AdWords *free* vouchers hurt SEO?
-
Maybe it was the penguin, or maybe it was Panda, but around about the time of the three updates close together and the rumoured 'parked domain' update that went wrong, I used a free adwords voucher.
The site in question used to rank for practically every search term relevant to the niche.
Now, I can search back to 60 pages in Google results and nothing.
Now, I know its not been de-indexed, it still there when I search for info:TheDomainInQuestion.co.uk
It also has 6 site links when searching for the url alone.
Each and every page is hand written original content built up over many years and also edited and updated regularly.
On linkdetective, I have a very nice rainbow type graph regarding the type of links and also a very very good spread of anchors. 118 different phrases pointing in and aside from one site that linked to me sitewide (16000+ but since removed and now down to 3300 and dropping almost daily).
Even with that, the highest percentage of anchor text was 20%.
Basically, gone through practically everything that is available on the web about combating penguin and panda, yet the site kept dropping and has disappeared completely for keyword phrases.
Might sound a bit paranoid, but could Google have done this on purpose to try to make me carry on with adwords?
-
Interesting, have you checked out there backlink profile?
Can you find any others?
-
Google.co.uk - Search term: car insurance
2nd side AdWord - Churchill.com/car-insurance
Organic #2 - Churchill.com/car-insurance3rd side adword - CompareTheMarket.com/car-insurance
5th Organic - As above
WhadDoIWin WadDoIWin!
Having found that though, there are ALOT of companies on ADWORDS that used to be in the top 10 in organic.
-
"Might sound a bit paranoid, but could Google have done this on purpose to try to make me carry on with adwords?"
Shall we do some research in the name of paranoia.....let's see if anyone can find any high ranking organic sites, that also have adwords ads. Who's up for it? -
Hi Jon,
If you want to use Google+ for your company, you first have to make a normal personal account (with or without a picture of your face, I just left mine blank) before you can make a business page.
Once your personal account is set-up you can create a business page (under Pages), which you can customize fully for your company (company logo etc.) Doing this won't get you penalized at all.
Best of luck.
-
So I'm paranoid
Just noticed in Google+ t&c's that you HAVE to use a picture of your face. I've used the company logo. Do you reckon they could penalise for that to such an extent?
EDIT: Going to change anyway to see if anything happens.
-
Google vocally has a pretty strict policy about not mixing AdWords with organic results. I doubt what you suggested is the case, else G could be in some serious trouble with the FTC.
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
-
Adwords Expanded Text Ads - How are they working for you?
I think it would be nice to get a consensus from more people. The day expanded text ads came out last week, I immediately jumped on it and created them for all my campaigns. I still left some of the old ads running in each ad group so that I could compare. Looking at the conversion data from the last week, the conversion rates are between 2-7x lower on the expanded text ads, and as a result, the cost per conversion is 2-5x higher as well. Basically, they're performing horribly. The click-through rate is mildly higher, but who cares if they're not converting? I know it's only a week's worth of data, but it seems the difference is enough to be statistically significant. I'm wording what everyone else's experience has been.
Paid Search Marketing | | UnderRugSwept0 -
Can Google shopping listings affect SEO rankings?
Hello everyone. Here is my question: Until 4 weeks ago we used to have just around 2,000 product/pages on Google shopping of our product pages, then we added over 40,000 more items/pages to it, and our Google natural search rankings dropped on most of our long-tail keywords pointing to the same product pages. Do you think that's just coincidence or could the number of products/pages on Google shopping affect natural search results?
Paid Search Marketing | | fablau0 -
Why do some Adwords agencies insist on setting up Adwords in their own account?
I'm an online marketing consultant and I work with a variety of agencies who handle Adwords. I keep running into an issue where agencies want to set up Adwords in a proprietary account for my clients rather than in the client's account and manage it through MCC. I have just run into again and this time the agency claims they are protecting their Adwords "secret sauce" but that the client will still have full access to keywords, negative keywords, Ad copy, etc. It just doesn't pass the sniff test with me. Can anyone tell me if there are some legitimate reasons for an agency to do this other than to simply try to hold data hostage so that clients can't leave them without loss? I am inclined to tell my client they should run away screaming, but thought I would bounce it off you smart people first. Thanks!
Paid Search Marketing | | farlandlee1 -
2 websites, similar content, adwords placement
Hi - I have 2 sites in a clients adwords account which are based on the same subject, with unique content on the same subject. We're using 2 unique ads, each using the same keywords, 1 bidding fractionally lower than the other, and are trying to do is get them appearing 1 & 2, but at the moment I I can't even get them to appear on the same page. Are we competing against ourselves or is Google seeing the content as too similar to show both?
Paid Search Marketing | | agua0 -
How can I filter peoples names out in an Adwords campaign?
for example I get all these searches like "dan stoffer painter spokane"
Paid Search Marketing | | Superflys0 -
Adwords and Analytics figures not matching up
We are currently running a A/B test on a landing page using only adwords to split the traffic. Looking at the figures in adwords has given us a higher number of conversions than the analytics is giving us in transactions. The conversion rate is also different. The only visitors this page is getting is from Adwords. Can someone please help us understand why this is? Cheers Al
Paid Search Marketing | | -Al-0 -
Adwords ban
my client has 2 adwords accounts - one banned in 2009 and one where 9 of 11 ads are suspended - the other 2 ads run and he pays 6k per month for traffic - he still has net60 terms with no limit on ad spend b/c his offer converts so well. he wants to clear his name so we can proceed further without risk of being banned - he is paying me a pretty penny to turn his 4/10 qual scores into 9's and 10's - he will get 2x the traffic at 1/2 the price and i am looking to make a major 6 figure bump to his bottom line this year so he can jstify paying my exhorbitant fee. lol. i am not getting much help from the folks over at the Big G - to be expected - they have suspended 9 of his ads for "artificial ad traffic" - at least that is their reason - any way he is legit - in biz for 12 years online - with 60,000 customers on his list and over 1000 testimonials on his site - my question is is there any way GG will connect the dots in 4 months once i have his adwords campaign fully optimized and running smoothly and say "hey arent you the guy who we suspended twice over the past 2 years???" or are we to be judged simply on what we do from here forward with this new account? i am having his designer create 100 new landing pages to match the 100 unique ads for the 100 exactmatch kw's for the 100 unique ad groups - lotta work - but once its done its 10/10 across the board - with no mention of artificially boosting someone's traffic -- although isnt that what everyone is doing when they buy visits to their sites? this goes on all day long and no o ne seems to care - except GG but my client sells real human traffic not bot generated crap. all love, EZ
Paid Search Marketing | | ezubkov0