Long-standing, stable, local search rankings suddenly gone

MarkR · 06-29-2010, 10:09 AM

Has anyone experienced this recently?

I have a number of my client's sites on the first page of Google for many months, some for years. They are ranked for keyword/city name term. i.e. "brake repair cityname state".

I've been very stable for many months, with 6 month to 4 year old domains, and now, they are all gone. I can't find them in the top 10 pages. It's been going on for over a week now.

Also, now when I search for the term I used to rank for, 21 of the top 22 spots in the SERPs are dominated by directories ... yellow pages, super pages, merchant circle, local directory, yellowbot, etc. which have tons of backlinks. They've always had backlinks, but I've been able to outrank them for years for local search terms and very few backlinks with no problem.

This is not the normal Google dance stuff. I went through that months/years ago.

Anyone else seen this? Is this Caffeine rolling out, or just a disastrous algorithm change or what?

HunterSnake · 06-29-2010, 10:39 AM

A lot of people are reporting similar stuff. I've experienced similar.

If you haven't violated the Google Webmaster Guidelines at all and haven't engaged in any Black Hat SEO, i.e. you've done nothing that Google would frown upon, then your sites probably have not been penalized in that regard.

Work on improving your site and creating more quality content that people are likely to link to.

If you have done something questionable, reverse it and file a request for reconsideration.

MarkR · 06-29-2010, 10:43 AM

Fouldini, thanks.

I'm looking for 1) the actual / verified cause of the drop and 2) a cure. e.g. Is the cause Caffeine or an algo. tweak? Also, is the reason the umber of backlinks, or site size, or page size, or domain age, or site structure? Once I find the cause/reason, I'll know how to boost them back to where they were in the SERPs.

MarkR · 06-29-2010, 10:48 AM

HunterSnake,

Nothing remotely Blackhat going on at all. I play by the rules for my client's sites.

I'm all for improving my sites, but I'm looking for what specifically needs to improve .. links....content..size. etc.? I'm hoping someone has figured out / proven what Google suddenly wants, that we're not giving them.

Thanks!

lukemeister · 06-29-2010, 10:53 AM

Interesting - I manage the SEO for the company I'm currently working at and we haven't noticed anything like this for our site, and we target a lot of local keywords similar to how you do - in fact I'm checking some of the positioning right now after reading this and I don't see any directories or anything in some of our top target keywords, it's all local companies sites in the search results

Did this happen to hundreds of your sites at the same time, or is it more of an isolated thing or fewer sites?

HunterSnake · 06-29-2010, 10:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MarkR

I'm all for improving my sites, but I'm looking for what specifically needs to improve .. links....content..size. etc.? I'm hoping someone has figured out / proven what Google suddenly wants, that we're not giving them.

Thanks!

I've got some links I'd like to recommend for you that will help, perhaps. =)

Google Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide
Official Google Webmaster Central Blog
YouTube - GoogleWebmasterHelp's Channel
Matt Cutts: Gadgets, Google, and SEO
Nine by Fox blog: words from Vanessa Fox - Nine By Blue
YouTube - Google I/O 2010 - SEO site advice from the experts

MarkR · 06-29-2010, 11:53 AM

lukemeister,

I've only checked about five of my client's sites and it's consistent. I don't have 100's to check. It's just weird that it all happened in the last two weeks after months/years of stability. I had also had one of my own Amazon affiliate sites disappear from the rankings after three straight months of page 1 listings.

HunterSnake,

I'm familiar with and follow most of those, but I'll check the other links out.

