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$400 Site Gone

by AffiliatingAlan
35 replies
  • SEO
    • |
I had a few small review type sites ranking on the first page of google. I had bought only one PR3 link for each of them all from the same directory a while ago (dumb but I was new to IM at the time)

Anyway only 2 of the sites homepages yesterday completely dropped off of google, however they were the only two actually making me money. One of them was making me about $200-400 a month.

Why were both sites hit all of a sudden? And if it is because of a footprint from the paid link, do I now need to change hosts? Is every site I make now gonna get penalized (all my sites are on one hostgator account) Can the sites recover?
#$400 #site
  • Profile picture of the author JSProjects
    Originally Posted by AffiliatingAlan View Post

    I had a few small review type sites ranking on the first page of google. I had bought only one PR3 link for each of them all from the same directory a while ago (dumb but I was new to IM at the time)

    Anyway only 2 of the sites homepages yesterday completely dropped off of google, however they were the only two actually making me money. One of them was making me about $200-400 a month.

    Why were both sites hit all of a sudden? And if it is because of a footprint from the paid link, do I now need to change hosts? Is every site I make now gonna get penalized (all my sites are on one hostgator account) Can the sites recover?
    Gone, as in not even indexed? Or gone, as in a huge drop in rankings?
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    • Profile picture of the author AffiliatingAlan
      Originally Posted by JSProjects View Post

      Gone, as in not even indexed? Or gone, as in a huge drop in rankings?
      I can find the homepage only through site:mydomain.com...so the site is still indexed. Even the privacy policy is still ranking on the second page of google but the homepage is lost somewhere deep in the rankings.
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  • Profile picture of the author lovboa
    Banned
    Maybe it's the fact that you only have one link going to them? And maybe that same source you purchased from sold a hundred more links since you bought them "a while ago", completely diluting any link juice that pr3 was passing on.
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  • Profile picture of the author Jeannie Crabtree
    Google dials down the page rank of many sites for what ever reason, so the PR value pointing to your sites may be less at this point.

    Some people would go out and get a few more quality, on topic links when this happens. Are you open to that?

    Also Check your awstats in your cpanel or in webmaster tools for links pointing to the site, to make sure you are not getting any negative SEO links by competitors. This has happened to me.
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    • Profile picture of the author AffiliatingAlan
      Originally Posted by Jeannie Crabtree View Post

      Google dials down the page rank of many sites for what ever reason, so the PR value pointing to your sites may be less at this point.

      Most people would go out and get a few more quality, on topic links when this happens. Are you open to that?

      Also Check your awstats in your cpanel or in webmaster tools for links pointing to the site, to make sure you are not getting any negative SEO links by competitors. This has happened to me.
      If its diluted why is my privacy policy page for the same site ranking on page 2, when the homepage is gone? It must be some kind of penalty or somethign weird.

      I checked awStats, I've never used it before so if you're talking about "external page links section" its only 1 site from "domaintuno.com" which this site is on my other sites too. So I assume its fine.
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      • Profile picture of the author nettiapina
        Originally Posted by AffiliatingAlan View Post

        If its diluted why is my privacy policy page for the same site ranking on page 2, when the homepage is gone? It must be some kind of penalty or somethign weird.
        Or Google after some change just dropped it to page n. Does the site seem relevant to the search phrase? Would an actual user appreciate the link in the results?

        It doesn't sound like you were doing mass spamming so I would suspect your sites have not been penalized. Plus there's GWT. Google tries to tell you if they suspect you've been spamming. If you're really anxious about that one paid backlink, Matt Cutts' advice is to just use the disavow tool and be done with it.

        It would be easier to give guestimations if you posted the actual site URL, but you might not be willing to share your link here.
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        Links in signature will not help your SEO. Not on this site, and not on any other forum.
        Who told me this? An ex Google web spam engineer.

        What's your excuse?
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        • Profile picture of the author AffiliatingAlan
          Originally Posted by nettiapina View Post

          Or Google after some change just dropped it to page n. Does the site seem relevant to the search phrase? Would an actual user appreciate the link in the results?

          It doesn't sound like you were doing mass spamming so I would suspect your sites have not been penalized. Plus there's GWT. Google tries to tell you if they suspect you've been spamming. If you're really anxious about that one paid backlink, Matt Cutts' advice is to just use the disavow tool and be done with it.

