Gah! I'm in the supplemental index and can't figure out why

Capitalist_Pig · 01-05-2012, 10:13 PM

I'm working on a new niche site, Photography Basics 101. Here's a link to my most recent post: Grey Market Photography Equipment: Pros and Cons | Photography Basics 101
I have been targeting the obvious keyword phrase here, "photography basics". I hit the index at position 250 or so, and stayed there for a few days, before popping up to 100-120 for a couple of days. Then I disappeared. poof I'm no longer in the top 1000 results, nor am I returning in the top 1000 for any of the other very low competition keywords I'm targeting with articles.

I'm still holding out hope that this is just another Google Dance, but it doesn't feel right to me - I've never completely dropped out like that. Have I been "sandboxed"? Have I been moved to the supplemental index?

I've not done a lot with the site in terms of promotion yet, preferring to build content and slowly but surely pull in social traffic. I have a few blog comments pointed to the home page, along with 2-3 posts on reddit. I did do a burst of 200 or so statistic site links, but this is something I've done many times on new sites without issue; they are almost all nofollow links from PR n/a pages, and they don't last. They're mainly for indexing purposes.

I've added the site in Webmaster Tools, hoping I could get some sort of notification of something that was wrong, but haven't. There were a few broken internal links, but again, nothing that stands out. When I was ranking, I was getting a 5-10% CTR in search.

I'm using the default Wordpress template, Twenty Eleven. It has crossed my mind that Google may consider this a part of the footprint of an autoblog, but I actually like it the way I have it customized slightly. It's minimal and it works, and I have content to write. Not a priority.

Any idea what could be causing this, and how I can fix it?

Dumple · 01-05-2012, 11:41 PM

I am sure most people will tell you it is just the Google Dance. I am not so sure though. Lately, there have been many other people on this forum who are experiencing this, much more than usual. I am also experiencing this.

I have four niches sites all created within a month of each other, around the end of September. I used Build My Rank for most of my back linking, and slowly they rose in rankings. Of course they bounced around a little bit, the normal Google dance. Jumping around page 2-4 of Google. Eventually, after a couple months, they were all ranking somewhere on the first page. This is the typical experience I have when ranking sites, and seems to be for others as well.

Towards the beginning of December I noticed two of these sites disappeared from the front page. In fact, they were nowhere within the top 200 results. I thought this was strange, but decided to wait it out.

Around a week passed and then the two sites that disappeared were back on the front page. I was happy to see them back! Unfortunately, now the other two sites disappeared. Then a week passed again, and the second two were now back ranking on the front page. Good news I thought. Then I noticed the original two were gone again. This cycle has repeated for a little more than a month.

I have around 20 sites, and only four of them are doing this.

I do not think this is the normal Google dance. I have no idea what it is. Maybe a Googlebot went rogue or became sentient. Or maybe it was a Google Seizure (coining it here). I think the best thing to do is to keep adding quality content, continue to back link, and wait it out.

Can anyone else corroborate what I am saying? I have read a lot of posts complaining about sites disappearing. Have you noticed them recovering again after around a week?

EDIT: By the way, it happened again earlier today.

01-05-2012, 10:13 PM	#1
Capitalist_Pig HyperActive Warrior War Room Member Join Date: Nov 2010 Posts: 187 Thanks: 19 Thanked 28 Times in 23 Posts Contact Info	Gah! I'm in the supplemental index and can't figure out why I'm working on a new niche site, Photography Basics 101. Here's a link to my most recent post: Grey Market Photography Equipment: Pros and Cons \| Photography Basics 101 I have been targeting the obvious keyword phrase here, "photography basics". I hit the index at position 250 or so, and stayed there for a few days, before popping up to 100-120 for a couple of days. Then I disappeared. poof I'm no longer in the top 1000 results, nor am I returning in the top 1000 for any of the other very low competition keywords I'm targeting with articles. I'm still holding out hope that this is just another Google Dance, but it doesn't feel right to me - I've never completely dropped out like that. Have I been "sandboxed"? Have I been moved to the supplemental index? I've not done a lot with the site in terms of promotion yet, preferring to build content and slowly but surely pull in social traffic. I have a few blog comments pointed to the home page, along with 2-3 posts on reddit. I did do a burst of 200 or so statistic site links, but this is something I've done many times on new sites without issue; they are almost all nofollow links from PR n/a pages, and they don't last. They're mainly for indexing purposes. I've added the site in Webmaster Tools, hoping I could get some sort of notification of something that was wrong, but haven't. There were a few broken internal links, but again, nothing that stands out. When I was ranking, I was getting a 5-10% CTR in search. I'm using the default Wordpress template, Twenty Eleven. It has crossed my mind that Google may consider this a part of the footprint of an autoblog, but I actually like it the way I have it customized slightly. It's minimal and it works, and I have content to write. Not a priority. Any idea what could be causing this, and how I can fix it?

01-05-2012, 11:41 PM	#2
Dumple Warrior Member Join Date: Aug 2011 Posts: 6 Thanks: 0 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	Re: Gah! I'm in the supplemental index and can't figure out why I am sure most people will tell you it is just the Google Dance. I am not so sure though. Lately, there have been many other people on this forum who are experiencing this, much more than usual. I am also experiencing this. I have four niches sites all created within a month of each other, around the end of September. I used Build My Rank for most of my back linking, and slowly they rose in rankings. Of course they bounced around a little bit, the normal Google dance. Jumping around page 2-4 of Google. Eventually, after a couple months, they were all ranking somewhere on the first page. This is the typical experience I have when ranking sites, and seems to be for others as well. Towards the beginning of December I noticed two of these sites disappeared from the front page. In fact, they were nowhere within the top 200 results. I thought this was strange, but decided to wait it out. Around a week passed and then the two sites that disappeared were back on the front page. I was happy to see them back! Unfortunately, now the other two sites disappeared. Then a week passed again, and the second two were now back ranking on the front page. Good news I thought. Then I noticed the original two were gone again. This cycle has repeated for a little more than a month. I have around 20 sites, and only four of them are doing this. I do not think this is the normal Google dance. I have no idea what it is. Maybe a Googlebot went rogue or became sentient. Or maybe it was a Google Seizure (coining it here). I think the best thing to do is to keep adding quality content, continue to back link, and wait it out. Can anyone else corroborate what I am saying? I have read a lot of posts complaining about sites disappearing. Have you noticed them recovering again after around a week? EDIT: By the way, it happened again earlier today.