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desperate for advice....

by Marcoose
16 replies
  • SEO
    • |
So the website in question is called comparebookies (dot) com. Please be patient with the post - I know it is quite long!

OK, so basically for some reason I have gone from being no.2 in the UK for "bookies" to nowhere. I have also lost positioning for whole host of other keywords but the movements aren't quite as harsh. For example I was no 10 for "compare betting odds" - I'm now no.12. I was no. 22 for "free sports bets", I'm now 35. Actually it looks as if anything with "bookies" in it has gone down the crapper - Even for "compare bookies" I am no.5 now


There are three possibilities as far as I see it as to what is going on:

1. I have picked up a Google penalty. If this is the case, how long do these things tend to last cos I've never had one before on any of my sites. I was outsourcing someone who might have been using link building methods they were telling me about - I suppose I will never know!

2. This is a temporary Google shift and everything will go back to how it was soon. Obviously this is what I am hoping for but this happened on Sunday and these changes, in my experience do not last for as long as 72 hours. Please tell me if I am wrong!

3. 4-6 months ago my site went down and all the articles/blog posts were put into random places where they weren't before. Page rank for all these sub pages has therefore disappeared. I'm very worried this is a knock on effect from that. In a way I would prefer this to be a temporary google penalty!

Please let me know what you think guys. This website is my life and I really hope things get back to how they were very soon!!

Thanks
#advice #desperate
  • Profile picture of the author Loren Woirhaye
    Start optimizing for the keyword you want to rank for using
    backlinks. If you've been doing backlinking from "bad" sites
    you might want to go and see if you can get rid of those
    backlinks.

    I looked at your on-page SEO and it's pretty weak. You aren't
    using title tags and some of the other tags very well at all.
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    • Profile picture of the author Steve Holmes
      Have you been doing backlinking? Maybe you have just gone down the pecking order if your competition is ramping up their backlinking campaigns.

      Are you buying links or hire a SEO company who many be buying links? To be honest I doubt it is a penalty because otherwise you would not be in the top 100 yet alone move down an average 8 or so places per keyword.

      Analyse your website and then your competitors, is there any obvious differences, perhaps recent changes they have made to optimise their sites or link networks?

      Steve
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      "Live like you'll die tomorrow, Learn like you'll live forever" - M. Ghandi
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      • Profile picture of the author Marcoose
        Thanks for the reply mate.

        OK so my most important keyword is "bookies" and I have gone out of the top 100 overnight when I was no.2 - there is no way this is down to competition overtaking me in backlinks.

        For most of my keywords I have only lost up to ten places but for my main one I am nowhere to be seen. This is the word that the majority of backlink anchor text was so Im thinking that might be why (if it is a penalty) it has been hit so hard.





        Originally Posted by Steve Holmes View Post

        Have you been doing backlinking? Maybe you have just gone down the pecking order if your competition is ramping up their backlinking campaigns.

        Are you buying links or hire a SEO company who many be buying links? To be honest I doubt it is a penalty because otherwise you would not be in the top 100 yet alone move down an average 8 or so places per keyword.

        Analyse your website and then your competitors, is there any obvious differences, perhaps recent changes they have made to optimise their sites or link networks?

        Steve
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    • Profile picture of the author Marcoose
      Originally Posted by Loren Woirhaye View Post

      Start optimizing for the keyword you want to rank for using
      backlinks. If you've been doing backlinking from "bad" sites
      you might want to go and see if you can get rid of those
      backlinks.

      I looked at your on-page SEO and it's pretty weak. You aren't
      using title tags and some of the other tags very well at all.
      For some reason all in one seo pack in Wordpress in clashing with everything and descriptions and other meta details aren't showing. I thought this had been sorted but evidently not.

      It couldn't be this that is causing the changes could it? I mean if page title/meta were removed, it would't mean G would throw me off the top 100 surely?
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      • Profile picture of the author Loren Woirhaye
        Originally Posted by Marcoose View Post

        For some reason all in one seo pack in Wordpress in clashing with everything and descriptions and other meta details aren't showing. I thought this had been sorted but evidently not.

        It couldn't be this that is causing the changes could it? I mean if page title/meta were removed, it would't mean G would throw me off the top 100 surely?
        I'm using Platinum SEO pack now. I think you can switch over from
        all-in-one painlessly and in some ways it works better.
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      • Profile picture of the author tpw
        Originally Posted by Marcoose View Post

        It couldn't be this that is causing the changes could it? I mean if page title/meta were removed, it would't mean G would throw me off the top 100 surely?
        Anything is possible with the big G...