06-29-2010, 10:09 AM	#1
MarkR Work hard to play hard War Room Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Michigan, USA. Posts: 1,169 Thanks: 103 Thanked 194 Times in 132 Posts Social Networking Contact Info	Long-standing, stable, local search rankings suddenly gone Has anyone experienced this recently? I have a number of my client's sites on the first page of Google for many months, some for years. They are ranked for keyword/city name term. i.e. "brake repair cityname state". I've been very stable for many months, with 6 month to 4 year old domains, and now, they are all gone. I can't find them in the top 10 pages. It's been going on for over a week now. Also, now when I search for the term I used to rank for, 21 of the top 22 spots in the SERPs are dominated by directories ... yellow pages, super pages, merchant circle, local directory, yellowbot, etc. which have tons of backlinks. They've always had backlinks, but I've been able to outrank them for years for local search terms and very few backlinks with no problem. This is not the normal Google dance stuff. I went through that months/years ago. Anyone else seen this? Is this Caffeine rolling out, or just a disastrous algorithm change or what?
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06-29-2010, 10:39 AM	#2
HunterSnake HyperActive Warrior Join Date: Jun 2010 Posts: 184 Thanks: 16 Thanked 46 Times in 33 Posts Social Networking Contact Info	Re: Long-standing, stable, local search rankings suddenly gone A lot of people are reporting similar stuff. I've experienced similar. If you haven't violated the Google Webmaster Guidelines at all and haven't engaged in any Black Hat SEO, i.e. you've done nothing that Google would frown upon, then your sites probably have not been penalized in that regard. Work on improving your site and creating more quality content that people are likely to link to. If you have done something questionable, reverse it and file a request for reconsideration.
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06-29-2010, 10:43 AM	#3
MarkR Work hard to play hard War Room Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Michigan, USA. Posts: 1,169 Thanks: 103 Thanked 194 Times in 132 Posts Social Networking Contact Info	Re: Long-standing, stable, local search rankings suddenly gone Fouldini, thanks. I'm looking for 1) the actual / verified cause of the drop and 2) a cure. e.g. Is the cause Caffeine or an algo. tweak? Also, is the reason the umber of backlinks, or site size, or page size, or domain age, or site structure? Once I find the cause/reason, I'll know how to boost them back to where they were in the SERPs.
	Holiday Graphics ----- PLR Articles ----- PLR EBook templates ----- Ebooks ----- Audio loops ----- Plugins ----- FREE stuff!

06-29-2010, 10:48 AM	#4
MarkR Work hard to play hard War Room Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Michigan, USA. Posts: 1,169 Thanks: 103 Thanked 194 Times in 132 Posts Social Networking Contact Info	Re: Long-standing, stable, local search rankings suddenly gone HunterSnake, Nothing remotely Blackhat going on at all. I play by the rules for my client's sites. I'm all for improving my sites, but I'm looking for what specifically needs to improve .. links....content..size. etc.? I'm hoping someone has figured out / proven what Google suddenly wants, that we're not giving them. Thanks!
	Holiday Graphics ----- PLR Articles ----- PLR EBook templates ----- Ebooks ----- Audio loops ----- Plugins ----- FREE stuff!

06-29-2010, 10:53 AM	#5
lukemeister HyperActive Warrior Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Fargo Posts: 137 Thanks: 10 Thanked 18 Times in 17 Posts	Re: Long-standing, stable, local search rankings suddenly gone Interesting - I manage the SEO for the company I'm currently working at and we haven't noticed anything like this for our site, and we target a lot of local keywords similar to how you do - in fact I'm checking some of the positioning right now after reading this and I don't see any directories or anything in some of our top target keywords, it's all local companies sites in the search results Did this happen to hundreds of your sites at the same time, or is it more of an isolated thing or fewer sites?

06-29-2010, 11:53 AM	#7
MarkR Work hard to play hard War Room Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Michigan, USA. Posts: 1,169 Thanks: 103 Thanked 194 Times in 132 Posts Social Networking Contact Info	Re: Long-standing, stable, local search rankings suddenly gone lukemeister, I've only checked about five of my client's sites and it's consistent. I don't have 100's to check. It's just weird that it all happened in the last two weeks after months/years of stability. I had also had one of my own Amazon affiliate sites disappear from the rankings after three straight months of page 1 listings. HunterSnake, I'm familiar with and follow most of those, but I'll check the other links out.
	Holiday Graphics ----- PLR Articles ----- PLR EBook templates ----- Ebooks ----- Audio loops ----- Plugins ----- FREE stuff!