So I have a 3 year old website which is the oldest website in its niche. It was ranking #1 on pretty much all of its keywords. I have not done any link building in the last year. It was also ranking #1 on the main keywords as an authority website with sitelinks. All of a sudden, it went from #1 to Page 6. What the $#%@! Why would this drop occur if I have not done any seo in over a year? I update the content everyday with unique, quality content.
Without knowing the URL at minimum the thread will be just wild guesses, and chances are none will be correct. So i'll go first... Maybe it was due to 3.1415?
Possibly ? because you have not gained enough NEW links in over a year ??? Having site links does not make you an "authority website" it just means you were listed number one on a search term with several pages google could find that might also be of interest to the searcher. If you are listed 2 or below site links don't show. I have several search terms that show with site links when i am at the top, but would not class my site as an "authority website". Your drop could be because of an algo change/test , problems last time they indexed your site such as temp dns error, temp server overload or reboot.. etc, or many other things. DON'T panic yet, give it a week first, see if it's just a glitch.
You may have lost your position in the serps because your niche is competitive and you have not build any new links in over a year. There is also a possibility that your site may have been penalized, but I think it's too soon to make this decision you should wait a few weeks and see if your rankings return to normal.
It has only been a couple of days. I think I will take your advice and just wait it out for a couple of weeks before trying anything drastic. Could it be a Google -60 penalty? And if it is, what exactly does that mean?
You just got same slap i got 2 months ago. Alll sites + all keywords to 5th page. Its a slap. WHY? Don't know for sure but i can tell you we have 95% similarities in this case: old site/unique content/whitehat/authority sites/etc etc... Google is fuc$%#g insane. Spam anyone?
Just because you have been #1 for 3 years it doesnt mean you will always stay there. Algorithms change, competitors are coming on board etc... Sounds like you've got to get "back on the tools" and do a bit on SEO and linkbuilding. Google isnt going to promise any site its rank position. Only you can do that .
It is tough to depend on Google for traffic. They are becoming more and more less reliable and unpredictable.
Do you think your competition did no link building during that time ? Or Possibly google included an algo change to see if NO NEW links for a site ? It takes WORK to STAY at number one.
Okay, it has nothing to do with link building. I went from 1st to 60th in 1 day. If it only had to do with my "competition" getting new links, then I would decrease in ranking gradually overtime, not instantly.