From #2 to #66 on Google - What the hell?

Discussion in 'Search Engine Optimization' started by Mush, Apr 5, 2007.

  1. #1
    My site has been ranking as #2 for my targeted keywords for months now. All of a sudden I noticed that it is all the way on Page 8! Also, my PageRank dropped from a 2 to a 0. Has this happened to anyone? I still rank well on MSN & Yahoo. What could have gone wrong?
     
    Mush, Apr 5, 2007 IP
  2. JoshuaGross

    JoshuaGross Peon

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    #2
    Same here. Might be an algorithm change.
     
    JoshuaGross, Apr 5, 2007 IP
  3. Steupz

    Steupz Peon

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    #3
    Yep, I don't understand how a blog about I love New York (Cable Show) can be falling for the query "I love New York"

    It's like the algo thinks I am overusing the keyword on the site but what am I suppose to do? Everything about the site is about I Love New York
     
    Steupz, Apr 5, 2007 IP
  4. jakomo

    jakomo Well-Known Member

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    #4
    Hello,

    This is very comon these days, I'm thinking it's a new Google model to sell more Adwords :), As I was posting on many places here in DP, there are new sites, old sites, sites with 10 back links, sites with 5000 backlinks, sites with natural linking, sites who bought links, etc etc etc... there is not a rule...

    Jakomo
     
    jakomo, Apr 5, 2007 IP
  5. Mush

    Mush Peon

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    #5
    You might be right about the adwords thing. Boy, does Google have webmasters by the B&**s or what?

    Steupz - How was your blog performing before this happened? I'm just curious about what type of traffic the "I Love New York" show would get. I personally liked "Flavor of Love" better. Its funnier to watch "New York" interact with other women.
     
    Mush, Apr 5, 2007 IP
  6. Steupz

    Steupz Peon

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    #6
    Went from 8000 "uniques" per day to around 4000 when I dropped from Top 10 to 65.

    Flavor of Love had about the same viewership Nielsen Ratings wise (just about a half-million more) but had twice as much internet traffic.
    I had a high of 47000 for that show while my high for ILNY is 21000

    Maybe men search a lot more than we think because I'd guess fewer men watch the show now
     
    Steupz, Apr 5, 2007 IP
  7. ninjashoes

    ninjashoes Well-Known Member

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    #7
    That is a huge drop, try to look at what your competitors pages look liek and try to see if theres any noticable difference. Check everything, their meta descriptions, title, backlinks, pr, check every single thing and try to isolate the problem.

    It might be somekind of penatly but I doubt it, its almost never that in this case.

    Any dupe content?
     
    ninjashoes, Apr 5, 2007 IP
  8. Steupz

    Steupz Peon

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    #8

    I say this boldly...I have no competitors :D
    Actually all the big sites devote like one article a week and are ahead of my site that throws out 20-30 articles a week.

    I speak of huge telly sites like popculture, telvevisionwithoutpity, tvgasm, tv.com...and then there are the major blogs like Perez, DListed, YBF,Concrete Loop.
    Added to that, the term "love new york" is so generic that all sorts of NYC sites are in there too. Maybe I should be thankful for #65
     
    Steupz, Apr 5, 2007 IP
  9. ninjashoes

    ninjashoes Well-Known Member

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    #9
    Im confused, what kind of sites are getting listed above you?
     
    ninjashoes, Apr 5, 2007 IP
  10. Steupz

    Steupz Peon

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    #10

    Remember the search query is "i love new york"...so the sites above mine are in these categories

    1) New York city sites - the newspaper websites, forbes.com, empirestate.ny.us, college websites, etc

    2) the major blogs - perezhilton, d-listed, concreteloop, etc

    3) television sites - tv.com, tvguide, popculture.com etc


    So theres competition.
     
    Steupz, Apr 5, 2007 IP
  11. PoohBear88

    PoohBear88 Active Member

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    #11
    Yep this happened to me last week as well.

    The thing is that I dropped in every rank except my most searched query. Kind of weird.

    I have a few ideas what it might be. I know it's not a penalty. I have a feeling what is it an algorithm change that devalues directory backlinks. My other idea is that Google is sending some of your serps to the sandbox to test the quality of your website.

    I wasn't sure what to think when I first saw this (my traffic dropped about 20% too). I would just suggest you chill and just pretend like it didn't happen. Keep updating your site and don't show any signs of spamming. Build links, but quality links (ie. no sitewides, spam, and irrelevant links).

    Blessings
     
    PoohBear88, Apr 5, 2007 IP
  12. RandomGuy

    RandomGuy Peon

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    #12
    I have noticed a shuffling of my site's rankings as well over the last couple of months. Some for the best and some for the worst.
     
    RandomGuy, Apr 5, 2007 IP
  13. Steupz

    Steupz Peon

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    #13
    Google needs to hurry up and rank me #1 for all possible queries because I deserve it :D
     
    Steupz, Apr 5, 2007 IP
  14. wienerdog

    wienerdog Peon

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    #14
    At least you're number 1 for 'i love new york blog'
     
    wienerdog, Apr 5, 2007 IP
  15. PoohBear88

    PoohBear88 Active Member

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    #15
    Exactly why I don't think this isn't any kind of penalty. Unless of course they're penalizing individual SERPs - but this can't be true because all the SERPs I've dropped in were gained 100% naturally. In fact, the term I target most is what hasn't shifted at all.

    I am almost certain this is an algorithm change in their sandbox.
     
    PoohBear88, Apr 5, 2007 IP
  16. Steupz

    Steupz Peon

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    #16
    True :D

    But that accounts for about 150 views per month...I am greedy
     
    Steupz, Apr 5, 2007 IP
  17. JoshuaGross

    JoshuaGross Peon

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    #17
    From here: http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/

    Just posted on 4.5.2007, so this may be the culprit for many of our problems.
     
    JoshuaGross, Apr 6, 2007 IP
  18. prof_site

    prof_site Peon

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    #18
    Well, its just because of algos!!
    Our site is in top 3 now, algos are working fine for us;)
     
    prof_site, Apr 6, 2007 IP