          It would be easier to give guestimations if you posted the actual site URL, but you might not be willing to share your link here.
          Site wasnt spam, it was only getting 80 unique visitors per month and I was estimated to make 200-400$ this month from it. Site has only been live 25 days and I made about 150$ in the past 2 weeks from it.

          It only had 1 backlink, the paid one. The content was good, I personally wrote it and it converts extremely well.

          If I "disvow" the link and then go and get a different link will the site come in rankings? Or does google have to de-penalize it through a manual review?
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          • Profile picture of the author nettiapina
            Originally Posted by AffiliatingAlan View Post

            If I "disvow" the link and then go and get a different link will the site come in rankings? Or does google have to de-penalize it through a manual review?
            As other's already said, competitors gonna compete. The site is so new that you really can't know trends and don't know what works in that niche. You might've gotten a lucky break, a free run from Google's engine for whatever reason.

            By "spammy" I meant your backlink profile, but one link isn't enough.

            What Cutts actually said was not technical advice. He said that you can just use the tool if you're losing sleep over some links even if it's probably nothing to worry about. You know, just to feel better about it yourself.
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            Links in signature will not help your SEO. Not on this site, and not on any other forum.
            Who told me this? An ex Google web spam engineer.

            What's your excuse?
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            • Profile picture of the author AffiliatingAlan
              Originally Posted by JSProjects View Post

              I still wouldn't worry TOO much. I've had plenty of sites / URLs essentially tank for a few days after getting a bunch of links indexed - only to come back stronger in a week or two. The strange thing, though, is that it's only 1 link. I find it hard to believe that you'd face a penalty for a single link. Doesn't seem logical.

              If anything I'd go out there and build more links.

              On a side note, you've already done a lot better than most. So just keep plugging away with new sites, content, etc.
              Originally Posted by nik0 View Post

              Sounds like you got Panda slapped cause it's a thin site.

              One link ain't gonna make you or break you.

              The thing is there are other thinner sites ranking that didnt get hit. One guy has literally 1 page on the twenty twelve theme with 100 words and a youtube video. He didnt even remove the default sidebar widgets.

              I also want to say that google has hit all my other sites using that same directory link. My site that was in position 3# is now in 8#. My site that was in 6# is now in 10#.

              What should I do here? Should I wait it out, should I add more links or should I remove the old links and then add new ones?
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              • Profile picture of the author Jeannie Crabtree
                "google has hit all my other sites using that same directory link"

                How long have the sites been up? Could it have been they did well in the honeymoon period and then Google is shifting them to where they decide they should be listed now?

                SEO is sometimes like the people blindfolded, standing around the elephant interpreting their part they can touch. We don't always know the whole of what is going on, or why one site gets hit and another not.

                Another thought is that usually small sites don't do as well as say a 20 or 30 page site now days, so you may need to add more content.

                Most of my sites go up and down now days. I would suggest you wait it out for 6 weeks and see where you are then. Meanwhile, make some more content.



                Originally Posted by AffiliatingAlan View Post

                The thing is there are other thinner sites ranking that didnt get hit. One guy has literally 1 page on the twenty twelve theme with 100 words and a youtube video. He didnt even remove the default sidebar widgets.

                I also want to say that google has hit all my other sites using that same directory link. My site that was in position 3# is now in 8#. My site that was in 6# is now in 10#.

                What should I do here? Should I wait it out, should I add more links or should I remove the old links and then add new ones?
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          • Profile picture of the author yukon
            Banned
            Originally Posted by AffiliatingAlan View Post

            It only had 1 backlink
            Alex, I'll go with there's your answer for $1000.
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            • Profile picture of the author AffiliatingAlan
              Wow, I dont know if i missed this before or if it takes time to update. According to Majestic the directory link was "deleted" as of Feb 2. The exact day the site dropped. 3 other sites that had that directory link, the link was also deleted for them on Feb 2.

              What does this typically mean? Did the directory delete the link or did google "delete" it?

              If the link was deleted I dont understand why the hompage dropped off the face of the earth, yet the pr0 privacy policy is ranking? I would think the homepage would just be pushed to the second page near the privacy policy.

