off the 1st page and into position 281. ouch! The same with some other sites, from like position 40 down to 700+, not nice I know.

However, Ive noticed some sites haven't moved at all. Quick question, the sites that have moved, have you made any updates in terms of content to them in the last few days?

[actionplanbiz]

I havent experience anything weird. any key aspects of yoru site you wanna share? that you may think is causing it

[nettech]

From what I've read it seems to be the Mayday algo, however most of what Ive experienced has only taken place in the last 48 hours.

The only other thing I can think of is that I added a page of content to each of the sites which I think may potentially have caused a dance (wishful thinking), the only other thing is that I've noticed another site which I haven't touch completely drop as well.

IN all my years of doing SEO, never seen anything liek this. Not across the board like this.

All my sites are abive board, nothing dodgy, most of the inks come from Articl directories like EZA, GoArticles, maybe a few profile links but not too many!

Maybe Google is discounting these type of links and giving back authority to the big players???? I can't back up any of this but just a some food for thought!

Will keep analysing, monitoring and report back if I notice anything which may attribute to this!

[derekwong28]

I wonder if any of your sites looks like those i.e large database driven sites.

Long tail keywords were particularly affected.

Is This Google Algorithm Update Costing You? | WebProNews

Can anybody tell me when did the Mayday update took place?

My affiliate commissions were down, but they were mainly from skiing equipment sites.

[livemusic]

Without a doubt, in the past 24 hours, my main site dropped significantly. Other, newer ones, are okay. Very narrow niche.

[FTCNick]

I have a few landing pages and was doing pretty well with ppc. My landing pages had no title, desc, or keywords because they were purely for ppc traffic.

Recently I missed a payment and did not fund any advertising, and realized my traffic that was converting wasn't ppc at all, and coming purely from the SE's.

I didn't even know my pages were picked up by the SE's!

Naturally, I targeted the keywords and search phrases I was receiving traffic from, and now I'm making more than I was with ppc for nothing. lol

I think it all has to do with this google mayday. Some drop down, and some benefit. I lucked out with it I guess.

Nick

[jacksonlin]

Check out: www.yourmarriageangel.com

That site hasn't been updated in terms of content on page in a while, but it has been getting backlinks constantly over a long time.

It was previously ranked on page 1 for a lot of terms in the related niche, but now they are in the hundreds.

There is no adsense on the site either.

As you can see it's not a thin affiliate site and I don't know what has happened.

[nplatt]

I've noticed some changes too. Some bad, some good.

I don't know what your sites are like but I happened to read this post a few days ago and thought of it when I read this thread. It talks about Google going after small AdSense sites. I don't know if it applies to any of your sites but it could provide some insight into whatever G's up to. If they're going after AdSense mini-sites, they're probably going after some other things too.

How Not to Make Money Online | How to Make Money Online with SEO

[bitriot]

The one site I have going right now (trying to get a successful SEO plan in place before expanding), dropped from #37 to #68. Not sure if it is a mayday issue or something else but I thought I would share.

[jerreye]

Hey jacksonlin,

Yes, about 90% of my sites took a complete nose dive today.

The funny thing is that most of them didn't just lose a few positions or even a couple of whole pages. No, I mean they completely vanished into thin air!

All of them are still being indexed somewhere as I tested them with a "site:" search, so none of them have been de-listed or banned.

I am hoping this is just a typical temporary fluctuation. However, fluctuation usually happens one site at a time, not 90% of them on the very same day...

Needless to say, my fingernails are startin' to disappear!!

[ajitv]

Hey guys,
I was just looking some of the keywords I am targeting. What I can instantly see is that the HubPages, Ezinearticles, Squidoo etc. are still very much intact.

And I cant say this for sure, but it seems that there is more of these Web 2.0 type sites now in the SERPS! So, has this update been kind or neutral to article marketers who try to rank with these articles? Anybody?

[jacksonlin]

My sites are NOT MFA.

Most of them don't even have adsense on it.

So I don't think it's just targeting small sites that are MFA.

The one I showed you doesn't have adsense on it and it has like 40 to 50 pages from what I remember, it's all high quailty unique content.

[jacksonlin]

Originally Posted by jerreye

Hey jacksonlin,

Yes, about 90% of my sites took a complete nose dive today.

The funny thing is that most of them didn't just lose a few positions or even a couple of whole pages. No, I mean they completely vanished into thin air!

All of them are still being indexed somewhere as I tested them with a "site:" search, so none of them have been de-listed or banned.

I am hoping this is just a typical temporary fluctuation. However, fluctuation usually happens one site at a time, not 90% of them on the very same day...

Needless to say, my fingernails are startin' to disappear!!

I wonder what's going on, my sites are in the 100's now.

I have 2 sites that haven't had this issue, but most of my sites have this issue and they are not MFA sites.

[jerreye]

Originally Posted by jacksonlin

I wonder what's going on, my sites are in the 100's now.

I have 2 sites that haven't had this issue, but most of my sites have this issue and they are not MFA sites.

