Open and honest

Okay well Google released a big algorithm change on apr 24th Official Google Webmaster Central Blog: Another step to reward high-quality sites

You will have been affected by this.

I'm sorry to have to tell you this but the SEO techniques you've been using are a HUGE no-no. If you've been using spun articles, general directory links, low quality article directories for links I can't see a recovery for you.

I also notice that you're using a partial match domain. This has been actively targeted against by Google in a recent algo update https://twitter.com/mattcutts/status/251789327691042816

I think the only option (other than to try the disavow tool) is to start a new site and use cleaner more white hat techniques. You're essentially swimming against the tide with your current site.

Jbearnolimits,

Petemcal is right about the Google algorithm updates. These are probably the reason you are no longer ranking where you were before. Your backlink profile is not diverse at all and you have been using anchor text that is exactly the same on a number of different sites. Its either “church advertising” or “church marketing” or some variation of those.

In the eyes of Google, this is an immediate red flag that a website owner is trying to manipulate search results. When links happen naturally and come in from different domains, anchor text varies greatly and some sites don’t even use anchor text (i.e. a directory or some other similar service).

In a nutshell you have left a footprint that is very easily seen.

All that being said, I do not believe you should start over from scratch. According to SEMRush you only have about 20 backlinks leading to your site. Even if there are 20 more that SEMRush isn’t showing; that is not a lot.

From here on out, stop using the article websites you have been using for link building. If you do create an external property somewhere and link it back to your site, do not use any of the variations of keywords that you have been using. In theory, any kind of link building is technically against Google’s quality guidelines however that doesn’t mean it can’t be done. Make it look natural. Reach out to local organizations in your area that have websites in the same field/niche/market and get links from them. Do it slowly. Make it look like these links are happening without any effort on your part (even though it will be you doing it).

There are also a lot of other tactics you can use to help the site rank better besides backlinks.

Get rid of your meta keywords tag, it is not helping you. Optimize each page on your site around a target keyword and make sure the entire page is about that keyword phrase. Avoid optimizing pages that you cannot do this with (i.e. about us, privacy policy, contact us, etc). Start a blog and add content on a weekly basis. Increase your websites presence in social media. Share your blog posts, get people to comment on your posts, get people to share your content on their own social profiles.

If you are doing your own writing or get permission from a content creator to call their work your own, link a Google plus profile to the Google Authorship program and place that content on your website.

I would also think about removing some of your ads from the top of the page and put them someplace else. Google recently penalized sites for having too many ads above the fold.

You can track your progress with link building using Google Web master tools (you should also submit your site there along with a sitemap).

https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/home?hl=en

I would also recommend using SEMRush or a similar tool to track your progress,

www.semrush.com

SEOMoz has a pretty good guide for link building,

SEOmoz | The Professional Guide to Link Building

Hope that all points you in the right direction. It will take some time but I believe you can bring your site back. Its not that bad.

Shawn

Go out and delete any of these negative links that are affecting you!

If you do not have access to any of the links, to delete them yourself, disavow the links!

Open and honest:

Your site was hit by penguin (April 24th 2012)
Your site was hit by ads above the fold penalty
Your site is crap/spam.

Use the Google Disavow tool, file for a reconsideration afterwards, and pray for the best.