        While inbound-links is still a major component of their algo's, the do rely heavily on page titles to determine who should rank where...
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        Publish Coloring Books for Profit (WSOTD 7-30-2015)
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        • Profile picture of the author Marcoose
          Originally Posted by tpw View Post

          Anything is possible with the big G...

          While inbound-links is still a major component of their algo's, the do rely heavily on page titles to determine who should rank where...
          I really hope it is this that is causing the problems. Any temporary explanation would be a godsend!
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      • Profile picture of the author dburk
        Originally Posted by Marcoose View Post

        For some reason all in one seo pack in Wordpress in clashing with everything and descriptions and other meta details aren't showing. I thought this had been sorted but evidently not.

        It couldn't be this that is causing the changes could it? I mean if page title/meta were removed, it would't mean G would throw me off the top 100 surely?
        Hi Marcoose,

        Based on what you have posted, this sounds like the most likely cause.

        Google ranks pages based on relevance, and those page titles and meta description tags are two of the most important elements influencing your page relevance. If you change them, you are changing the basis for your current rankings. This could cause your rankings to improve or worsen, depending on the changes made. If they were removed you should expect your rankings to plummet as a result.
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        • Profile picture of the author Marcoose
          Originally Posted by dburk View Post

          Hi Marcoose,

          Based on what you have posted, this sounds like the most likely cause.

          Google ranks pages based on relevance, and those page titles and meta description tags are two of the most important elements influencing your page relevance. If you change them, you are changing the basis for your current rankings. This could cause your rankings to improve or worsen, depending on the changes made. If they were removed you should expect your rankings to plummet as a result.
          Thanks for the heads up. My main concern was that the cause was the articles being moved around within the website a number of months ago, and therefore losing PR. I know there was internal linking going on and many of the links had the anchor text "bookies".

          I am presuming though that this would have effected things a long time before now though?
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        • Profile picture of the author remodeler
          Originally Posted by dburk View Post

          Hi Marcoose,

          Based on what you have posted, this sounds like the most likely cause.

          Google ranks pages based on relevance, and those page titles and meta description tags are two of the most important elements influencing your page relevance. If you change them, you are changing the basis for your current rankings. This could cause your rankings to improve or worsen, depending on the changes made. If they were removed you should expect your rankings to plummet as a result.
          That's good advice. I had the same thing happen to me a couple of years ago on a site. Lost my ranking for the main keyword because of it.
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          • Profile picture of the author Marcoose
            Originally Posted by remodeler View Post

            That's good advice. I had the same thing happen to me a couple of years ago on a site. Lost my ranking for the main keyword because of it.
            Did you get it back and how long did it take?!!
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            • Profile picture of the author remodeler
              Originally Posted by Marcoose View Post

              Did you get it back and how long did it take?!!
              I forgot to add that... yes I did. It took a couple of weeks once I got it all fixed as I remember. I added a few backlinks to also get Googles attention and it all worked out. The page returned to it's previous place again. I believe it will all work out for you.
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  • Profile picture of the author sarahberra
    Loren can you give some specific on page SEO tips. I just ordered IPK (info product killer) and there is a lot of info about on page SEO, but I am still lost. I guess I'm going through a steep learning curve. Any ideas??
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    • Profile picture of the author Marcoose
      Originally Posted by sarahberra View Post

      Loren can you give some specific on page SEO tips. I just ordered IPK (info product killer) and there is a lot of info about on page SEO, but I am still lost. I guess I'm going through a steep learning curve. Any ideas??
      Sarah could you not start your own thread rather than hijaking mine?
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    • Profile picture of the author Loren Woirhaye
      Originally Posted by sarahberra View Post

      Loren can you give some specific on page SEO tips. I just ordered IPK (info product killer) and there is a lot of info about on page SEO, but I am still lost. I guess I'm going through a steep learning curve. Any ideas??

      Well, you should use all the meta-tags like title and keyword tags.

      Just like a good copywriter puts a lot of focus on coming up with
      the perfect headline, good SEO means thoughtfully choosing meta-tags
      and also making sure the content delivers the promise implied by the
      tags. Obviously you cannot spend hours on every page working on
      perfect tag copy, but you can prioritize which pages are the most
      important to optimize well and make sure you've done all the tags
      thoughtfully.

      If you want to get more technical about SEO you'll want to study
      internal linking structures and things like that.

      The search engines are getting better at separating wheat from chaff,
      so do focus on quality content that engages visitors, which is
      more an art than a science.
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  • Profile picture of the author tpw
    When Google makes a shift in its algorithms, it is seldom temporary...
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    Bill Platt, Oklahoma USA, PlattPublishing.com
    Publish Coloring Books for Profit (WSOTD 7-30-2015)
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