Moz Q&A is closed.
After more than 13 years, and tens of thousands of questions, Moz Q&A closed on 12th December 2024. Whilst we’re not completely removing the content - many posts will still be possible to view - we have locked both new posts and new replies. More details here.
My Rankings Keep Going Down - Needs some more ideas on why...
-
Hi Everyone,
I have been working on the website www.PetsSpark.com for a while now. I used to be on the first page for many of my keywords, now I am lucky if i am on the 2nd or 3rd. I stopped my SEO efforts for about 3 months while making changes to the website, its whithin these 3 months that I started dropping from the first page.
The biggest thing I notice is the "type" of website now ranking for my main keywords. Mostly Forums, Blogs, or Product Review websites.
Take for instance Dog Tear Stain Remover. I used to rank at about #5 for this keyword and now i rank at #20.
I'm not sure if my loss of ranking is a combination of things like who Google is letting rank now or if there is something wrong on my website, etc.
Can anyone give me a little insight?? Please....
I will also be happy to give more information about what has been going on if needed.
-
I would try to externalize a tremendous amount of your coding and comments within the code. If you can use internal links more effectively to direct your users to the interior pages within the site, also your content isn't organized in a themed website ( with silo structure reflective of the main topics).
I would most certainly, review your on page coding for crawlibility for the spiders. Update your sitemap and organize your content into themes that are cross linking based on the main relevant topic and of course your keywords.
I would also move your content up higher on the page, so it is clear that the text is answering the user query, not just retail website. Review your main competitors who have outranked you in the latest decline, my guess is that your rankings have dropped due to at least two updates from Google. Including the ever popular muffin top.
-
I do audits to help sites determine the reasons for their traffic drops. I'm not sure if it is ok to post a link to my audit information, so the best thing to do would be to contact me by private message and we can talk.
-
We are considering hiring an outside consultant to help on this issue. Is that what you do for a living?
-
This is probably good news then. It means that it is unlikely that an algorithm change is affecting your site. I can't say for certain without having a detailed look at your site and your competitors but it's possible that other sites are just outperforming you. Your niche is a competitive one!
It's interesting that you noticed that forums, blogs and review sites are outranking you. Google has been making changes to reward sites that add significant value when someone is searching for a product and not just using standard product descriptions. I didn't have a thorough look, but a quick search of text from your tear stains page shows me 29 other pages that are using the same description. In order to rank better you may need to create more unique stuff.
It is challenging for stores to rank well these days!
However, there could be other factors, but that is my best guess.
EDIT: I just went back and looked. I didn't realize your whole site was about tear stains. You do have additional information too. Sorry...I don't know the reason for your rankings drop. I wish I had more time to dig into this.
-
I took a look at my organic search visits since March. There is no defining day that the visits dropped. Just a slow progression of fewer and fewer visits from my targeted keywords.
-
Can you pinpoint the day of your traffic drop? Take a look at your organic search traffic. Does it drop on the same day as a Panda update?
-
I just had a quick look on ahrefs.com and your backlinks (well the ones ahrefs have clocked anyway) have dropped by aprox 15% over relatively short timescale (since 20th Jan aprox), but that doesnt really fit your 3 month timescale but thought would mention it just in case
I cant see G+ in your social properties so definately worth developing G+ pers page/authorship and link to your content (if not already) and of course G+ company page and link that to site too
Sorry prob not much help but my 2 cents worth from having very quick look
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
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
-
Deleting Tags Properly - Advice Needed
I have over 18,000 tags. Needless to say, most of them are relatively useless to the user and generate no traffic, while cluttering the site. (I use Wordpress.) My plan is to delete tags, but I want to do so safely as to not accumulate website errors. (Tags pages are noindexed.) What process should I take here? Here was my basic plan (any help is appreciated). 1. Find irrelevant tags that are connected with hardly any posts. 2. Go into the post, and remove said tag. 3. Now, with a tag having a 'count' of 0, I go into Tags, and delete it. Safe, right? But now it seems those tag pages just turned into 404s "Uh-oh...Page not found!" Where do I go from here? Create 410's? Thanks Mike
Technical SEO | | naturalsociety0 -
Lost ranking after domain switch
I recently migrated from https://whitefusemedia.com to https://whitefuse.com. The website URL structure and content remained the same and I followed all the best practice guidance regarding checks on the new domain and appropriate 301 redirects. I have seen traffic drop by about 50% and the traffic that is still coming through is mainly coming through links still listed by Google under the old domain (https://whitefusemedia.com). Is this normal? Should I expect to see this bounce back, or is there anything I can do now to regain the rankings?
