Pennalized by Google?

A good place to start to see about possibilities why you might be loosing PR is by going through google webmaster's guidelines https://support.google.com/webmaster...er/35769?hl=en

You are not penalized, just that competition for that term has gotten stronger and the google algos now favor your site less due to lack of backlinks.

Build more quality backlinks and you should be back ranking

JTexan,

Fortunes are no longer made on exact match domains and on-page keyword use (pronounced: keyword stuffing). Don't take it badly but your competition has probably worked hard to develop content, generate some back links, and build up a rapport with its audience and these days, Google's able to rank sites that can do that higher than ones that just have an EMD and a bunch of keywords on their pages.

I recommend eliminating every instance of the keyword from your site except for a couple of instances on your homepage. Use it in the title for that page and in the first sentence and again in the second paragraph. If that's not enough to rank you, then it's going to be all about back links, content, and social media from there. Sorry pal.

Sounds like you're stuffing keywords and your site is over-optimized. It's not impossible to stuff keywords and make it sound natural.

Exact match domains have no effect on ranking any more. With the already over-optimized content on your site, it's probably actually hurting your rankings, if anything.

You need backlinks.

There are a lot of factors actually why your site doesn't rank anymore. Overstuffing of keywords is not appropriate for SEO. It won't sound natural if you keep on mentioning your keywords over an over again on a one page content. Also, if you only depend on your content there's a big possibility that your ranking will drop. You need to be consistent on promoting your website be it using social media marketing or SEO via link building.

Honestly, it sounds like you only completed half the equation for making a site rank well; providing well written content. Since you said you used your keywords naturally then I'll believe you, and I'll tell you what happened-

- When you started out, lots of content went up and Google saw you as an emerging brand. When you stopped producing content though, then Google saw you as less relevant. That's why you've dropped. Update your homepage and post 3 blogs on your site, you'll be back on page 3.

- Google also knows that new websites shouldn't have any backlinks, so they judge you solely on content and compare it to the content on other sites. That's your initial rank and it's also the reason why many people say their site ranks well at first, drops some and eventually gains that popularity back. The problem is that you never tried to index your site in other places, so you didn't get that rebound.

- To fix problem #2, just start building backlinks naturally. That would be Facebook profiles, Google+, Twitter, Merchant Circle, Yelp, Pinterest, etc, plus directories within your nice (like Urban Spoon if you were a restaurant). Then, send out a press release or two in order to get news sites to link to you...and your initial backlink issue is solved.

- Your 3rd problem is traffic and conversions. Log into your webmaster tools account and study your bounce rates, time on site metrics and unique visitors. See where they're coming from and what page they leave on, and then make the necessary changes to strengthen those pages. Maybe your homepage needs a video or maybe you need a better FAQ....but Google will essentially tell you if you take the time to look.

I hope that helps.