Most of my sites do have a single Adsense block on them. However, all of the content is 100% unique and of high quality.

Even sites that have no Adsense have been deranked just the same so I don't think AdSense has very much if anything to do with this.

Besides, I don't think Google would de-rank sites just because they have Adsense on them, especially since the Google content network is a HUGE portion of their revenue stream.

I understand removing poor quality MFA sites (Adsense driven sites with little to no unique content) as they have almost no value.

Like you, I also have a couple sites that have remained in the top ten. I'm looking forward to see what happens in the next couple weeks...

[sebas]

Same thing happened to me in the last 24 hours only 2 of about 30 of my websites are still at the same place.

Most of those sites have really good content and don't have any AdSense on them. This doesn't look like MayDay because it happened yesterday for me.

It would be nice if somebody had a clue about what's going on and if this is generalized and permanent or not.

[Terry Gorry]

Originally Posted by nettech

The last 48 hours have been absolutely abysmal. I'm experiencing absolutely huge drops for my 'XFactor' type sites. non of these sites use the XFactor template, are all individually designed with their own WP themes, all unique content. All whitehat. This is VERY VERY worrying indeed!

I have found the exact same thing in the last 2 days..traffic,rankings and earnings through the floor.

All my sites have 100% unique content, and lots of it.

This is pretty worrying and if it continues I might have to start building lists of strangers and faking sincerity with autoresponder emails that are so popular!

Actually I won't, I would quit first.

Terry

[BestwaY]

me too i lost all my traffic, is this temporary situation or permenant ?

my visitors dropped from 25K to just lower than 3K Per Day

[usearchme2]

Originally Posted by jacksonlin

Check out: www.yourmarriageangel.com

That site hasn't been updated in terms of content on page in a while, but it has been getting backlinks constantly over a long time.

It was previously ranked on page 1 for a lot of terms in the related niche, but now they are in the hundreds.

There is no adsense on the site either.

As you can see it's not a thin affiliate site and I don't know what has happened.

Can I make a guess and say your keyword is cheating spouse lol !

As you mention it so many times !

Woc

[HorseStall]

Yes it looks like perhaps a large Google update is underway. Give it a few days before you panic.

[Hardi Wijaya]

It's the Caffeine. Pay special attention to the speed. I've said this previously.

[jacksonlin]

My sites are basic HTML and there are hardly any graphics. The loading time speed is a non issue.

Also, my other sites that take a longer time to rank are fine.

I don't think site speed is much of an issue.

[jacksonlin]

Originally Posted by usearchme2

Can I make a guess and say your keyword is cheating spouse lol !

As you mention it so many times !

Woc

It appears 17 times and the article length is 1557.

That's less than 2%.

So it's not even close to being keyword spamming.

[mikeey]

This has happened to me too in the last week or so. I hope its just the dance because of the backlinks i have been doing. Not massive amounts of backlinks. Site was page 2 then to page 10 then to 3, 55, and so it goes, and it still is ? could be fun for the week ahead for us all to try and see what is going on.

[nettech]

I've been reading up a lot since last night on this topic and even posted to another thread....in fact I haven't slept all night because this has the potential to really screw me.

Anyway, it looks like we've been affected by the 'Mayday' Google update! From watching Matt Cutt's video, it looks like its here to stay. It basically affects long-tail keywords.

I've just ran another ranking check and my rankings are still the same. I've noticed that the majoroty of sites in the top 10 are now known brands with PR etc. I'm not sure how much one shoudl read into this but it seems like all the pages I've seen have 'contact' information.

Maybe Google is penalising sites with no contact details or somethign along those lines....sorry just clutching at straws and really need a way to get this resolevd!

[Adam Roy]

Originally Posted by jacksonlin

Hi Warriors

I just noticed all the sites that I created in the past 6 months that were ranking in the search engines took a massive nose dive in terms of rankings.

I was wondering if anyone else has experienced a massive reduction in their rankings of late?

Thanks

It's just an update. They do it to their entire cache which is why some of us are having the same experience.

All it is, is a mini google dance which happens periodically depending on...well who knows.

It's all good though we'll be fine I've seen it happen before.

[nettech]

Originally Posted by Philly

I don't believe that is the case because every single site I have has a contact-privacy-tos page..one thing I do think is that the exact domain name match boost is gone forever

Ok so we can rule that out then!

I agree on the exact domain match, maybe G have caught on. Id still like to give it another few days. Ive experiencex this for years however not as bad as this hence why I'm quite nervous!

Lets hope the cache thing is true and they havent just devalued a bunch of linms from various sources like forum profiles, article directories and/or web 2.0 properties!

[derekwong28]

After following Google for more than 10 years, I have become very cynical about Google's intentions.

Basically, as small webmasters, you are suppose to buy traffic from Google using Adwords rather than to receive free traffic through the SERPS.

One reason why big players are doing particularly well this time is that they buy high quality links to their inner pages that are optimized for long tail keywords.

