Slapped by Google update
-
Last couple of days we read things about Google algorithm and some things about companies or people doing "negative seo"..
At first, nothing was wrong... if you play the game by the rules you won't get penalized you think... right?
Today I checked rankings for some sites we're optimizing, and I fell of my chair! A site that was building better rankings week by week just dropped heavily and we have no clue if it's the algorithm update...
Attached there are some screenshots, the first one showing the ranking for one of the most important keywords for that business, the others are link profiles & moztrust & rank for that root domain.
As you can see, link profiles are much stronger that competitors, but that important keyword is dropping in rankings...
We still have to do some on page optimizations (double title tags & some some canonical tags that have to be added, but that can't be the reason for this major drop??
Or am I missing something??? Any ideas? Are External Followed links growing to fast?
(The blue line in screenshots is the site we're working on)
-
will do! How many moz-points do you have atm?
-
Glad to hear it...Any chance you could give me a "Good Answer" on this? It seems like my perspective was helpful, and I'm trying to reach Journeyman status ASAP.
-
2 weeks later the rankings have recovered and are getting higher step by step, so I don't think we got penalized... Thank god
Another lesson learned: be patient, and believe in your own seo-strategy
-
Thanks for the answers & tips! It scared the hell out of me, because we were getting closer and closer to our objective, but it's true that it isn't the first time rankings dropped.
I will keep you updated on any changes next week.
-
Interesting on the link building. Do you guest post on blogs and forums? A lot of my products get in the news because of illegal uses of it LOL
-
Good call on the Google Alerts! Everytime I add keywords to my campaigns, I set up Alerts. Actually, I use that for link building prospecting as well.
-
If you want to see if something is happening in your niche. For example I got a huge surge in my traffic after the cinnamon challenge. I had no Idea why until it was already starting to die out. I would suggest setting up Google Alerts for your niche keywords. Google will scan for new posts and webpages with those keywords. So if your keywords hit the news you will be the first to know. -Great answer Zeph
-
It's doubtful that you are the victim of negative SEO, as you would have seen a spike in links (that is what negative SEO is, they attach spammy links to your site).
Seeing some variation in the rankings is not uncommon...Especially with the recent updates there is going to be an adjustment period. The rank dropped this week. They could very well get back on track next week.
Another question. Did anything big happen in your niche recently? Maybe there was a big announcement, and that changed the SERP's. News stories can change the rankings significantly because of Google's interest in providing fresh content.
Also, if you notice in the rankings graph, you did have a previous drop in rankings, only to have it come back again. So don't panic. As long as you are doing the right things, you should be fine.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
How to Increase Website Visibility on Google and Bing?
I am working on an e-commerce niche website and I aim to rank higher on Google to drive more traffic to my website. Any suggestions?
Link Building | | digitalenginehub0 -
Have you had 3 to 5 Google penalties lifted?
I've tried three times and have been unsuccessful. Is there any specific strategy or technique that has worked for you? Anyways, I'd like to speak with you if you have successfully had 3 to 5 penalties lifted. So please reach out to me. Thanks Dominic
Link Building | | amorbis0 -
Will Google penalize for backlinks on non-indexed pages?
Have a client who has a bunch of links from spammy sites that aren't even indexed by Google. Will Google penalize (i.e. Penguin) for backlinks from spammy sites that aren't indexed? I'm guessing "Yes, Google still crawls non-indexed sites and may penalize the sites linked to from the banned site." Anyone have any data or experience with this? Anyone have a non-indexed or banned site? Does Google still crawl it?
Link Building | | AdamThompson0 -
Free Classified Backlinks & Google
Is there a risk that Google will de-index your site or lower your ranking if you have too many backlinks from free classifed sites? I would just use 1 free ad per classified website. Thanks.
Link Building | | finalfrontier0 -
Are DISQUS comments backlinks indexed by Google?
I have just started commenting on DISQUS powered blogs and left a link to my website in the name field,but when i then look at the page "source"....i cannot see my backlink? Basically are DISQUS COMMENTS backlinks worth getting? YES/NO?
Link Building | | Freebetsuk0 -
How best to optomise a .co.uk to rank on google.com.au
We currently sell our products to Australia customers via Google Adwords marketing and are keen to achieve good organic serps. What steps do you recommend taking? Are any of you working down under and interested in helping on this project? Thanks
Link Building | | seanmccauley0 -
How do paid directories like thomasnet.com do so well in the serps? Aren't the Panda updates supposed to be moving us away from this?
With all of the updates/changes to Google's algo, I assumed that paid listings & links like those on thomasnet.com would have less merit. Is this an incorrect assumption?
Link Building | | PropelMike0 -
Link Building Management Tool That Syncs Sweetly With Google Analytics
Hi, I would like a link building management tool that syncs with Google Analytics, so that I can Easily see traffic referrals from link acquired sites Easily see traffic from keywords that were anchored in the link acquisition Browny points for the tool to be a CRM as well. Raven Tools cant do this. Does anyone know of a tool? Or do I keep building custom reports in Google Analytics! Thanks.
Link Building | | DigitalLeaf0