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lost rank for all my keywords - what happened?

by sharkey
17 replies
  • SEO
    • |
I noticed 2 days ago that our search engine traffic was decreasing after being steady and slowly growing for months, but not decreased by too much. Then yesterday it was even lower. Today it is lower.
I haven't been doing anything different lately. I have a couple of drip feed article services I use and I supplement them a couple times a month with extra link campaigns from services I've been using for awhile to diversify.

I was sick this last week so I wasn't watching my SERPS, my site has been doing nothing but moving up gradually.

Then I just checked now and we've lost rank for EVERY keyword. I was on page 1 in the number 2 -4 positions for a my main keywords and I've lost almost all of them. except for 2 of them I'm not on the first page anymore. I checked a few days ago and we were doing great.

What happened?

Also, how should I go about fixing this? While I've gotten smarter about SEO, I'm not an expert by any means. Is there a particular type of link I should be getting more of or a service/warrior anyone recommends?
my site is a few years old, btw.
#happened #keywords #lost #rank
  • Profile picture of the author Tobarja
    We need to know what services you were using. At least two major networks were zeroed out in the past 10 days.

    Look around a bit here. If the services you are using were based on them, all those links are gone.

    Hint: search for bmr and aln here on WF
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  • Profile picture of the author Hossain
    Did you get any mail from google alarming you about unnatural links or anything problematic with your site? Matt Cutts declared google will change its algo to refine ranks for overly optimized sites. Nobody knows for sure. But I guess google is hitting pages targeting more than a certain amount of irrelevant keywords. This is specially for stopping Public/private blog networks.

    PM me if you need more info.
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    • Profile picture of the author M Thompson
      If you are using googles webmaster tools check if there are issues.

      How fresh is your content? If you have no fresh content then try adding new quality content
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  • Profile picture of the author johnben1444
    Without having a look i can see its low quality links.

    Google constantly update their algo and fight against several kind of SEO practice this days.
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  • Profile picture of the author sharkey
    Thanks all - I was using frobark ALN - only started at the beginning of Feb. I canceled the service and I sent them a message last night to please stop making links (haven't heard back from them yet). They made some more this morning which I'm not happy about at all! I logged into my Google Webmaster account which I haven't checked in awhile because I was sick - yes! there's a notice of unnatural links there!

    Okay so how do I fix this is the next step! How do I fix the links and make google happy again?


    For the record, I update content on the site all the time, I write great quality blog posts, and my site is full of great content, better than the site in the#1 position and most of the sites on the front page. This isn't a thin little site but my main site where we sell products and educate consumers, host contests, etc etc.
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  • Profile picture of the author Ricochet
    You answered your own question!
    Drip feeding articles (I assume they are spun).. This is no longer a viable tactic. 2012 is the biggest shake up in SEO.. Since Panda, Parton and Freshness updates, Google is closing the doors on what it believes to be mass backlinking campaigns!

    Diversify your links and get social.. social impact is the way it's heading.
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  • Profile picture of the author sharkey
    Oh Also, Google says to resubmit my site for consideration - what exactly do I need to do before I resubmit my site?

    thanks for the help everyone!
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  • Profile picture of the author retsek
    In the message, google sent you they included a link to file a reconsideration request (RR). You need to remove all questionable back links then file the RR.

    It might be impossible to remove them all, but you should at least make an attempt to get at least some down, then explain to them in the RR that you have no control over the others.
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  • Profile picture of the author JeanneLynn
    When you get the unnatural links message from Google, is your whole website penalized or do you just lose ranking on certain keywords?

    I haven't been penalized, but I keep reading threads like this and it makes me wonder. I used BMR, but only for about 3 weeks. I didn't have many posts and my keywords haven't lost any rankings (although I know it could still be coming).

    Sharkey, I hope your rankings come back soon.
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    • Profile picture of the author retsek
      Originally Posted by JeanneLynn View Post

      When you get the unnatural links message from Google, is your whole website penalized or do you just lose ranking on certain keywords?

      I haven't been penalized, but I keep reading threads like this and it makes me wonder. I used BMR, but only for about 3 weeks. I didn't have many posts and my keywords haven't lost any rankings (although I know it could still be coming).

      Sharkey, I hope your rankings come back soon.
      Yes, when it happens ..it's the whole website that loses rank on keywords, not just the ones that were used in whatever link network.

      If you get the message and your rankings haven't moved, I would suggest not doing anything. For most sites it can be take up to 2 weeks for the rankings to fall.

      I have one site which got the message but only about 10% of its backlinks were from BMR. Its been several weeks now and the rankings haven't fallen.
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      • Profile picture of the author christaaay
        I'm having the same issue but did not receive a message from Google. After Panda on 3/24 i saw some volume drop but was still page 1 for my keywords and posted new content. The content is quality.

        As on yesterday my volume went to nothing and I just confirmed that I no longer rank for any keywords. I did do a trial with a link building firm months ago but since I didn't get a note from google I'm guessing I can't do the RR. Aside from trying to remove any bad links what can I do?

        I've been page 1 for my terms since 2008 and just don't get how all of a sudden my site is deemed as no good.
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      • Profile picture of the author scottmacair
        Originally Posted by retsek View Post

        Yes, when it happens ..it's the whole website that loses rank on keywords, not just the ones that were used in whatever link network.

        If you get the message and your rankings haven't moved, I would suggest not doing anything. For most sites it can be take up to 2 weeks for the rankings to fall.

        I have one site which got the message but only about 10% of its backlinks were from BMR. Its been several weeks now and the rankings haven't fallen.
        That's not true. I had many sites where the keywords i build links for tanked and keywords that i didn't build links for stayed after receiving the unnatural links notice
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  • Profile picture of the author GodMode52
    -Link diversity
    -Link quality
    -Anchor text diversity
    = profit.

    By the way yes, you got slapped by Panda.
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  • Profile picture of the author Torafox1
    This is probably the most "used" or recurring question in SEO forums but I don't blame you guys because in this line of work, we're bound to ask questions about our site's rank whether as an owner or an optimizer.

    Now, regarding your problem, it could be that your site is sandboxed but hearing it from others that it is a myth, we don't really know what Google's deal is. Other than that, we have what we call Google Dance.

    If ever your site was "sandboxed" and I hope it hasn't, one way to put it back on track is think of other ways or strategies that take it slow but can give better results. Good luck.
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  • Profile picture of the author extremejava
    Better restart
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