              Thanks for the help so far guys, but what does link deletion in this scenario typically mean?
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              • Profile picture of the author nettiapina
                Originally Posted by AffiliatingAlan View Post

                What does this typically mean? Did the directory delete the link or did google "delete" it?
                It means nothing. Nada. Zilch. Diddly-squat. Well, the directory probably doesn't have the link on some particular page any more for some reason. Perhaps they deleted it, or it fell off from a list page.

                Majestic is not Google, and their "deletion date" isn't likely the same date when Google sees stuff happen.

                But as multiple people have repeatedly told you, having one link likely means nothing, and losing that link means nothing.
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                Who told me this? An ex Google web spam engineer.

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              • Profile picture of the author yukon
                Banned
                Originally Posted by AffiliatingAlan View Post

                If the link was deleted I dont understand why the hompage dropped off the face of the earth, yet the pr0 privacy policy is ranking? I would think the homepage would just be pushed to the second page near the privacy policy.
                Lol, try a 301 redirect from the ranked privacy policy to the money page, then build a new privacy policy page (ex: domain.com/privacy-policy1).

                You got nothing to lose If your money page is buried in the SERPs.
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                • Profile picture of the author AffiliatingAlan
                  Originally Posted by nettiapina View Post

                  It means nothing. Nada. Zilch. Diddly-squat. Well, the directory probably doesn't have the link on some particular page any more for some reason. Perhaps they deleted it, or it fell off from a list page.

                  Majestic is not Google, and their "deletion date" isn't likely the same date when Google sees stuff happen.

                  But as multiple people have repeatedly told you, having one link likely means
                  nothing, and losing that link means nothing.
                  Well if it deleted can I not just buy some other link and repeat the process?

                  Originally Posted by sree94 View Post

                  I am sorry to hear this. I have been there before

                  Not sure what type of affiliate you are. Was this your only IM income?

                  These days, you almost have to treat SEO like PPC. Meaning, you need to spend a good amount of $$$ to get ranked fast, because, chances are, your rankings will not last

                  Milk the cow while you can... churn and burn... etc, etc
                  Yea it was as I still really dont know what the **** im doing. Ive decided to read into SEO.

                  Originally Posted by yukon View Post

                  Lol, try a 301 redirect from the ranked privacy policy to the money page, then build a new privacy policy page (ex: domain.com/privacy-policy1).

                  You got nothing to lose If your money page is buried in the SERPs.
                  The problem with that is the SERP title wouldnt change, right? I doubt anyones gonna click on a page 2 privacy policy.


                  I also have maybe clued in why this site was the ONLY one of all the sites with a deleted link that got buried.

                  I had another site made similar that was linking to my money site. Kind of like a PBN, except it was hosted on the same hosting account with the same admin name.

                  I doubt it would have gotten noticed but thats another thought.

                  Oddly enough I made another site 4 days ago before I knew they were all getting hit/deleted. Yet again I used the same directory link and that site never even had a chance. After 4 days it is still not ranking anywhere, typically these sites would rank in a few days. However, again its fcking privacy policy and disclosure are ranking on the 4th page.

                  Is there any possibility of google hitting hosting accounts? Clearly it is burying every homepage I make asscoiated with that directory link.
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                  • Profile picture of the author nettiapina
                    Originally Posted by AffiliatingAlan View Post

                    I also have maybe clued in why this site was the ONLY one of all the sites with a deleted link that got buried.
                    This has been also said repeatedly, but you're reading way too much to these very small changes and signs. Lucky break with a new site IS more than a sufficient explanation. So maybe your sites did better in search, and Google algo kept them for the time being.

                    I accidentally got 4000+ backlinks in couple of days (due to couple of misconfigured blogs). There's a thread where I'm panicking about that. Guess what happened?

                    Nothing. Not a goddamn thing.

                    After I lost about 3000+ of those backlinks? Still nothing. Only thing I've got to show about this exiting adventure is the weird-looking graph in Ahrefhs.
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                  • Profile picture of the author Jeannie Crabtree
                    As others said, you need to learn more about SEO. Google is playing games with webmasters. They say they don't want you to generate backlinks, but that is one of the major things they judge your site on. Unless you can get a lot of others to naturally talk about your site and backlink, you have to use some elbow grease for yourself...