[NewBeing]

I've just read this article on RedFly which you may find interesting...

The Google MayDay Algo Update - Cause And Solutions To Complacent SEO - RedFly Search Engine & Internet Marketing Blog

[onlinetreason]

Keeping up with the changes is all you can do.

[usfemail]

Yeah I have noticed a drop in my sites as well. I will be reading up on this forum to see if anyone can figure out the Mayday change.

[usearchme2]

Originally Posted by jacksonlin

It appears 17 times and the article length is 1557.

That's less than 2%.

So it's not even close to being keyword spamming.

Hmm pretty sure its on the site more than that.

And Im only counting the instances where the 2 words are at teh side of each other.

Its like reading a telephone directory reading that page.

Woc

[sebas]

I think it's right on the money to say that exact domain match are affected, because almost all my sites where leveraging this technique. Now the're all gone.

[jerreye]

If this is not a temporary "Google dance" of some sort, this could be catastrophic for so many little guys like myself.

Anyone need their house cleaned? (oh gag!)

[jerreye]

Originally Posted by sebas

I think it's right on the money to say that exact domain match are affected, because almost all my sites where leveraging this technique. Now the're all gone.

Man, I hope not! I thought that Caffeine was giving extra weight to exact-match domain names?

Check this article:
hxxp://wwwDOTwmtipsDOTcom/seo/google-caffeine-what-you-need-know.htm

[joetheseo]

If you have bad content that's translated crap... Just change it to real, value providing articles... Just a few per site if it's a mini site. We haven't really seen anything except increases in our rankings.

Some sites that had Caffeinated content but a slight drop in long tail traffic, but nothing serious.

We've never experimented with over 4 word domains... So I can't speak for that...

Stop freaking out about this, just get back to building!

[FrenchieATX]

Originally Posted by jacksonlin

So it's not only me that's experiencing these kind of weird results.

No, I've been working a site pretty hard for three months and have consistently been at 11-13 for 5 weeks, now I've dropped to the 16-18 range. Moderate competition, still working to get into the top 10, and i have been building backlinks (though i could be more consistent). This is irritating.

[Hardi Wijaya]

Originally Posted by jacksonlin

My sites are basic HTML and there are hardly any graphics. The loading time speed is a non issue.

Also, my other sites that take a longer time to rank are fine.

I don't think site speed is much of an issue.

One of my experimental sites goes up in ranking. The no. 1 site is out. This site is having traffic jam all the time and thus, it suffers, I think.

I think it's just not about the loading speed. Host speed and downtime are also possible causes.

Another interesting thing is that sites with keywords in the domain name go up.


Hardi

[jacksonlin]

Originally Posted by usearchme2

Hmm pretty sure its on the site more than that.

And Im only counting the instances where the 2 words are at teh side of each other.

Its like reading a telephone directory reading that page.

Woc

Count it again because I did.

It appears 17 times in a 1557 word article.

[jacksonlin]

Originally Posted by Hardi Wijaya

One of my experimental sites goes up in ranking. The no. 1 site is out. This site is having traffic jam all the time and thus, it suffers, I think.

I think it's just not about the loading speed. Host speed and downtime are also possible causes.

Another interesting thing is that sites with keywords in the domain name go up.


Hardi

They are on the same hosts.

The sites that are affected and not affected to me depends on the age of the site, because the ones that were not affected that much were my older sites.


Also, I noticed that my exact match domain sites were hit the hardest.

They are indexed, but not appearing anywhere close to the top of the SERPs where some of them used to be.

[JoshuaG]

Just wanted to post that all my MFA sites took a dive as well.

[WareTime]

Originally Posted by jacksonlin

It appears 17 times and the article length is 1557.

That's less than 2%.

So it's not even close to being keyword spamming.

Count your nav links too. Keyword keyword keyword

Basically you have a thin affiliate site, plus a little adsense going on there. This is a site that no one would build on their own if they couldn't offer affiliate products or have adsense on it.

Not saying this is what tanked you, but if I ever manually reviewed your site, I'd flush it.

Sounds like google may have found a way to do some cleanup on the emd thin sites that so many make today. Oh well, another SEO chapter comes to a close.

I'm telling you, pretty soon, we'll have to create real content for real users.

[usearchme2]

I'm telling you, pretty soon, we'll have to create real content for real users.

lol yeah wouldnt that be a novelty !

and as he said, count the navlinks and the rest of the times you mention the keywords, in fact just try to read the text, it sounds redculous.

I dont think Google found a way to clean it up, just eventually you get flagged, especially if your close to the top of Google on some keywords.

There are countless times ive seen people who have got to the top of google, with poor quality sites and have been doing well for so long, then one day, bang they are falling like a stone.

And until people resolve their issues with their site, they will stay there.

But what webmasters usually want you to do is say is ur sites brillient and Google is broken, obviously sites dont start to fall down google for no reason, people often say backlinks this backlinks that, but a lot of the times its down to simple content.

Woc