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Over-optimised site - too much SEO?

by Webthings
4 replies
  • SEO
    • |
I recently created a site using Wordpress for a niche in my locality (e.g. dentistsdetroit.com) with the intention of renting it out and, before it even had any content, it was half-way up the second page for that keyword (dentists detroit). Great start!

So I added a few pages, some copy (not much I'll admit, and very heavily focused on related keywords with lots of internal links between pages), and left Google to re-index it.

Far from moving up to the front page as I had hoped, we're now down on page 12

So, I have two questions:

1) Is it possible (or probable!) that I have "overdone it" with the keywords and/or internal links in the copy, and suffered some form of over-optimisation penalty as a result?

2) If I have, can I recover by improving the copy with a far lower proportion of keywords, or am I better to just throw this site away and start again?

Thanks,

Andrew
#overoptimised #seo #site
  • Profile picture of the author dvduval
    The two things that I would do to make sure you are now moving in the right direction:
    1. Get some quality, unique content on the site.
    2. Be careful about getting links from just anywhere. Get some good ones. For example, submit to a few directories.
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    It is okay to contact me! I have been developing software since 1999, creating many popular products like phpLD.
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    • Profile picture of the author Webthings
      Originally Posted by dvduval View Post

      The two things that I would do to make sure you are now moving in the right direction:
      1. Get some quality, unique content on the site.
      2. Be careful about getting links from just anywhere. Get some good ones. For example, submit to a few directories.
      Well, the content is unique (I wrote it myself) but I'll be honest and say the quality is not all I'd like as the niche in question is one of which I have little knowledge, and was a bit pushed for time to research ...lesson learned!

      I've currently created one backlink only, from a Blogger blog I have which is titled after the town I am targeting. That backlink targets one of my second-tier keywords in its anchor-text, and refers to a lower level page on my site (linked off the homepage).

      I'm getting the message here that I need to improve the content, then go get more links. Thanks.

      Andrew

      PS: Looking at your sig I see you are promoting phpLD ...we recently bought a copy and will be installing it shortly. Is this your product?
      Signature
      WSO: FREE REPORT on how I went from start-up, via a workshop, to offline clients.
      WSO: OFFLINE WORKSHOP PACK - The PowerPoint slides, promotional materials, delegate questionnaire, sales page, tracking & testing results etc. I use to promote & run my workshops to offline business owners.
      www.OfflineResources.com - Free Resources, reviews etc. for the offline niche.
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  • Profile picture of the author Abledragon
    Hi Andrew,

    First and foremost - write for people, not the search engines!

    An article that is very heavy focused on keywords often reads very badly and turns people off like a light.

    Plus you don't need to over-use keywords.

    Make sure your keyword appears in your post/page title, and use it in the opening paragraph.

    Install the All-in-One-SEO pack and use it to add effective META titles, descriptions and keywords to each page or post you put up, but don't use too many keywords. 3 - 5 is sufficient.

    Think of your description as an Adwords ad: have your keyword in there but make sure the description entices people to click through.

    And you can make your META title a bit more keyword focused than your page title, but it still needs to accurately describe what your page or post is about.

    After that, write for people.

    To answer your question: yes - you can recover credibility! No need to throw away and start again.

    Keep in mind, though, that no one REALLY knows how the search engines work.

    The only people who really know that are the people who program the algorithms - and they're kept totally secret!

    That's why I come back to my first point: write for people, not the search engines. But of course make it easy for the bots to discover what your page is about by following those points I mentioned earlier.

    Cheers,

    Martin.
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    WealthyDragon - Earning My Living Online
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    • Profile picture of the author Webthings
      Originally Posted by Abledragon View Post

      Hi Andrew,

      First and foremost - write for people, not the search engines!

      An article that is very heavy focused on keywords often reads very badly and turns people off like a light.

      Plus you don't need to over-use keywords.

      Make sure your keyword appears in your post/page title, and use it in the opening paragraph.

      Install the All-in-One-SEO pack and use it to add effective META titles, descriptions and keywords to each page or post you put up, but don't use too many keywords. 3 - 5 is sufficient.

      Think of your description as an Adwords ad: have your keyword in there but make sure the description entices people to click through.

      And you can make your META title a bit more keyword focused than your page title, but it still needs to accurately describe what your page or post is about.

      After that, write for people.

      To answer your question: yes - you can recover credibility! No need to throw away and start again.

      Keep in mind, though, that no one REALLY knows how the search engines work.

      The only people who really know that are the people who program the algorithms - and they're kept totally secret!

      That's why I come back to my first point: write for people, not the search engines. But of course make it easy for the bots to discover what your page is about by following those points I mentioned earlier.

      Cheers,

      Martin.
      Martin,

      Many thanks for all the detailed advice, I have received the message loud and clear! I do generally write better content before publishing, and certainly the results are far better then. I was in a hurry to get this particular site up, and am now paying the price. It's good to know that I can recover though, so thanks.

      We have the All-In-One-SEO pack installed (on every blog/WordPress site now in fact) and are using it as you suggest, so it really must be a combination of the content and lack of inbound links that's causing the problem.

      I've got a lot of links between pages, so as to spread anchor-text around, too (although this means more keywords of course). In a sense this was an experiment but maybe I'd be better off going back to a formula that I know works and then tweaking from there to see what effect the changes have?

      Thanks for your advice,

      Andrew
      Signature
      WSO: FREE REPORT on how I went from start-up, via a workshop, to offline clients.
      WSO: OFFLINE WORKSHOP PACK - The PowerPoint slides, promotional materials, delegate questionnaire, sales page, tracking & testing results etc. I use to promote & run my workshops to offline business owners.
      www.OfflineResources.com - Free Resources, reviews etc. for the offline niche.
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