                    As to the privacy policy and disclosure ranking higher than your index, several of mine have before there were backlinks to the important pages and posts. Just expect it. Yukon had a good suggestion on the 301...

                    If you got something to rank on first page in 4 days, I would say most people do not. Give it 3 weeks to 6 weeks, there will be a honeymoon period in which you get more traffic, as your listings are higher for a bit, then they settle in (often at a lower listing than they did before).

                    Your sites are not gone, you just need to work on things. Welcome to the Google roller coaster.



                    Originally Posted by AffiliatingAlan View Post


                    Oddly enough I made another site 4 days ago before I knew they were all getting hit/deleted. Yet again I used the same directory link and that site never even had a chance. After 4 days it is still not ranking anywhere, typically these sites would rank in a few days. However, again its fcking privacy policy and disclosure are ranking on the 4th page.

                    Is there any possibility of google hitting hosting accounts? Clearly it is burying every homepage I make asscoiated with that directory link.
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        • Profile picture of the author AffiliatingAlan
          Originally Posted by nettiapina View Post

          Or Google after some change just dropped it to page n. Does the site seem relevant to the search phrase? Would an actual user appreciate the link in the results?

          It doesn't sound like you were doing mass spamming so I would suspect your sites have not been penalized. Plus there's GWT. Google tries to tell you if they suspect you've been spamming. If you're really anxious about that one paid backlink, Matt Cutts' advice is to just use the disavow tool and be done with it.

          It would be easier to give guestimations if you posted the actual site URL, but you might not be willing to share your link here.
          Site wasnt spam, it was only getting 80 unique visitors per month and I was estimated to make 200-400$ this month from it. Site has only been live 25 days and I made about 150$ in the past 2 weeks from it.

          It only had 1 backlink, the paid one. The content was good, I personally wrote it and it converts extremely well.

          If I "disvow" the link and then go and get a different link will the site come in rankings? Or does google have to de-penalize it through a manual review?
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        • Profile picture of the author AffiliatingAlan
          Originally Posted by nettiapina View Post

          Or Google after some change just dropped it to page n. Does the site seem relevant to the search phrase? Would an actual user appreciate the link in the results?

          It doesn't sound like you were doing mass spamming so I would suspect your sites have not been penalized. Plus there's GWT. Google tries to tell you if they suspect you've been spamming. If you're really anxious about that one paid backlink, Matt Cutts' advice is to just use the disavow tool and be done with it.

          It would be easier to give guestimations if you posted the actual site URL, but you might not be willing to share your link here.
          Site wasnt spam, it was only getting 80 unique visitors per month and I was estimated to make 200-400$ this month from it. Site has only been live 25 days and I made about 150$ in the past 2 weeks from it.

          It only had 1 backlink, the paid one. The content was good, I personally wrote it and it converts extremely well.

          If I "disvow" the link and then go and get a different link will the site come in rankings? Or does google have to de-penalize it through a manual review?
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        • Profile picture of the author AffiliatingAlan
          Originally Posted by nettiapina View Post

          Or Google after some change just dropped it to page n. Does the site seem relevant to the search phrase? Would an actual user appreciate the link in the results?

          It doesn't sound like you were doing mass spamming so I would suspect your sites have not been penalized. Plus there's GWT. Google tries to tell you if they suspect you've been spamming. If you're really anxious about that one paid backlink, Matt Cutts' advice is to just use the disavow tool and be done with it.

          It would be easier to give guestimations if you posted the actual site URL, but you might not be willing to share your link here.
          Site wasnt spam, I wrote it all. It was converting purely from dialogue.

          Will disavowing the link get rid of the penalty if it was from that link? Could I then go and get another link and re-rank it?

          It was a "thin" site so I never bothered to put it in GWT
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  • Profile picture of the author FranksToys
    Google has cracked down on directory links, it's likely that the link from that directory has killed your rankings. Maybe a combination of the other links as well.

    At this point I'd get that link removed and see what other links you can clean up for those sites as well.