Technical SEO | | wfm-uk0 -
Company name ranking
Hi all, I hope somebody can share their thoughts on the below. A web designer launched my client's new website and I have been tasked with the SEO. I was approached with an immediate problem, www.clientswebsite.co.uk was ranking 9th for their company name after being indexed by Google. The search results above www.clientswebsite.co.uk were related to my client but not all, for example a direct competitor was also ranking. I have been working on the SEO for 2-3 weeks and I just managed to get to 3rd position for the company name, and then www.clientswebsite.co.uk disappeared from page 1! And now instead, an irelevant sub page is now ranking for the company name on page 2 (a contact page). I have checked and the home page is still indexed (did a site: check). The only problem software picks up is a redirect chain (http://homepage -> http://www.homepage -> https://homepage) the web developers said it wouldn't impact rankings (when I asked them to edit the htaccess file to fix it) I've listed below the SEO tasks I completed whilst attempting to rank the company name: I set up analytics and webmaster tools, in which I set up preferred domain (www) Added a sitemap Edited meta data making sure company name was included I contacted the websites above www.clientswebsite.co.uk that were relevant and asked them to place a link linking to their new website, I was successful with a couple of these. I placed www.clientswebsite.co.uk on all of their social media profiles I reformatted headers on their home page, making sure the H1 included my client's company name I found 2 extra versions of my client's home page (not exact copies, but very similar content) that had been published, so I decided to 301 redirect these to the correct home page Activated SSL and forced to HTTPS I would really appreciate it if anyone could share their thoughts here, whether it be explanations or possible solutions Adam
Technical SEO | | SO_UK0 -
Remove sitemap, effect ranking?
We are considering to remove our sitemap because it doesn't display the right structure. Will it affect current rankings if we remove the sitemap en continuing without a sitemap? Thanks
Technical SEO | | rijwielcashencarry0400 -
Wordpress versus html and google ranking
My current SEO has always recommended that I take my site to wordpress. I really don't want to move to wordpress. I don't like it... I just like writing code in raw html, css, and script. I feel like I have more control that way. Wordpress just seems like a platform for blogs (I have my blog in wordpress). My question is, do wordpress websites typically rank better? Is there benefit to moving to it?
Technical SEO | | CalicoKitty20000 -
Huge ranking difference between google and bing
I am trying to rank for the keyword "trash bags" I did a lot of on-page optimization and link building. We started ranking #2 on bing and yahoo but google seems to be stubbornly fluctuating between being as high as 20 and as low as 45 and even dropped our rankings for a couple of weeks. Is there any need for concern if google is acting so different from bing/yahoo?
Technical SEO | | EcomLkwd0 -
Do I need an XML sitemap?
I have an established website that ranks well in Google. However, I have just noticed that no xml sitemap has been registered in Google webmaster tools, so the likelihood is that it hasn't been registered with the other search engines. However, there is an html sitemap listed on the website. Seeing as the website is already ranking well, do I still need to generate and submit an XML sitemap? Could there be any detriment to current rankings in doing so?
Technical SEO | | pugh0 -
Impact of 401s on Site Rankings
Will having 401s on a site negatively impact rankings? (e.g. 401s thrown from a social media sharing icon)
Technical SEO | | Christy-Correll0