    Keep in mind Google is cracking down big time on this type of link building so beware in the future.
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  • Profile picture of the author Bonita T Josephson
    Just wanted to know, Google penalty comes for webpages or for websites?
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  • Profile picture of the author JSProjects
    I still wouldn't worry TOO much. I've had plenty of sites / URLs essentially tank for a few days after getting a bunch of links indexed - only to come back stronger in a week or two. The strange thing, though, is that it's only 1 link. I find it hard to believe that you'd face a penalty for a single link. Doesn't seem logical.

    If anything I'd go out there and build more links.

    On a side note, you've already done a lot better than most. So just keep plugging away with new sites, content, etc.
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  • Profile picture of the author nik0
    Banned
    Sounds like you got Panda slapped cause it's a thin site.

    One link ain't gonna make you or break you.
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    • Profile picture of the author Mike Anthony
      Mo mystery to this thread. You thought you would rank forever doing no more SEO work. Now reality has caught up with your site.
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  • Profile picture of the author Content Commando
    new site. one link. link from directory. doesn"t sound like rocket science to me.
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    • Profile picture of the author Mike Anthony
      Originally Posted by Content Commando View Post

      new site. one link. link from directory. doesn"t sound like rocket science to me.
      Precisely. Butter soft competition is not guaranteed to stay butter soft
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  • Profile picture of the author sree94
    I am sorry to hear this. I have been there before

    Not sure what type of affiliate you are. Was this your only IM income?

    These days, you almost have to treat SEO like PPC. Meaning, you need to spend a good amount of $$$ to get ranked fast, because, chances are, your rankings will not last

    Milk the cow while you can... churn and burn... etc, etc
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  • Profile picture of the author Intrepreneur
    Here is your problem:

    You have "small sites", and therefore you are depending on small sites to compete with "large sites". These large sites are usually trusted more than small sites.

    Why not build one site? Just one..
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    • Profile picture of the author Mike Anthony
      "
      Thanks for the help so far guys, but what does link deletion in this scenario typically mean?"

      I'm sorry but......

      It means you are still new to IM and should take some time to go and learn SEO. It also means you should either stop being so lazy or stop being so cheap. A site was making money for you and you just sat on your hands like you thought you were owed the money it was bringing in and now you are so surprised that Google phoned and told you - "you are not guaranteed a ranking with no links bye"

      Come on AA. In the time that you spent on this forum wondering "how this happened to me" you could have gotten some more links and been back in the game. Take some time to learn SEO or stop being lazy or stop being cheap or stop all of the above.

      You had one link, you lost the link and the site dropped the same day you lost the link and you have to go on a forum and ask what does that typically mean???????? lets see

      1 link minus 1 link . well typically that means you have zero links. You got the link to begin with to rank so whats the mystery?
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      • Profile picture of the author AffiliatingAlan
        Originally Posted by Mike Anthony View Post

        "
        Thanks for the help so far guys, but what does link deletion in this scenario typically mean?"

        I'm sorry but......

        It means you are still new to IM and should take some time to go and learn SEO. It also means you should either stop being so lazy or stop being so cheap. A site was making money for you and you just sat on your hands like you thought you were owed the money it was bringing in and now you are so surprised that Google phoned and told you - "you are not guaranteed a ranking with no links bye"

        Come on AA. In the time that you spent on this forum wondering "how this happened to me" you could have gotten some more links and been back in the game. Take some time to learn SEO or stop being lazy or stop being cheap or stop all of the above.

        You had one link, you lost the link and the site dropped the same day you lost the link and you have to go on a forum and ask what does that typically mean???????? lets see

        1 link minus 1 link . well typically that means you have zero links. You got the link to begin with to rank so whats the mystery?
        No the competition is so low that if the link dropped I should have bounced to the bottom of 1st or 2nd page, like all my other sites did. Not completely gone from the rankings.

        Also when you say "you could have gotten more links and been back in the game", what type of links would you recommend. On another thread you say blog comments, article directories, etc etc are all gonna get you slap, slap, slapped. So what type would you recommend I should have got?

        Thanks
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        • Profile picture of the author Mike Anthony
          Originally Posted by AffiliatingAlan View Post

          No the competition is so low that if the link dropped I should have bounced to the bottom of 1st or 2nd page, like all my other sites did. Not completely gone from the rankings.
          What should have happened happened because the only one that determines what should happen on Google's sites is Google. However if you sit around complaining and whining about what should happen then I am sure your other pages will tank too. Just give it some more time. You will be happy because the mystery will be solved.

          So what type would you recommend I should have got?

          Thanks
          We cover what works here almost every week. Read, learn and engage what you learn. This is the problem with people coming online and crying about their site falling. I am doing you a favor by being rough on you. If you never take responsibility to learn SEO for yourself and take responsibility for where your site ranks you will only be crying here in another few months all over again.
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          • Profile picture of the author AffiliatingAlan
            Originally Posted by yukon View Post

            Here's the thing about that one link you had, once it was removed you dropped like a brick in the SERPs, which should show you that you ranked by the hair on your chinny chin chin.

            It was only a matter of time before you dropped in the SERPs with a page that solely depended on a single backlink.

            Chalk it up as experience & build some decent links that will stick.

            Another thing is, If your page that once ranked dropped off into oblivion, your entire site is weak for that keyword or very similar keywords. Build up additional internal pages targeting the same/similar keyword, use proper internal links. Sites with keyword authority don't just disappear unless something extreme happens, which losing a single backlink isn't what I would consider extreme. Losing a bunch of links, a known SERP penalty (WMT message) or a host problem are extreme.
            Originally Posted by Mike Anthony View Post

            What should have happened happened because the only one that determines what should happen on Google's sites is Google. However if you sit around complaining and whining about what should happen then I am sure your other pages will tank too. Just give it some more time. You will be happy because the mystery will be solved.




            We cover what works here almost every week. Read, learn and engage what you learn. This is the problem with people coming online and crying about their site falling. I am doing you a favor by being rough on you. If you never take responsibility to learn SEO for yourself and take responsibility for where your site ranks you will only be crying here in another few months all over again.
            Ok fine point noted. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I am trying to learn SEO and that is why I was asking these questions.

            As far as learning from here 90% seems as clueless as me. In every community there are always a portion of the blind leading the blind, which is why its hard to learn here.

            I will rebuild the site with more "meat" and link & anchor diversity.

            Is something like:

            PHP Code:
            Blog Comments
            Resource Lists            /link resource pages
            Profile Links             - Crunchbase
            Blog Directories             - technorati technorabi
            infographic submissions 
            A good start for links wise?

            The problem for me is I simply cannot find a good SEO learning source for updated linking approach for smaller niche sites.

            What I hear is:

            web 2.0 = not worth the time anymore
            web directories = no
            article directories = no
            Tiered Link Building = less effective, usually requires programs anyway
            PBN = yes

            Stuff like Google+, Social, Link Bait, etc dont really jive well with a small niche site at least at my stage.

            Every time someone says do "x" someone else says its ineffective now.

            Thanks
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            • Profile picture of the author nettiapina
              Originally Posted by AffiliatingAlan View Post

              Stuff like Google+, Social, Link Bait, etc dont really jive well with a small niche site at least at my stage.

              Every time someone says do "x" someone else says its ineffective now.
              How do you know that if you haven't tried any of the stuff that you mention? If you've got a niche and the content is not totally "artificial" there's gotta be a group of people who are interested in the topic. That's the definition of niche in the marketing jargon.

              Grouping "social" as a one approach is also probably throwing you off. You might not get that much benefit for, say, aggregating stuff to your Twitter account, but it's very easy to do yourself, potentially makes your site a bit easier to find and may even lead to some legitimate subscribers. On the other hand if you want someone to post your article to a personal FB feed it better be really good/interesting/cool/funny. Google+ is tied to the search in all sorts of interesting ways.
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  • Profile picture of the author yukon
    Banned
    Here's the thing about that one link you had, once it was removed you dropped like a brick in the SERPs, which should show you that you ranked by the hair on your chinny chin chin.

    It was only a matter of time before you dropped in the SERPs with a page that solely depended on a single backlink.

    Chalk it up as experience & build some decent links that will stick.

    Another thing is, If your page that once ranked dropped off into oblivion, your entire site is weak for that keyword or very similar keywords. Build up additional internal pages targeting the same/similar keyword, use proper internal links. Sites with keyword authority don't just disappear unless something extreme happens, which losing a single backlink isn't what I would consider extreme. Losing a bunch of links, a known SERP penalty (WMT message) or a host problem are extreme.
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